Krell KAV-400xi Integrated Amplifier

Krell KAV-400xi Integrated Amplifier

by Philip Beaudette

Review Summary Sound “The KAV-400xi tends towards a slightly warm sound, never straying into a cool, sometimes clinical realm. It was rhythmic, fluid and smooth, and its clean delivery had me turning up the volume just to hear music energize my room.” “With 200Wpc on tap, the KAV-400xi made pointless any concerns about power output. Even when played loud, the KAV-400xi never showed a sign of strain or compression.” “One of the defining sonic characteristics of the ‘400xi was its ability at reproducing a credible soundstage. In this regard, it is one of the best integrated amps I’ve heard.” Features “A low-negative-feedback design that features a fully balanced signal path from input to output. All circuitry up to the driver stage is pure class A.” “Flexibility is one the ‘400xi’s strengths. Turn the unit around and you’ll see three pairs of single-ended RCA inputs, a tape input and output as well as one balanced XLR input.” Use “Unfortunately the remote control doesn’t meet the same aesthetic standard as the rest of the package. It’s a credit-card-styled number that, although very thin and discrete, felt cheap in comparison to everything else. In its defense, it worked well and did everything I needed.” Value “This is an integrated that should keep that nasty upgrade bug away for some time. When the bug does bite, be sure you have deep pockets, because higher performance won’t come cheap.”

Writing audio reviews has afforded me the rare opportunity of auditioning a wide range of products, and lately I’ve been listening to a number of integrated amplifiers. As each new integrated goes into my system, I have expectations based on my experiences with those that have gone before. Each time I hear something I like, the performance bar is raised for everything that follows. Most recently I’ve been listening to the $2500 USD KAV-400xi, which until recently was the top stereo integrated amp in Krell’s lineup (that honor now belongs to the FBI, a $16,000 300Wpc behemoth). The KAV-400xi represented the first time I’d ever listened to something from the well-known American manufacturer, and I wasn’t sure what to expect. After a couple of months with the KAV-400xi, I think it’s safe to say that the performance bar for integrated amplifiers just keeps inching upwards. Keep reading for details.

Description

Krell Industries has been designing and building audio components since 1980, and today the company not only makes electronics for stereo and home-theater use, but loudspeakers as well. If you’re concerned about synergy, Krell makes your life easy by offering everything, including cables, to build a system the company claims is greater than the sum of its parts.

I couldn’t test that assertion as I only auditioned the KAV-400xi, an integrated amp that boasts 200Wpc into 8 ohms and 400Wpc into 4. The unit is a low-negative-feedback design that features a fully balanced signal path from input to output. All circuitry up to the driver stage is pure class A. As with all Krell components, the ‘400xi’s bandwidth is greater than 300kHz, which Krell claims results in nearly flawless reproduction in the audible range.

Flexibility is one the ‘400xi’s strengths. Turn the unit around and you’ll see three pairs of single-ended RCA inputs, a tape input and output as well as one balanced XLR input. Although Krell advocates the use of balanced connections, I was forced to use the single-ended inputs because my CD player isn’t balanced. The preamplifier section also comes equipped with RCA outputs for those who wish to use it independently of the amplifier section or for biamping. Furthermore, there is an RC-5 input as well as a 12V trigger input if the user wants to turn the unit on or put it in standby mode through other components. Conversely, there is also a 12V trigger for control of other components with the ‘400xi.

On the right side of the front panel is the power switch, above which is located an LED to indicate when the unit is turned on (it glows blue) or in standby (red). Input selectors are on the center of the faceplate as is the button to select the tape input. Finally there is a Mute button and a small display used to view volume or the channel balance, which can be adjusted using the remote. A machined aluminum volume knob completes the appearance; its silky-smooth operation made it a pleasure to use.

Depending on your setup, one particularly useful feature of the KAV-400xi may be its Theater ThroughputÔ mode, which allows you to bypass the volume and balance controls of the ‘400xi and instead delegate that control to an external surround-sound processor. When Theater Throughput is engaged the amplifier section can be used to power two speakers in a home theater setup. This is a useful option because it allows the powerful ‘400xi to drive the front two channels in a home theater. I don’t even own a television, so I never used this option, but in an industry driven by features, this option may sway some buyers.

