McIntosh or Krell?
- Thread starter Pio1980
- Start date
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Sound quality differences between them. A friend has only liked a couple McIntosh amps, this from decades of selling hi-fi at all sorts of stores, not always with McIntosh in the line up. Krell has a sound that I have read is very analytical. This can be heard as many different adjectives describing the sound many very good, some bad. I would really want to listen to the amps before making this decision while using the speakers that will be hooked up to the amps.
McIntosh fans will be by to proclaim them excellent but more likely just very good and able to hold their value. The Krell may well need work one day and I don't think that comes cheap if it is not just swapping the caps in the unit.
McIntosh fans will be by to proclaim them excellent but more likely just very good and able to hold their value. The Krell may well need work one day and I don't think that comes cheap if it is not just swapping the caps in the unit.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Buy it for less than you can sell it for, use it for a couple months and then sell something else so you can get the other one and use it for some time, too. Sell the one that doesn't win!
I know it might be difficult to swing that with this being AK and all but some here seem to be able to grab stuff when it shows up.
KentTeffeteller
Gimpus Stereophilus!
I prefer McIntosh to Krell. Krell however is very well built and engineered. I highly respect that. I dislike the highly overanalytical Krell sound though, as I am music first.
Sound Dragon
Yawns and sets his couch on fire!
Having owned both brands, though not at the same time. I will say that I liked them both. I think with the Krell you definitely have to match it and find synergy. Most (Not all) Mac owners tend to pair their amps with Mac Preamps for the most part making it very easy from a synergy perspective. I have found that Krell preamps are more responsible for the analytical sound than the amp. If the true presentation of the source material is important to you, this will be a feature and not a bug. I am currently running an older Krell and enjoy it very much. I am not using a Krell pre as I have a fine limit for analytical over musical presentations (I think). I find my Krell amp to be accurate more than analytical and that for me is a very good thing. The Krell has Gobs of power and reserve and a grasp and control over my speakers that I have never experienced before. That being said, it gets pretty warm in my listening space running it. Hope this helps!
Those are integrateds (I was thinking power amps)
I had a krell integrated briefly (honestly don't remember which)
The only mac integrated I ever had was an ma230.
Not at or even near the same time
Also pretty much apples to tennis rackets.
I liked both but loved neither.
I think it's be a mistake to lump the brand sounds together though.
You really have to hear them yourself.
Even opinions of someone familiar with both may not turn out to be yours
I had a krell integrated briefly (honestly don't remember which)
The only mac integrated I ever had was an ma230.
Not at or even near the same time
Also pretty much apples to tennis rackets.
I liked both but loved neither.
I think it's be a mistake to lump the brand sounds together though.
You really have to hear them yourself.
Even opinions of someone familiar with both may not turn out to be yours
Both are somewhat comparable basic bridgable bi-polar output power amps.Those are integrateds (I was thinking power amps)
I had a krell integrated briefly (honestly don't remember which)
The only mac integrated I ever had was an ma230.
Not at or even near the same time
Also pretty much apples to tennis rackets.
I liked both but loved neither.
I think it's be a mistake to lump the brand sounds together though.
You really have to hear them yourself.
Even opinions of someone familiar with both may not turn out to be yours
I meant the ones had (making my observations worthless).
I wasn't comparing the OPs amps.
Sorry about any confusion
I wasn't comparing the OPs amps.
Sorry about any confusion
Understood, input appreciated nonetheless.
damacman
Resident Psycho
You should read the quote in your sig.
damacman
Resident Psycho
I like the Krell sir.
I'm more inclined there as well, curiosity mostly, I get amp fever from time to time as an amp junkie.
I remembered having a Muse One Hundred MOSFET amp I bought on a whim during a bout of amp fever a couple years ago, in a casual listening system, that I've never auditioned in the critical listening system. According to a couple rave reviews on which I based the purchase, it may be of this sound family. Something to keep in mind is that there were several iterations of this model, mine is a later simple version with 16 Hitachi power Mosfets, balanced inputs, and no servo offset fb.
https://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/491muse/index.html
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/review-muse-model-100-amplifier
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