Today it happens to be a Krell KAV-400xi.

This is an amp that Marc purchased with the idea of driving a future K1000 with. So I'm test driving it for him. Just got it hooked up and making ♫, so impressions to come later.

I will say it's a different presentation than the β22 though.

Woot, can't wait for some impressions!

I find it funny that just about every amp is "very different" than a beta22 when paired with the K1000. And by every amp, I mean two.

The β22 is definitely the more neutral amp here. That being said though, the coloration of the Krell is a lovely color indeed. It's a very full, warmish and somewhat lush signature. Bass is a bit deeper from the β22, but it's not a night and day difference. Going back to the β22 from the Krell almost makes the β seem a bit dry at first. Need lots more time, but no doubt that this is a fine amp, and a worthy choice for the K1000.

IMO the K1000 could do with a touch of lush warmth so the Krell may be a good match. Just a guess based on your impressions, though. The preferred amp at least nowadays for the K1000 seems to be the big tube SETs (300B, 45, 2A3). I'll be curious as to what you think of it after a bit more time.

The very brief time I had my K1000 plugged into a 300B amp was nothing short of astonishing. At some point it is my desire to find a nice pair of 300B monoblocks. If I can find a worthy pair for under $3000.00 I'll be going down that road sooner than later.

As I find the K1000 to be fairly neutral, and the β22 is inarguably neutral, I can understand the desire for a bit of warmth and color. In the end I happen to really enjoy a fairly neutral system. If you'd like to add some warmth though, I'd highly recommend doing so with a nice vinyl spinner. To my ear a good vinyl rig pairs extremely well with the neutrality of my amp and K1000.

You could easily build a sweet 300b amp with that kind of funding. DIY, be a nice topper to the Tower of Power!

I could easily build you a sweet 300b amp with that kind of funding. DIY, be a nice topper to the Tower of Power!

FIFY. That's quite nice of you to offer. We'll have to talk.

Oh...a wise guy, eh? Why I oughta!

Yes, you oughta build that amp right away.

The very brief time I had my K1000 plugged into a 300B amp was nothing short of astonishing. At some point it is my desire to find a nice pair of 300B monoblocks. If I can find a worthy pair for under $3000.00 I'll be going down that road sooner than later.

As I find the K1000 to be fairly neutral, and the β22 is inarguably neutral, I can understand the desire for a bit of warmth and color. In the end I happen to really enjoy a fairly neutral system. If you'd like to add some warmth though, I'd highly recommend doing so with a nice vinyl spinner. To my ear a good vinyl rig pairs extremely well with the neutrality of my amp and K1000.

Methinks I really need to hear the K1000 from a 300B or 2A3 SET amp sometime. And you're right, I also need to hear it out of a good vinyl setup. Very very bad for my wallet, and also will increase my level of tweakiness (always a bad thing), but I can imagine the sound to be pure bliss. Or as close to it as possible out of headphones.

I'm powering the K1000s with an Emotiva RPA-2 using a GS-1 as a pre. I few members heard it at the recent NorCal meet.

May be moving shortly into a place with my girlfriend and was going to downsize the rig. The K1K seemed the least practical, but when trying to go back to the HD580s and RS1s recently as main dynamic cans, damn everything seemed so bland.

... girlfriend ... K1K seemed the least practical

WAT. Also,

There's always duct tape, if you wanted to be more active while using K1000s in bed.

So, if if warm is to the right of neutral, what's to the left of neutral? Whatever that is, I'd wager that's what the beta22 is.

WAT. Also,

If you're confused, you might need to read this:

So, if if warm is to the right of neutral, what's to the left of neutral? Whatever that is, I'd wager that's what the beta22 is.

Edgy, harsh & shrill come to mind, and the β22 is none of them. My warm comment needs to be taken in comparison to the β22. I certainly would not call the Krell a heavily colored amp by any means. When A/Bed against the β22 however, the more warmish, slightly lush signature is noticeable. I hope you're not taking this as a negative comment, as the Krell is a gorgeous amp, and quite seductive.

i like sdeutove

What I meant to say was I do believe I rather enjoy equipment with a seductive sound.

But DrunkFitz is a kick in the pants. I hope he makes an appearance at CJ!

I'm pretty sure drunk everybody will make an appearance at CJ. Hopefully not during the actual meet, though.

Well Vicki and maybe a few others will stay sober, to keep the rest of us in line.

Edgy, harsh & shrill come to mind

I was going to say dry... which isn't bad, but seems to describe the b22 as I hear it. Anyways, cool beans. Since I need to mail you something anyways, would if something that didn't require any work (okay, maybe a small amount) showed up in the box? This is the good kind of work though that doesn't require a trip to the shop and can be done in the comfort of your room with a screwdriver

Well Vicki and maybe a few others will stay sober, to keep the rest of us in line.

They should also provide us with some laptops so we can HC drunk post it up.

I will make sure to hear the K1000 with a B22 tomorrow and someone is hopefully bringing a Cary 300SEI so that as well, and report back.

I was going to say dry... which isn't bad, but seems to describe the b22 as I hear it. Anyways, cool beans. Since I need to mail you something anyways, would if something that didn't require any work (okay, maybe a small amount) showed up in the box? This is the good kind of work though that doesn't require a trip to the shop and can be done in the comfort of your room with a screwdriver

I would say that dry is an accurate term for the β22. Not overly dry, but I even mentioned it sounds somewhat dry compared to the Krell in post #129. But I would qualify dry as neutral, so I think we're saying the same thing, it's just that I see dry in the middle of the spectrum, and edgy to the left. In either case the more time I spend listening to the Krell, the more I fall in love with it. It really is a superb amp for the K1000, and probably a superb amp period. I don't have speakers worthy of testing that at the moment. At this point it's doing everything right. As I said before bass is not quite as deep as the β22, but I'm talking negligible amounts here. Are you sure you really want it back?

As for the box with the work project... send away, I'm game. Also could you send the passive pre-amps? I want to give them a try.

Things I learned today:

1) Can't really critical listen to K1000s for shit in meet conditions

2) Meets are not for listening to headphones, they are for conversing with people you have not met in a long time, and for meeting new people

3) I'm not even quite sure I listened to anything today. It may have just been in my mind