The KAV-400xi measures 17 3/8″W x 3 1/2″H x 17″D and weighs a hefty 30 pounds. Although it’s relatively slim, the ‘400xi has nearly square dimensions, and its solid weight made it feel very sturdy. The review unit came in the Krellcoat finish, a sleek silver color that looked very sharp. A couple of people who saw it were very impressed and commented on how expensive it looked. If you value aesthetics as much as performance, you’ll love this integrated.

Unfortunately the remote control doesn’t meet the same aesthetic standard as the rest of the package. It’s a credit-card-styled number that, although very thin and discrete, felt cheap in comparison to everything else. In its defense, it worked well and did everything I needed.

Sound

There are numerous ways to tweak the design of a solid-state integrated amplifier. Some companies cut corners by using lower-quality components or skimping on the power supply. Others design and build each piece with painstaking attention to detail such that cost isn’t considered. Of these two philosophies, Krell certainly falls into the latter school of thought. Good solid-state designs typically feature extended highs, taut and tuneful bass that can pack a wallop, and a low noise floor that enables impressive detail retrieval. The KAV-400xi qualifies as a “good” solid-state integrated amp.

The KAV-400xi tends towards a slightly warm sound, never straying into a cool, sometimes clinical realm. It was rhythmic, fluid and smooth, and its clean delivery had me turning up the volume just to hear music energize my room. I wasn’t ever disappointed. With 200Wpc on tap, the KAV-400xi made pointless any concerns about power output. Even when played loud, the ‘400xi never showed a sign of strain or compression. In my room and with my listening habits it wasn’t possible to exhaust the KAV-400xi’s power reserves. Unless your room is enormous, your speakers are very insensitive or you are trying to reproduce rock-concert SPLs, the KAV-400xi has all the power you’ll ever need.

Associated EquipmentLoudspeakers – PSB M2 and Energy Reference Connoisseur RC-70. Integrated amplifiers – NAD C372, Flying Mole CA-S10. CD player – NAD C542. Interconnects – AudioQuest Copperhead. Speaker cables – AudioQuest Type 4.

One of the defining sonic characteristics of the ‘400xi was its ability at reproducing a credible soundstage. In this regard, it is one of the best integrated amps I’ve heard. I discovered this while listening to several live rock recordings. Observant readers will have noticed that I typically use a handful of live recordings for critical listening. There is good reason for doing this. High-end audio is about offering a window into the original performance. Re-creating sound to such an exacting standard is a very difficult task, one that is more often than not poorly executed at some point in the audio chain. However, live performances are excellent reference points because most of us have heard live music. When I listen to such recordings I ask myself a simple question: “Am I there or not?” With the KAV-400xi, the answer was a resounding “YES!” Much of my time with the KAV-400xi was spent listening to rock’n’roll, so energetic was its presentation. On Pearl Jam’s Live on Two Legs [Epic EK 69752], the band was spread across a wide stage and surrounded by the screams of adoring fans. Their presence was so well portrayed that I could imagine what it was like being in that audience, which is the goal of any piece of audio equipment.

This you-are-there-ness more was even apparent as I listened to Radiohead’s I Might Be Wrong [EMI 7243 5 36616 2 5]. On “Everything in its Right Place,” images were filled out and well defined. Thom Yorke’s voice sounded huge, occupying the whole front of the stage and easily filling the room. Although the vocals weren’t intended to sound realistic (obviously the human voice radiates from a single point, not a diffuse area of space), the effect is well suited to Radiohead’s music, which conjures dense soundscapes not unlike those of Pink Floyd. With the ‘400xi, the music sounded full and had an excellent sense of depth and layering. As big as they were, images didn’t blend together but remained distinct within their own discernible space. “Dollars and Cents” is interesting in that the tambourine is the focal point of the song, with guitars and drums falling in place behind and around. I’ve seen Radiohead several times, and I don’t ever remember the tambourine sounding so prominent and central. However, the KAV-400xi wasn’t to blame for this. It presented things as they were on the disc, for better or worse. In most cases, it was for the much better.

