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Krell KSA-100 - is it worth bothering with?

MisterDK

MisterDK

Addicted Member
Hey people, I’ve been offered a KSA-100 amp in trade for some auto repair labor. Is anyone using and liking this amp?
Are they still thought of as a decent value, or just overweight space heaters that run up your electric bill?
 
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The original KSA-100 was a very good amp in its day. Not solid state sounding and pretty laid back. Sold for over $5000 when new.

It is a better amp than 99% of the stuff normally discussed here on AK. Service, if needed, will be costly unless you have a local tech who is familiar with these beasts.

Tom
 
This amp is way above the gear that is loved and coveted by the AK community so in general there will be little acceptance of this amp in this circle so you should move on. You are looking for acceptance here, right, well that comes with Pio/Mar/Sui and not some high performance Class A amp from a brand we don't know or talk about much. Folks will especially turn against you if you get it for a really low price. But it might be a nice step up from what you are using.
 
Depends on you... When serviced (could be costly) it may be the best SQ amp you have owned

I ran a 150 in my main system for years -- I decided to downsize
 
OK - I was being serious.
I really don’t know much about this amp; just what I read online. They guy interested in trading it has plenty of vintage audio gear and mentioned this amp in trade for labor on three different cars and one motorcycle he needs help with. Guessing around 40+ hrs labor I’d be putting in. I recently bought a SOTA Nova in nice shape from him and had a look at the Krell; it looks HUGE but I haven’t yet had a listen to it. He (the seller/trader) said I can take it home and listen to it - I think I’ll take him up on it (a neighbor a couple blocks away). He’s also got some cool older tube gear I like and could possibly trade labor or something else for some of that.

Was really hoping someone on here had one of these Krells and could tell me just how good or bad they really sound, and whether they’re worth what some people are wanting for them.
 
MisterDK said:
Hey people, I’ve been offered a KSA-100 amp in trade for some auto repair labor. Is anyone using and liking this amp?
Are they still thought of as a decent value, or just overweight space heaters that run up your electric bill?
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You will like it because it is expensive and you are supposed to.

Back the bias down to 450'ish mv range.
 
Blue Shadow said:
Krell is a top brand, they sound great. Put all the ordinary crap we love to shame.

And you can try it. Go get it and let us know what you think.
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I’ll see if he was serious about me taking it home to try out. Will post pictures and listening impressions, but I don’t have “golden ears” like some of you folks. It may not sound better to me than my current power amp.

I’m currently using an Adcom 555 driving some ugly (but good sounding) B&W 640i’s I found at a Goodwill. Expensive, high-end equipment is something I’ve always wanted but couldn’t afford. Don’t mind picking it up when I can though.. The SOTA table I just bought from my neighbor was what I really wanted years ago, when I bought Adcom and a Rega Planar 3. That’s all I could afford at that time. Time to upgrade, if I can.
 
What cartridge?

Then you will probably notice the big improvement over the Adcom. I knew of Adcom's reputation for sound quality and the one I picked up was just cleaned up and moved on. I knew someone wanted it and I was not impressed with its build quality, remove the top cover and the 4 amp modules are there wobblying held in place by just the screws in the bottom of the module. I also have a few nice amps, not a Krell but some stuff that is decent. If I had listened to it and liked it, that would be another chunk of gear filling up the sound room. Now if it had been a Krell, CJ, ML, Threshold or something, of that ilk, I would have seriously considered the unit. But there is a happy Adcom owner in this area now enjoying using the 555 in mono with is other unit.
 
I own 4 Krell KMA 160 monoblocks. There are only a couple things I hold against them, and sound quality/performance are not on that short list. 1--they weigh a ton, 2--they run hot as hell, 3--they can make your electric meter run on "overdrive", and 4--keep Band Aids handy if you like fooling around near the heat sinks.
 
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