PILIUM Master Divine Kratos
Power amplifiers
Neutral, smooth, uncoloured, fast, and transparent sound. An ultra-powerful amplifier that will drive uncompromisingly any load and remains stable down to 0.5 ohm. This is how Pilium introduces their Master Divine creation. Is this another bigger-heavier-pricier amplifier that has been built to impress? Well, let’s take a listen.
Function and form
Pilium Audio develops and manufactures the products in Greece. It is very interesting to see how the former meccas of high-end audio are gradually being overshadowed by new audio start-ups from regions that no one would have associated with the term "high-end" twenty years ago. Thus, Greece, Romania, Spain, Belgium, or The Netherlands are the new industry leaders that have courage and means to explore new territories.
As of the date of this review, Pilium's Master Divine series includes the Olympus preamplifier and four power amplifiers, Atlas, Kratos, Cronus, and Zeus, in descending order. This means that the Kratos monoblocks are Pilium's second-highest offering in amplification. No way I would organize a loan of a pair of these beasts on my own – they come in coffin-sized shipping crates (185kg each) and even unpacked they weight 154 respectable kilos and measure 412x480x605mm (HxWxD) each. So, I was very pleased that the importer’s installation squad of 3 people could deliver and set up the amplifiers in one of our reference rooms, together with the three-piece Olympus preamp and loom of cables (see footnote).
The Pilium Kronos design is very contemporary with its stark lines, immaculate sliver white beaded finish, no visible joints, and overarching simplicity. Of course, if you are a Dan d’Agostino’s style of “a device found in a derelict boiler room” worshipper, the Pilium will not appeal to you. I love how it looks. There is nothing but white rectangle of status LED on the front fascia, and nothing but black cooling fins on the sides, supported by ventilation grilles on the top of the chassis. Around the back there is the mains switch and a fuse, two power cable inlets (C15/10A and C19/16A), a single XLR input (no RCA), two pairs of speaker posts, and a grounding nut. For the money you pay you get a monolith with not much buttons or switches to fiddle with.
Inside, the Kratos is an exercise in separation. Pilium uses the mantra ‘Separate what can be separated. If it cannot be separated, separate it anyway.’ So, the design draws a strict line between signal, power, controlling, and protection circuitries, electrically and physically. All this results into 133dB of S/N ratio, which is an excellent value. Each mono amp provides 400W of power into 8 ohms that double to 800W into 4 ohms, and to 1600W into 2 ohms respectively, with 31dB of gain.
Bass management
During the review, the signal of the Kratos monos was fed into Silent Laboratories Equilibrium loudspeakers via a single-wired connection; the Equilibrium is a sort of home-brew take on Wilson Audio WAMM Master Chronosonic, just worse looking and better sounding, built around top-of-the-line ScanSpeak’s Ellipticor drivers in complete and true d’Appolito arrangement including the dual woofers, with each driver module being a completely separate entity suspended on a metal spine going vertically behind the modules. The cabinet assembly method and parts then follow similar route like what I described in my own TAD Revolution One project. The Equilibrium were designed to play loud - and I mean really loud, almost concert levels – without any strain. If there is a flaw in connected amplifiers, they would show it without mercy. If there is no flaw in connected amplifiers, then you would hear it too.
To cut it short, the way the Kratos monos control sound through the Equilibrium is outstanding. While some amplifiers may have their ‘comfort zone’ where their sound the best and are less composed when pushed hard - or alternatively, you must achieved certain power output so that they come alive - the Kratos don’t give a damn to how much to the left or to the right the volume is turned up. There is no change in their composure and presentation throughout the volume knob travel.
