Video Asylum

Posted by avbuff on January 14, 2003 at 18:45:59

In Reply to: Naim AV2 vs. Krell Showcase Processor posted by Pinkus on January 14, 2003 at 07:40:14:

I have not heard the Naim but have found Naim products very dry and uninvolving musically in the past. That's just my opinion of course. I have the Krell HTS 7.1, which I bought prior to the Showcase release. I honestly don't know what the differences between the two are. On face value, they look nearly identical, and the features are as well. If they sound as similar as they otherwise appear to be, then it will be fantastic at a much more reasonable price. I use mine as an outboard DAC/preamp for my Levinson No. 39 and as a multichannel preamp for SACD/DVD-A and could not be more pleased. I also use it as a straight pre-amp for HDCD encoded sources. In brief, musically it is an outstanding pre-amp and can't imagine really needing an additional dedicated two channel pre-amp to improve sonically. As a processor, there is nothing superior, period. Another unit that has recently emerged that if past performance is an indicator of future performance would definitely be worth listening to would be the new Classe SP-65(?). To me, Classe has consistently had the best sound of any SS but their pre/pro has not had the features I want. They have solved it with this new piece but I'm settled for now. I also don't know what the price of the unit is so may be out of the Showcase/Naim range.

It's so hard to make any meaningful recommendation because a/v is nearly 100% subjective. Bottom line: You can't go wrong with anything that has the features you want, is in your price range, and sounds good to YOU.