Pre-AMP to Match a KRELL KSA-250s

I would go with Krell. Replaced a classic Forte F45 preamp with the KCT-3 and everything opened up. I was totally surprised . Always thought that preamp does not matter , but it does. Soundstage or midrange or treble was similar between different preamps. However, with the Krell preamp , drum just hit so much harder. It's amazing. Also, the Krell was so good that when I connected it to an old Sony integrated amplifier, it even made the Sony sound good ( when I bypassed the Sony internal preamp). Krell , I think , is neither dark nor bright. It just depends on your source and speaker.

Halo there, I have Krell KSA-150 with Krell KBL Preamp. I use DENON DCD-3500RG CD Player. All with ballance XLR support. I connected them with full ballance (XLR) for 1 full day, the sound stage is not as good as single ended (RCA) connection. I also have a Spectral MS One (old) preamp, I connected the Spectral preamp with Krell KSA-150, wow.. a lot of improvement. My sugestion is find a Spectral preamp, it sounds very good & your Krell will be more powerful. Just FYI Krell KSA-150 & KSA-250 is not fully balanced power amplifier. That's why Krell produced MDA-500, which is KSA-250 fully balance Power Amplifier. For full balance (XLR) connection KSA-250 will be a mono amplifier. If you have just one Krell KSA-250, single ended (RCA) connection will sound better, more focus, more resolution.

Heriman, I disagree. I owned a Krell KSA 250 for many years using balanced interconnects. The sound was much fuller and louder through the balanced compared to the RCA. Perhaps your cables were not fully balanced.

Using a Krell preamp from the same vintage as the KSA 250 makes sense to me. They were probably voiced together at that time.

I agree Ozzy. Sounds like his interconnects were not the same when he compared RCA to XLR. Balanced should sound better or be quieter. Something doesn't add up???

"...I am considering a AR LS-26 or less expensive AYRE K-3 or K-1 but don’t want to lose any punchy bass"

The best bass belongs to Jouole-Elctra LA-150 preamplifier. Go to their web site and read Harry Pearson review.
Plus - long life tubes : 5-10 years.

Most interesting: at CES 2009, they deputed $15k flagship LA-300ME but a few weeks ago they introduced LA-150 Signature which has a lot of LA-300 technology but only about three times cheaper. Propably the best performance/value preamplifier today.

Disclaimer: I got recently LA-300ME and I think its the best in the world preamp - do search for owners review - and I owned and/or auditioned CAT, BAT (REX), ARC (Ref3) etc

All The Best
Rafael