Cary Cinema 11A vs. Krell S-1000 for DolbyTrueHD & DTS-HD MA

Are you sure about Krell? I was under the impression their piece was not being shown until Cedia. I certainly could be wrong though.

The understanding I have is that when the S1000 launches it will not be HDMI capable, and that will come in a follow-up upgrade.

On the other hand, who knows. Krell has been incredibly tight lipped about this.

Look at the Cary 11 thread....don't believe the Krell rumors until the product is on sale.

The S-1000 was launched months ago. The HDMI Audio upgrade was orginally slated for now (Jan 2008), but like TheBland alluded to, don't believe any timeframes util it goes on sale.

My mistake, thanks for the correction. Actually I knew this - I don't know what I was thinking when I posted. Guess I should have said "The understanding I have is that when the S1000 launched it was not HDMI capable, and that will come in a follow-up upgrade."

Actually, I think we'l start to see these late in the 2nd quarter. Cary just delayed their C11a til Feb (though I don't think that's likely).

Krell has said the retail for the S1000 w/HDMI 1.3 shoul dbe around $8500. i've heard the S1000 and it's an amazing piece. Cary's C11 (not the a series) is also an amazing piece.

Richard

If I told you I'd have to kill you.

I'll actually be reviewing these pieces in a bit and don't want to tip my hat. Problem is I want to hear them with HDMI 1.3 and the new codecs as bitstreamed from players. Not just LPCM.

Generally speaking you can't go wrong with either one, though budget depends on a lot of it.

Richard

I have an S1000. Traded in a Lex MC12 for it. Right away I noticed a huge difference in audio. The Krell rocks. However, it's not as user friendly as the Lex. The Krell menu could be a lot better. That's not a huge deal. I was told Krell will have upgrades to HDMI 1.3, Dolby True HD and so forth by the end of the year. Well, that's come and gone. If you check their website and download the pdf, Krell is saying early this year they will have all that. I'm pretty excited about the new super beast prepro from Denon, the AVP-A1HDCI.

presumably you mean the Cary Cinema 11A & Krell S-1000 with DolbyTrueHD & DTS-HD MA decoding capability ?

lets face it neither really exist as yet so how can you conceivably consider either really as an option ?

maybe wait up till they actually get released. see what theyre like in reality, try do some comparisons and decide which ones for you.

if you can wait though, why not there are some real beauties on the way over the rest of the year in the primare, denon marantz and few other newgen hdmi av pre-pros that our heading our way.

You can consider them even if they are not yet shipping as they've both been announced. The delay is more chipset availability, than it is lack of topology and design plans.

Richard

The Lex had too much of a "processed" sound. The Krell is much more open and natural.

the problem with doing that, as we all know things(including topology and design) can change quite drastically by the time the item is finally released. Best to wait up for these I think till theyre actually released to see what theyre all about.

Well by consider I don't mean buy. Right now, the only pre/pro with HDMI 1.3 anything is the Integra/Onkyo solution. You're going to have to wait no matter what for Krell/Cary to simply come out with them.

I suppose we're saying the same thing but from two different sides of the fence. There is no gaurantee is feature set til it's out, but we know that Cary has audio for HDMI 1.3 in the C11a and Krell will too, and already has video pass through. If that fulfills your needs, then waiting may as well be called considering.

Richard

not true the nad t175 is a full hdmi v1.3 implementation but has no internal decoding for the new audio formats. a pcm only design.


do we really even know that as yet ?

if your talking about the cary spec sheet they handed out at ces for the 11a, that could easily be re-written...we've heard before where one thing gets told at a show only for something else to transpire...

that said youd hope cary do at the very least have a full hdmi 1.3 implemetation on the 11a or its going to be a non starter for many.

but overall I'd wait before getting too excited about these ones...jsut so dont work up the expectations...

I have the S-1000 .. and waiting for the upgrade as well. the sound is superb and natural. i have balanced runs going out to Classe amps driving all Thiels... amazing headroom. Upgraded from the Showcase and the improvement can be seen. watching LOTR on DTS:NEO 6 is about as close to HD audio as I was able to get but it was plenty great. frankly it's all about the source mixing at that point anyhow.

as usual the unit has awful UI and menu design, but that's to be expected from all high end gear.

I also have the marantz 8002 for the family room and that is a super unit if you want to get HDMI audio working today.

Richard, According to Krell's website the S-1000 does not have any of the new HD audio codex. Is this going to change?

Currently I own a HTS 7.1 [8K] and I've seen no reference to any 'trade up' program for 7.1 owners. If the S-1000 is upgraded to include the new HD codex will Krell offer an up grade like they did for the Showcase owners to the S-1000 with only the HDMI change?

Krell, has already stated that there will be an upgrade path for current owners and it will only be the cost of the upgrade. Their intention is for you to be able to enjoy the piece today and upgrade it when it is possible.
Krell, has also stated it will handle all of the audio codes. Obviously they cannot put it on the website that it offers them because if you buy the piece today, it does not offer them. Once the upgrade is available then they will update the website.
It appears that anybody who orders this today will be safe with their investment as their is an upgrade coming, but stranger things have happened...

Thanks Rydyn Fan, but I am refering to the HTS 7.1 not the S-1000. It was clear to me that the new S-1000 would offer that.

Several of the Denon receivers have HDMI 1.3 also and have had for several months.

May I ask what in the world that has to do with this conversation? The thread specifically states it is about Cary and Krell; clearly if somebody was looking to discuss Denon they would go to a different thread. Just about every other thread in this section is about Onkyo/Integra, Dennon, Pioneer, and Yamaha. Lets respect the OP and stay on topic.

Well, a lot of answers regarding Krell are here in our live Q & A right now!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=990274

Richard