Bass,power and tremendous soundstage.

Gets a little hot!

Believe the hype. Believe that this amp can and will make your speakers come alive. I have the Rote 993 and the Proceed Amp2 and both are fine products, however, the Krell's soundstage and raw power really makes my Snell's xa60's rock. The Snell's are renowned for their bass output when you can match it up with a great amp and trust me this is a great amp. Test this amp with Sarah McLachlan's Mirrorball live alblum and you will hear and believe the hype.

Similar Products Used:

Rotel and Proceed

Soundstage( deep, dynamic and very clean powerful bass.)

If your room is not properly set up, the above strengths don't shine.

I was at my local hi-end audio dealer and they just received a pair of Martin Logan's ($6,000 a pair) and they had it set ups with the Krell heat system with the Arcam FMJ 23. I currently own 2 pieces of the HEAT system, the kav 250a/3 and the Krell Home Theater Standard and the FMJ23, so I was very familar with hardware but looking to purchase a stereo amp with some power and deep soundstage. I must admit that my listening room at home is not ideal but I've seen worse. Wtih that fact in mine I was completly blown away with the KAV 250/a amp. The demo set up was ideal, the Logan's were at least 4 feet from the rear walls and about 8 feet from the sides and the listening chair was 10 feet on center. The deep and enormous soundstage that this amp produced was a total shock to me because I basically have everthing the store has but the space of the room and I only get half the dynamics this amp is capable of achieving. Sitting in the chair I quickly and briefly thought about our friends who read and write opinions about Krell and how they say su**s and are overpriced. I could understand now why they may come up these conclusion:
1) Their listening room or in most cases the demo room at their local hifi store is not ideal.
2) the associated equipment demoed with the amps are not up to speed.
3) they are very jealous they can't afford the products
The lesson that I learned, don't be so quick to knock a product unless you are certain about the room conditions and harware is close to ideal.

Equipment OWNED
KRELL Kav250a Kav 250a/3 Home Theater Standard(A/V Processor)
Arcam FMJ cd23
Snell Speakers

Similar Products Used:

Proceed, Rotel, McCormack etc...

plenty of power

tubby low end, closed sound stage, price

I expected much more from Krell. This product is not cheap, and is completely outmatched by my arc-100, and my old threshold. Granted the arc gear is much more expensive but the sound is night and day.

I'm driving Martin Logans (reQuest) on a primary system, and have moved the Krell on a pair of maggie 1.6qr. The maggies are "kinder" to this amp then the ML, however I'll probably sell the Krell and find a better, more open and dynamic amp.

Similar Products Used:

arc vt-100.2 /threshold

Smooth, sweet sound, Good bass extention.

SLIGHT lack of depth in soundstage

After extensive reading I narrowed the field to 5 amps that were available in my area. The Bryston 4B, Classe CA300, BelCanto, the 300W Adcom and the Krell. All were fine amps. For me the choice at this point was subjective. The Bryston offered and extremely tight clear soundstage with excellent detail, but I found it boring to listen to. The sound it produced was absolutely correct, but was not musical. The BelCanto, a local make, had a slight sheen to the high end, especially noticable on "s" sounds. (In fairness it was rated for about half the power of the others but was about the same price)The Adcom also lacked grace and refinement in the top end. Not quite a true high end player. The Classe was too soft by quite a bit, as if there were pieces of foam behind the speaker grills. I was also not impressed with the dynamics or bass control. When I auditioned the Krell I knew it was "the one" for me. The sound is sweet and involving, yet no details or accuracy are sacrificed. Mouth sounds are wet, symbols sound like wood on metal, strings are full with good inner resolution but are never too fat or edgy. I found myself listening through my preselected test tracks into the next tracks on the CD's. This amp made me want to keep listening and listening and....you get the idea. It took about 2 months to break the amp in and still sounds it's best after 30 minutes or so of operation. If you audition one be sure it is properly broken in and warmed up. For me the sound of this amp is magical. I know I'll be very happy with it for a long time to come. I gave it 4 stars because it is a little on the pricey side.

