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I used HDMI for audio and video connection to the Oppo BDP-83 and my cable box. I connected the audio-only Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD player with HDMI and balanced XLR, and, just for kicks, the Oppo with six RCA cables to the 707's multichannel analog inputs. Analog inputs can be used as a pure analog path, the Krell contributing only the volume control and output stage; but these inputs can also be digitized, affording use of bass management and other processing. At the output, I connected my Bryston 9B-SST five-channel power amplifier to the RCA outputs, and later via the balanced XLRs. Since…
It was a dark and stormy night. A biting, cold wind cut through Sam's skimpy jacket; ice crystals clung tenaciously to his bushy moustache. As he approached his front door, visions of a toasty-warm, Krell-heated listening room softened the chill. He could feel the glow already; his Krell amp had been on all day, awaiting his return.
As he entered his listening room, Sam recoiled in horror.
Psycho-esque strings crashed into the silence of his imagination as the chill of the room hit him. On the floor between the loudspeakers was not his trusty Krell KSA-250, but a new KSA-300S…
A remote control is provided to either shut down the entire amplifier or shut off the dancing plateau lights for those bothered by them. (The blue power-on light cannot be shut off without powering-down the amplifier.) While this simple, two-button remote seems superfluous, the ability to check the plateau indicators, then shut them off again, might be useful.
The other aspects of the KSA-300S's design are more conventional, though by no means conventionally executed. The amplifier is direct-coupled; there are no capacitors in the signal path. Instead, electronic servos are used to…
Everything came together with the KSA-300S in the reproduction of "On the Boardwalk" from Rickie Lee Jones's Girl At Her Volcano (Japanese Warner Bros. CD WPCP-3710). The 300S's superbly smooth yet detailed high end was tied to a punchy bottom end and stunning dynamic range. But I came nowhere near to using the Krell's maximum power output. While peeling myself off the listening room's back wall, I noted that only the second-level plateau indicator lights on the front panel had illuminated—indicative of, at best, half power output.
I could tell something special was happening in my…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid-state stereo power amplifier. Power rating: 300Wpc into 8 ohms, doubles with each halving of load impedance down to 1 ohm (24.8dBW). Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz, +0.0dB, –0.1dB; 1Hz–150kHz, +0.0dB, –3dB. Distortion: <0.1% at 1kHz, <0.3% at 20kHz, full power. Slew rate: 100V/µs. Input sensitivity: 2.5V rms. Gain: 25.5dB. Damping factor: >120. S/N ratio: 110dB. Input impedance: 47k ohms. Power consumption, idle: 130W.
Dimensions: 19" W by 8.5" H by 24" D. Weight: 185 lbs (net).
Serial numbers of samples tested: 34-40334 &…
Sidebar 2: Measurements
Following the 1/3-power, one-hour preconditioning test, the KSA-300S's heatsinks were hot, though not too hot to touch. Interestingly, though it was driving only 100W into 8 ohms during this test, the bias level 3 lights came on. This was somewhat surprising, since the owner's manual indicates approximately 75% rated power for this bias level (225W into 8 ohms). Checking the precise point at which the bias-level lights illuminated, I obtained approximately 100mW for level 1 (113mW left, 97mW right), 17W for level 2, 84W for level 3, and 253W for level 4. (There…
"Stanley, see this? This is this. This ain't something else. This is this."—Michael, inThe Deer Hunter
The ultimate goal of the hi-fi enthusiast is the enjoyment of pre-recorded music in the home. But, strange as it may seem, hi-fi hobbyists embroil themselves in endless debate over the finer points of this enjoyment: Do cables matter? Do all amplifiers sound the same? Are LPs better than CDs? There are hundreds more—just read any Internet forum on hi-fi any day of any week. With such a seemingly simple end—the enjoyment of music—why so much discord and disagreement over the means?
…
We received a large numbe of emails in response to Michael's essay:
Right on!
Editor: Michael's October "As We See It" was and is beautiful and right on. Thank you!—Hal Marcus, Address withheld by request
Enjoy them for what they are
Editor: Michael Lavorgna's "Why Music Matters Most" editorial hit the nail on the head. Somehow, we audiophiles have to learn to enjoy the sounds our systems reproduce. It's "the art of recording" we are all listening to. I believe there is no harm in enjoying the recording, even if it falls short of the perfectly reproduced sound. I…
Fallacious fruit
Editor: Michael Lavorgna's "As We See It" essay in October confuses apples and oranges. He suggests that, just as art lovers don't expect paintings of apples to taste like a MacIntosh, so music lovers should not expect recordings of concerts to sound like, er, the concerts recorded. Pardon?
His analogy is fallacious. I don't view a painting to see how an apple looks (or tastes), but for the artist's interpretation of "appleness." Accordingly, I expect a reproduction of that painting to appear as much like the original picture as possible; after all, reproduction…
Bordering on the absurd?
Editor: Sorry but I could not disagree more with this column. While I do agree that all of this stuff is subjective, to merely state that this subjectivity abolishes all objectivity borders on the absurd. Hi-fi is merely the art of finding components that one "likes"? Why bother having reviews or magazines like Stereophile at all? In Lavorgna's opinion, it's all just a matter of taste anyways.
Hi-fi components are borne of science and technology, they are most definitely not works of art. A painting is an artist's interpretation of reality which often…