This is my system right now. I am back into having a system at home for the first time in 22 years. The system sounds great in the living room and integrates well. It is very easy to get into any kind of music especially with the addition of the subwoofer. The sound is musical and easy to listen to. The room is medium large and well damped into an open house layout. An upgraded amp is on my list. Recommendations are welcome. I would be buying an amp from Audiogon most likely. Power cords are also by Siltech.
When the YBA Passion Integre was released late last year at an audio show (don't remember which one), the Integre was used on a set of Utopia... The comments that I got was that people couldn't beleive their ears. Such a small unit giving such a big sound (musical, detailled, wide soundstage...) The setup was amazing...
The Passion line from YBA is very interesting. The only drawback is that you can't find them on the used market (they sell most of their gear in Europe and Japan)... If you're looking to buy such gears, you will probably have to buy brand new.
Note: I would note be surprised if you auditionned the Passion Integre and prefered it to your Krell gear. The only downside is that the Integre may sound a bit lean (but less grainy) compared to your Krell (which would not be the case if you auditionned for Amp/Preamp Passion Combo).
Please make yourself a favor before buying. Audition the YBA Passion Amp ($9,600) and Preamp (8,640.00). You will get a sound that is less grainy and a lot more musical than the Krell (you may think that I'm crazy but I urge you to audition).
The Passion is rated at 250W into 8 ohms and 500W into 4 ohms. You can get the mono amps for around $14,000 if you need more power. I made the audition of a Passion amp/preamp against a Krell 300c/AR LS-25 kit on a pair of Martin Logan Statement E2 (these babies are HUGE and expensive). The cabling was all Siltech G5.
I personnaly bought the Integrated model since the amp/preamp combo is way out of my budget. But If I could afford such gear, the Passion amp/preamp would be a definite choice.
The store I bought my gear sells Krell, YBA, audio Research, Theta, etc and a good portion of their Krell clients switched to some YBA gear or Audio Research gear (the AR gear sound warmer than YBA Passion).
YBA is not well known in the states (it's a french brand) but any store that carries the line will agree that their gear is VERY musical while being very detailled sounding. You should try finding a store that carries both YBA and Krell. A/B testing is easier and more accurate that way...