Another live album I played with the ‘400xi in my equipment rack was Alice In Chains’ Unplugged [Sony Music B000002BM5]. “No Excuses” is a great track for showing off your hi-fi system. It features a big, three-dimensional soundstage and plenty of pop to the percussion, which sets a lively tempo to the song. As with the other live recordings, the KAV-400xi produced a wide wall of sound with good depth (are you starting to notice a theme yet?). Bass was crisp and quick, the sense of timing serving the energy of the piece very well. On “Got Me Wrong,” a guitar starts playing on the right, and is soon joined by the drum kit located back of center and a second guitar on the left side of the stage. As singer Layne Staley comes in, his voice is centered, though not directly out front but rather set back a bit. As I listened to this song I was impressed that the music could sound so real, so present. The only thing I was missing was the matching DVD (it exists).

Switching to a trip-hop disc in the form of Massive Attack’s 1997 album Protection [EMI 7243 8 39883 2 7], I found that the ‘400xi produced bass to the same high standard as its soundstaging. “Heat Miser” features the sound of a person breathing with the help of a respirator, while a simple bass line and piano play around this central image. A friend once said she found the song frightening, but I think it works very well. The material is dense enough to immerse the listener in a scene of his or her own creation. Bass was deep and well controlled, neither obscuring the piano nor the sound of the breathing. The piano added an air of mystery and suspense to the song, the notes sounding crisp, their decay easily audible.

One CD I bought several months ago and have spent a lot of time with is Mazzy Star’s So Tonight That I Might See [EMI, B000002V07]. On “Five-String Serenade” the ‘400xi portrayed the acoustic guitar with a warm, full-bodied tone, while the tambourine shimmered believably behind the plane of the speakers. In this song Star’s voice commands the most attention, her vocals spread out in front of the listener, adding greatly to the perception of space around her position. Similarly, on “Unreflected” the reverb of the drum and Star’s lyrics produce a large almost cavernous space, painting another dark and expansive acoustic environment. This disc showed off everything that the KAV-400xi does well, which is just about everything, period.

Comparison

I’ve discussed at length the impressive soundstaging abilities of the KAV-400xi. For me, this was the most notable of its sonic strengths, and the one I wrote about most frequently in my listening notes. Almost immediately, however, the KAV-400xi reminded me of a more detailed and open-sounding version of my NAD C372 ($899). I don’t say this to slight the Krell integrated, but it does warrant some explanation.

As I wrote in my review, the C372 performs very well in many areas, particularly when one considers how relatively inexpensive it is. However, as good as the NAD integrated is, the Krell is more sophisticated and betters it in many ways. On its own the C372 is a great integrated. However, switching between it and the ‘400xi, I found that the KAV-400xi sounded more open and could produce music that extended well beyond the boundaries of my speakers. Voices and instruments in that crucial midrange region were better separated spatially, and the bass was firmer, providing a more disciplined sound. The differences weren’t subtle, nor would I expect them to be given the gap in their prices. Although it costs considerably more, the Krell KAV-400xi also has considerably more to offer and therefore easily justifies its asking price in relation to its less expensive competition.

Despite all the praise I’ve lavished on the ‘400xi, it’s not perfect. As good as it sounds, it’s not as refined as the Flying Mole CA-S10 ($1795). I’ve never heard an integrated amplifier control the bass driver of a speaker as well as the CA-S10. That little digital wonder produced bass that was as tight as I think I’d hear at just about any price, and warmth or bloat didn’t exist. Furthermore, the noise floor of the Flying Mole integrated leaves something to be desired in the Krell.

Taken on its own the ‘400xi certainly sounds detailed, but not as detailed as the CA-S10. The Krell integrated tends towards a slightly warmer sound, never straying into the sometimes-clinical realm of the CA-S10. The Flying Mole integrated is neutral and detailed to the point of being analytical, whereas the Krell actually sounds a touch loose in comparison, though always remaining musical.