Clarity & delicacy
Also, what strikes me the most, they are virtually characterless, not favouring either side of the frequency spectrum. It is a very carefully crafted balance, which does not draw listener’s attention to how good the bass is or how present is the midrange. The Pilium Kratos monos have the most holistic and effortless way of presentation I’ve heard so far from an amplifier. In the listening session, we (three of us in the room) went forth and back with just several tracks to make sure we can aggregate the impressions. Thus, Rebecca Pidgeon (Spanish Harlem), Nazareth (Telegram), Béla Fleck (Flight of The Cosmic Hippo), McCoy Tyner (Ask Me Know), Stravinsky (The Royal March), and Rush (Vital Signs) were played over and over again. The Kratos monos do not favour any genre. It is always a very good sign, because it is way too easy for a manufacturer to voice e.g. an amplifier towards certain preferences, based on a limited playlist that is good for audio shows. It is much harder to step back and design a product that connects you to the music the way it was recorded, without leaving its own interpretation mark on it. At that’s exactly what the Pilium Kratos do – they are a window to the recording venue, the window that is not just crystal clear; it is opened and there is utter absence of anything electronic between the music and the listener. Thus, what you hear is what has been recorded. It is a very immediate experience that gets you much closer to the artists.
Tonal accuracy
To make most of any system, its electrical and mechanical interfaces play a crucial role. Stage III Concepts Ckahron interconnects and Synergistic Research SRX speaker cables are definitely great electrical interfaces, as well as Stage III Concepts Poseidon and Aegir that provided the juice. The former was used for analogue power amplifier section, the latter powered up the controlling circuits of the Kratos. Yes, two power cables for each monoblock, as Pilium wishes to keep each power circuit completely separated too.
Mechanically, the chassis of the Kratos is internally damped and rests on feet that support substantial weight – each amp weighs 154 kilograms netto. I would say that with such a mass the feet have little to do other than make sure that over time the amps do not sink into whatever surface they are placed on. So, when my mate suggested to put the monos on Stillpoints, I intuitively expected maybe some brightening/opening up of the sound, if anything. However, with three Ultra 6 V2 under each monoblock, the Kratos acquired new levels of tonal richness and colour and dynamic drive that was not there before. Also the imaging specificity increased. Not that it was bad previously, it wasn´t, but the Ultra 6 V2 catapulted the performance from imaginable to unimaginable. I’m sure that there will be other good aftermarket feet alternatives, apart from Stillpoints. Don’t make savings there, it is a significant improvement.
Spatial resolution
I must admit that I have not been a fan of Pilium until now. I auditioned the pre/power combos of Alexander/Achilles and Ares/Hercules on several occasions, and although they always performed respectably, they never left me wanting them. The all-new Master Divine Kratos monoblocks are a different breed. Pilium managed to build a new etalon against which other power amplifiers should be evaluated. Throughout the test the Kratos monos were head-to-head compared with Audia Flight Strumento No.8 monos (52k€) that – to my ears – are one of the best buys in high-end audio and they sound marvellous (now re-released in a Signature version). Yet the Pilium power amps trump them. It is not by how they sound, but by their non-existence. As if the music from the source passed through a time tunnel and got somehow amplified, with nothing added nor subtracted by electronics. It is a bitter truth that this non-existence is redeemed by their unmistakable presence in the listening space. They are industrially beautiful and meticulously manufactured, yet they are each size of a holiday travelling luggage. In small listening spaces there will not be no room for the listener when they are in, especially if you marry the Kratos with the Olympus. I have a small listening space and thus Pilium Master Divine Kratos mono amplifiers will stay a dream audio amplification for me. Literally.
Recommended resellers
Dreamaudio, Bratislava, +421 907 838 806
Manufacturer's website: http://www.piliumaudio.com
Associated components
- Sources: Wadax Studio Player
- Amplifiers: Pilium Master Divine Olympus, Audia Flight Strumento No.8 monobloky,
- Interconnects and speaker cables: Stage III Concepts Ckahron XLR, Synergistic Research SRX XLR and speaker cable
- Loudspeakers: Silent Laboratories Equilibrium
- Power conditioning: Stage III Concepts Poseidon, Stage III Concepts Aegir, Stage III Concepts Leviathan, Synergistic Research SRX XL, Pilium preamplifier cable loom, RD Acoustic RD EMI Neutralizer Power Filter, RD Acoustic RD EMI Neutralizer Power Filter 4,6 kW, TweakGuru Horizonta grounding units and cables
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