Krell KAV-400xi vs. Parasound A21+P3


Hi all,

Which one is better between Krell KAV-400xi and Parasound A21+P3?

I have a pair of NHT classic three with Kimber 8TC.

I am open for other amp that is less than $1,400.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

Thank you
trinnatee
I would go for the Parasound combo. here, unless you could squeeze into Krell's KAV-280p/2250 seperates, which should be a step-up sonically from the Parasound pair. The KAV-400xi and Parasound seperates are inexpensive enough to buy all 3 and A/B them in your Home & System - which is what I would suggest.
Tusa, good point regarding the KAV-2250...

KAV-400xi: 750VA transformer for 200Wpc, 14 kilos overall.
KAV-2250: 2000VA transformer for 250Wpc, 31 kilos overall.

If 750VA can handle 200/400Wpc, why waste so much bigger transformer (2000VA..!!) for ONLY 50W additional power...???
>If 750VA can handle 200/400Wpc, why waste so much bigger transformer (2000VA..!!) for ONLY 50W additional power...???

Current my man. Wattage really isn't the most important aspect of power, unfortunately it is the spec that is most often published though. Think of wattage as the speed of water coming out of a hose, and current as the hoses diameter. For instance a garden hose flowing at lets say 15 ft. persecond, or a fire hose flowing at that same speed. The fire hose will deliver well over ten times the amount of water even they are flowing at the same speed. If you stand in front of each hose, the garden hose will get you wet, the fire hose takes three guys to hold and will knock you over! Plus the bigger the transformer, the more likely the amp will perfectly double wattage and current as the ohms drop. A bigger transformer is almost never a waste. Power in reserve creates effortlessness. Just like people that have 400wpc and rarely listen to more than 50w of actual power. The 50w that they do use is a lot cleaner because they have so much power in reserve. Hopefully this helps.

Cheers!
Do we agree that Thiels require current to drive them properly? Yes, I thought so. Then if the 400xi doesn't have the current capability due to an inadequate power supply, why am I hearing such great air-moving, deep and extended bass from Donald Fagen's Morph the Cat on vinyl and I'm only running the amp on "35"? Oh yeah, and through rather current-demanding speakers. Sounds pretty freakin' effortless to me.

But then I'm proably wrong and don't know what I'm talking about, correct?
Audiobroke, thanx for the input - even if you somewhat overlooked that my question was kinda rhetoric... My main point was that there's obviously something heavily compromised in KAV-400xi power supply. Some "empty" watts, with no current enough, as you'd say...

Someone, on another forum, pointed out the whole thing with a very colorful comparison, refering to powerful output transistors and poor power supply to feed them, something like "...a big enough male organ, but with no blood enough to lift it up..."