Each of these integrated amps offer a unique sonic signature that I am convinced will appeal to a certain group of listeners. When I consider them all, the KAV-400xi offers the most complete performance, albeit at the highest price. Still, you get what you pay for with it.

Conclusion

I had fun with the Krell KAV-400xi. Its sound was big and powerful, and I played plenty of live music with it because on those discs its sound was very present. This went a long way toward musical fulfillment. While I can’t imagine anyone disliking this integrated amplifier, that doesn’t mean I think everyone will love it. Some listeners may migrate toward a different sound — one that’s even more detailed, darker and sweeter — but I think most will find aspects of the KAV-400xi they respect and even admire.

If you’re looking to buy an integrated amplifier you can live with for a long time, you’d better add the KAV-400xi to your audition shortlist . This is an integrated that should keep that nasty upgrade bug away for some time. When the bug does bite, be sure you have deep pockets, because higher performance won’t come cheap.

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How times have changed. When Krell first debuted its KAV-300i, in 1996, it risked having people question its high-end credibility simply for having considered producing an integrated amplifier, much less an affordable one. After all, Krell was the company best known for massively overbuilt—and, many claimed, overpriced—power amplifiers that were uniquely capable of driving speakers of ridiculously low impedance. In Martin Colloms’ review of the 300i in the July 1996 Stereophile, he asked the question on everyone’s minds: “Is Krell risking its reputation?”

As it turned out, no. True, the KAV-300i wasn’t designed to drive Apogee’s 1-ohm Scintillas the way Krell’s massive separates could, but Krell had designed an integrated that would test the proposition that a properly designed single-box component could rival or surpass the performance of more costly separates. It had just been so long since anyone had attempted such a feat that most audiophiles had never even imagined it possible.

Today, high-performance integrateds are, if not thick on the ground, common enough that no eyebrow is raised at the prospect. Krell obviously took this as a new challenge, and went back to the drawing board. The KAV-400xi outputs 200Wpc to the 300i’s 150Wpc, and takes its cue cosmetically from Krell’s sleek Showcase line, which uses stout corner posts and milled aluminum panels to create a bombproof chassis. It also sports a continuous-spin digital volume control, balanced circuit topology, and a slick little membrane credit-card remote—and, at $2500, costs just $150 more than the almost-10-year-old 300i.

It has always been a truism that Krell is serious about build quality; now we know they’re serious about that value thing, too.

Truth! stark naked truth, is the word
That post-and-panel aluminum architecture isn’t just window dressing—Krell wants the chassis to be rigid and nonmagnetic. And big: The amplifier’s 17″ depth enables the KAV-400xi to house its massive power supply at a distance from its audio circuit boards, which are stacked adjacent to the rear panel’s inputs and outputs. The power supply itself, located in the front half of the chassis, consists of an 800VA toroidal transformer, a 55,000µF capacitive reservoir, and discrete regulators for the preamp and power-amp sections.

Krell says the KAV-400xi’s gain stages are derived from the same ultra-high-bandwidth, low-noise, current-mode technology that the company developed for its KCT class-A series preamp. The output stage uses six parallel-linked high-speed bipolar transistors for each channel’s positive and negative legs (because it’s a balanced design, that totals 24). This clever system trades on the rapid response of low-rated output devices without eschewing the brute force of their global output. And it works—the 400xi is specified as delivering 200Wpc into 8 ohms and 400Wpc into 4 ohms.

The audio circuits are symmetrical and differentially balanced. In keeping with Krell tradition, the circuit is class-A up to the output stage, and the output is DC-coupled to the speakers. The audio circuit board is flanked by two substantial internal heatsinks, and the amp’s top and bottom plates are liberally vented to enable heat dissipation. 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.

