Krell Full Power Balanced FPB X vs. Rowland


I'm curious about what people think about the latest Krell X series amps, such as the 450Mcx monoblocks, against the latest Rowland 300 series amps, the Model 302 in particular.

Currently I'm driving a pair of Krell Resolution 1 speakers with an old Krell KSA-100 Mk II amp and an Aragon Soundstage preamp. The setup sounds nice but the speakers definitely need more juice, the bass and mid-bass are lacking. So I'm looking into 300 watts or more to drive these units.

I've read that the Rowland 302 lacks bass to some extent but is great in all other areas. The Krell X series is reputed to deliver loads of bass and at the same time sound much warmer than the previous generations of Krell amps. Anyone have any firsthand experience with these amps?

Other models I'm considering are the Gryphon Encore and the Lamm hybrid amps. What do you all think about these?
ritesh_laud
the 302 is rather lean sounding while the big krells are very full bodied. I just finished a review of the Karan Acoustics 450. Of all the amps I have reviewed and owned, the Karan is by no small margin, the best. Fast, powerfull, warm and organic yet in credibly transparant and open. I reviewed the Res 1 with the Encore and krell 700. Each had there charms but are not even close over all to the Karan. The Karan is 22K, so the price may be prohibative
FPB X amps were my favorite of all the Krell amps I owned from '93. The 750's I had were dynamic, never sounded strained; had fantastic bass control and the improvement Krell made in this amp over the earlier versions was a more refined midrange and high end. Try them! I brought home an earlier Rowland 7 that was rated at 350 watts/ch and it had trouble controlling my B&W801's woofers. Granted Jeff has improved his amps, but based on the above comments, it sounds like not enough.
My best friend own same Krell Resolution 1 speakers as you do. At the dealers advice he tried Jeff Rowland Model 501/Concerto pre combo... We listen to Pink Floyd's 'Pulse' live album at high level when amps went off. We looked each other, disconnect amps, checked everything and connect them again-and same story again. Apparently Jeff Rowland 501 can not drive punishing load like Resolution 1( minimum impendance 1.9ohms in mid bass!). Will Rowland Model 302 be up to the job? In-home auditioning is a must with Rowland(or any other amp)! Then he tried Krell FPB400cx/KCT combo and it drive the speaker without any problems-sound was also very good, in cast mode excellent. With FPB450Mcx you can not go wrong, especially if you use KCT preamp and cast connection. Other amps that are able to drive Resolution 1s are Boulder's(every model-1060 or 1050 are quite nice) and Mark Levinson No.33H(almost heretic choice). Big tubes from Audio Research and VTL will probably work, too.
Gryphon Encore is little bit dark sounding-maybe not the best choice with Resolution 1s... Lamm M1.2 or M2.2 are excellent amps and they should be able to drive them, only how this combo will sound? If you will be able to audition either of Lamm's with you Resolution 1s please, report your findings. Resolution 1s are IMO excellent speakers and they will hold against any speakers till $30K, again IMO. BTW, I own Sonus Faber Amati Anniversario and are waiting to receive Krell LAT-1000 in few weeks for my second system...