Krell EVO 2 and Evo 900 mono's
Elliot Goldman -- Fri, 01/30/2009 - 11:05
I want to thank Dan, Brett and Bill at Krell for loaning us these units for our event. The Krell pre and power amp is IMHO the most overlooked audio product on the market.
All the talk about all these new products from new companies with no track record and Dan has made something really special.
If you have not heard the new generation Krell amplifiers and preamp you are in for quite a shock!
This is not what I have listened to in the past. They do not sound like transisitor amps nor tube amps. THey seem to have unlimited power and incredible width, depth, height and just let the music come through unlike I have ever heard from a solid state device before.
I have a set of 400 and 202 preamp and these EVO 2 and 900 just take off from that point and continue to entirely new levels. This all from an established company...WOW isn't that something interesting in the pages of a magazine today, products from companies we know and have managed to stay around for all these years.
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I totally agree with you; they are beautiful, too especially the 400's. How would you compare the 202 and evo2?
I have listened to both EVO1 and EVO 2 with wilson alex x-s and evo 202 with 400...all i can say to you is wow...
i have been an admirer of Krell for years but the sound was never for me as i felt like being beaten by a heavyweight champion of the world after 1 hour with any krell...
however these new krells are just simply not krells...
top to bottom they resemble tubes and its virtues but with a solid state control and accuracy...
i own ARC 610s with ref3 and if i were to pick a solid state KRELL will be the only one...
i agree with elliot that they are the most overlooked product and they deserve a lot more attention..may be needs a JV attention...:)
THe evo 2 is like the 202 only better in every area. It is quieter, it is faster, it is more transparent, it is silkier, it is more explosive it is all of the 202 just more and better. I found that switching form the 202 and 400's to the evo2 and 900's was similiar sound just better all overand not in a way that was wow the first was bad but rather like reading a story and they were the next chapter of the journey. I have played them for a lotof people and the reaction is always " wow they do not sound like any solid state amp I have ever heard." When did Krell do this?
I don't want to send them back, maybe I will pretend I am not here when they call LOL
Elliot:
I don't know when you have to send the Evo 2 and 900's back, but I encourage listeners in South Fl to contact you and arrange a listen while you still have them. The Evo 202 and 400 mono's aren't even close to what the 2 aforementioned components do.
Mark
PS: On their own, the 202 and 400's are mighty bleeping good.
Elliot, I find your description of the krells very accurate. with the 202/400 combo, one can hear traces of the earlier fpb sound, (its dynamism and excitement etc) but, as you pointed out, you reach the next chapter of the journey.
and if i understand correctly with the evoII/900 pair (which I never heard), the family resemblance is still there but you reach an altogether new level and the journey continues further on.
actually I was hoping to take delivery of the 202/400 as early as next week (to use with the anats as you know :-), but did not want to think that there was that much difference with the bigger units. If you asked me, i always questioned the raison d'être of the 900s, since they do not really fill a price point and evo I (which I heard) would be the obvious choice in that price category
now, can you comment on, if you are in a position to do so, the relative merits of climbing up the krell pre-amplification tree (all the way to evo II) and that of taking the “power” route (possibly with the 600’s).
mcduman:
Here is what I noticed: Wider, taller, deeper, sharper and just better in in every facet you could think of. I was caught totally off-guard by the sound.
Mark
PS: And I'm a tube-a-holic!
Mc
I am not the most technical guy . It was explained to me that the 600 and 900 have progressively better sound than the 400's. They gave me a reason but to be totally honest I forgot and probably wasn't payng attention since I could hear the differences quite clearly between my 400 and trhe 900 I have on loan. These amps also like to be played and pushed around for they sound even better when that occurs. The preamp is unlike any preamp I have ever played with. I really like te 202 but this is just so much more. The combination took me from being really happy to just being totally blown away. I do not want to return them and I am changing my phone number this afternoon!!!!!!
I spoke to Krell this morning The Evo 2 has seperate mono power supplies and has over 8000 circuit elements versus the 202 which has a singloe stereo power supply and 2700 circuit elements. The less each circuit or device has to do the better it sounds. It is like 2 people picking up a 400 box, very hard where six or 8 much less hard. The amps also have two rails in 400 , 4 in 600 and 6 in 900 which again along with the increase in power aloows for a greater sense of ease and space.
It is worth hearing if you can and as I said I am not sure anbout the speakers but I have played these on three different speakers here and the same holds true on all of them.
Hope this helps and I am sure if you called Bill or Brett at Krell they would be happy to explain it in a way I cant
the evo I&II combo, at USD 110k, is, at present, out of my reach. it will have to be either evo 400 or 600 with the 202 and you are saying it is worth stretching a little bit to go for the 600?...
yes i am
I currently have the EVO 505 -> EVO 202 -> EVO 402 with Transparent CAST cables throughout. I am feeding Martin Logan CLX's via Kimber Select 3038's. I am seriously considering the upgrade from the EVO 402 to the EVO 600's. Based on this thread it seems the 600's are indeed a nice step forward over the 402.
Were you running CAST throughout your demo systems? What speaker cables and speaker were you feeding? I know you had some CLX's but not sure if they were still around for this demo or not.