Volume control is effected by a resistive-ladder network, and the source switches are linked by relays to the rear panel’s inputs. There’s a single balanced source input (pin 2 hot) and three single-ended inputs, including the tape monitor. There’s a preamp output, and speaker connection is by way of WBT binding posts—one of which the no-longer-napping kitten managed to snap off with a flying tackle when I precariously balanced the amplifier on its faceplate to change speaker cables. Even broken, however, it grasped the spade lug securely. There are also 12V input and output triggers, an RC-5 remote control input, and an IEC socket.

The faceplate is sleek to the point of stealth. There’s a tiny power/standby pushbutton, a small round IR receptor, and six tiny pushbutton switches (B1, S1, S2, S3, Tape, Mute), each with a tiny LED indicator directly above it. A small fluorescent display window and a round-capped rotary volume control complete the facilities.

There is no balance control—but the KAV-400xi uses a balanced resistor ladder for volume control, so of course the amp’s balance can be adjusted. That’s where its credit-card remote comes in. I’m probably just stupid, but I had the dickens of a time figuring out the remote. It’s a universal model that also works with other Krell components, and it has a pair of source switches at the top, labeled CD and Pre. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me that I had to press Pre before every command or the 400xi wouldn’t accept it. I suspect that wired remote input on the rear panel is the giveaway—Krell assumes its customers will be using a system remote or home automation system such as those made by Crestron.

If you’ve a yen for incorporating your two-channel system into a multichannel home-theater setup, the KAV-400xi’s assignable Theater Throughput mode toggles the designated input into and out of unity gain.

I am as true as truth’s simplicity
The KAV-400xi doesn’t require any real setup. Just connect the inputs, speaker cables, and AC cable, and turn it on. It sounded pretty good straight off, seemed to blossom a bit after about 10 minutes, and that was that. I didn’t notice much improvement with additional burn-in.

The Krell DVD Standard DVD player is fully balanced, so I used the B1 input on the amp and plugged the Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista 3D CD player into S1. I couldn’t detect a noticeable difference between balanced and single-ended operation, but the 400xi is balanced from input to output; if your most critical source offers balanced outs, there’s no downside to using it, and some theoretical advantages. So why not?

The KAV-400xi is hefty at 36 lbs, but not brutally massive the way Krell’s biggest components are, which means you don’t have to hire an architect to design a shelf that will hold it. It bounced along contentedly on Solid-Tech’s elastic-banded Feet of Silence (no, I didn’t make that name up), which are not designed for massive loads. You do want to give the 400xi a lot of breathing room, however.

The amp appears to be fairly easygoing when it comes to speaker loads, too. I challenged it with Krell’s own $8000/pair Resolution 2s, a 4-ohm load with a claimed sensitivity of 89dB. Ignore the specs, however; I found the Rez 2s to be speakers that really wanted to be spanked by their amplifier—they sounded best when dominated by a big brute.

The 400xi was well up to task, demonstrating that it’s not just the sons of Krypton who hide their powers behind mild-mannered exteriors. Yes, the Krell was super—both of ’em, actually. However, I felt that auditioning an amplifier solely with a loudspeaker born in the same stable was a tad too cozy, so I wired up a pair of PSB’s $4999/pair Platinum T6 Towers: 4-ohm speakers that don’t seem substantially more sensitive at 90dB, but that subjectively seemed to require less boot. The T6 is the next model down from the $6999/pair Platinum T8, which John Atkinson reviewed in November 2003. The KAV-400xi was in complete control of both sets of loudspeakers, producing balanced sound from bottom to top.

I enjoyed the sound of the KAV-300i when it was released, but that was eight years ago, and since then, solid-state design has come a long way—at least, the best of it has. The KAV-400xi retained the 300i’s best qualities-control and unpixelated timbre—while improving on it across the board, especially at the frequency extremes. The older integrated’s bottom end, which I admired in its day, seems overemphatic compared to the 400xi’s deep, taut, natural bass.

I hadn’t expected this. I once joked to JA that the only newsworthy review of a Krell amplifier would be one that could scream “Krell designs component with no bass response!” The company has certainly not done that this time out, but neither does the 400xi have big bass sound. Its low end just sounds accurate.

