2. amps-preamps
  3. 1267504935

Someone familiar with older KSA Krell amps

Someone familiar with older Krell amps...KSA 50-S I owned one of these many years agao, mated it with a Kell KRC-3 preamp....sound was fabulous, sounded like a tube amp, warm and smooth had alot of detail, people said it had no bass, yet it did in my system...this is the only amp of this series I have owned. Question: want to buy a used KSA amp now provided it is in good shape, cosmeitcally attractive, etc. etc. but I am looking to drive more difficult speaker loads, i.e., totme mani'2...are the larger Krell KSA 100-s, and then the KSA 200-s, can I expect the same sound I liked so much in the 50-S to be in these larger amps, only in a more powerful package?? Or are they different animals entirely wach with different characteristics, I believe that the 100-s should have enough power to drive the mani'2 but I dont know...I am sure the 200-s would have more than enough , but am I crazy to get such a large heavy Krell to drive these speakers when a 100 would probably do? I guess I have a feeling that the larger 200-s would have virtues of its own to be sure, but it might not have that warm tublike sound I enjoyed so much from the 50_S. Was hoping someone who has experience with these amps might help me... I am trying to decide between the 100-s and 200-s , I know I like the Krell KSA sound mated with a KRC-3 preamp, just dont knwo which is a better match for mani 2' with a 4 ohm, 84 db sensitivity load,,not sure if a 200-s is way overkill, or actually the better choice, and if it would have a warm like sound or be different sounding from the smaller Krell
128x128mankeegan
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I was one of their early dealers, had the KSA -50, KSA -100 and KMA 100s. Were excellent for their time but if it were me I would get a new 300i. Cheaper, newer, lighter and better sounding with plenty of power. Not likely to need the repairs that Unsound alluded to. If you thought they had a warm sound I suspect that was the influence of the pre amp. I had a different reaction to their early pre's, I thought they were dead sounding and would demo the amps with other preamps much of the time, the amps themselves were not what I would think of as warm.
rossman
74 posts
 
I completely disagree with Kenscollick on the KSA-S vs the FPB sound. The KSA produced a warm, solid soundfield where the FPB had a bunch of smaller caps that would refill faster for quicker transients but sounded thinner & in no way approached the sweet, powerful sound & bass of the "S" series. BTW, I owned the KSA-200S & 300S as well as the FBB300 which the latter I sold rather quickly.
thesoundhouse
250 posts
 
I have owned several of the Krell amps over the years. The best one I have owned was a KSA 80B and the second best was a KAV 2250. The 2250 had better bass than the KSA 80B but the midrange on the KSA 80B is magical. The other Krell amps that I have owned were A; FPB 600(It sucked), KSA 200S(It sucked), and a pair of FPB 750M Mono Blocks (Powerful sounded good but not great) I found the KAV 2250 stereo 2 channel sounded better than my big mono blocks when one of the monos went back to Krell for repair and the local Krell dealer gave me a KAV 2250 loaner. I now own Pass Labs X350.5 and it sounds better than any of the Krells I have ever owned.
mgattmch
554 posts
 
I have a fully restored KSA-250. Krell charged me approximately $750 to do the restoration, mainly capacitor replacement. To my ears the KSA-250 sounds perfect. It will drive virtually any speaker to ridiculous levels and sound effortless. Compared to other power amps the sound is neutral albeit with extremely well controlled and deep bass. The only drawback I can think of (besides being ridiculously heavy) is, it will definitely heat up your listening room. This can be a problem with small rooms in the summer. This is an amp I will never part with, a keeper for me!
breuninger
101 posts
 
My take:

KSA 50/100- sweet and warm sounding Class A fan cooled see:
http://home.ca.inter.net/~lloyd.maclean/Krell/Krell.htm
JA still has his 50!!!

KMA 160s- Pure class A- heatsink cooled- AH those fins! Warm, and huge sounding- very realistic timbre.

KSA 80- same as above but less power and a little less magic.

KRS 200- cut form the same cloth as the two above but Elephant sized in both power (200 real class A watts) and sound.

KSA 200- more neutral than the former three, some say more "white sounding" I say more true to the recording.

KMA 400s- same as KSA 200 times two, rare and wonderful, less bias current than KSA 200 if set to factory spec. Bigger stage, more detailed.

KSA 250- take every amp Krell made to date, put in a blender and you have the sound of this magnificent amp.

All S series Krells- sliding bias, just a little more mechanical sounding than the prior Krells. These have many fanboys.

FPBs- big improvement on the S series amps. Warm plus big, plus detail, lots of power at all specs. Many people think these are the best.

Cast series--- I don't have data or listening notes on these. Fellow reviewers love them. I don't buy into the "cast" technology- it's too limiting on equip matching.

Peter
More to discover