Thinking about Krell...

Morning Uvafan ! We must have been typing at the same time. Glad to hear that, I bet they sounds fantastic, especially those 9.1's. How's the rens on the top end, still bright/forward whatever the correct term is?


And Good morning to you Sound Dragon, this is all very encouraging news ! Taking things to the next level is what it's all about right :thumbsup:. I'm with you on possibly stopping here. Anything further warrants an entirely new house for me anyway....!

I have a really good feeling that the 80 being pure class a is going to do the 90's right, once in it's intended place I'll probably look into some room correction and going back and re-reading Tedricks threads on room treatment.​
 
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I knew I was forgetting something, IF I do go with the Freya or another preamp with the balanced deal, are these type of cables all the same or should I be looking for a specific brand? This is total noob territory for me.
 
I am currently running a set made with Canare StarQuad. They are pretty decent and not too pricey. I needed them to be about 12-15 feet long. They work well and I feel do not add or subtract from the sound. My logic was that if it is good enough for the pro's it is good enough for my home. However, I picked up a lot of DH Labs cables on Barter Town. I really like them and have decided to slowly re-cable my whole system with them one at a time. They are more expensive over the long run but I really like the DH Labs cables in my system.
 
Thank you sir, going to have a look. Late last night I purchased a 10 gauge rhodium plated blah blah power cable that was reasonable, after losing a bid on a Zu audio unit. Also going to upgrade the wall socket to a Hubble or PS audio just for the heck of it.

Rather than bump the thread some good news and bad. My power cable is here and I just ordered my first product from PS Audio.

Patrick from Krell cannot find any service record for the KSA 80 at least back to 2011. Which is somewhat OK as in his words, these were built to be bullet proof and they see very few ever come in for service. Which is OK with me, I find no strange smells and the fins show no signs of purplish color. It really looks New for all intensive purposes. He say plug it in and enjoy!!!

From that aspect it's very nice to get a reply, Krell was back with me within 24 hours and for me that inspires nothing but confidence that I've made the right choice !

little update, my mastushita tubes arrived today, nice ! first new tubes, platnium grade and all matched. Great service from Upscale Audio. One thing for sure, my Anthem at some point WILL be moved here for a try.
 
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This will be my last update for awhile. I printed out the original owners manual for the KSA-80. It's pretty straight forward about the operation. I've decided to take the power requirement's much more seriously than I had. Being in an older house with only 15 amp circuits it does bring concern that I could do some serious damage.

So I'm going to see what it takes to get it done. Kinda opening up a hornets nest here as I believe we need an entire panel upgrade after looking at what's here.
 
With all possible respect, just one audio guy talking to another, offering his humble opinion (and please feel free to ignore):

I would personally have a hard time justifying upgrading my panel to power an amp that was designed in such a gluttonous way as to not be satisfied with 15 amps (!) to power a set of speakers, that, while fantastic, are not particularly difficult to drive, and have a value of less than the cost to upgrade said panel.

I'm not suggesting you ditch the amp, necessarily. You've stated previously in this thread the reasons you decided to invest it in. But if I were in your shoes, I'd want to take a step back and analyze the situation for the possibility of a different solution. But as you can see by my signature, I’m biased toward more efficient amps. I don't understand the lust for massive space heaters, and haven't been able to appreciate the sonic differences that some people swear by. I also take a minimalist approach to audio for my own personal reasons. So please take it all with a grain of salt.
 
How many watts does the krell use? I measured how many watts my forte 50 watts pure class A uses...about 160 watts at idol and I run it with 15 amp circuits with no problem, Is the krell a lot more wattage? I run 1200 watt space heaters with no problems with my 15 amp circuits.
 
I'll have to get back on that, and any advice is welcome. As of what I read last night the 80 can draw 9 amps while working...IMHO that's a pretty stout draw.

Rex, it's kinda more than that. Can't get into it right now but trust me it's worth doing.
 
I too ended up fine with my Krell on a non-dedicated outlet. I was very concerned initially and prepared to use a long heavy gauge construction extension cord to the dedicated ac outlet in my basement but it turned out to be fine using the outlet nearby.
 
Mine draws 12 amps. So I get it. And the wiring and panel in my home are relatively new. It also doesn't hurt that my power into the home is on the high side at 130 volts according to my surge protection units. Which comically sags to about 125 when the Krell is singing!
 
Sounddragon that's encouraging.....here's what were working with. Last year we started running one of those portable little AC units in our room in peak summer heat. We lost power and that circuit caught fire, was still burning when i got to the box.

I shut everything down the next day, pulled and replaced all the breakers. I also tried to clean what I'm sure is called the "busbar" which is corroded badly. I dare not mess with these again as 2 circuits are barely hanging on. You'll also notice I have no ground or earth bar. I'm on what's called a city ground.

Even now I cannot get the noise out of my system, to get close to black I have to remove the negative ground on anything audio to the wall. Trust me nothing else works.

So it needs to be dealt with, before summer gets here. This is the push to go there at least with the panel, drilling into the cement and installing a ground rod.
0B9D331E-2DE5-4F60-B7A4-FCE15F1C372E.jpeg
0211DE97-3A3A-460E-A1CC-1278D97B9AB2.jpeg Ignore my rusty old swamp cooler, I'm about to clean her up and ready for this summer, saves me a fortune as long humidity stays low and under 105.
 
I'll have to get back on that, and any advice is welcome. As of what I read last night the 80 can draw 9 amps while working...IMHO that's a pretty stout draw.

Rex, it's kinda more than that. Can't get into it right now but trust me it's worth doing.
9 amps 900 watts, that's probably the most it draws at max output, you probably would not ever do that continuous, right Lol
 
I agree with Sound Dragon, i'm no electrician but can tell from your pics it's not good, where i live they put them inside the homes..
 
Hahaha......had a little coke seep out the nostrils! I knew when we came into this it was going to be an issue. That's 1971 code. All of the houses here are the same and all are still standing. It's old, it works, barely, is it safe ......haha NOT!

Time to get busy. Going to be a few before that Amp reaches an outlet.

Oh Yeah......any of you local guys an electrician? I'll feed ya ;) well. Fresh out of the oven my San Marzano Lasagna
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How many watts does the krell use? I measured how many watts my forte 50 watts pure class A uses...about 160 watts at idol and I run it with 15 amp circuits with no problem, Is the krell a lot more wattage? I run 1200 watt space heaters with no problems with my 15 amp circuits.


The KSA-80 should be fine on a dedicated 15 amp circuit. Initially he was speaking of a KSA-250 (a whole different animal). Mine did fine in my home on a dedicated 15 amp until jamming out, at which time the breaker would trip (I have rather new wiring in a newer home). That is when I went to a 20 amp, and have had no issues since. I to live in an area with the breaker panel inside the home. Actually, I never knew they did otherwise.
 
You could have had a bad breaker. I've serviced many new homes where I had to replace the new breakers, let alone an older home. They do get tired sometimes and don't hold up well. I don't see why a music system should trip a breaker unless too many things were on a circuit, which could be your case. I'd put your sound system on it's own circuit (which is never a bad idea) if it's available to do it. I don't see room for another circuit in your breaker box though. Don't put the circuit's wires in a receptacle's 'push in' terminals either. Use the side screws and crank them down. Those push-in connections are terrible....not much contact area with the wire. I've had those push-in connections go bad also. Replaced quite a few. That's my experience.....take it or leave it.

Also, I'm in Meridian Idaho, too far away or I'd take you up on your Lasagna offer. Yum!

Larry D.
 
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