gW***::E-g:"-|i- Mono X is the most powerfulyet.F jo. So can ittransformybursysteni?

ffimw #yr** ffi$srcffis$ *ur ver#$*€ re

-Wg' ,:"l

HI.FIPASSIOII FORSOUIID www.hifichoice.co.uk

end dreams,, 00 CD player

'@?

:e

Next-gen DAGscomparedTomorrow's brishtest starsrevealed: Arcari, Lavry, Chord,Benchmarl< and more

t

* t**

2077 ran

0llssue No.3410e

January 2011 G3.99

J

{

{

1)' {

{

i {

f{3m&=f f ig

#ffig-*E:

rerCrng3*lr.l

t1lltrytJry

\ l -

\ :

\tt-

E

-:o:

o-

:3

.

:iii,,l.a.::ii:ilr r1.t: :

i::: i.a::i.l:,{r:t.:i.i:i:i;i:1:.. l:::l ;'

na-.

Ll

H

t

F>

#K

tr

j-::-:

la' '.

ffi{g

!3.

1vtu>F

{

d- s;;{'*T

l I

{

{,

REVIEWSKRELL S-350ACD PLAYER G2.695

WE SPOKE WITH BILL MCKIEGAN,PRESIDENT OF KRELL INDUSTRIES

HlGt Why use a slot- lood i n gmechanlsm? Did the use of sucho mechonlsm couse ony designproblems or issues?B/lf: lnternally, a disc is handled thesamewaywhetherit is brought intothe unitvia a trayora slot. The benefitsof the slot-loading mechanism we areusing isthatthe buffer is employedafterthe data is read from the disc.Instead ofthe data being used fromthe disc directty, it is sentto a buffer.This 7.5-sec bufferorovides a safehaven forthe data, isolating itfromdrive-reading errors and any externallycaused vibrationaI errors that mightcorrupt the data. In conjunctionwith our proprietary jitter-reductionmodule,we presentthe most precise'signalto the digitaI circuitry. This isthe same system that is used in ourflagship Evotution 525a CD ptayer.

Are there orry restrlctlons, for*ample, in frte use of non-sto ndarddiscsizes orshopes?There are no restrictions, the S-350acan play 12cm and 8cm discs.

C,a n 1a u d escri be th e power s upp lytopology? - ilris seems to be whereo lotofworkond expense hos goneThe powersupply is classic Krell in thatitappears to be overkill fora sourceunit. In reality, it iswhat is necessaryto delivertop-end performance.Technology-wise, it is a lineardesign with a discrete cascode erroramplifier forthe analogue audio stageregulators. This provides extremelytightvoltage-regutation. The high-current regulators are a low-dropoutvoltage design and use Schottkyrectifiers in the inputsupplyfor higherefficiency and lower heat dissipationthan typicaI linear suppties.

There's no heodphone socketorCD -Text facility. Why is thot?We didn'tfeelwe could do.justiceto headphone-listening by simplyaddinga headphone jack. Wewoutdrather leave a feature offthan to doit poorly. In the case ofCD-Text, it issimply not supported bythe decoderwe are using.

58 EfiGtoice |A1{UARY2011 www.hifichoice.co.uk

:J::;****F

(Drnharet-stvrecDddw O;:#rfiL',ff;l;tjl; @shietdedmainssuPPlvtransforner

(l DicitalinputboardO

Complexoutputstage @Servoboardincludins

feedback through the fingertips.The dimmable backlit LCD display is

clear and uncomplicated, thoughit tends to switch to the negative whenviewed from oblique angles. Theplayer handles discs quietly andwithout so much as a hint oftemperament, in fact, the only featureswe missed and would have liked tohave seen were a headphone socketand, perhaps, CD Text (see interviewwith ltell's Bill McKiegan, left).

Taking all the plusses and minusesinto account, including sound qualitywhich is discussed separately. thisplayer represents exceptional value.It is not just the most affordableway ofjoining the exclusive l(relloyrners'dub, this is a player thatdelivers, well beyond what mighthave been expected.

Even and articulateThe S-350a was supplied for testwith a sample of the matching 5-300integrated amplifier and theprognosis is unequivocal; they workbrilliantly, separately and together.

Both units - the CD player and thematching amplifier - achieve a veryhigh standard, much highe4 in fact,than we had anticipated. Thereare some obvious mechanical

elements of the performanceavailable from this player (andindeed the matching 5-300amplifier) that come across clearly atan early stage. The midband, forexample, is very smooth, even andarticulate,and essentially free of theflatness and lack ofperspectivesendemic with many lesser players,as well as some of Krell's earlydisc-playing hardware.

By the same token, the treblesounds well integrated and highlydetailed and the bass is morefull-bodied thar many earliergenerations of Iftell players.Discs are handled efficiently, withrapid track access and virtually nosound from the internal mechanism.or the spinning discs themselves.The additive result of these factorsis that the Itell is easier to listen tofor extended periods and is morebelievable, too.

