[Theronbo]

Just acquired a new (to me) Krell KAV-2250 stereo amp… 250W per channel.

Replacing (well, now preamp) Marantz SR5014 7 channel HT amp 100Wpc…

Well, the difference is quite noticeable…  even without being able to A/B them for direct compare…

As loud at lower volume setting (I’ll have to rerun Audessy) …

Sound fuller more detailed… was 60 level equal to 68 ….

Start pushing the volume level up…

WTF?! They aren’t getting really louder…

Get to 82 … which i know has to be some juice… & would have blown my roof of with the Marantz…

Then I remember… clean amps & quality speakers … don’t sound loud because they don’t distort…

Pulled up my db meter app… 90db… Wow!

So, got curious what the Watt rating is for 5he X-Statiks… don’t see it on the Web site.

For now 80 is as high as my amp needs to go…


The copyright on the manual is 2001… see announcements & reviews about 2005 … seller said it was 12 years old.

[Theronbo]

Lovely blue ring…

& a single button I hope never to touch.

[corndog71]

The first time I heard the X-Statiks they were being driven by 300 watt/ch.  It was a home demo and they were part of a killer home theater set up.  I asked them to turn off the 4x15” subs so I could just hear the Statiks.  The soundstage they threw made my jaw drop!  That’s when I knew I had to get them.  Now I drive mine with a 50 watt Marantz receiver in my living room and they still blow me away! 

[Theronbo]

Okay, so they can take some power…

& I guess the power rating is somewhat dependent on the crossover build… mine being pre-built… what was surplus Danny bought.

80 is the default max for the Marantz out of the factory… I upped it to 90 because in surround mode it just seems to need more.  But generally never took it over about 72 in Stereo mode…

Same size box has 7 100 watt channels? As 2 250 watt? The Krell also weighs over 50lbs…

Obviously, the Marantz has switchmode power supplies…

[S Clark]

I've powered mine with 50 watts of tubes (Dodd amp), 12 watts of mono el84 tubes (also Dodd), and 15 watts of Folsom 7297 chip amp... and I've never wanted more power in any of these cases.  Occasionally, just for grins, I'll put a multi hundred watt Moscode on them.... but they are not especially better.  Essentially, these are very forgiving speakers.   
I do hand off the bass to a Rythmik OB sub. 

[Theronbo]

Interesting…

Like I said it wasn’t a blind test… I couldn’t even A/B them… the more compelling indicator… the just didn’t sound loud when cranked…

I suspect your tube amps are simply better amps than the switching supplies in my Marantz AV.

X-Statiks at 91db sensitivity are higher than most … so low watt amp friendly.

As for the bass… I’ve always thought the bass in. X-Statiks was gorgeous… didn’t expect them to be when I built them….
For music listening I’ve rarely had a need for a sub woofer…

Then again mine aren’t servo controlled beasties like Danny’s…  I have a 12” Polk & 10” Sony… they’re fine for HT.  Though as soon as Danny gets some servo controllers in I’ll buy a kit!

The X-Statiks are ‘fast bass’ - my subwoofers are great for explosions & earthquakes… not so much for music …

Gregory Porter has a video of ‘Holding On’ that has some insane bass parts in it… almost bizarre for music…

Only song My subwoofers will vibrate the windows & walls if I have them enabled in stereo…

[corndog71]

When it comes to power handling, well, there’s a video for that.

https://youtu.be/4hW9Q2Wv6WE

[Theronbo]

Wow! Really interesting video…

I did get the answer to my question…. If it sounds clean it’s fine…

I was concerned about breaking the speaker… it’s  almost funny the answer is: Don’t drive past where it sounds like cr@p.

The distortion information is quite interesting too… essentially you can’t measure distortion for a speaker… & there’s certainly no standard… Danny keeps saying you’d need an aneberic chamber… well duh! What’s the problem… can’t you just go rent time in one?

When I was 18 … 1976 there was a standard for watt out put for amps… .02% RMS somehow that standard was abandoned…. My Marantz 2230 sounded awesome…

So, I’m thinking my X-Statiks can take significantly more power from the Krell… because it’s just cleaner power.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I've played my X-statiks with 5 amps so far.
45W KT120 monoblocks
9W 300B monoblocks
50W/Ch Sprout 100
10W GK10 chip amp.
Danny's current reference 60W monoblocks

The X-Statik LOVES tube amps, and plays really well with the Sprout 100 as well.

However, with the GK10 chip amp, it definitely feels lacking in comparison. I don't like the sound of those two together. It's much better suited for speakers like the LGK, Studios or other bookshelf speakers. (also plays really well with the wedgies)

[Vince in TX]

My X-Statics were definitely lacking with just the Marantz AVR in multi-channel surround, and with sealed subs on LFE channels the bass really didn't do so well for my tastes.   But once I added the Odyssey Kismet amplifier and ran high-level speaker inputs to stereo Double Trouble subwoofers, holy cow!   We rented the movie "The 355" over the weekend and invited a couple of friends over.   When they blew the hole in the floor, my buddy in the back row was "Wow, that was cool!" because it sounded so incredible.   Everything just sounds so realistic.

I really need to get my butt up to Dallas and hear Danny's listening rooms so I know what the next level sounds like.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

Even once you get to Dallas, you still got another 2 hour drive North West ahead of you. 

[Vince in TX]

Even once you get to Dallas, you still got another 2 hour drive North West ahead of you. 

LOL!  Noted.   

[Theronbo]

“Just a couple more hours drive…” that’d be Texas…

Now I’ve had a few days listening through this new amp…

You’d have to pry it from my cold dead hands!

I don’t have a experience listening to a lot of higher end setups…

This just sounds fuller, more detailed… it’s kinda incremental… but that extra bit goes a long way to increasing the listening pleasure.

Listening to a lot of stuff I’ve listen to many times… & just sounds more lush…