Krell KAV 250 A

The KAV250 would be a noticable upgrade, but not sure if it would be worth the $2500, but then again, only you can answer that one. Krell makes nice stuff...try to demo one then decide.

good luck.

m-

Going from a 300i to a 250a driven by the 300i's preamp will certainly add some slam factor & dynamics to your rig. The 250a that I had seemed to never run out of steam; it has considerable headroom & sounded quite detailed esp. for an av class product. The disadvantage is that you'll then need a pair of quality interconnects & another good AC cord for the amp, in addition to the one that you're hopefully already using for your integrated. Of course you'll need to disconnect the signal links so that you're not driving the 300i's amplifier stages into an open load condition, & bear in mind that any idle current consumed by the amp stages will be wasted energy unless you can locate some internal rail fuses & remove them. No you cannot combine the output power from the integrated along with the 250a or any other amp. You could use the 300i's outputs for driving a separate pair of speakers though.

The KAV250a will definitely be a nice upgrade. You should be able to find one for around $1500 used. If you could spring for a KRC3 to use as the preamp (probably about $1400 used) and sell the 300i you'll really have a nice upgrade going. I think a used 250a is an excellent deal. -Kirk

how do i "disconnect the signal links so that i won't drive the 300i amp stages into an open load" ?
when the time comes of course...
also, isn't the stock cable from krell good enough? its pretty thick (i'm not a big believer in spending money on cables, i know u might disagree)
btw, i'm using nordost blue haven as speaker cable for my wonderful talon khorus set..
i believe i can find a used kav 250A for about 1500 but what if i could spend up to 3000 on a better amp, will it take me to a whole different (higher) level or the difference would b to subtle to b worth it? any recommendations?
thank you all for your kind help.
David

If you really enjoy Krell, another suggestion might be to rid yourself of the 300i and get a 500i. The 500 is a monster compared to the 300 and should power the Talons with ease. Once you get the 500i in your hands, you'll realize its a much different animal.

Reason I suggest this is I don't think its reasonably easy to use the 300i as a preamp only. The 300p is used for that purpose.

Bryan certainly makes a good point. Not being familiar with this 300i piece myself I don't know if in fact there are outboard connectors that allow separating the preamp stage from the poweramp section; in fact these connections may not even be available at the rear panel, but only inside. I had previously checked on Krell's website, but I don't see it shown there.
Certainly any stock power cord will allow a component to play music, but not at its' optimum by any means. Just stick with whatever you're comfortable with for the time being; I only mentioned this because if I had kept my 250a & tried to tweak it with better cabling, then I might not have ever sold it. But I didn't believe in any of that "nonsense" either at the time, & probably made a mistake due to my ignorance.

This is just something to think about, you have a $15,000 speakers I suggest you sell the 300i and buy an FPB series amp (since you like the Krell sound, so do I mind you) and a very good tube preamp. Then you'll hear what your speakers can really do.

here's another issue: was thinking that if the 300i does not externally link its preamp output section to its power amp input section, then you have no external access to variable-level preamp output to drive an external power amp anyway. You cannot use the tape monitor output (even if available) because it runs at a fixed level, but you need variable of course.

Bring this one back from the dead...

The KAV-300i has single ended pre-amp out connections but the binding posts are ALWAYS live.

Now, could you bi-amp a pair of speakers, using the 300i for the highs and a 250a for the lows?

Just got me a used 250a so we will see what I can do with it.