It almost goes without saying that the products released by ultra-high-end A/V manufacturers, while advanced in terms of performance, are often behind the times when it comes to features. Not so much with Krell, though. The company continues their trend of combining cutting edge performance with bleeding edge bells and whistles with the introduction of their first Blu-ray Disc player, the Evolution 555.
Far more than a mere incremental improvement over its forebears (although, you have to admit, "Intelligently Designed 555" just doesn't have the same ring to it), the unit features Sigma Design VXP 12-bit video processing technology for superior noise reduction, scaling, de-interlacing, and frame rate conversion. It also boasts aspect ratio controls, including a vertical stretch mode for home theaters with 2.35:1 or 2.4:1 screens.
In addition to an onboard Ethernet port for BD-Live and firmware updates, the Evolution 555 comes with a slot for an optional 802.11b/g/n wireless card upgrade. The player comes with 1 GB of on-board storage so it's ready for BD-Live right out of the box. An SD card slot allows you to add memory for storing additional BD-Live content. The player's dual HDMI outputs can be used to drive two separate systems, or configured to handle video and audio separately, which Krell says "promotes a high level of jitter reduction for both signal paths."
And while those HDMI outputs are only 1.3 compliant for the time being, the Evolution 555 is primed and ready for a future HDMI 1.4 field upgrade, which will add full support for 3D, 4K x 2K resolution, and Ethernet over HDMI.
In the audio department, the Evolution 555 features 32-bit ESS Technology Sabre32 Reference DACs connected to Krell's own CAST (Current Audio Signal Transmission) analog circuitry, a "proprietary method of sending audio signals between components in the current domain."
All of this advanced technology comes at a price, of course: look for the Evolution 555 to begin shipping late Q2 for around $15,000 at Krell authorized dealers.
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