Κώστας Φ.
Truth hurts. Here's a teddy bear.
- Μηνύματα
- 8.978
- Reaction score
- 895
"Αγαπημένε μου Άη Βασίλη,
Σου γράφω νωρίτερα για να κάνεις τα κουμάντα σου.
Θυμάσαι πέρυσι που σου ζήταγα monoblock τελικούς? Ξέρω, το παράκανα.
Φέτος αποφάσισα να είμαι σεμνός και ταπεινός (ΤΜ). Θέλω να μου φέρεις απλά έναν ολοκληρωμένο ενισχυτάκο που δοκίμασε πρόσφατα το Stereophile...Eίναι ο Krell FBI.
Σου στέλνω το review και τις εργαστηριακές μετρήσεις για να μην μπερδευτείς.
Με πολύ αγάπη,
Κωστάκης
Υ.Γ. Α!Aν έχεις χώρο στο έλκυθρο πέτα κι ένα Krell CD με CAST output""
"So here we have Krell Industries, maker of no-holds-barred, power-pumping behemoth amps, brazenly treading this uncertain terrain with the FBI—a Fully Balanced Integrated (hence the initials) amplifier that, judging from its appearance and design (to say nothing of that $16,500 price tag), aims to give no ground to its separate-components brethren.
...
The FBI is something else entirely. It weighs 104 lbs, and puts out 300Wpc (600Wpc into 4 ohms, 1200Wpc into 2 ohms) with vanishingly low distortion at frequencies ranging from subway rumble to dog whistle. The preamp and amp sections have separate circuits and separate toroidal transformers; the preamp's is rated at 25VA, the amp's at 3000VA with a capacitance of 40,800µF per channel. Each channel has 20 TO-3-cased output transistors and 10 TO-3-cased regulators.
...
This discovery led to CAST, which used Krell Current Mode not only in the circuits within a component but also in the connection between components. This approach would have two advantages, in theory. First, there would be no need to convert the signal from current to voltage and back to current; it would flow as one continuous stream of current. Second, whereas signals in the voltage domain go from low to high impedance, signals in the current domain go from high to low impedance. As a result, factors that inevitably (but unpredictably) corrupt an audio signal in the voltage domain would be sharply reduced, if not eliminated. These factors include stray capacitance and inductance, which build up on circuit boards, and strange interactive effects caused by the impedance of cables connecting a preamp and power amp. (D'Agostino has reportedly sent a signal through 5000 feet of Krell's proprietary CAST cable with minimal loss or distortion.)
...
This comparison pointed to two conclusions. First, very good analog still has it over very good digital, in certain respects. Second, CAST or no CAST, the Krell FBI is an excellent amplifier; the difference between its inputs is one of degrees of excellence.
Conclusion
I can't presume to know what an economist would call your "utility function." That is, I can't know whether or not a certain product at a certain price—say, $16,500 for the Krell FBI integrated amplifier—is worth your money, given your tastes and income. But I can say that you won't hear everything the FBI has to offer unless you also buy a CD player that has CAST outputs, and the only such player that currently exists, as far as I know, is the Krell Evolution 505, which retails for $10,000.
In for 16 grand, in for 26? If that's where you're sitting (and if it is, mazel tov), go for it. Alas, it's not where I sit. So I petition Dan D'Agostino, on behalf of my fellow well-heeled but not that well-heeled music-lovers and audiophiles: Please, sir, can you make a digital player with CAST outputs (or maybe some kind of CAST converter) for a bit less? That will make the full package of the FBI's magic tricks accessible to many more of us." -- Fred Kaplan
"It was a pleasure to measure such a well-engineered amplifier as Krell's FBI. Quiet, powerful, stable, and well-behaved even into low impedances, it is a paradigm of what an integrated amplifier needs to do. If only it weren't quite so heavy—carrying it down the steps of Fred's brownstone to my car, then down the stairs from my driveway to my test lab, I began to appreciate the virtues of amps with featherweight class-D output stages!" -- John Atkinson
Full Review: stereophile.com
