sweet,well balance,good focusing,airy

this amp has good character to drive most speakers.it should not be classified on the border line class a by stereophile gurus.go for the second hand you will not sell it.it is one of the 100 watts transitor amp that should not be missed

Similar Products Used:

classe,ml,plinius sa100mkii,

Sense of ease of delivery; bass tautness/slam authority; transparency

I haven't compared it to its closest competitor, so I can't comment on it.

Other than great bass tautness, slam, pitch definition, midrange transparency, the thing that comes to mind when I upgraded from my old(but decent)B&K ST-140 driving a Totem Model One, to the Krell KSA-100S driving the same speaker is the difference in acceleration & power between driving a 1.6 liter 4 cylinder car to a 5.0 liter V8.
I love this amp. It's most likely be bettered by Krell's top of the line FPB series or Mark Levinsons, but this is an amp that I could live forever with. It's got a battleship caliber of construction.
The only thing that I could wish for is a standby feature.
I'm only giving it a 4 star because of the new Krells & Mark Levinsons. But without considering the other amps, then it's definitely a five star amp.

Decent base slam, "accurate" sound, great build quality

Not as musical as others.

Not a bad amp but I also own Classe CA-200 solid state amp and Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a. Overall, I would say that the Krell is "accurate" and fast but not as musically engaging as my Classe CA-200 or CJ Premier 11a. Krell certainly makes great gear but for my ears (and wallet) I prefer Classe or even better, the CJ Premier 11a tube amp. I find those are more enjoyable for long-term listening with no fatigue.

Similar Products Used:

Classe CA-200, Conrad-Johnson Premier 11a

Amazingly sweet and airy. Extremely musical amplifier

Slight lack of weight with hungry speakers.

Upgrading from an Audio Analogue combo into something so massive .. I had not expected it to achieve such musical and sweetness...Originally thought that all I would get was more power and solidirity.. Obviously not so.. this amp is really something I could live with for a very long time.. I love it!!

Sweet high and mid, relatively easy to ear, solid built with high quality parts

Not as dynamic as the KSA200S due to the lack of bass(when compared to KSA200S or FPB200)

First I would like to clarify that this amp retailed at $5500 when new, not $4900 as appeared on the title.
KSA100S is the amp that you can live with forever if you are not a big rock music fan. For jazz, vocal, soft music with a little sensitivity on the speaker, this amp can give you the sound that you may think coming from tube amp. Personally, I prefer a little bit more slam for my taste although I am not into any heavy metal music, I prefer more average performance rather than particularly excellent in one or two aspects(in this case, mid and high). Soundstage is a little shallower compared to the best tube amp like VAC PA90C1 or CJ Premier 11a. For solid state, I don't think KSA100S is a flaw at all. This is probably all you can get for a solid state amp retailed at this price. Besides, KSA100S can drive a lot of difficult speaker loads like B & W CDM 1SE or those big Martin Logan to satisfactory level without strain. Well, this is what Krell does best.
Don't get me wrong, KSA100S is among the top five solid state amp I listened or owned before. With its reliability, excellent engineering and built quality, I don't think you can go wrong with it. If I can swing another thousand or two, I will go for the KSA200S or even the FPB200 for more average performance.
From a tubephile like me, I can give KSA100S five stars for its performance, four stars for the price(everybody wants to pay less for everything, right?)

Similar Products Used:

Ayre V3, FPB200, VAC PA90C1, McCormack DNA.5,, Levinson 27, Bryston 3BST