Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[jandl100]

Pre-amp shoot-out at Jerry Towers!



Krell KRC-3 vs AVi Lab Series Pre.
The AVI kindly on loan from a forum friend.

Wow, interesting.

The AVI has better defined bass - not that the Krell is a slouch, but the AVI is noticably tauter. The Krell is fuller, the AVI leaner.

The AVI is a bit splashy and/or emphasised in the treble.
The Krell is darker and has loads of detail but doesn't offend. I suspect it is more accurate although a tad on the dark side. It's a bit easier to listen to over the long haul.

The Krell does 3D imaging better, the AVI is a bit 2D.

Both have an excellent sense of dynamic scale - super-doopah!

But tbh, comparisons aside, both are fine pre-amps! The AVI a bit more obvious, the Krell a bit more refined.
Take your choice - I suspect it's down to system synergy and personal preference in the end.

[Marco]

Interesting... A preamp from the days when AVI made proper hi-fi equipment.

Rumour has it they used to make proper speakers, too!

Marco.

[jandl100]

Yep, it's a nice pre ... AVi used to know what they were doing!

[MartinT]

Although what 'Laboratory Series' is meant to convey escapes me.

[Reid Malenfant]

Looks like the same AVI pre I auditioned along with a few others quite a while ago Needless to say I didn't buy the AVI, I bought a Classe DR5 instead

It just sounded right as soon as I heard the thing for more than a few minutes

[jandl100]

A quick photo-opportunity from Griffo's visit last week ... his luvvly Orbe SE tt backdropped against one of my MBLs.



I have to confess that it sounded rather fine!

Actually, it was astonishing how different the Orbe SE sounded against my Pioneer PL-71.
We both agreed they could have been playing quite different LPs!
The Orbe had a more sophisticated imaging ability with better layering. The Orbe SE was tonally darker, with a much weightier sound, and/or the PL-71 was lighter.
Tonal balance aside (I think the Orbe was a little too dark for me), the Orbe was obviously the better player.
That was with the Pioneer rubber mat in place, which was all I had used up to that time. When I put the Reso-mat in place the gap between the Orbe and the PL-71 narrowed significantly although the PL-71 remained lighter in balance.
I suspect I would like a cross between the Orbe SE and the PL-71/Resomat!

[DSJR]

I knew the Krell KRC3 rather well at the time it was current and was always rather fond of it. I don't know the AVI Lab preamp except to say to Jerry and Marc that its 10K input loading is marginal for many sources I reckon (citation needed here) and this may just play a part in it's leaner sonics. One would need to take a line source directly into the power amp and compare the straight-through with any changes the preamp made when placed in-line. I can't say my ancient AVI S2000MP+P preamp has any real character, although the phono stage does take 45 minutes or so to fully settle down I find (same on both samples I've owned). Apparently, my preamp is ancient technology and although good in its day, nothing like as "good" as the one you tried (and here's me, a Croft lover - so 1950's......... )

Marco, in fairness to AVI's designer (who almost never gets involved in Ash's spats with people who disagree with him ), mart has always tried to design decent gear. The little speakers of which you speak are fine for their intended role and make excellent desktop monitors, as well as unobtrusive small-room speakers. A huge shame that they were puffed up to be something they could never be when they were first launched and in fact, I believe most are now sold with subs - so that should tell you something

Apologies Jerry. Are you keeping the Krell for a while and if so, what is its value these days?

[jandl100]

Nothing to apologise for Dave, this is AoS - thread drift is expected! In fact, your comments are On Topic as far as I am concerned.

I paid £750 for the Krell KRC-3. I think it's excellent vfm at that price point. Worth it for its looks alone, almost!

Am I keeping it for a while? .... my eyes have been opened a bit by the superior bass control of the AVi, I thought the Krell was good (and it is) but it would be nice to get that extra smidgeon of definition, but not if the somewhat forward quality of the AVi LS comes with the package. Overall, I am happier with the Krell.
I wonder if the KRC-HR would give the extra tautness in the bass - any experience? But they go for well over twice the price.

[DSJR]

I don't know, but it may be interesting to try some different interconnects possibly, and maybe even going kosher with Transparent or Mandrake or summat.. Not for you methinks, but the Klotz guitar cable used in the Rega Couple is an excellent meaty sounding cable and if you can make a set up for a tenner inc plugs as I did, you might find it interesting, although the preamps under discussion may just be "too good" for it for all I know

£750 for the KRC3 is an excellent deal I reckon and the only other vintage SS preamp I'd look at for this money and time-period is a Levinson ML28 (I think it was), which used the best bits then available to them and I think, in a fully balanced circuit from input to output.

[Reid Malenfant]

It surprises my that the AVI has better control in the bass than the Krell

The main difference between the KRC3 & the HR is the volume control, which is a high precision thing with well over 100 steps - hense the HR (high resolution) monika.

When was your KRC3 last serviced Jerry?