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Krell KAV250A upgrade to FPB300?

Hi all

My system is as follows:

Krell 300CD
Krell KRC-HR pre
Krell KAV 250A power
Aerial Acoustics 10T speakers
Cardas Golden Cross XLR interconnects
Audioquest Clear 3 Speaker cables
Essence ESP power cords

I am looking for more truth of timbre & realism in my system, which although very musical, stills sounds a little hifi-ish. My former speakers, ageing Martin Logan Quests, were rather better in that respect, although the Aerial 10t's are superior in all other areas, esp the highs and of course the bass. (Extremely high humidity here made the Quests' high frequencies severely rolled off). I understand that there are things that a 'stat does in the midrange that other types of speaker never seem to achieve, but I would love to get back some of the mid range magic that can make a great system so goddarn seductive.

I replaced my Krell KAV 250P preamp with the KRC-HR, as I plan to upgrade my power amp to a Krell FPB 300, or if I can afford it, the FPB 600. The preamp upgrade brought an incredible improvement in resolution, but the lack of beauty in the mids still remains.

I'm trying to identify which area needs to be addressed to achieve this.

Do you think the FPB 300 will bring about a big improvement, or should I hold out longer till I can save the extra green required for the FPB 600?

I'm also considering adding a Chord DAC64.

All advice and opinions welcome,

Thanks in advance for your help,
Mickey
me9666
4 responses Add your response
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kennyb
117 posts
 
I presently use an FPB-300 with my Aerial 10Ts. I find that the two work very well together. The FPB-300 does a very nice job of controling the bass. The Krell suprised me in that it was a lot more musical than I had expected it to be. The midrange is very well developed and slightly on the warm side. The most impressive thing though about the amp is its dynamic capabilities. There are only a few systems that I've heard that match or exceed my FPB-300/10T combo in that regard.

As happy as I am with the FPB-300 though, I have recently decided make a change. I recently heard an all-Spectral system and was so blown away that I decided to buy one. I should be putting my FPB-300 up for sale here on Audiogon in a few weeks, after I receive my Spectral amp.
lwin's avatar
lwin
570 posts
 
Six months ago I bit the bullet & traded in my KAV250A for a pair of 250mc mono's. Right out of the box there was a sound improvement but it wasn't until the amps were fully broken in did I feel they were worth the price difference. The soundstage is huge (depth & height),the retrevial of detail was startling. I played disc's that I had listened to a billion times & was simply flabbergasted by what I was hearing. By all means if you can afford a FPB amp do so. Larry W.
kthomas
911 posts
 
You will love the upgrade from the KAV250a to an FPB-series amp. How big a room do you have? I really can't imagine needing the FPB-600 for the 10T's unless you have a really big room or have a plan to upgrade the 10T's to something more power-demanding. If you have a bit more money and something less than a huge room, I'd consider the monoblocks in the FPB line. -Kirk
barrelchief
294 posts
 
I had an FPB-300 and sold it to go w/mono FPB-350's. The FPB-300 is nice. However, if you can hold off and swing the $ (especially buying a good, used piece,) go for the FPB-600...more dynamic and musical. Consider the big picture for the long haul. I am sure prices on used will become even more attractive, now that Krell has recently released a new series of amps
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