Similar Products Used:

Bryston 4B, Classe CA300, Adcom

Good build quality, good sound, and nice to look at

Price, Binding posts-would have prefered to be able to by-wire.

I found this amp to be a great amplifier. I did find the Amp 2 to be similar to it but just did not have the impact of the Krell. I wanted a good stereo amp and had a B&K. I wanted a larger soundstage. I wanted more depth. When I listened to the Amp 2 I found it to be a great value. The sound stage did not seem to be as wide or deep as the krell though. I was using B&W Nautilus 803 with the Krell and Paridigm Studio 100s and Snell X-80?. The Krell had the advantage though in the speakers. I bought the Krell and have been using it for around 11 months now. I plan on upgrading to the Krell FPB-200. I will always want more, I am never satisfied. When I heard the Krell FPB-600 I was in love. That is the perfect amp in my opinion. The KAV-250 gave me some of the 600, not enough though. That was all that I could afford at the time and have been happy with my perchase since. I will move this amp to my home theater amp when I upgrade. So if you don't like Krell stay away from it. I find Krells to draw me into the music more than the others that I have heard. This amp is a great amp, can you buy better, of course. Do you need to spend more? It depends on what components are in your system. I chose the Paradigm Studio 100s and the matching center. I plan on buying the B&W Nautilus 804 or 803 later. Listen and decide. Make sure the components and room are of good quality before you decide. You will like it.

Similar Products Used:

Krell FPB-600, Theta Dreadnought, Proceed Amp2, Rotel many of them, Macintosh many also, B&K.

vocals,vocals,vocals,bass control,soundstage

price,quality,(see below),edgy,strident

the first amp brought home kept popping my left speaker. (b&w 802m s3).tested at dealer.they gave me a new one thank you.i let burn in for 3 days while out of state.the vocals are wet,lucious.(sarahM).nice bass control.imaging perfect with musicians placed not to high (like my adcom5500)or to low.this amp does vocals better than music.i a/b against my bedini 150classic i recieved in trade with friend.the krell seemed slow and no punch compared to the bedini.i could not believe how good this 14yr old bedini sounded.musical,fast and punchy!!! you could feel the weight of the instrument. it felt like i had a piano in my living room. The Krell did not sound like this to me. Accurate, analytical the krell sounded. comparing to bedini it was edgy and harsh on strings and keys ,etc. when krell was turned up loud it just got loud no extra weight. thin sounding. it fatiged me at high levels. overall the krell is a well sounding amp it did better the bedini in vocals. it is $1000 overpriced for $2300 it is right on. if i had not heard the bedini next to it i would have kept. i traded in for new bedini amp (bedini 200/200 classic)$2495 retail operates in pure class A. maybe this is why the 150 walked all over the krell. www.bedini.com. i give the krell 4.5* because of excellent vocals.i give it 2.5* for value.

Similar Products Used:

bedini 150/150 classic,cj mf2100,adcom5500,rotel1095,nad2400

Power, and lots of it.

none, that I'm aware of.

I was in a stereo shop with a buddy. we were in the
video room when I heard some tunes from another room.
I went over to the room, the stereo was running at a
moderate level, I sat down and began to listen.
There were many components in the room and it took a while to figure out the ones that were being used.

It was the KAV250a and a krell pre-amp.
I was jamming out for only a few min when a salesman
came in. I asked to be left alone and he honored my request.
15 min. later I talked to the salesman again.
I enquiered the price of the KAV 250.
I was told that there were none in stock and that they were
back orded.
I told him that I liked the amp and wanted one.
He said he could sell me the demo unit for $2500.
I said "its a deal".
I put $500 down and when I had the rest of the money I went to pick it up.
The saleman was no longer there, terminated!
I produced the sales slip and the clerk had a fit.
Another one, he said.
What do you mean, I asked.
He replied, This is the fifth sale of the same amp.
I asked how are we going to fix the problem and I was offered a new KAV 250 for the same price!!!!!!!!!!
A great sounding amp at a great deal, WOW!!!!!

