No, actually Martin had stated that quite clearly in his evo 402 review, that he prefered his old FPB-700cx. Both were roughly the same price. |
That's great, but I owned the Evolution 402/202/505 combo and found it cold, grey and brittle sounding compared to the FPB stuff. Martin loved the evolution sound as well...everybody hears different:O) |
There is a new S300i review, written by Martin Colloms, in the latest issue of HIFICRITIC, which a a advert-free mag.
It is a 3 pages long, so I will just quote the conclusion:
"Add to that a class leading sound quality, with a focused, muscular delivery, good clarity and image depth plus tonal neutrality, good dynamics, above avg rythm and timing, plus a stunning dynamic range, and this is a thoroughly recommendable, all purpose design." |
I'm happy for you Eberoth2, perhaps my unit was more defective than I even knew...either one offers remarkable sound for the money. Room acoustics, cabling and system synergy matter more sometimes than any one components particular strengths or weaknesses. |
I know, I have read your posts, in this and other threads, and continue to be amazed by your experience. To my ears, S300i sounds fuller and more natural in the all important midrange. Somehow, it reminded me of a Mac MA6900.
It seems that I'm not the only one who shares this point of view:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/krell3/krell.html
What is more, I have found S300i to offer substantially higher level of resolution and HF detail, less grain, and much better soundstaging.
PS. I have both 400xi and S300i on hand as I write. |
Elberoth2, I am not alone by any means in describing the S-300i as sounding cooler than the 400xi(I've owned both and I still have the 400xi). The other problems were also experienced quite frequently by others and my dealer. In fact, my dealer sent back the entire order he placed because they were all defective. To be exact, what I am describing is a lack of warmth and color in the mids and upper mids, combined with a greyer sounding treble...slightly brittle. The bass is full and lush which may be confused with warmth. |
I do not agreee that S300i is calder sounding than 400xi. Quite on the contrary. To my ears, S300i has muh more texture and sounds warmer and more natural than 400xi.
I have never experienced problems with noise or the amp 'freeze' you are describing, although I did not attempt to connect an iPod. |
Funny that you mention it Dave_b.. It locked up as soon as i plugged in my iphone and I noticed with no signal in the source for the ipod and the cdp it had a lot of noise in the system. I was expecting silence, but I heard something. When you step the volume up and down it had audible clicking. The salesman said, it's normal with these new digital integrated amps.
Is that normal? I think I need to keep looking. I just think Krell cause my Dad's old Krell (late 90's) gear was sooo bad ass sounding. |
The S-300i was launched with a grounding problem (locked up alot) and the noise floor is very high. In addition, it is cooler sounding than the 400xi with less power. One fuse vs two on the 400xi an no XLR locks. Good feelings gone:O( |
Does the Krell 300 take an analog or digital signal out of the ipod? Does it do it's own D to A conversion?
I have the 400xi and really like it, but no ipod controls. Itunes and a Benchmark DAC1 do the trick for me...balanced of course.
gherrera1 |
I had the KID hooked to my 400xi- hated the cost with Tara Labs balanced cables- love the sound. Pulls up the MP3 sound to very near CD quality- with lossless it competes well will with my rotel 1520 CD player. |
me thinks there was a problem with the set-up you were listening too. i use my ipod hookup often and have never experienced any of your stated issue's/concerns.
the i-pod connection in the s-300i was a major contributing factor as to why i went with the krell. since i have mine for sale right now...i'll only mention what a great integrated value this piece is imho.
try listening to another unit or set-up. nothing normal about what you heard from my experience with the s-300i. i absolutely loved the i-pod sound threw the krell (as far as i-pod connections go that is). |
I listened to this integrated today with the B & W CM9 loudspeakers. They sounded warm and amazingly crisp, minus the 50hz drop off that the loudspeakers cut out. I couldn't believe how sonic-ally awesome the recording of the MGMT album sounded! I was giggling with amazement since I sold all my good audio gear since I've been an apartment guy for the past 5 years and got tired of lugging it around. I haven't heard that level of music in awhile.
The thing I didn't like about it was that the Krell froze up when I plugged my iphone into the cable. That was a red flag. The other was that the amp had noise in it in IPOD mode, while hooked up to my iphone. My Iphone was transmission disabled (in airplane mode) and I still heard weird noise not in the music while listening to a lossless piece of the first track of Darkside of the Moon. The dealer said probably, a bad cable. Really?! The other thing I didn't like was that the amp had a lot of noise when the music was paused and stepping up or down the gain. The guy at the store said that was common with the digital integrated amps. He said that when a little ESD affects the outside of the case that it can mess it up.
Is that true? That would mean bad grounding right? |
Quality AC lines and recepticles are always a plus. Surge protectors just plain suck! They rob a system of low level detail and alter certain frequency domains which effects tonality, dynamics etc... A great power cord, IC and speaker cables will do the most good however:O) |
since you know the krell integrated so well, any advice regarding power supply and/or upgrades?. good idea or am i drinking the kool-aid a bit?.
just posted a question on the tech forum about installing a dedicated line, porter ports and a surge protector. currently have base $1 outlets and a monster sp.
thanks and cheers
Lev |
I learned the hard way that sometimes more money isn't the answer, but for some things it don't hurt:O) Enjoy! |
10k in cables?. i'd venture to guess that really helps sort out the details when comparing components. thought i was a bad-*ss with my cardas ic and audioquest speaker wire lol!. we all gotta start somewhere right?. can't wait to run with you big dog's some day. i gotta find a way to make more money!
cheers |
That's great Levy03, if it's working fine after 6 weeks then your good to go! At my dealer I couldn't tell much of a difference either (probably because of the patchbays and low quality cabling). I did prefer the 400xi in the end at home because of it's warmer and more textured sound...then again, I use a $4000 power cord and $6495 IC's left over from my previous setup. Both units are great sounding...enjoy!! |
then listened to the new s-300i. i could hear no difference between the two. maybe it was the aerial 7b's or the cardas gold ref ic being used?. maybe my ears aren't what they use to be?. regardless, both sounded identical to me. couldn't even detect the slightly higher stated output of the 400xi. sounding identical made the i-pod feature the deal maker. having access to the over 3k tunes on my i-pod made it a pretty easy choice in the end.
when i talked to krell on 5/15/09 about the china thing and any teething problems....i was told the bugs had been worked out (but then what did i expect them to say =)). mine has been flawless but then i've only had it for about 6 weeks.
it appears that lots of folks are down on krell for the often quoted "clinical" sound. i suppose they can be, but when matched correctly, i just don't hear it.
but back to my original point....the i-pod connection really does sound good.
cheers |
It's useful and feature packed but fell short in ultimate musicality compared to the 400xi so I sold it. Mine had a few glitches as well, but I'm sure they have worked the problems out by now:O) |
i thought being on a very limited budget and needing to drive the aerial 7b's was going to leave me coming up short. shocking sound for an integrated and a dream at its price point imo.
for folks who enjoy an occasional movie, the theater pass through mode is really nice too. can integrate the krell into any HT system that has pre-outs.
i understand this stuff kinda rubs the "purists" wrong but i say give it a listen first. great entry hi-fi from krell with features that make sense today (regardless of where it was made).
cheers |
Yes,
The new 300i uses the same system as in the KiD, and it does sound very good for an iPod, I heard that system @ CES this year and is was very nice to listen to.
Enjoy it, that is a solid little amp you have there! |
