Krell FPB 600 or 400cx?

Matjet,

Are the new evo series much betterbthen the fpb 450 mcx? I am using 2 450 mcx, a 350 mcx along with a kav 500 for the rears and sides.

The 450 mcx still sounds pretty but I wonder if the 400e is much better. I have always preferred monoblocks to stereo amps.

I agree, Krell monblocks definately sound better than their stereo amps. I have A-B'd the Krell 750mcx (stereo amp) with the Evo 400 (stereo - not the e series). They are very very close. They both sounded great. I had great difficulty picking one over the other. The Krell MCX amps are superb, especially the monoblocks and the big 750mcx. I think the MCX amps sound much better than the prior generation Krells. I love my Krell Evo 600e's, but I also loved the 450mcx. They are great, great amps.

I had an in-house demo of the Ayre MX-R monoblocks driving a pair of Revel Salon 2 and I was surprised that I preferred the 450MCX. The Ayre was more refined in the mids and highs but the 450 MCX had much better bass and had a fuller sound.

Do the EVO amps have better mids and highs than the MCX?

Two 450mcx's may be better than the 700cx, I haven't compared them. But I had a 600c and sold it to get the 350mc's and sent them back to get another 600c because I liked it better. The 600 was just smoother and more powerful in my system.

I lived with the 450 MCX for several years. When I exchnaged it for the Evo 600 (now the Evo 600E) I did not notice a significant difference (I didn;t A-B them at home). Midrange,bass treble all sound great with both amps. Both have excellent 3 dimensional sound stage, instrument seperation (air). My dealer felt the treble was a bit more prestine with the Evo amp, but I am not sure that I agree. The sound is too close to compare without direct A-B. My A-B comparison at the store was a Krell Evo 400 stereo amp A-B'd to a Krell 750MCX stereo amp. The sounded very similar. i guess it is impressive that the smaller evo 400 could match the 750MCX. T really had to strain to detect a difference. I would not trade in the MCX for the evo amps unless you get a great deal. Both are superb. The thing that made a huge difference in audio performance in my hifi was changing my Krell KCT pre-amp and Lexicon MC12B processor for the Krell Evo 707 processor. This made an obvious enormous improvement in all aspects of audio both for music (2 channel stereo using the pre-amp bi-pass in the Evo 707) and for home theater. I noticed it immediately, no AB comparison was necessary. I have been involvrd in this hobby for over 30 years. Upgrading to the Krell Evo 707 is by far the single greatest upgrade I have ever done. The 707 uses a pre-amp section very similar to the preamp used in their top of the line Evolution 2 (retails for $55,000)in all channels. The sound is absolutely stunning. The Evo 707 is amazing, it completely blows away the Krell KCT and the Lexicon MC12B.