If you are in Atlanta Go to Auodio Forest.
They will treat you good and honor there mistakes.
Some times its how a company corrects a mistake that will
show how good that company really is.

Even at $3000 its a good deal!
Good looking too.

Quality sound, appearance, reputation, fit and finish

None

The Krell KAV 250a is the heart of my sound system, powering a pair of Magneplanar 1.6's. The Maggies are exceptionally transparent and would reveal any flaw in the Krell. But with the exception of live music,I have never heard music sound better.

Associated equipment includes the Myryad MC-100 CD player and Conrad-Johnson PFR line-stage preamplifier together with a Vandersteen 2Wq subwoofer, Nordost Blue Heaven speaker cables and Kimber Hero interconnects. The amp looks top drawer, performs flawlessly.

I have a pair of Magneplanar 3.6's on order though I'm not sure how much more enjoyment they might add to my listening experience for the extra cost. But with the Krell powering my current system, whether listening to classical, jazz, rock, or alternative music, the experience is simply astonishing.

While there are likely "better" amplifiers, and certainly there are more expensive amps, I feel that I don't need to take time away from the pleasure of listening to music to chase a slight improvement. If you include the Krell KAV250a as you assemble your system, you certainly increase the odds that the system will reward you with years of musical pleasure. There are times that I am stunned by the sound and other moments when I can't help but break into a smile. You know what I mean. Wow. (And I once thought all amps sounded the same!) Best of luck with your system.

Similar Products Used:

None

Soundstage, Bass control, warmth.

plastic binding posts---other than that, I can't really fault any area as not having compared it to other like amps.

The bass control was the first positive sonic area of this amp that stood out. "Wow" is all I said when hearing the slam that my Hales Revelation 3's were now capable of. Even out of the box, the bass control is quite evident. This amp has power reserves in spades, and can handle the most difficult speaker loads out there. Of course, that is what Krell is famous for in their line of amps.

The highs and mids were somewhat "dark" at first. The amp needs to break in. Where some other amps might sound bright until broken in, this amp sounded on the dark side. But over time(several weeks) the amp began to open up and sing. I have heard some people complain about an upfront presentation asscoiated with this amp, but I can't say that is the case with my experience. It could be because I use an analog only front end. Yep, that's right, no cd player. And my preamp might be better matched to this amp than some others. I use the tubed Audible Illusions Mod 3.

I previously used a Belles 200 amp for 12 years. I cannot say enough about the value of that amp or Dave Belles' current lineup. Great value for the money. But I must admit that the Belles 200 could not stand up to the Krell in most areas of reproduction. The Belles did give some "bloom" to the music, a trait that seems to be there in his line including his latest models. But the imaging delivered by the Krell is more detailed along with the reproduction of vocals. The top end seems wonderful to me, but as I said in "weaknesses" above, I have not compared this amp to many others or more expensive monoblocks.

The build quality is impressive inside and out (except for the cheap plastic speaker binding posts!).

Listen for yourself. What kind of music do you listen to? Do your speakers drop down in ohms? I love the control it has over my Hales. If I owned very efficent speakers, then I might listen to single ended triodes. But for my speakers, the Krell controls them perfectly.

Very powerful, stable, great build quality, asthetics, great customer support, good documentation, great resale value.

Very heavy, wont fit some audio racks as it is wider than normal audio products, gets too warm for enclosed cabinets.

I really like the Krell 250a amp (the same for the Krell 250a3 as well), the sound is solid and consistant, very powerful, sounded much like my Mark Levinson No 23 amp, and sounded more powerful than a 450w Sunfire Sig Cinema Grand that it replaced. The workmanship is first class as is construction and customer support at Krell. I dont like the idea of taking the amp apart to bridge it, it should have a switch for this, and I also dont like how very warm it gets, not good for enclosed cabinets, even if the front is open. Overall very very good otherwise.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire Cinema Grand, Sunfire Signature Cinema Grand, Mark Levinson No 23.