What the Krell is going on?!? John Michael??

[poppachubby]

Apparently Krell have recalled a couple different models of amp due to overheating and fire hazard. Here's the link...

http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRNewswire/release/194463.html

Oh and John? Thanks for trying to kill me and my family with your shoddy product....hahahha, I kid!! Looks like your beloved 300-i made the grade.

[Geoffcin]

I remember reading a review of the Krell 400xi in Stereophile where they nearly smoked the unit on the test bench. Here's a clip from the bench review;

"To precondition an amplifier before testing, I run it at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. For an amplifier with a class-B output stage, this thermally stresses the amplifier to the maximum extent. To my alarm, after 15 minutes of driving 67Wpc into 8 ohms, the top panel of the KAV-400xi above the internal heatsinks was way too hot to touch, implying a temperature well above 60ºC; the chassis was also too hot to touch and smelled of hot insulation. More alarming, the distortion level, a good 0.05% when the amplifier was cold, had risen to 0.15% and was continuing to rise. Worried about the amplifier being damaged by thermal runaway, I concluded the preconditioning at that point. "

The funny thing was that the unit did NOT exhibit that behavior during the review! I give you this clip from the subjective review;

"My KAV-400xi got somewhat warmer than body temperature, but never so hot as to discourage catnaps on the part of a tired but relentlessly exploratory kitten."

[JohnMichael]

Apparently Krell have recalled a couple different models of amp due to overheating and fire hazard. Here's the link...

http://www.entrepreneur.com/PRNewswire/release/194463.html

Oh and John? Thanks for trying to kill me and my family with your shoddy product....hahahha, I kid!! Looks like your beloved 300-i made the grade.




If it was going to overheat it would have been Friday. The young people that live below me were playing their music very loudly. So I dropped System of a Down in the cd player and played Prison Song. Between the power, control of the Krell and the sensitivity and bass of the Monitor Audio's I won. It seems they chose to turn their stereo down.

[Mr Peabody]

This is old news that RGA brought up in JM's original thread looking for his amp. The 300i was not on the list and JM has a S300i which is a much newer amp than the 300i. My 500i was on that list an I've had the amp for years and driven it hard on occasion without incident. Nevertheless I sent off for the change and it was merely replacing rail fuses. Either I got lucky or those who smoked their amps were going beyond good sense.

The original kav-500i/300i were built very well with good heat syncs. After that they came out with the 300iL which had that thin aluminum chasis which I guess research told them it looked sexy but it did get quite hot. Not sure about the 400xi I don't have any hands on experience with that. Even though the 300IL got warmer than I'd be comfortable with I haven't heard of any incidents with it.

The amps listed are all much older and discontinued models. I'd like to say Krell should be commended for stepping up and dealing with this on older models but without knowing what prompted them to do it, commendations may be a bit presumptuous.

[Geoffcin]

If it was going to overheat it would have been Friday. The young people that live below me were playing their music very loudly. So I dropped System of the Down in the cd player and played Prison Song. Between the power, control of the Krell and the sensitivity and bass of the Monitor Audio's I won. It seems they chose to turn their stereo down.

SOAD, I'm down with that!

[poppachubby]

John?......THEY"RE TRYIN TO BUILD A PRISON! THEY"RE TRYIN TO BUILD A PRISON! FOR YOU AND ME TO LIVE IN!!!!!!

[JohnMichael]

Yes Geoff and poppa that music seemed to do the trick. I wonder how many of my neighbors think it is my 24-year-old apartment mate that is rocking out instead of the more mature male of the apartment. Well mature in age anyway.

[poppachubby]

I won't lie John, I was surprised that you dig SOAD. The older I get, the further away I move from "loud and proud". At this point, it takes the right mood, but I still enjoy crankin some heavy stuff. I only have that album on CD, but I wanted to throw it on as soon as you mentioned it. I have "Needles" stuck in my mind now.

Problem is, I quite literally can't pull myself away from the TT/comp. The config I'm running right now sounds so good, I'm digging out albums to re-listen. It made me think about that thread recently, you know the Music Lover or whatever, where everyone was splitting hairs over gear and musical love. Here I have a set-up that I'm quite sure many audiophiles would laugh at, yet it sounds amazing. Doesn't cost hardly anything in the big scheme of things. There's no excuse for a music lover to not have some means of listening nowadays.

