I got out of work a little early yesterday so I stopped by my local Hi-fi emporium for a little ear tickling. I specifically wanted to hear the Musical Fidelity A5.5 integrated amplifier, but they did not have one in stock, nor did they have the older A5 integrated. What they did have though was this set-up:
A5cr Preamplifier + A5cr Power Amplifier
I brought my last speakerquest audition CD (which incidentally only ever got one play because it forced me to pick the HT3s...
) We decided to listen through the Dynaudio Focus 220's because they, like the HT3's, are a low sensitivity speaker (87dB), plus I have heard them several times and am familiar with their sound. I didn't spend nearly enough time to do a thorough evaluation of the pre/amp combo, only two songs before I wanted to hear a counterpoint...
Enter the Krell KAV-400xi integrated:
Same pair of Dynaudio's.
As I was listening with the A5 set-up I kept thinking that the Dyns had much tighter bass than I remembered, and also they sounded more detailed, and exhibited a very nice soundstage. The detail was the most striking of those three observations, I heard distinct background vocals that had been blended with the lead vocal on other equipment. The voices were totally separate, coming from two distinct people, or at least on two separate tracks of the master. When I re-listened to the same track through the Krell, the voices had blended back together again.
The bass response was also better through the A5's. Bass was thicker but still controlled and punchy (I never thought I would say that about music coming from the Focus 220's). The Krell, on the other hand, gave the Focus 220's the sound I remembered, a little loose in the bottom. Not bad, mind you, but definitely not "punchy".
The soundstaging was much better on the Musical Fidelity equipment when compared to the KAV-400xi. It opened up wide and tall with the A5 gear, and not so much with the Krell.
The Krell of course is less than half the price of the A5 pre/amp combo and I would have to say that in this case that cost difference is justifiable. Probably not a very fair comparison, but I am pleased and very afraid because I found that I could detect a difference between the two set-ups. Half of me wished that I wouldn't be able to tell any difference so I could buy myself a cheap new receiver and be on my merry way into ignorant blissville...
In all honesty both the Musical Fidelity and the Krell set-ups sounded good with the Dynaudio's, the A5 separates just sounded better.
-Funk