Krell FPB 300cx enough to drive B&W Nautilus 801?

I currently own a pair of B&W Nautilus 801's and the fpb 300c amp. There is absolutely no need to for the 400 amp. You'd be wasting your money. The amp provides more than adequate power. Any louder your ears will start bleeding. believe me it's plenty.

The 300c would be more than enough power as I was previously using one on my 801n's in a large room
without any strain. I replaced the 300c with a MAC
MC2000 and according to its meters very loud levels
are about 13 watts. The MAC sounds much better on these
and has no problem controlling the woofer. If you want SS
I would look at the MAC402 or 501's.

If money is no object buy the 400. The 300 is a great amp and will sound great. I doubt you will be disappointed

I was looking at getting the 300cx for my thiel 2.4 before settling with the Classe' ca401 which has a little bit more power. The 300cx has more then enough power but I believe that it is not how loud you want to push an amp but how well the amp performs when playing in the same sound level. A higher power amp will always performs better. Just think if 300cx can play loud with most speakers then why they need a 700cx!
With the CA401 I can listen at very low level and yet without losing dynamics. Just like driving a big V8 at cursing speed, smooth with great ease!

Well I don't entirely agree with a lot of you on here. I for 1 have two speakers the MBL 111B and the B&W 801N. First, for the Diamond series: the diamond tweeter does sound a little darker(ie less bright) and the crossover was improved somewhat, but keep in mind the diamond tweeter diaphrame is heavier and not metalic so yes it does sound a little smoother. Modifying the crossover in the 801N will get you some great results but be prepared to spend money on some on high end parts. The woofers were also changed for lack of a better word in the 801s Im not sure about the other models? The 801's are fairly effient and rated for 1000 watts (the MBL's are 78db and 2200 watts)but they are a difficult load, a stronger amp with a beefier power supply and robust output stage is going to get the most out of them. The MACS arn't even class A of course they run cool, the 801N's are generally a 3-4 ohm load, I listened to the MACS but was not that impressed so far, maybe it wasn't the right system or something. I was looking to switch over to MACS but gave up on that after hearing them versus the Krell on some 800D's. There is more to this than just the Power you guys are discussing, take for example my FPB350mc's they put out 485 into 8 ohms, the FPB450mcX puts out the same amount, 485 watts, on the test bench but being an "X" amp it does have improved circuit boards giving it a much wider bandwidth and honestly a better sound. I'm not saying anything negative about the FPB350m or mc, they are amazing amps they can even run my MBl's very very hard without any compression, if the wall voltage is held to 117 volts they are smooth as silk they only get that agressive sound when you get into the 125 volt range like we have here in CA. The MONO amps are far superior to the stereo amps, I hate the guys that exagerate so much on here but please understand me it is a night and DAY difference, the imaging, depth, hieght, and power of the mono amps is easily heard. I have a FPB300c for the rear channels and it was my first "c" amp, when I got the MONO's my wife said WOW that's a lot better, she claims not to be into it but she is totally an audio snob. Her granfather was an audiophile, her dad and she married one, enough said. You think the sound improvement from the earlier amps to the later is the wattage but it's the same it's the circuitry that's improved, in the case of the "c" amps it's mostly the driver stage. For the "X" amps, the circuitry is so good the bandwidth goes from 0-150mhz to 0-450mgz with the given increase in sound quality. What's the bandwidth on those MACS again??? he he he

Again the FPB 600 and FPB700 amps are not equivelant to the MONO brothers. The stereo amps are bridged designs. so the specs look the same except for the transformers of course which are much lager in the MONO amps. I personally think the FPB750mcX is the finest amp I have ever heard, better than the EVO units (except the 1&2) to my ears. I have not heard a good comparison with the EVO "e" series amps yet but I understand the circuit boards are better on those. I also have the FPB650mc amps and want to upgrade them to the mighty FPB750mcX amps and upgrade my KRC3 preamp to the EVO 202. the EVO1&2, best I have ever heard in my life!

The lower line FPB200 and 250 mono's just never sounded right? I'm not sure why they do not carry the torch but they just don't? I do listen to mine pretty loud at times but not 1000 watts, my 650's only put out 975 watts into 8 ohms anyway. But there is not a ton of difference in sound between the 350's and the 650's but for whatever reason the 650's do sound some how a little better, and believe it or not slightly stronger bass too.

What is the best amp, literally the FPB750mcX but my favorite is the FPB350mc MONO's, they are stunning in bang for the buck. Not easy living with all the dedicated power lines, heat and power bills but they cost less to operate than the EVO's lol. My wife hates the power bills here in CA and the heat in summer, but she only whins about it nothing serious.

Rob

Second: I have a few different Krell systems