Thanks for your time.
Hi, sorry have not seen the post or I would have responded sooner.
We are using Odin speaker cables and interconnects. I prefer high quality balanced cables to the cast. The best cast cables are like Nordost Heimdall. There are in my opinion superior cables made to tthem albeit at a large price increase. I have the CLX's and have played them with all the combo's of Krell gear that I have and they work really well and sound great. The 600's I don't have but I do have 400 and 900 monos and the 900's are a signifiicant step up from the 400's.
"I do have 400 and 900 monos and the 900's are a signifiicant step up from the 400's."
I'll second that motion.
Mark
PS: I'm dying to hear the cd player from Lake Wobegon. Is it finally broken in?
Hi,
How about the Evo-202 with the Evo-1 ??? any comments for this combo.
to get the best out of the evo1 you need the evo2.
i think the evo600 / evo2 would be the better combo.
btw, there are people who like the evo900 more than evo1
lol, actually the evo2 / 600 combo is the one i ve got at home. well, elliot has the 900er, but the big difference is that no people from krell are going to call me for sending the units back. haha,
my opinion: the krell poweramps are fantastic stuff. the preamps are far overpriced.
Hi all,
I have heard the evo 1 & 2 and think they have been overlooked by many reviewers. In my opinion they are far more musical and exciting to listen to than the Solutions combo, Burmester combo and Vitus combo.
This is a general question to all.
Which of the two choice are more justified from a musical quality point of view.
Krell 202 & EVO1 amps =$78,000
Krell EVO2 & 600's=$80,000
Thanks.
Based on what I heard at Elliot's store, I'd go with the 2 & 600.
Mark
lol, i think the 202 suits maximum something like evo 302
The 202, good that it is, is not even remotely in the same league with the 2.
Elliot, do you really think the odin is better than cast?
No contest! A huge price difference however.
sorry, what do you mean with "no contest"?
odin is far better?
or you have not compared the two?
CRASHER, i thought ELLIOT did ..........in terms of SOUND & PRICE
Yes Crasher I have. Cast cables are made for Krell by Nordost and its equivalent to the Heimdall series of cables. THe Odin products are clearly better but at a significant price. They are my choice for cables if one has no limits and that of course means for very few listeners. I have heard them in multiple locations ( Odin that is) and they are always, always amazing.
All the talk about all these new products from new companies with no track record and Dan has made something really special.
If you have not heard the new generation Krell amplifiers and preamp you are in for quite a shock!
This is not what I have listened to in the past. They do not sound like transisitor amps nor tube amps. THey seem to have unlimited power and incredible width, depth, height and just let the music come through unlike I have ever heard from a solid state device before.
I have a set of 400 and 202 preamp and these EVO 2 and 900 just take off from that point and continue to entirely new levels. This all from an established company...WOW isn't that something interesting in the pages of a magazine today, products from companies we know and have managed to stay around for all these years.
My shock was to hear that the EVO 900 + MIT Oracle & preamp + CD Player Krell associated to the Magico V3, produces a disaster ... sorry but this was really not convincing. Maybe a problem of allergy between Magico and Krell ?
Maybe the MIT cables?
I reported on the EVO2 and the 900 mono amplifiers, we used them on the FOcal Grand Utopia EM's, the Magico V3 and the Martin Logan CLX speakers. I used them with Nordost Odion cabling and dCS puccini with U-clock, Scarlatti stack and the Meridian new CD 808. I would think that what you might have heard and did not care for could have been the set up or the source.
I want to say one thing here again, the set up of the system and the room is equally as important as the gear being used. I have heard many expensive, highly regarded gear sound like crap, is it the gear or the install?????
i do agree that odin is fantastic stuff ! i use odin powercords and speakercable.
however, i do NOT agree with elliot that cast is maximum as goog as heimdahl. it is maybe a heimdahl cable, but there is also the benefit of the cast tecnology itself. actually i replaced the walhalla between evo2 and evo600 with cast mmi and find it sounds better.
clavil, dont know the mit oracle and preamp but the rest of the units you mentioned do suit each other very well. magico and krell works perfectly together, epecially since the magico v3 loves power.
Yes, I agreed with hansueli. I've heard a fully break-in V3 with 900s for over 3 months now. They work together like "Magic".
as a long time krell user and having tried all cast, valhalla and odin options, i can confidently report that nothing even comes close to transparent opus mm2. this cost me a great deal of money and many sleepless nights to learn, but that is how it is
i was perhaps too quick to jump to the odin bandwagon after the valhallas, and i am curious even today as to why nobody is admitting that odin does not actually cure valhalla's problems (a bit hurried and somehow lifeless in the midrange); it only improves on the strengths. what you end up with is music so lightening fast that it does not let the nuances fully develop. it has to always rush rush rush.
it is a great cable of course and i paid money to buy them. but to me they are too instantly recognizable. that, sooner or later, detracts from the enjoyment of music. and we are talking about solid state monster here to mate them with. civilized, good-hearted but still monsters. krells and nordost (and cast) do not happen unfortunately. i too wanted them to happen.