Mert, for stability, try some cone coasters with anti-slip stick on's, at least on the back two spikes of each speaker, that should help. Or you get speakers like mine at 300Kg a piece :-)
A speaker which weighs 77kg/200lb is not supposed to be moved easily. I have a terribly made ceramic floor tiles. They are not leveled IMO. With the help of symposium roller blocks I could manage a bit. However, they still move around! :) I don't know how and who does.:) My son is only three years old and don't mess with sophias. My wife hates my gear even doesn't get closer less than 6 feets. I had to mark with red tapes in the end. Strange isn't it? :)
Jeff, Has Nelson Pass ever built a marginaly better stereo amp than x250.5-350.5 during these days? If yes, I would have bought it. No, because he didn't buid one and I decided to go with Krell.
System edited: Nordost Valhalla replaced by JPS Aluminata. Stockcord of the Isotek Nova replaced by Synergistic Research T3 UHC cable.The overall sound marginaly changed to better after Valhalla.Bass became tight and tuneful, mids came to acceptible point. When I had Pass Labs, Valhalla IC and Cord was necessity. Sonicaly speaking Krell is totaly different than Pass. I had to also give up Exact Power since it is useless without a poweramp. Anybody who considers any new Krell amps must be avoided by Nordost Valhalla range. Because Valhalla works on high and low frequency spectrum very well in expense of loss on mids. IMO, Krell is very strong as long as bass control and quality plus highs concerned. But in return or matterfact you end up with a little dry sound if you use a solid state preamp such as Boulder. A good tube or hybrid preamp would also work for me but I need to experiment first with cables. My new interest area is JPS labs.
As far as Puccini concerned, its limiting factor is interconnect and powercord. If you have a well balanced one, than Puccini is the last step for mankind.(one box cd player)As you know I even have lived with nordost odin for 2 weeks together with puccini. All I can say is Puccini outperformed everyother machine except Scarlatti. If you go back to Valhalla, it is seriously pain than compared to Odin but still better than Stealth Indra. However I just bought something different as interconnect, I will pronounce later on. If you are happy without REF 3, please send it to me than:) In return, you get my Boulder 810 which is a better match for your Pass Gear.(seriously I am about to make change to REF 3 for Krell 402) Dartzeel is a SERİOUS amplifier despite funny looking. Nevertheless, It is a very good amp but not available in my country. Again be carefull about powercords, Shunyata Anaconda is not a good match for DCS. Try Elrod Sig 2 or Acrolink 7n-pc7100. Wellcome to DCS lovers club:)
Exact Power EP-15A replaced by Isotek Nova from England for preamp and cdp. Since Krell 402 is not Power Conditioning friendly, I had to find alternative ways for it: I bought a 5 KW online AC regulator for entire house. Secondly, I have now Isotek Titan, a dedicated Power Amp Cond.(waiting to be connected)I will see Krell with Titan after I will decide what further steps will be taken. As I mentioned before, Krell EVO 402 doesn't sound like Past Krell designs. Its sound is neither Solid State nor Tube. It is in between. From now on, my aim is see its ultimate performance with Wilson Sophias. If I need to replace Boulder 810 with Krell Evo 202, I will. If I need to replace Valhalla interconnect with ODIN, than I will.Thanks god I have plenty Powercords so don't need buy a few. Curiosity kills the cat................
Thanks for inputs concerning Krell Evo 402. Until now, I couldn't reach a final impression over Krell 402. Plus, I lost mid drivers of Sophia due a short term peak power.(Boulder 810 caused this) I can not run Krell evo 402 under same conditions as I applied to Pass. I am changing my power conditioners and cables for Krell. I believe this amplifier has a potential of driving Sophias ultimately. But I need to adjust a few things before fire it.
As long as X250.5 concerned, I don't want to make any comment and comparison due the lack of critical listening.
Mert Congratulations on your purchase of the Krell Evolution 402. My local Wilson Audio Dealer is also a Krell Evolution Dealer, and I have heard the best demos at his Shop.
I also use the Wilson Sophia Speakers, and I recently auditioned the 402 against the PASS X250.5, and of course the Krell was much more powerful, but sonically it was too close to call, especially when considering it is double the price of the X250.5. The PASS to me, through the Wilsons, sounded a little sweeter and perhaps a bit softer in the best possible way.
I ended-up with the X250.5 + X1 + Krell SACD Standard MKII, and through the Sophias, it sounds simply amazing, and a reasonably good deal ($30K US-MSRP). Outside of PASS; Krell Evolution was "the best" solid-state electronics that I have heard through Wilson Speakers. The Krell Evolution Preamps and SACD/CD Player, also sounded excellent in the demos.
If I were to go with Krell, I would go with an all Evolution System, and run it in CAST mode, which is a nice step-up over balanced mode.
Thank you. I am awaiting your final results. I have a feeling the Krell will be very good in terms of detail & bass. I am curious about tonality, image density, depth and musicality. Which should all be excellent as well. I am quite fond of the new Krell but it is a question of short term vs. long term. That is what makes peoples opinions difficult to judge. It is like tasting a food that overwhelms your senses and is amazing but you won't eat a lot of it, or having something more subdued in taste that is hearty.
System edited: I have searched through Audiogon and didn't find any setup based on Krell Evolution amplifiers. So I bought Krell Evo 402 and put into action on behalf of Audio Public.
Actualy, Since last week, I run Krell Evo 402 instead of Pass Labs X250.5. I am trying to rearrange my cabling for Krell and I haven't done it yet. About my first impressions: 1) Krell needs to be connected directly to a dedicated, isolated and separated AC line. This is a disadvantage compared to Pass X250.5 which taxes its needed AC from Exact Power EP-15 A 2) Krell is not a dark sounding amplifier like Pass Labs. 3) Bottom control and bass performance is better than Pass Labs. 4) It looks like more detailed than Pass Labs. I may say more revealing.
These are my first impressions. However, I need a action plan in order to see its optimum performance. You may understand better what I feel about Krell through my plan:
1) Replace Nordost Valhalla with Odin or PAD proteus Provectus. 2) I will try Krell with is stock Cord instead of Shunyata Anaconda Alpha 20 amp. I will determine what is missing. 3) Change the order of powercords: Acrolink 7N-Pc7100 Mexcel, Nordost Valhalla, Elrod EPS-2 Sig.(elrod is out of order for a while, Mit Oracle AC-1 is used as ''joker'' cord.
so far so good puccini served as ''sacd player with 2v cd-dsd settings''. The reason is doing that is Boulder 810 is a quite good preamplifier. If I had something lesser than Boulder, I would try Puccini as preamp and Cd player together.
