Okay, before I put down my comments, I would want to clearly mention my experience with these components. I have owned Dynaudio speakers for almost 5 years. I started with Audience 52, moved to BM6 (studio version) and finally to Contour 1.3SE. I have extensively listened to Audience 52SE since my cousin has it here in Bangalore. I have also listened to Audience 72 and 82 extensively because some of my very good friends have them. Apart from these I have auditioned Focus 220 multiple times and the C2 and Evidence Temptation on different occasion. All this in the last 5 years. I am a huge fan of Dynaudio for what they do and I have experimented a lot with different amplifiers and sources. So, here is my take on the current topic of discussion:
1. Audience 52 was and still is one of the best speakers at the entry level. They are extremely musical and do all the audiophile stuff with amazing degree of conviction. They are also the easiest to drive among all the Dynaudios. A nice 30-40 watt tube amp is also enough if you are not looking at playing at head banging levels. Dont get me wrong here, no other Dynaudio is as easy to to drive as this one. They work fantastically well in small rooms > 120sqft.
2. Krell is one of the worst amps to be partnered with Dynaudio !!!!
I have heard 3 different model of Krells paired with different Dynaudios and they all sounded crap !!! It was the analytical, dry and unmusical Dynaudio experience I have ever had. Two of my very close audiophile friends owned (one of them still owns) 400xi and they have tried pairing Dynaudios with this amp. All I can say, a Wharfdale 9.1 + Marantz entry level amp sounds better than this combo. And I know it was the Krell amp and not the speaker which was more at fault. Dynas are very revealing and they tell you exactly how good or bad is your electronics. The 400xi is a confused amp which Krell has designed in a hurry and did not pay attention to the sonics. The sound from this amp seems okay on the first listen, it is clean and smooth but as you listen to couple of songs you will realize that it does not keep you hooked to the music and that normally happens when the harmonic integrity of the music signal is not maintained and nothing can be done about it.
Anyway, no Krell has ever been able to impress me when paired with Dynaudio so I would suggest you stay away from them if you buying Dyns.
3. Dyns in general require quality power (quantity is required but it is secondary). Do NOT hook an entry level NAD to Audience 52. If you have to stick to entry level amps, I would suggest Marantz. In general I would list out the amps which I have liked and disliked with Dyns, you can choose according to your taste and budget:
Do NOT use these amps with Dyns:
1. NAD (I have not heard the master series but anything below that is no no)
2. Cyrus (Lean and Bright)
3. Krell
4. Primare (cold and dry, does not work with Dyns)
Amps which I think would work well:
1. Marantz
2. Arcam
3. Cayin
4. Naim
5. McCormack
6. Plinius
7. Accuphase
8. McIntosh
9. Odyssey
10. Usher
11. Lyrita Audio (the monoblocks)
There could be many more. As and when the discussion progresses we can talk. But the above list is almost proven (except Lyrita, but I have listened to Lyrita products and hence a extrapolation). I may have sounded a bit strong but believe me these were some consistent observations over a good number of years that I have learnt so I did not want to sound light.