Overall it does a fine job of CDreplay and it extracts a commitmentand passion that is unusual fromcompact disc. Imagery is handledin an unusually three-dimensionalway Image depths are fullypainted-in and the players bass isparticularly deep and potent, too.

- i *

tF(EE

"o o'[$Fh'3,1334 REVIEWS

o :H.",.""1:eaFO aff iEa @@@

This album also demonstratedanother element of the Krell: it'sabiliryto create averyprecisely {delineated stereo soundstage, withproperly fleshed-out depth anda beautifully articulated sense ofscale and spaciousness. But this iscertainly not limited to this onerecording, or even a select groupof them. There was a similar qualityin musically unrelated material,one example from many being thealbum Raising Sand from theimprobable combination of AlisonKrauss and Robert Plant.

It was even more apparent,or at least more dramatically so,with some more obviously hear,y-dury material, including a SignumClassics live recording (in London'sRoyal Festival Hall) of Schoenberg'smassive oratorio Guerre -Lie der.The player's ability to bring offtesting recordings like this withoutsounding excessively dense orcongested, yet without loss ofweight or impact, marks theS-350a out as special. By comparison.many other broadly comparable

THE 5-3504 playeris easyto buildsystems around, lt isclearlywell-matchedwith the 5-300inte$ated amplifier,and notiust becausetheyare an aestheticmatch, butalsobecause theyspeakin a similarvoice:with boldness,and convictionand because theyare caoable ofresolvingthearchitecture ofthematerial they ptay.

The matchingamplifierseemsverycloseto truehigh-end audiophitestandards and is aperfect partner.

players tend to sound flat and aredifficult to become involved in, butlack of involvement was not a factorwith the Iftell.

Straightfonrvard and practicalThe S-350a speaks for itself. This isa straightforward. practical playerthat supports balanced audio and iswell-enough endowed to drivecompact disc a long way towards thelimits of the format.

The D\D version of the player(which costs considerably more)is less convincing. Yes, the abiliryto upgrade the player to full D\Dstatus is a neat trick, but it won'thandle Blu-ray discs and it won'ttalk dor.r.n an HDMI pipe. whichultimately makes this version of theplayer of limited value.

The minor criticisms describedelsewhere in this article - noheadphone socket and no CD Text- are far outweighed by what it doesand does well as a dedicated audioplayer. It looks as if the switch fromWest to East with this range has donelinle to upset the Ikell reputation. o

OUR VERDICTRESUTTS AT A GTANCEExcellent

AboveaverageA1,€raqe

Beldwavemge

Poof

i+ ij',at: tt1. i 4.1_.27 1!

*****'l lzt.+ r: ? {} * ?4 +ir"a.:t

******'i:r.:rtrs-*at.t''.t:'r****t?iPlfti?r;.4

***tLEVE#.Fz+.L

uKf, :Wel[ specified piayerwith straightforwardcontrolsystem andreadabledisplay

DISUKE: Noheadphonesocket; noCD-Text

WESAY:AccomplishedtM{Arl/UCRAO.IGE96.0dB.Wemeasuredexcellentdynamicrangefiomthisufiit. MeetsCD'stheoretical limit

AI.EPJTTR168.5 (Fastfilter)173.2 (Slowfilter).I LALONVE

mechanismandBun-Brown1793DACsalLcontribute here

llDrf* REGIJtr{CY(odBFS)o.oo7olo REIt)I'lse(0.02olodBF5; 20Hz20kHz2.07%_60dBFSJ. +/-0.07d8.WeInternaldistortion measuredroll-offwaslow,butwe abovelkHz.Slowhavemeasured fittermeasuredlowerlevels +f 1.58d8

www.hifichoice.co.uk

cRossruI(20kHz(LtoR)-93d8; (RtoL)-93d8.GoodchannelSeparatonhetween left andrightsignalpaths

CDplayerwithreat :breedingunderpinning :its excellent performance

*****

o "T.T.ilil,iilJfll", o iln[:"fflJ,?l;.',1t o:llH'"'JlxtilTl O Disitarinrutsandoutputs @ Il,l"l;ffiH,1x'l'il'J.u.,",for rigid construction

We were particular$ impressed bythe way it handled such materialas Mary Coughlan's Moon OverBourbon Street, which came acrosswith such obvious depth and suchexquisiLe world-weariress, it wasalmost too much to bear. The topend is clean, with a convincing senseof air and space, which was shov'nclearly with a range of recordings,including the exquisite puriry ofChristianne Stotijn's mezzo inBralrms' Alto Rh apsody and Mahler'sfuckert-Lieder from an Ony< albumoriginally given away as a freebiemagazine cover-mount.

This album usually reproduceswell. The difference here is that theKrell made the best of what wasclearly a well-conceived recordingand performance, by adding asense of air and presence thatother replay systems often failto resolve. This is the differencebetween plain good soundquality and a performance (withthe emphasis on that word) thatcauses the hairs to rise on theback of the neck.

ffi

|A]{UARY2011 Hifiohoice 59