Mcintosh MC402, Krell FPB 600 or Passlabs x250.5

I'm currently using a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica II. It was placed in bedroom and only driven by Krell 400xi.

Now the setup has been moved to living hall and I'm getting a pre-power amp to drive the Olympica II as the krell 400xi obviously doesn't have enough juice. I've tried it with krell 400xi in living hall and the bass extension is just not there,

What is the difference in room volume - bedroom versus living room ?

The speakers are rated down to 40 hz but I can't find a graph to show how the much DB drop to make 40 hz.
How have you tuned the port - is it open or closed ?

Hi Roxy54,

Thanks for the reply! Yup my heart is leaning towards the 402. For the Krell FPB600, I had heard it in the dealer's place but not with a SF speaker, but with two other speakers. I would say with the wrong type of matching, it may really sound 'harsh' for my liking. Surprisingly when it switched over to the other pair of speakers (I can't remember the name) it became full bodied, mid and high became much smoother. Thing is the FPO600 is also pair up with a krell kct pre amp. Still a bit too little 'aggressive' to my liking where I prefer a bit mellow / easy listening setup.

I do not have a chance to listen to Passlab yet. What if i'm able to run the passlabs in balanced mode? Would it be much better than the MC402? But if the Pass more analytical type then I would probably look else where. Seems to be a safer bet to go with the 402.

Hi Ct0517,

Thanks for your reply! The living room is about 16ft W x 30ft L, while the bedroom is only 15ft W x 10ft L. For Olympica II the port is kinda special, it is single-side port located at the back end of the speaker, in pair you can either setup facing each other (inward) or facing out (outward). Fancy name from their website would be "side-firing vertical reflex ports covered by a perforated metal sheet", but I have to admit that it looks kinda cool and nice with the speaker design.

As of now I'm facing them outward.

Hi Nicholas
imo the reason your living area is bass shy is due to the amount of space you are asking your speakers to fill.
Your speakers were able to pressurize your bedroom area without issues.
Without knowing how close you sit, how loud you listen and assuming a ceiling height of 8 feet.

Living Area - 16w x 30L x 8h = 3840 cubic feet
Bedroom Area - 15ft W x 10ft L x 8 h = 1200 cubic feet

So the space that needs to be filled has more than tripled.

so? here are a couple of thoughts.

your speakers are a 4 ohms design, have a 50 - 250watt amp rating (without clipping.)
Your Krell 400xi puts out 400 watts at 4 ohms. So it should be enough.

If you are happy with the music and it just needs more bass to fill in the lower octaves I would be looking for 1 or 2 active subs instead of an amplifier. The other option is more full range speakers; but then with this route you may need another amp is well.

Anyway..gives you a couple of things to consider...Hope this helps.

if I may ask you how much your dealer is asking for the fpb600. Curious as I happen to own one.

Cheers

Hi Ct0517,

Yea the bigger space definitely plays a part.. I'm sitting like 7-8fts from the speaker, and both the speakers are 8fts from each otheres with a bit of toe-in. It is like a triangle..

To be frank I actually like the sound from 400xi, but I will be using it for my bedroom setup which is now replaced by another pair of smaller sf bookshelf, that's why I need to get another amp too, sorry for not stating it earlier.. For the additional subs, will it cause more complication (to match with the speakers?) But again thanks for the suggestion..

Just an update on a short audition that I had at the other dealer's place with the mac 402. it was a C39 + 402 combo driving a pair of Revel Ultima Salon 2. No proper setup but more like a quick plug & play for a short audition. Surprisingly the mac setup was not 'slow' at all like some had mentioned previously (maybe it is their newer generation)? I did miss the full bodied low end and the punch from fpb600, but the 402 is not too bad too, just probably more polite. I did like the mid from mac better, meanwhile I think both are doing quite good on the treble / higher pitch note.

Won't have chance to listen to the passlabs but i guess it would not go worng with either the mac or krell since I guess both are quite good in their own league, just down to own preference..

Back to your query for the fpb600, my location is not in US, but it is around US$4.6k after conversion, while the 402 and x250.5 is slightly cheaper..

No decision to make. Go with the McIntosh MC402! You will never regret it.