Did I say “just”? That’s not simply rare, it’s a daring move for a company known for its big bass. I suspect that a certain number of consumers might misinterpret the accuracy of the 400xi’s bass response for something else: excessive leanness. More on this anon, as one of my erstwhile editors was fond of saying.

The 400xi’s top end, however, was the real revelation, exhibiting the sort of air and unhyped detail that I’ve heard from only a few other solid-state designs (most notably, some Krells with breathtaking price tags). What was apparent from the get-go, however, was that the Krell was uncommonly uncolored. Spanish Legends, guitarist David Russell’s new CD of works by Llobet, Segovia, Pujol, and de la Maza (Telarc CD-80633), was impressive in its combination of delicacy and authority. Recorded in the somewhat dry acoustic of the Peggy and Yale Gordon Center for the Performing Arts at Owings Mills, Maryland, the disc places Russell’s instrument some distance away within a large space, as opposed to the current trend in recording the guitar of crawling into the instrument’s sound hole. This perspective emphasizes the intellectual rigor with which Russell approaches these delightful works, allowing us to luxuriate in the extended architecture of his phrasing, the delicacy of a note’s decay, the velocity with which the sound of a plucked string flowers into full bloom . . .

That’s the long way around the barn. What it really means is that the Krell got me lost in the whole music thing rather than in the whole audiophile emphasis on what music sounds like.

I assumed this would be less true with Buddy Miller’s Universal United House of Prayer (CD, New West 6063 CD), because his albums usually don’t exemplify an undue emphasis on audiophile purity (translation: he do like his compression). To a certain extent, I was right: I was able to approve of the righteous reedy wheeze of Phil Madeira’s accordion and the churchy burble of the Hammond B3—and, as always, I was agog at Miller’s guitar virtuosity and his signature tone, dripping with scads of compression, deep tremolo, and chiming Vox AC30 overdrive.

Yes, it was easy to get all critical and right-brainy about that stuff, but the minute Miller began singing with his wife, Julie, the gospel duo of Regina and Ann McCrary (daughters of Rev. Sam McCrary, who refounded the Fairfield Four in 1942), or bandmate Emmylou Harris, I’d lose perspective, getting swept along by the sheer emotion, which completely pegged my meters. “Emotional overload” is not a charge many reviewers have ever leveled at Krell products.

And don’t get me started on the interplay between drummers Brady Blade and Bryan Owens. Pace and rhythm are not areas where anybody’s “affordable” products are expected to excel, but the 400xi broke the mold here. It aced the toe-tap, hip-wag, tripe-faced-boogie test.

I don’t mean to give the impression that the doughty integrated made UUHoP sound any better than it was. The album was recorded in a home studio, and it doesn’t have much breath to it—the proceedings have that homogenized digital workstation gloss, and your front wall is in no danger of “disappearing.” On the other hand, the Krell didn’t emphasize sonic flaws until I couldn’t hear the music that lay beneath them.

An exaggeration is a truth that has lost its temper
Taken on its own, almost any high-fidelity component of a certain quality sounds better and better the longer you listen to it. Eventually, its sound becomes the “real thing”—or, even worse, becomes preferable to the real thing. This is why so many hi-fi buffs complain about the “rolled-off top end” when they hear a live orchestra in a big hall for the first time. It’s why Stereophile reviews compare new products to components that have already been reviewed in its pages.

Fortunately, my office system is built around the direct-marketed, 100Wpc Portal Audio Panache integrated amplifier ($1795) Sam Tellig praised so highly back in February 2003. Like Sam, I rate the Panache quite highly—it does rule the system I listen to more than eight hours most days.

The Panache lacks a remote control—or a preamp section, really. Sam described it succinctly as “a power amp with a volume potentiometer (ALPS), a volume control, a balance control, and a selector switch.” This isn’t a problem in my office system, because it sits beneath my computer monitor, which puts it within reach for volume adjustment and source selection. In my listening room, however, I found myself remarkably surly about having to get up to make those changes. (Why, back in my day, none of us audiophiles had remote controls, and we liked it that way. . . . But I digress.)