My, my ,my....so off topic. I'm just blabbing so much today. I'll see if putting food in my mouth helps. Chat later John-doggy, peace out homeboy...

[poppachubby]

Oh and BTW John?.....PUUULLLLL THE TAPEWORM OUTTA YOUR AZZ....HEY!!!

[Ajani]

I remember reading a review of the Krell 400xi in Stereophile where they nearly smoked the unit on the test bench. Here's a clip from the bench review;

"To precondition an amplifier before testing, I run it at one-third power into 8 ohms for an hour. For an amplifier with a class-B output stage, this thermally stresses the amplifier to the maximum extent. To my alarm, after 15 minutes of driving 67Wpc into 8 ohms, the top panel of the KAV-400xi above the internal heatsinks was way too hot to touch, implying a temperature well above 60ºC; the chassis was also too hot to touch and smelled of hot insulation. More alarming, the distortion level, a good 0.05% when the amplifier was cold, had risen to 0.15% and was continuing to rise. Worried about the amplifier being damaged by thermal runaway, I concluded the preconditioning at that point. "

The funny thing was that the unit did NOT exhibit that behavior during the review! I give you this clip from the subjective review;

"My KAV-400xi got somewhat warmer than body temperature, but never so hot as to discourage catnaps on the part of a tired but relentlessly exploratory kitten."

You have to remember that JA's test is to see whether the amp can be driven hard (party volume levels)... during the subjective review, it's likely that only "normal" listening levels were used...

[Geoffcin]

You have to remember that JA's test is to see whether the amp can be driven hard (party volume levels)... during the subjective review, it's likely that only "normal" listening levels were used...

I agree, but really it's all about the speakers. Normal load for a "normal" sound level is a pretty subjective thing. Normal with Avantguarde horns will be a lot different than with Apogee Scintillas. While some amps are magic with high efficiency speakers (think SET's and horns) one of Krells claim to fame is the ability to drive ANY speaker under ANY load. Still, I don't think most people will be able to drive this amp into thermal distress no matter what speaker they have it hooked up to.

FWIW; I drove my old PS Audio 200c (400wpc into 4 ohms) into thermal shutdown once. Took me three hours of high level listening and I enjoyed every minute of it!

[frenchmon]

I truly have no idea what this means.


lol

kinda came out of left field...took me by surprize.

After thinking about it again, I'm still laughing.

[joseph logston]

i heard that a krell can drive a dead short. they use to advertise this,
are they going down hill now on built quality, they are going for looks now to sell

[poppachubby]

i heard that a krell can drive a dead short. they use to advertise this,
are they going down hill now on built quality, they are going for looks now to sell

Ohhhhhh boyy, you done it now boy, John Michael 'gun make short werk oudda yew...

[Geoffcin]

i heard that a krell can drive a dead short. they use to advertise this,
are they going down hill now on built quality, they are going for looks now to sell

Before a war starts I can assure you that build quality at Krell is NOT going down.

What looks like happened was that in order to get a sleeker look the engineers at Krell went with a decision to use less heaksinking per wattage than they used to have. Most people are never going to run their amps at a level that would remotely approach thermal overload anyway, so why provide such massive sinks that would never be used?

FWIW, sleeker sells. Nobody wants to spend large $$$ on clunky looking gear. Take a look at Krells top of the line stuff. Sleek and stunning. And it better be when you could buy a 500 series Mercedes for the same $$$.

[JohnMichael]

Joseph I do not think Krell has lost their way. The amp is solidly built and fit and finish are excellent. I am enjoying the Krell S-300i very much.





http://www.musicdirect.com/products/images.php?i=1&p=72203&h=86025


This is a link to an internal picture of the S-300i

[poppachubby]

Joseph I do not think Krell has lost their way. The amp is solidly built and fit and finish are excellent. I am enjoying the Krell S-300i very much.





http://www.musicdirect.com/products/images.php?i=1&p=72203&h=86025


This is a link to an internal picture of the S-300i

That's it!?! C'mon John, where's your fighting spirit? (Twangy guitars fade in) "Stand by your amp, give it two arms to cling to, stand by your amp..."

