KR Audio.....

[Bernd]

......Antares 320 has landed.
After my short weekend trip to Logrono in Spain to see the Waterboys and to stock up on some Rioja, I spotted this amp yesterday, at a fantastic price. Always wanted to try one of Dr. Krons creations.
Well it has landed this afternoon. Came in a wooded crate and is a heavy mother******, and looks a bit like a motorcycle engine block.
Years ago I had a Cary SEI300XLS, updated that to take the KR 300 XLS Valve. I regret to this day that I have sold it.
The Antatres 320 sounds very similar on first listen on my sacrifical small and old sony speakers. I never connect any new amp to the main speakers. You never know.
It sounds like an amp using 300b Tubes on steroids. Incredible slam and dynamics. Only first impressions. The valves are the KR 842VHD and are located at the front inside the cooling tower.
So here we go.......... Plenty of Martinez Bujanda 2003 Crianza, a great gig in Spain and a new power amp. The new year is of to a flyer.

6moons review herehttp://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/kraudio/antares.html

Peace

[basite]

:drool: man, Bernd, I gotta give it to ya, you do have taste

Awesome amp!

I heard one of their bigger amps (with the huge tubes on them) driving a pair of Von Schweikert VR4 SE's...
(I think that amp was a Kronzilla SX)


that was the only time Von Schweikert REALLY impressed me



Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Feanor]

......Antares 320 has landed....Peace

A good deal is a joy forever. I don't think I've heard of KR or Antares, (other than the binary star in the Scorpius constellation). But it does look great, sort of Sci-Fi. Well, maybe that's why the name.

We'll look forward to your review.

[JohnMichael]

Bernd the new amp looks incredible. I have read of Dr. Krons talents and interesting designs. I look forward to reading more as it settles into your system.

[Bernd]

...words friends. Yes a good deal is a pleasure.
Had to stop for tonight as we have dinner guests arriving soon and I will have to put my host hat on. Talk about bad timing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway more tomorrow.
Here is another self indulgent snapshot incl. a fine Rioja just for size.................................

[bobsticks]

Brother Bernd,

Despite the recent gulf of acrimony that exists between us, in large part due to your Christmas pranks with Jay, I feel compelled to warn you about him. Clearly he is not to be trusted. Anyone who would leave such a large anvil covered with roofing shingles in your listening room is not a true friend.







Of course, I tease. I'm interested in this foreboding machine and to what peaks it will push the, em, Peaks. Looking forward to a review.

Best

[Bernd]

, (other than the binary star in the Scorpius constellation).

I didn't know that. Always good to learn something new.

Take a look here http://dailymotion.alice.it/video/x3...pe-triode_tech

Talk about talent.

Peace

[O'Shag]

Bernd, you poor fellow. You are really slumming it. An Eletrocompaniet CD player? An SME 20 record player (and another player for good measure). A Manley Steelhead? I'm guessing here, but also what looks to be an Opera Conconance Tube amp? And now the KR Antares (a fine amp indeed). Listening to good music accompanied with some good Spanish wine. Clearly times are hard... Well done!! I certainly would enjoy listening to your system.

[Bernd]

Bernd, you poor fellow. You are really slumming it. An Eletrocompaniet CD player? An SME 20 record player (and another player for good measure). A Manley Steelhead? I'm guessing here, but also what looks to be an Opera Conconance Tube amp? And now the KR Antares (a fine amp indeed). Listening to good music accompanied with some good Spanish wine. Clearly times are hard... Well done!! I certainly would enjoy listening to your system.

Thanks for the kind words. Yes, life has been really good to me (you do make your own luck though) and you're welcome to stop by, should you find yourself over here again.
The amp in the back is a Unison Research Performance. A very fine amp, and for the moment a spectator.
Listened last night till 3am. Susan is not amused this morning , and I am suffering now.

Peace

[jrhymeammo]

[Bernd]

...with the Antares may not be long enough, but here is a small first impression for those of you who care to know.
Having the amp connected and switched on I choose for my first critical listen the CDP and the Waterboys' album Karma to Burn. This is a live album and since I have been to more Waterboys shows than I can remember it should give me an indication of the correctness of the Antares.
Well, from the opening bar my chin hit the floor. Out of nowhere came a sound I had not expected. But mostly Mike Scotts voice was now so real with all the little nuances that makes it believeble so. And so it continues the first night CD after CD. The Electrocompaniet really gelled perfectly with the Antares and moved the digital spinner closer to the vinyl sound, than I thought possible.
Next night came the black discs. And again a total revelation.
The Unison Research Performance presents the music very different from the Antares. On top of that I was using the Steelhead as a pre with the Antares whereas the UR is an integrated.
Never have I heard Vocals presented more lifelike than through the Antares. Those 842 VHD tubes are something very very special. And it shows what Dr.Kron was working towards, i.e. design a Tube and then design the amp around it. Many manufacturers take a tube to fit an already excisting circuit. Not KR.
To compare my two amps to one another is quiet tough to do in words. But I will give it a go.
The Unison strikes me as exciting and upfront. It presents the music well lit and very matter of fact with somehow in a hurry, but this is only noticeable in comparing the two and is most likely due, in no small part, to the KT88s it uses. In doing so it can miss some micro detail and spatial clues in its effort to get the musical message out. But you wouldn't know that they are missing unless you hear them. And this is where the Antares scores so highly. Whereas the Unison could be compared to a long chilled glass of "Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut NV" on a warm summer evening, the Antares would be a full bodied and complex "Baron de Barbon reserva 1999" enjoyed on a beautiful Autumn day.
The KR amp gives you all the detail that is there and all in it's right space and with the right amount of dynamic. It is quiet strange hearing all those little details that you never noticed before. It is on the dark side and presents the music without any hurry. Not that it is slow or veiled, just it plays at the speed the piece requieres. I dare say a dark sounding speaker might be too much of a good think.
What you don't get is artifical tube warmth. Yes you get warmth if and when it is needed, but bright recordings still sound bright. The danger is that the Antares is adictive to listen to. When it's time for bed a little voice appears in your head and says "Just one more disc, just one more" and so it is very hard to be torn away from this seductive amp. I don't think that this amp is for headbangers or bass freaks. I am sure fans of those musical styles will find better out there.
The Antares is one of those products that has finality written all over it. I place it alongside the Peak Consults, the Steelhead and the SME as pieces of my system that may well have earned a place for good.
A couple of points to consider. When switching the Antares on it takes about 30 sec for it to reach working temperature and when it changes it does so with a little but audible thump through the speakers. Quite disconcerting at first, but nothing to worry about. I also think that its 20 watts of SET power, even though enough for my Peak Consults, would maybe helped along by some high sensitive horns. I always liked SETs and horns. So we will see.
Hope this makes sense and conveys a little of the brilliance that this amp is to you.

Peace

[basite]

The danger is that the Antares is adictive to listen to. When it's time for bed a little voice appears in your heads and says "Just one more disc, just one more" and so it is very hard to be torn away from this seductive amp.:

I know exactly what you are talking about

again, Congrats...
what would be next? a pair of big Wavacs?


ps: musical package will be later, had a very busy week, sending it off early next week...