I don’t need to preach about the convenience of remote control, the logic of adjusting volume and balance from your listening chair, or the exquisite luxury of putting Eminem on hold to catch the latest scores on the sports channel. You know how you feel about that. Of course, the extra 100Wpc the Krell offers is perhaps, to many audiophiles, a more [ahem] powerful argument—and so it proved with Krell’s own Resolution 2s, which darkened considerably when driven by the Portal.

On “Ladies in Mercedes,” from the Steve Swallow/Ohad Talmor Sextet’s L’histoire du Clochard (The Bum’s Tale) (CD, Palmetto PM 2103), everything sounded tuned down—Meg Okura’s violin was more like a viola with the Portal, Greg Tardy’s clarinet sounded thicker, and Swallow’s taut bass sound was plummier.

Switching over to the PSB Platinum T6s, the Panache sounded a lot happier. Okura’s strings gained a lot more of their zing, and Swallow’s bass had a lot more bloom and body, sounding meaty and richly resonant.

That was a problem, actually. Swallow isn’t a bass player who plumbs the depths. He has a unique ability to walk bass lines really high up on the neck (which a lot of bass players can do) while retaining perfect intonation (which makes him pretty much unique). An integral part of Swallow’s identity therefore lies in the tension of his uniquely lean bass sound—and the Portal put extra meat on its bones. It was big-chested and brawny.

I confess that I liked it that way. It’s a prettier sound than Swallow has had when I’ve heard him live, and I wouldn’t be surprised if many audiophiles also preferred it to the Krell’s more accurate portrayal of Swallow’s slightly nasal drawl. They might even call it “better”—but that’s confusing preference with reality. That’s not what high fidelity is supposed to be about.

Interesting, isn’t it? Everyone knows that Krells have “good” bass: deep, rich, and plenty of it. Yet one of the KAV-400xi’s biggest appeals for me was its absence of audiophile bass and its true-to-life delivery of real bass power and depth. Go figure. Yes, there are amplifiers—many of them made by Krell—that can offer a level of shake-the-earth solidity that the 400xi doesn’t have, but at least it tells the truth as it sees it, within its capacity to do so. If you want to storm the gates of hell, you have to give the devil his due—and I think ol’ Patch comes a lot dearer than $2500.

Neither the Krell KAV-400xi nor the Portal Audio Panache is going to challenge the reigning soundstage champions for depth or sonic holography. That’s something that most tube amps (and Krell’s Reference Series) still do better.

Sviatoslav Richter’s recording of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 1 (CD, JVC XRCD JM-24018) offered a good example of this. While I’ve heard it sound more three-dimensional, the 400xi didn’t exactly reduce it to wallpaper. Not by a long shot. The Krell presented a stage as wide as the spread between the speakers and stretching back beyond them about 3’—all the way to my room’s front wall, in other words. The Portal delivered similar stage width but didn’t go as deep—still performance that, as ST put it, “could give solid-state a good name.”

I’ll continue to use the Panache in my office system, but I suspect I’ll often wonder, “How much better would this sound on the Krell?”

Memories are made of this.

Dearer still is the truth
Eight years after introducing its crowd-pleasing KAV-300i, Krell has followed it up with an integrated amplifier that is more elegant, more powerful, and just plain sounds better. And for a scant $150 more, it’s an even greater bargain.

When JA picked up the 400xi for measurement, I called it “my favorite Krell ever.” That surprised me, because I’ve reviewed a whole passel of Krell components in my career: the KPS-28c CD player; DVD Standard DVD player; KRC-HR, KCT, and Krell KAV-280p preamplifiers; and the Audio Standard, FPB-300, FPB-300c, and KAV-2250 power amplifiers. None was less than superb, and some were sublime—I still wake up some nights from dreams of the KRC-HR-Audio Standard system.

But what I blurted out to John unedited was the truth: Even though Krell has most assuredly built better products, the KAV-400xi is special. Not because it’s “affordable,” not because it’s exquisite audio jewelry, not because it meets some watts-to-dollar ratio of goodness, but simply because it’s as faithful to the music as I am.

Well, to tell the truth, more so.