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HIGH-END AUDIO

GIANT STEPSWITH THE KRELL EVOLUTION AMP AND PREAMP, YOU DON’T JUST HEAR MUSIC, YOU FEEL IT. BY STEVE GUTrENBERG

It does not get any better than this:Dan D’Agostino and I are listeningto the Allman Brothers Band, StanGetz, Henry Mancini, Metallica,Barry White, and the London

Symphony Orchestra over his newest cre-ations, the Krell Evolution One amplifierand Evolution Two preamplifier. Over theyears, I have owned many of D’Agostino’sbest works, so I am no stranger to theSound of Krell. The older designs are rig-orously accurate, have resolution to spare,and are stupendously powerful.TheEvolutions build on those strengths and yetthey are very different~nd dare I say it,they are the first sweet-sounding Krells.The Evolutions are the masterstrokes ofD’Agostino’s 25-year quest to design theworld’s ultimate electronics.

The man’s design techniques are a littleunconventional: D’Agostino sometimesscrutinizes his behemoth power amplifierswith a set of specially calibrated head-phones to evaluate their sound throughtheir most "non-linear" operating range.You see, the headphones only require atiny fraction of a watt to play; the head-

phone ganlbit is the audio equivalent ofcreeping through city tra~c in a 600-horsepower Ferrari Enzo. D’Agostinoexplains his methodology this way: "Withthe headphones, we’re eliminating the vari-ability of room acoustics, and I’m just lis-tening to tonality. I also think the secret tomaking great solid-state amplifiers is payingattention to their low-level resolution." Byfocusing his talents on revealing sonic sub-tleties, he gets a more realistic sound.

D’Agostino not only oversees all aspectsof Krell engineering, he also handles theindustrial design of his products. The back-illuminated electric blne slits and theEvolutions’ 1.5-inch-thick faceplates’undulating curves hint at the fiber technol-ogy lurking inside. Don’t worry, I will notbore you with detailed descriptions of theEvolutions’ multiple-output current mir-rors, zero feedback topology, gold-phtedand hermetically sealed switching systems,40-megahertz power transistors, or that thetransistors always operate in full Class Amode. I would not dream of boggingdown this review with such technobabble,but I will sum up by declaring that the

Evolutions’ miraculous amalgam of scienceand art can resuscitate the soul of recordedmusic and make it live again.

The Evolutions’ fi~l regimen of systemintegration features includes RS-232 portsfor interfacing with Crestmn and AMXtouchscreens, plus 12-volt triggers andinput and output jacks for use with othercontrol systems.The Evolution Two pream-ptifier’s hindquarters have room for fourRCA inputs, three professional-style XLRinputs, and three proprietary CAST(Current Audio Signal Transmission) inputsfor use with Krell tuners, CD players, andDVD players.Two analog or digital audiorecorders can be accommodated, and youcan listen to one source--sag your XMsatellite radio--while making a copy of afavorite CD for your car.

The Evolution One is a 450-watt, sin-gle-channel amplifier and will no doubt be

Machined faceplates, a large LED readout,and intriguing blue panel lights lend theEvolution Two preamplifier a distinctive retroaesthetic. A separate power supply is providedfor each preamp.

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HIGH-END AUDIO

the Evolution Two’s most likely partnerin state-of-the-art music and home the-ater systems.They will be connected viaKrell CAST cables that allow the twocomponents to work as a unified design.The Evolutons are the first "low feed-back" Krells, and without going into atechnical description of what thatimplies, D’Agostno believes his newdesign approach is partly responsible forthe radical change from the classic Krellsound. Perhaps as a tip of the hat toKrells of days past, the Evolution One isemblazoned with a large oval power/wattage meter. It is pretty unlikely youwill ever come close to pegging thatmeter, but it looks really cool bathed in

blue light from the internal lamp. AnEvolution Series universal Super Audio

CD/DVD-Audio player will join theranks by the end of the year. All models

are available in gleaming diamond-cutsilver or luxurious black finishes.

As you can see from the pictures,these form-follows-function designsseparate each Evolution channel intoWvo separate chassis; do the math andyou wind up with a stereo set of pre-amplifiers and power amplifiersdeployed over eight chassis. The pream-plifier resembles an audio totem pole,stacked four boxes high, or if space per-mits, its four pieces can be laid side byside. For convenience sake, any numberof preamplifier channels can be linkedand controlled from a single EvolutionTwo. The amplifiers are designed fortwo-by-two stacking, but make surethey are not starved for a supply of freshair. They can run hot.

If the prospect of listening to theEvolutions over D’Agostino’s home sys-tem is not tempting enough, I am ’alsograntcd an andience with his brand-spanking-new Krcll LAT-10110 speakers.Nonicallb these extruded aluminuln

beauties are in the lea~o-ue of the world’sbest spccimcns-~uch as the Wilson

Audio Alexandria andJMlab GrandeUtopia Be, both of which I have had thepleasure of reviewing for this magazine.Incredibly enough, the LAT-IOOOs are

Although Krell takes the unusual step ofproviding each Evolution One monophonicamplifier with its own separate power sup-p/y~ wha£s more likely to capture your atten-tion is the delicate power meter gracing thefront panel of each amplifier. The look~ndthe character of the amplifieFs sound--areboth new for KrelL

smaller, more domestically friendlydesigns, but their room-shaking extremedeep bass capabilities exceed those of themammoth JMlab and Wilson Audiospeakers. The all-Krell system will blastyour blues, make your jazz swing, andbathe you in majestic orchestral splen-dors-and best of all, the system is alwaysa joy to listen to. That is what makes the

Evolution dectronics, in the truest sense,state-of-the-art designs. The Krells bypass

my curmudgeonly analytical reviewerbrain and won my heart.

Of course, no one needs a HummerH2 to go to the grocery store, a Cartierwatch to know what time it is, or a setof magnificent Krell Evolution amplifiersto listen to Louis Armstrong. But if youare like me and still have a real passionfor music--and share my fascinationwith artisans like D’Agostino who ren-der their visions in resistors, capacitors,and integrated circuits--the choiceamong those guilty pleasures will be aneaU one. These newest Krells magicallybring my favorite music to life, let itbreathe, give it color and shape, andmake it real. ~

MOTION SIMULATOR

d-box.corn

¯ PRICE: Evolution One power amplifier, $50,000(stereo pair); Evolution Two preamplifier, $40,000(stereo pair)¯ CONTACT: 203.799.9954, krellonline.com