Introduction I have owned various Krell amplifiers in my reference systems over the years, each providing hours upon hours of listening joy. Recently, Krell has released a new top-of-the-line lineup of gear under the Evolution moniker that speaks to those for a need for the best of the best and a willingness to pay for it. The review system under evaluation is comprised of a $10,000 Krell Evolution 505 SACD player with 24-bit 192 DACs, a $15,000 Krell Evolution 202 two-chassis stereo preamp and the monstrous Krell Evolution 900 monaural amplifiers at $20,000 each, or $40,000 for the stereo pair as reviewed. My review samples are done in Krell’s signature silver finish, which is breathtakingly beautiful out of the rack and poised on a simple table as it is installed in my reference system. Set-up To start, it is important to note that the Krell Evolution 900 power amps are nothing short of huge. With a travel ...

Introduction The format war for high-definition discs wages on, but for now, DVD is still the reigning king of home video formats. We all have years of back catalogue DVDs in our collections, and a solid player is of paramount importance to any theater. High-resolution audio in the form of SACD and DVD-Audio are still prominent and Denon makes several levels of players capable of spinning CD, DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and SACD discs, with their top of the line spinner being the DVD-5910CI priced at $3,800. The DVD-5910CI is designed to be the primary source for a high-end home theater or whole home distribution system and, as such, offers connectivity not often found on consumer level goods. The “CI” stands for Custom Integration. This is Denon’s way of identifying their products with connectivity and control features for home integration and theaters using advance control systems. This flagship DVD player in the Denon line offers a vast array ...

Introduction With so much media focus on the recent releases of HD DVD and Blu-ray, one could possibly see the demise of the current DVD hardware set just on the horizon. But early adopters beware: HD DVD is suffering from some brutal (perhaps even fatal) growing pains to overcome maladies such as painfully slow load times, frequent and amazingly frustrating reboots and excruciating integration issues with existing home theater systems, thanks to the fact that movie studios have forced HD DVD players to constantly have an HDCP handshake, which is at the root of most of people’s connectivity and switching issues. Blu-ray is better, but still suffers from many problems, including a lack of RS232 control, reported and admitted problems with the video output (even though it looks pretty good) and the fact that HDMI 1.3 offers as much as twice the video bandwidth going to your set. At this point, who could blame anyone ...

Introduction When Lexicon first introduced the RT-10 Universal Disc Player in 2003, it was considered by many an ambitious project. Subsequently, the Proceed Audio brand was discontinued and the Harman Specialty Group (HSG) was formed. Harman International formed HSG on the cornerstone of three key brands: Mark Levinson, Lexicon and Revel. The RT-10 would be scrutinized by home theater industry experts and consumers alike, not only because it was HSG’s first foray into source componentry – the Mark Levinson brand did not and still does not manufacture a video source component although the No. 51 will be available soon – but also because it came on the heels of Proceed’s $6,000 PMDT universal transport, which had a litany of reliability issues until it was eventually discontinued. In addition, Lexicon would enter this high-stakes reference-quality segment of the market by designing the RT-10 as a hybrid player featuring two new technologies: Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio ...

Introduction My audio/video system has changed dramatically over past couple years. A while back, my rack consisted of a CD player, SACD player, DVD player, VHS deck, preamplifier, surround sound processor and several power amplifiers. Of course, then there were the miles of cable it took to hook the endless string of components together. Not to mention the remotes. But that was then, and this is now. Today’s modern audio/video enthusiast has options, like receivers and universal disc players, which over the years have made huge strides in quality and performance, leaving a lot of the “traditional” solutions in the dust. Enter Denon’s 3910 single-disc, DVD-A/SACD Progressive Scan Universal Disc player, a source component that literally plays everything. One player, multiple formats: what could be better? I have been on the lookout for a good universal player for several months, because I’ve just had it with maintaining multiple players. Luckily Denon, as well as other manufacturers, ...