I haven’t heard from my good audio buddy Arnold Martinez in quite a few years–long enough to have the what-happened-to-Arnold discussion with a number of others this year. Arnold was one of my favorite dealers back when I was an importer and distributor, and he carried several of my brands as the proprietor of Tweak Studio in Chicago. His enthusiasm for our industry is contagious.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
Arnold Martinez called me up a few weeks ago to discuss the big changes in his life, which is highlighted by the fact that Arnold is now the President of Krell Industries–an unusual development to say the least. It turns out that Rondi D’Agostino is moving into a managing director role, and she needed someone to carry on the Krell mission as its leader. Arnold has plenty of great ideas about the future of this legendary high-end audio marque, and judging from the room at AXPONA 2024 he’s poised to bring all things Krell back into the audio limelight.
The system presented by Arnold Martinez was quite good–with a system that featured most of Krell’s amplifier line mated to a pair of Magico A5 loudspeakers ($24,800/pair) and a Bergmann turntable (another personal favorite of mine thanks to Alex Siufy of Alma Audio), the Krell room sounded magnificent with plenty of soundstage pyrotechnics and a deep, deep bass that was perfectly at home despite the small room size.
I’ve never reviewed a single product from Krell Industries, or Magico for that matter, but now that Arnold Martinez is in charge I think that will change. Since Krell is located in Orange, Connecticut–where some of Colleen’s family lives (let’s not bring up the proximity of the great apizza in New Haven), I see a Krell factory tour in my future. Congratulations go to Arnold Martinez for taking on this important endeavor!
If you would like to hear even more coverage from AXPONA 2024, check out our recap report and highlights from our audiophile-oriented show The Occasional Podcast. You can stream the episode direct from the embed below, or from your favorite podcast platform including iTunes, Android, Google, Deezer, Spotify, iHeartRadio and more.
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