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The original Krell Foundation is $10k RRP, but they have just upped the build spec to 4K pass-through and DSD and increased the price by $2k I think (existing owners can upgrade for $1k + shipping).

http://www.tivolihifi.com/product/av-receivers/krell-foundation-home-theatre-processor

Obviously it's not 3 times better than the 80.3, but at that part of the exponential price curve things start to get expensive if you want better than supermarket grade performance. The Krell is an outstanding piece in my system and I think worthy of its price point.

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Obviously it's not 3 times better than the 80.3, but at that part of the exponential price curve things start to get expensive if you want better than supermarket grade performance.

Obviously Integra probably didn't factor in that some owners can't work out the menu system or set it up correctly to optimise its performance.

Supermarket performance - lol

Edited by minty
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That's another thing in favor of the Krell, in comparison to the 80.3 it is a far simpler box to contend with...just compare the owners manual for each and you'll appreciate the completely different level in installation complexity and options.

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yeah a laugh at that one two.

Obviously people are entitled to their opinions, but suggesting Integra's are "supermarket" grade is just plain ridiculous.

Plenty of people here and elsewhere have said that the Integra punches well about it's price weight (SRP 5k).

Sorry for the OT.............

Imagine how some of us Denon and Yamaha owners feel........

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The supermarket term was actually used by my dealer in relation to the 80.3 (and other things) when discussing my upgrade options a few months back. It might seem harsh, but in the context of that discussion I understand what he was getting at. The 80.3 is a good piece at its price point, but it was just nowhere near as good sonically as what it replaced (Halcro), nor what replaced it (Krell).

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I think the 8801 is excellent value for money and not having heard the 8802 is probably one of the best pre-pro's to get in it's class. IHMO, having to spend double that amount on small gains for a HT side of things is not justifyable. If you're going 2CH, there's plenty out there in the couple thousands that will do a better job and do a bypass and integrate a HT receiver into your system to get the best of both worlds.

I'm the only one in the houshould that listens to 2CH so I've got what I need for 2CH but for HT, my wife and kids and not going to analyze a movie for the last few percentile, they're there to watch and enjoy a movie and I agree. ;)

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@pasadena that's why I think the Krell is worth spending double+ the money on, because it is so good at doing both HT and 2ch. It is way more than a few percentile above the 80.3 level, it swings in a completely different league. I'm happy to recommend the 80.3 at its price point, however if the Krell fits the budget it is the no-brainer choice.

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Of the pre-pro's I've owned I rate them:

1. Halcro SSP + Audyssey Pro (but without Audyssey the Krell wins).

2. Krell Foundation 7.1

then quite a gap to

3. Parasound Halo C2 + Audyssey Pro (no HDMI, if not an issue)

then closely followed by

4. Integra DHC 80.3 with Audyssey Pro

then quite a bit behind, but never-the-less a good piece in it's day

5. Yamaha DSP-A1

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We were sort of drifting, and the 80.3 was mentioned, and I threw Krell in there as well which made us drift some more. But with purpose. The OP is looking for an AV8801, which on my reading of it is widely held as being a slightly better piece than the 80.3...but for the cash he might drop on an AV8801 you can get a used Krell out of the US for about that price, if you're content on using a step-down transformer. I know people here in Australia who have done that (not including me, mine is a 230V one). So we're pitching options at the OP, hopefully useful ones even though we might drift.

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