Their dynamics and ‘in your face’ vitality have put the competitors on the back foot. The performance has been all the more remarkable given the relatively slimline design, and the finish has been Krell standard and style for the three periods involved. The latest offering, replacing the KAV400xi, is the S-300i.

This model is styled along similar lines to the current Krell Evolution amplifiers, with thick, machined front panel and volume control, but small input selector buttons. The volume control is also a multi-jog, for adjustment of Balance, naming of Inputs, and individual adjustment of input levels and muting. Any of the inputs can be nominated as the Home Theatre pass-through input for use when integrating this amplifier into a surround system.

Krell have done some work on tapping into the fully differential digital output of iPod for their high-end dock (the KID), and what they learned there has been included in an additional input to the S-300i in the form of a dedicated iPod cable connection. The cable is supplied with the amplifier, and with it you’ll get superb quality transfers of yourstored music—provided you have stored it at a high level, not compressed.

On the back panel you’ll find one pair of balanced XLR inputs and three sets of RCA inputs, the iPod input, 12v triggers and an RS232 interface to assist custom installation/control systems. Speaker binding posts are WBT of course.

Ken Kessler reviewed this amp in the February 2009 Hi-Fi News. He concluded: “The S-300i is so good that it will cause problems for Krell, not just its rivals, because it behaves like a £5,000 pre/power combo. The distributor won’t thank me for saying that, but this is an inexplicable, insane give-away. I love it.”

The accompanying Lab Test results showed maximum power to be higher than the claimed 150-watts×2 into 8 ohm loads. It measured 195-watts×2 into 8 ohms, and 315-watts×2 into 4 ohms. Contributing to this would be the 750kVA transformer, and the 38,0000F of capacitance under the bonnet.

While measuring a low profile 438×101×444mm (WHD), it weighs in at 20kg. The remote control is metal and well-built, and controls the amplifier plus any connected iPod or iPhone.