Some companies have been working in this high-tech niche for a long time, others are just mastering it and trying to make a name for themselves. However, only a few brands embody the world of high sound with their names alone. The American company undoubtedly belongs to such brands Krell from Connecticut.
History of Leadership
The company was founded in 1980 by Dan D'Agostino and his wife Rondi, and today it has earned the status of a true legend in the Hi-End world, thanks primarily to the high technology of its products. The focus on creating its own cutting-edge developments that drive the entire market has been one of Krell's guiding principles since the very first days of the company's existence. This philosophy is also reflected in the brand name itself, which comes from science fiction. This is the name of a race of highly developed creatures that have reached unprecedented heights.
Prior to founding his own company, d'agostino worked for the reputable american company dayton/wright. this company is known for its electrostatic loudspeakers, which had a wide range of high-quality sound reproduction capabilities. however, to fully exploit these capabilities, very high power amplifiers are needed. according to d'agostino, at the time, there was no decent equipment on the market, and he dreamed of creating his own amplifier. this idea encouraged him to create his own company where he wouldn't be limited in his ?
As a result, together with his wife, Dan d'agostino created the company krell in October 1980. at that time, they already had their own designs, which only had to be implemented. by the end of December of the same year, the company was able to create its first high power amplifier model of the class a - ksa-100. this model was presented at the 1981 exhibition in las vegas and produced a real sensation. a large batch of amplifiers was sold directly at the exhibition, which allowed the new company to supply a large volume of slave power.
powerful class a amplifiers are traditionally the business card and the main product of krell. it should be noted that throughout its history, the company has been practicing transistor sound. this is where the main developments are carried out, and where the american brand has reached the maximum heights. each subsequent generation of powerful transistor amplifiers sounded better than the previous one. in addition, the company has constantly, from generation to generation, improved the circuitry of the amplifiers, which allowed them to significantly expand their output.
However, Krell's product line is not limited to amplifiers at all, today it includes devices of various types, including media players, loudspeakers, subwoofers, etc. All these products traditionally meet the highest quality requirements and Hi-End standards. In recent years, the company's attention has attracted a growing popularity among consumers segment of home theaters. In this direction, several advanced models of preamplifiers / processors have been created simultaneously.
the distinctive feature of krell has traditionally been the creation of its own cutting-edge developments. at the same time, the brand is closely following the development of external technologies, using the most advanced of them in its products. a striking example is the fact that modern krell devices use the latest hdmi 2.0 technology. at the same time, most competitors still use, at best, the hdmi 1.4 standard. the company has also become one of the first to apply edid data caching technology in hdmi inputs. a similar approach is used.
In addition, the company's policy is to take care of the customer, for example, most modern Krell processors are implemented on an upgrade platform, so the customer does not have to worry about the fact that his device, which costs several thousand dollars, may become obsolete in a few years or even months. It will be enough to simply replace the outdated module with a new one to modernize the device and get the most advanced features from it. The customer only has to pay the difference in cost with the new product.
All this makes Krell one of the key players in the audio quality industry. Expensive and heavy machines of this brand are a real object of lust for many audiophiles who are willing to pay very big money for them.
New Products - Moving to Perfection
When a new generation of components of a well-known brand enters the market, very often it feels like the company has reached the top in technology and has nowhere else to go further. However, each time Krell successfully proves the opposite by offering customers even better products.
A prime example is the new Krell line of amplifiers based on the advanced patented iBias technology, featuring two Solo 550 and Solo 375 monoblock units, three Duo 125, Duo 175 and Duo 300 dual channel amplifiers, a Trio 300 trio, a Chorus 5200 five channel power amplifier and a Chorus 7200 seven channel amplifier, all of which give the user the full benefit of Class A technology, while avoiding the increased power consumption that is typical of this class.
Class A amplifiers are known to consume significant amounts of electricity, which is necessary to eliminate frequency filter distortion, which is achieved by output transistors that operate at full power in constant mode. However, in normal mode only a fraction of the transistor power is used, and the rest is used for heating.
At the heart of iBias innovation is a special system that continuously monitors the bias current of the output transistors, so that only the really necessary current is delivered to amplify the useful signal. The system provides instantaneous power correction as needed at the moment.
Krell President Bill McCagan compares the iBias amplifier to a 12-cylinder car engine capable of delivering 600 horsepower in a fraction of a second. The company's new amplifiers can operate with low power consumption as usual, but can instantly deliver hundreds of watts of power, providing high-quality playback at peak levels.
thanks to the innovative ibias system, the krell components operate in the purest class a, providing the highest sound quality. at the same time, their efficiency is as close as possible to that of class g and h devices. krell amplifiers provide an effective reduction in distortion, while consuming significantly less power than devices of previous generations. as much less power is used for heat dissipation, the ibias technology has made it possible to cool the devices more efficiently.
All new Krell amplifiers are equipped with a network interface that allows you to configure, monitor and control them via a web browser, using both a desktop computer and a smartphone or tablet. Through the web application you can turn off channels, adjust the brightness of the display, monitor in real time the current on the network, the speed of built-in fans, the internal temperature of the device.
When critical values occur, the warning will be displayed on the amplifier screen and e-mailed to the user or installer.
New Krell technologies traditionally make the brightest impression. Let's see what the legendary American brand will surprise us in the future.
The company's website: krellonline.com
