The "old" KAV-300i -- Reprise

[InVinoVeritasty]

I bought a pair of the Magnepan LRS on a lark. I had read a number of glowing reviews and then I read the AudioScienceReview test results panning them. Who's right? Everyone can come to his own opinion on the worthiness of the speaker, but in my case, I chose to break my pair in with one of my "old" KAV-300i integrated amps. Let's just say I still love the KAV-300i. I've never understood exactly what the Krell topology is (Class A until....), but it has some muscle and an edge that I like. So, for the last couple of weeks, my McIntosh and B&W gear is resting quietly watching the Krell and Maggies take over my listening room. Renewed respect for Mr. Dan D'Agostino and his contributions to modern sound.

[W9TR]

My experiences with gear I own are generally diametrically opposed to the reviews I’ve read in ASR.

[Soundmig]

IIRC ASR doesn't "listen" to anything critically but rather goes on measurements only. Measuring a dipole speaker "in-room" is not an easy thing to do and it's fraught with all kinds of variables (speaker positioning, room size and shape, etc.). ARC also tends to pan the Schiit Audio DAC's that are pretty well regarded for their "sound", and we all know that Mike Moffat and Jason Stoddard (Schiit Audio principals) know a thing or two about designing digital and analog circuits (respectively), so I tend to not put a lot of stock in ASR's "conclusions" about audio gear.

[InVinoVeritasty]

I think Amir at ASR was critical of an early Schitt product, but has been highly complimentary of some of its current offerings that he has tested. I respect the work he does trying to educate consumers and publishing his comprehensive test results. I sometimes come to a different conclusion about the subjective value of a piece of gear to me -- such as in the case of the LSR speakers -- but that doesn't diminish the value of the objective data he provides or my respect for his work. While he clearly focuses on bench test results, I do think he listens to equipment and provides a short summary of it, but in the case of speakers, I believe he listens to only one speaker of the pair.