Moving up in the world

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Dylan Terhune, Sep 24, 2020.

Tags:
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    Got a chance to upgrade my pre & amp(s)

    Moving from ARC SP17 to ARC REF 3

    Also moving on from 2x Linn LK100 to single Krell KSA 150

    Anyone running ARC tubes with Krell SS?
     
    Sneaky Pete, Mad shadows and james like this.
  2. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    So...you just HAVE a chance? Or you're going to TAKE the chance?
    - Is your air conditioning up to snuff to handle 300+ watts of Class A space heater?
     
    Sneaky Pete and Mike-48 like this.
  3. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    Haha.. yes - def going to do it.

    My music room is the 3rd floor loft, so already gets warm up here! Will be running AC in January
     
  4. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    My hat's off to you, running tubes in a loft in Chapel Hill! You are a much better audiophile than I, who ruled out a Pass Labs amp because the heat bothered me -- in Portland, where humidity is a concept, not a reality.
     
    timind likes this.
  5. onemug

    onemug Forum Resident

    Close... I ran a Mac tube pre with a KSA 250 with great results. Even with a SS Pre, the Krell was a pleasure to listen to.

    fwiw... the KSA 250 was the best ss amp I ever heard up to my Pass amps now. I didn't like Krell's next few generations as much. I bet you will really like the KSA 150.
     
    Sneaky Pete and Dylan Terhune like this.
  6. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    It's brutal here in the summer!
     
  7. Mike-48

    Mike-48 A shadow of my former self

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Yes, I know. We lived in Beaufort, NC -- about 4 hours SE of you -- for 11 years. It was so humid, we had to install dehumidifiers in our crawl space.
     
    Dylan Terhune likes this.
  8. Keith Beddard

    Keith Beddard Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Nice choice on the Ref 3, but then again I'm a little biased! I'm pretty sure you'll like it, a lot!

    I ran my Ref 3 for a short while with my Krell 402e and was really quite impressed. Had Totem Mani2s at the time. There was a sense of reality that I really liked. The detail and resolution, especially for low-mid (think cello) or some big fat analogue synth was astonishing. Vocals were amazing too. It was a great pairing, but not destined to last long. I ended up buying a Ref75SE to go with the Ref3 (and Ref2 Phone SE) for that system. I didn't plan to buy essentially an all ARC system, sometimes things just work out that way.

    Has the KSA-150 been recapped recently? How old is it? Is it gonna get hot, yeah, but hey, it's a dry heat ;)
     
    Sneaky Pete and Dylan Terhune like this.
  9. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    Envious of the all ARC setup!

    The KSA-150 is on it's second owner. It has been serviced and recapped by Krell within the past 5 years.
     
  10. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    I lived in the Triangle for years before moving to St. Louis. I'd rather be there in the summer than St.Louis. humidity is worse here.

    Sure miss A Southern Seasons.
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2020
    Mike-48 likes this.
  11. Brucedgoose

    Brucedgoose Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hawaii
    I used to own a KSA-150. Biggest problem you’ll have with it is getting it up those stairs!
     
    Sneaky Pete and Dylan Terhune like this.
  12. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    We all do! They sadly closed about a year ago :-(
     
    Slippers-on likes this.
  13. Slippers-on

    Slippers-on Forum Resident

    Location:
    St.Louis Mo.
    Yes I loved going into the store. It hurt when they closed it. Best coffee selection I ever seen and had...real premium coffee. I'm just grateful you can still order their products on line. I can still get the coffee as well as a few other items.
     
    Dylan Terhune likes this.
  14. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    Update: The REF3 and the KSA 150 have been added to my setup. The REF3 came with 10K+ tube hours so I've immediately swapped those out for new Sovtek 6H30's & Tung-Sol 6550. There's also an audible idle hum from the amp - guessing the caps need to be replaced. Other than that, the tube break in is revealing a level of clarity and soundstage I've yet to experience in my personal setup. Very pleased.
     
  15. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    3 flights of stairs was BRUTAL.
     
    Brucedgoose likes this.
  16. Gibsonian

    Gibsonian Forum Resident

    Location:
    Iowa, USA
    Heavy but good news. Sounds like a great combo
     
  17. Tullman

    Tullman Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    Yeah, I had a KSA 150 with a CAT tube preamp. Sounded great. I later went with a pair of CAT mono's that weighed in at 180 lbs. each. The Krell was nothing compared to those things. I carried my Krell up three flights of stairs, and it was not fun.
     
    Dylan Terhune likes this.
  18. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Listen with the preamp disconnected to see if you still hear any hum. It might be from the pre. You definitely need to check to be sure the small caps on the boards have been replaced. The large filter caps are usually fine.
    -Bill
     
  19. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
    Thanks Bill - yes, I isolated the amp and the hum was still there. Doesn't really effect playback, but it is certainly annoying at low volume and idle.
     
  20. KT88

    KT88 Senior Member

    Amps don't normally have much ground hum on their own, so it is most likely in need of a recap. These run hot, so that puts a lot of stress on their lifespan.
    -Bill
     
  21. Sneaky Pete

    Sneaky Pete Flat the 5 and That’s No Jive

    Location:
    NYC USA
    I don’t have one of the legendary Krell amps but my amp definitely raised my system’s reproduction of the musical experience by several levels. Visitors always comment on the speakers the amps are not getting the credit they deserve. one day I’d like to switch in a tube pre-amp just to see what it can do.
     
    KT88 likes this.
  22. Dylan Terhune

    Dylan Terhune Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chapel Hill NC
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine