Hey jadis, nice exaggeration in your post - "sucks" and "junk". I guess those companies started with a great mission statement. Lets make products that suck, overprice them for the junk they are.
Krell versus Levinson experience
As posted some time ago, its is difficult to get to have A-B comparisons between amplifiers in Europe, because dealers don´t like to provide home loans. I managed however to spend a whole morning comparing a Krell 200 FPBc, which was my initial first choice and a Levinson 335. Speakers were Martin Logan Prodigy, the front end was a Krell KAV 300CD(non cast) and cable was Transparent. I was astonished as how large the difference bteween the two was. The Levisnon sounded (i) much more controlled in the low and mid bass, (ii) similar in resolution but with a much more relaxed delivery , (iii) with wider soundstage. It may have been the Martin Logans and interconnects, but I had always thought that Krell FPBs matched Martin Logans quite nicely. Just tought I would metion it here as this was a most unexpected result (at least for me)