From the April 1997 Recommended Components listings:

WP asserted that "the Krell must certainly qualify as one of the truly great preamplifiers out there. It's well built, well-thought-out, and a joy to use...In terms of tonal accuracy and low-level retrieval, it stands among the exalted few." Remote-control, the ability to drive both balanced and single-ended cables, and a unity gain throughput make the KRC-HR unusually flexible for a contender for state-of-the-art status. While WP observed that the KRC-HR did not offer the final word in soundstage presentation, its transparency, low-level resolution, and timbral accuracy were second to none. "Class A" endorses MC. (Vol 19, Nos 10 & 12; Vol 20, No 5)

The KRC-HR retailed for $6900 for line-level only. This unit does not come with the optional plug-in phono stage. You may be able to find one of these separately.

I have recently tested the unit and it appears fully functional with one exception - the tape monitor input does not appear to work - the button and remote engage the front panel led, but I do not hear the relay click as I do with other input selections. I was not able to test the balanced inputs because I don't currently have any balanced sources, however this was working fine when I was last using this preamp in my system. I did test all single-ended inputs and the single-ended and balanced outputs. Another minor quirk is that the inputs are incorrectly labeled on the back panel - the single ended inputs are labeled PH, S-1, S-2, S-3 whereas they should be labeled PH, S-2, S-3, S-4. I suspect this is an issue with all KRC-HRs, but it does not affect functionality once you have the cables plugged in.

Cosmetically, the preamp is in very good condition. It has no obvious scratches or marks on the preamp, although there are a couple small scratches on the power supply on the back of the top cover and on the remote control as seen in the photos below. Also, one of the retaining screws on the power supply cable connector that plugs into the separate power supply is broken. Since one retaining screw is adequate to hold the connector in place, this doesn't really affect functionality. Also, one of the screws (out of 4) that holds the back plate on the remote control is missing as seen in the photos.

The preamp will be shipped in it's original shipping box complete with the owner's manual.

Cosmetically, the unit is in very good condition, particularly consider its age. The acrylic cover looks virtually perfect unless you look at it at an angle into a strong light - then you can see slight scratches/scuff marks due to periodic dusting. There is a small nick on the plate near the transport (shown below right) that is hidden when a CD is mounted on the spindle. The anodizing is rubbed off on the upper right corner of the front panel which can be seen clicking on the photo above to see the high resolution version.

Operationally, the unit is fully functional and sounds great. I was only able to test the SPDIF output, but I have no reason to believe there is any problem with the other outputs. The leveling feet never seemed to work as I would expect them to. You're supposed to be able to turn the knobs on the four corners to raise or lower the feet, but if it does, it's pretty subtle. Since all four corners work the same, I assume they are not broken.

The machined aluminum remote is also functional and cosmetically very good (a few scuff marks, but no scratches).

I have the original box and packing material, but I do not have the owner's manual.

This unit is in excellent condition with no significant scratches. There are slight marks on the top surface where a tuner (with rubber feet) was resting on the top for a little while.

The rubber on the feet has some fibers that are sticking to the adhesive and some of the rubber has shifted slightly. But of course, this is not visible unless you pick the unit up and look underneath, and is probably easily repairable anyway.

Functionally, the unit appears to work perfectly and sounds great, although I have not been able to test the unit with sources other than 44.1Khz (standard CD) and have tested only the SPDIF input. I was using the processor with the ATT optical glass fiber connection which was working fine the last time I used it, but I no longer have glass fiber cables to test with.

Click on one of the images to see a high resolution version of each image.

The Reference 64 sold for $12,900 when new. The current Audiogon average used price is $3140, although relatively few of these units have been sold because they did not sell in high volumes due to the sell price. My unit is an excellent value at only $2000.

I have the original box and packing material, but I do not have the owner's manual.

Details on the Revel Gem speakers can be found on Revel's website. The Gems are Stereophile Class A rated speakers.