[squidboyw]

I am a Krell fan, and my system has been primarily Krell based since 1985. I can't say that all of my equipment has been problem free (something seems to blow up every 5 years or so), but I can state that over all, I'm more than happy with the quality and price vs value aspect.

I also think their service, in terms of repair is very reasonable. I did haul my whole system out to Orange, CT in 2003 for service, and was aforded a tour of the whole plant (except for the area where the LAT speakers were being developed). It was very interesting to be able to meet and talk to the individuals who actually assembled ones equipment!

[Mr Peabody]

What are you driving with your Krell? I haven't had as much of their gear as you but I have never had anything blow.

[squidboyw]

First, I must specify what I blew:

1 channel in a KPA,(1986) then later,
1 channel in a KBL, (1988)then
I wanted my pair of KBLs tweaked and matched for dual mono (1996), then
1 of my MDA-300 amps (2000), then the other
MDA-300 amp - this is when I drove to Orange CT (2003)
lastly, my FPB 700cx had 1 channel fail 20 months ago.

I don't think I am driving anything very hard. Most of their lives, my Krell amps (KSA-50, KSA-80B (one of my fav's), MDA-300, & FPB700cx) have pushed B&W 808 speakers in tri-wire configuration. I have NEVER seen the little idiot lights that indicate over-driving go on with the 808s. I have only gone crazy once when I first got the FPB 700 - I placed a lit candle in front of the port in the 808s and tried to blow it out with volume. Certain substances were involved in that episode and the whole experience will not be repeated. Currently, the big Krell is powering a (soon to be modded ) set of Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers to great effect.

As can be expected, I have been in contact with Krell ( a shout out to Steven Leckrone if you are listening) and have asked about my equipment experiences. They have told me that equipment does fail, and maybe I have more of those in my system then many, but they don't think it is anything I am doing or driving that has been the problem.

[Mr Peabody]

I bet that 700 is a beast. I would have thought that Krell had better quality control especially for the price of those amps.

[squidboyw]

Mr Peabody, you have it nailed concerning the 700! That is a 200LB unit with sharp edges. It is not something I move often. It is a very satisfying amp in terms of performance; quick, powerful, great bass control, great presence, and well designed, in terms of connections (no RCA input though - just cast and XLR). Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers have a rep for less than stellar bass. I moved both my pairs around to different units to power them before I displaced the B&W 808 and used the FPB 700. With that amp, it is hard to tell that they are the same speakers. I never got complaints from the people on the floor above me with the DQ-10s till they were powered by the 700; now its 'Turn that BASS DOWN'. Telling those people that I don't have tone controls doesn't seem to make a difference to them. I have had other Krell amps, and other amps beside Krell, and the 700 is the most satisfying of them all.

[Service department]

Hello Squidboyw, this is Steven Leckrone, I know I have seen the email address before but cant not remmmeber the name. Next time you have issues with your gear contact me directly. steven@theservicedepartmentct.com (www.krellservice.com)

1 channel in a KPA,(1986) then later,
1 channel in a KBL, (1988)then
I wanted my pair of KBLs tweaked and matched for dual mono (1996), then
1 of my MDA-300 amps (2000), then the other
MDA-300 amp - this is when I drove to Orange CT (2003)
lastly, my FPB 700cx had 1 channel fail 20 months ago.

I don't think I am driving anything very hard. Most of their lives, my Krell amps (KSA-50, KSA-80B (one of my fav's), MDA-300, & FPB700cx) have pushed B&W 808 speakers in tri-wire configuration. I have NEVER seen the little idiot lights that indicate over-driving go on with the 808s. I have only gone crazy once when I first got the FPB 700 - I placed a lit candle in front of the port in the 808s and tried to blow it out with volume. Certain substances were involved in that episode and the whole experience will not be repeated. Currently, the big Krell is powering a (soon to be modded ) set of Dahlquist DQ-10 speakers to great effect.

As can be expected, I have been in contact with Krell ( a shout out to Steven Leckrone if you are listening) and have asked about my equipment experiences. They have told me that equipment does fail, and maybe I have more of those in my system then many, but they don't think it is anything I am doing or driving that has been the problem.[/QUOTE]