I agree completely I really enjoy and admire Scoutdog's input.
I have not heard the FPB compared to the EVO 400 yet back to back but have spoken with several people I trust including Dan himself. One difference Dan explained to me was through hole construction compared to surface mount, Dan is convinced the through holes sounds better and is more reliable by a large factor over time. I have also heard the EVO 400 does not compare well against the FPB450MCX but the EVO400E does do ok. Dan told me the the KCT is the warmest preamp he ever produced. One thing I thought was interesting is that Dan never suggested that I upgrade from the KCT? The phantom was also Dan's last design before he left and again that is supposed to be very good but I'm not clear on the improvements and have not heard one yet. He also designed a EVO1800E (!!!) but never built it, yes you read that right. A couple things have become clear talking with Dan and others. One there is a synergy with the KCT - FPB combo and the "FPB X" amps sound the best of all those. The EVO series and FPB-KCT series seem to sound best when mated with their series partners. The improvement I describe from the stereo to MONO FPB is really not about power at all, I have compared them side by side and the MONO amps have a bigger soundstage that is immediately obvious and it is definitely clearer like cleaning a window. The soundstage difference is the first thing you notice 5 seconds into it the clarity takes a couple minutes to sink in, the FPB "X" amps Stereo and Mono seem to reduce this gap over the earlier models. I don't think there is anything wrong with the Stereo amps don't get me wrong, but I was surprised how big the difference was going MONO, keep in mind I was comparing them using MBL 111 speakers which have a massive soundstage to begin with and are extremely difficult to drive by any amp. Currently I am using the Transparent CAST cable and love it but have not compared it to the other CAST cables myself or asked Dan about it, some I trust have said it was the best?
I am now upgrading or trying a different speaker set-up now over the next few months. I'm going to sell my B&W 801N speakers and move to apogee DIVA speakers and into some updated Apogee Full Range speakers when they are done probably running them with 4 FPB750MCX amps. I don't think any speaker on earth is more revealing than the Apogee Full Range, they are really the jaw dropping Mac Daddy of transparency, I'm sacrificing everything here to afford this upgrade but I think it's going to be absolutely stunning? I personally think the KCT-FPB sound (warm and full for Krell) was created from some of the Krell criticism from the earlier Apogee grand-Krell combo and I think the modified Full Range will be more transparent than the Grand? I know bad recordings are going to be worse and the room effects the sound a lot for Apogees but I think I can make it work well in my room. If it does work well, it should approach the upper limit of possible transparency. The transparency I'm looking for is what I hear with my Krell KSA 5 with the AKG701 or Sennheiser 800 combo, on vinyl or with High def (very high bit rate) digital, The transparency is just awesome and effortless from top to bottom and that's what I want out of the speakers with the soundstage and depth only speakers can give you. I'm listening to Seal's High def version of "Get it together" from HDTRACKS right now as I write this through the headphones and KSA-5.
One note on the EVO, I heard the Max combo is the EVO900E with the EVO2 preamp, that is supposed to be as neutral as neutral gets. I think with the KCT-FPB combo the the KCT is sweeter and warmer of the two, with the EVO I think it's the opposite, the EVO900E is a little sweeter and warmer than the EVO2.In both cases one side is almost rigidly neutral and the other side adds some slight character. I'd be very curious what the KCT-EVO900E combo sounds like? Keep in mind the KCT needs a cap replacement and tuneup at 10 years to sounds it's best and this should be fully considered when comparing it to a fresh EVO preamp. Sorry for the long post...
Rob
