High-end audio on the cheap

A Krell KSA 50 amplifier

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg/CNET)

One of the things that separates high-end audio from mass market gear is that it's built to last and perform at a high level for decades. I bought a 20-year-old, mint condition Audio Research SP-6C tube preamplifier 10 years ago. It looked great and sounded wonderful, but a few years later I sold it to my cousin, who was just starting to get into high-end audio.

Late last year, I bought a 30-year-old Krell KSA 50 stereo amplifier from one of my old customers. He loved the amp and listened to it all the time, but he needed money and I was thrilled to buy a piece of my audio history. I had sold literally tons of Krell amps when I worked as a high-end salesman, starting in the late 1970s. This "little" 50-watt stereo amp weighs a hefty 60 pounds, nearly triple the weight of many 7x100 watt receivers! The KSA 50 sold for $1,900 when new, I paid $1,200 for this one, in perfect shape. I used the KSA 50 with my Magnepan 3.7 flat panel speakers, as well as for some speaker reviews I'm working on, and the Krell still sounds incredible.

Those components weren't cheap, but I also scored a 33-year-old ... [Read more]