Speaker for Krell 400Xi amp

PMC OB1 is good....so I have heard but you could also look into
1)B&W 700 series,
2)Dynaudio contour S3.4 & S5.4,
3)My all time favourite Cadence Avita or Arista electrostats
4)Jamo D870 my second favourite after cadence
5)PSB Stratus Gold
there are many others...but how much are you looking to spend and what kind of music do you listen to ?

Hi Manek

Hi Manek,

The OB1 cost around 3500 USD, and this is about my top limit.
I listen to all sorts of music mainly vocal and classical music.

Hi Steven

then I definately recommend cadence, jamo, dynaudio, B&W and PSB, in that order.

There are so may good speakers in the market but it all depends on what kind of sound you like to hear.....have you auditioned any of the above ?

1) Cadence is just delightfull...smooth as silk, sweet as honey and give you a good bass bang when you need it. Being a hybrid electrostat it seemlessly integrates an electrostatic panel with a dynamic driver...and does not need high power to drive them but the krell would be perfect. Good build quality.

2) Jamo D870 is a lovely speaker with with very good tonal qualities. I would have bought this if I could not buy cadence...I have auditioned them extensively and they are worth their weight in gold. good build quality.

3)Dynaudio is my third choice, not much to look at but great sound....its a no fuss high quality speaker.

4)B&W reputation for good speakers speaks for itself..so if you wanna play safe then this is the one...

5)PSB stratus gold is a value for money speaker but is PSB's top of the line and they have pulled out all the stops. Great sound.

If you have auditioned speakers other than PMC at your hi-fi dealer then let me know. Check if your dealer sell you any of the above.

krell poweramps are really good stuff. b&w 700 series or dynaudio contour or above should fit good.

auditioning the speakers before buying is a must.

I got the Krell 400xi recently too.
I was using Cary Tube amplifier before and Krell gives much more punch and power which is expected
Back to this topic, I am using Proac studio 200 (8yrs old) now and it sounds really good. I haven't tried many speakers and all I found is that the cheapest one in B&W 800 series is quite good too.
It all depends on what music you like. If you are like me who wants bass, power, then you should try out the floor standing speakers.

Eric

Krell typically makes Punchy and very revealing Amps. Very Bright speakers might not go along well with it.

As the Power rating of a Krell is pretty high you will not be restricted by the speaker load hence even low nominal resistance and low sensitivty speakers are open for you and That is a huge Range.

hence you must make you choice baseed on Room size and the type of music you usually like to listen

For jazz, Classical & Vocals Spendor,Proac, Soliloquey,meadowlark, Tannoys,.......are a good choices but the best speakers match I have heard are with Sonus Fabers (I have heard only their Concerto/Grand pianos)

regarding Jamo, The speaker I have been impressed with the most is the Concert 8 (I believe the name is changed now) for a Small but heavy speaker it packs a Very big punch. Same with the totem Mani2 which for a bookshelf extends down to 29Hz...a very good bass response

If you listen to Rock and Pop as well then you can add A huge choice from Dynaudio,JM lab,Totem,Revel (F30), BW 700/800/600series , and so many more which do both quite well.

from a system Synergy viewpoint you could take a look at Krells own LAT as well..they match well physically

I guess in audio the more you think about it the more complex it gets and if your quest is the "perfect Sound" there is no end to it...hence if you have something in mind (eg the PMC) and like it, then go for it... simple tweaks can always be done especially via choice of Source/IC's and cables to improve the sound !

cheers!