STAYING POWER

Krell Industries reached its 40th anniversary on December 1st, 2020, and after four decades the company name still reverberates through the audiophile cognoscenti as a near-synonym for high-quality, high-power amplification. Named after the aliens in ‘Forbidden Planet’ (see panel on opposite page), Krell was originally established in 1980: “Dan and I started Krell with a thousand square feet in the basement of an old manufacturing building in Bridgeport, Connecticut”, remembers Krell’s President, Rondi D’Agostino.

Starting with the KSA-100 solid-state super-amp, cited by The Absolute Sound as one of the 10 most significant amplifiers of all time, Krell spent the next three decades forging a reputation as solid as the build of its ultra-high performance equipment. There was a dubious interregnum following the investor-invoked departure of both Rondi and Dan D’Agostino in 2009, but Rondi has regained control of the company to oversee the most recently-delivered models, which continue the company’s legacy while at the same time addressing the needs of modern audio systems. In 2018 she was joined by Walter Schofield as Krell’s new Chief Operating Officer, joining from Emotiva and with a CV boasting time with major brands such as SVS, Meridian, Linn and Harman.

So while the first decade and a half were all about amplifiers, Krell has now re-ignited its digital legacy, with the ‘Vanguard Universal DAC Source’, the first standalone DAC from Krell in more than 20 years, and the new K-300i stereo integrated amplifier, which has a full digital input section available as an optional module for its otherwise all-analogue amplification.

Krell is delivering its unique merits in audiovisual