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View Full Version : Opinions on the Crown MX-4 crossover



Tom Loizeaux
06-09-2003, 06:55 PM
Since JBL (Harman) owns Crown, I thought I'd ask if any of you have an opinion about the sonic quality of the old Crown MX-4 3 way mono crossover. Any thoughts as to the real quality of this unit?

Thanks,

Tom

scott fitlin
06-09-2003, 08:54 PM
Excellent sounding crossovers! I have a pair. One day I take them to my freind shortys house, and they walked all over the Rane AC-23 he was using at the time! The dimension and depth in the midrange is great. the highs are crystal clear and totally clean, with no edginess. The lows are full, round, hefty and punchy. But really resolute!

These xovers are Crown LONG before they became Harman Intl. This is REAL Crown!

Oh, third order filters, like the MX-4,s sound great, the dynamic swing your system will have will be incredible!

If you can get a pair in good condition, dont wait, GET THEM!!!!!!!!!!!:cool:

P.S. They are 3 way plus subwoofer! And you get a sub amp running off that sub filter and stand back!

MikeM
06-09-2003, 10:10 PM
Originally posted by Tom Loizeaux
Since JBL (Harman) owns Crown, I thought I'd ask if any of you have an opinion about the sonic quality of the old Crown MX-4 3 way mono crossover. Any thoughts as to the real quality of this unit?

Thanks,

Tom

I had purchased a pair from crown Brand new in 1980's. Then a second pair a couple of years ago. VERY Versitile. still uses IC amps but so does evryone else, Enough gain to avoid preamplification in most cases Bal/unbal. sound quality top notch. You will love that crossover. Very expandable. Very neat circut layouts. Its actally a preamp/crossover. 10 volt clipping ect. Im going back to bi-amping and this would be my first choice other then spending 750+. Marchand makes a nice board system just add power supply and your off. Looking for a Pair now.

Mr. Widget
06-09-2003, 10:17 PM
"One day I take them to my freind shortys house, and they walked all over the Rane AC-23 he was using at the time!"

I have Rane AC-22s and AC-23s and they both sound like you are sending the signal through a cheap receiver's tape loop. They are cheap and versatile, and I am still using them in my home theater, but I would not recommend them for critical listening.

scott fitlin
06-09-2003, 11:38 PM
However, you gotta understand that everyone was preaching Rane and 24db L-R filters at the time! So, I never cared for ranes sound! I had to prove it to him, then he couldnt find MX-4,s so he got a pair of Bryston 10B,s!

They too are great, but quite expensive. 3K for a stereo pair.

Music going through the Ranes always sounded compressed to me when you start to push the system, and the Rane closed down the imaging of music as well. The Crowns will open everything up.

Tom , you will love the Crown MX-4,s! If you get them and dont love em, Im sure you wont have any problem selling them.

scott fitlin
06-09-2003, 11:41 PM
Also good. Priced right. He will configure your unit to your specification. 1st order through 6th order filters available.

If you are going to spend big money he has a tube xover. I hear great things about that one!

Doctor_Electron
06-14-2003, 09:37 PM
"These xovers are Crown LONG before they became Harman Intl. This is REAL Crown!"
Anyone remember Crown Reel-To-Reel machines?
How did (Do) they sound?

scott fitlin
06-14-2003, 09:59 PM
In their time, they were considered to be the best. very flat response. Motown used em, so did most big recording studios and Broadcasting as well.

If you had a mint machine in perfect working condition I would think they would record/playback as well today as they did then.

Crown tape machines were famed in their day. I have heard one, a tubed unit from 1960something that made remarkably good recordings.

If you encounter one of these units for sale, the problem is parts for them arent available. Unless you know someone who can fabricate parts.

Mr. Widget
06-14-2003, 10:44 PM
Originally posted by Doctor_Electron
"These xovers are Crown LONG before they became Harman Intl. This is REAL Crown!"
Anyone remember Crown Reel-To-Reel machines?
How did (Do) they sound?

In the 70's we used the Crown decks at the college radio station I worked in. They were built like tanks but were rather noisy. The signal to noise ratio could not come close to the Revox decks we had. They sounded good, but the hiss level was really distracting.

scott fitlin
06-15-2003, 12:11 AM
We always used a Revox A-77, then later a B-77. The Revox machines were quiet! I liked to record 1/2 track 15ips. I felt that got me the best sound, but no time! 7 1/2 ips gave me more time but usually had slighly more hiss.

Revox machines almost never broke. Every couple of years we got new heads, but that was about it!

Its funny, cause DAT players today dont hold up nearly as well as those Revox reel to reels did, nor ( IMO ) do they sound as good for recording, yet they dominate the recording field. I use DAT these days and every 2 years I get a new DAT machine, instead of new heads like my reels. I have had DAT machines repaired, but digital electronics get screwy after awhile! At least they do in here!

MikeM
06-15-2003, 06:33 AM
Originally posted by Doctor_Electron
"These xovers are Crown LONG before they became Harman Intl. This is REAL Crown!"
Anyone remember Crown Reel-To-Reel machines?
How did (Do) they sound?
I had a crown "Vangard" Reel to reel that was the best sounding Tape machine I have ever heard. This old thing was A Clunky large heavy machine that would spill tapes if you were not careful.
But it had 2 mono tube amplifiers bult in that did Magic to the sound. Let me tell you the sound that came out of that old reel to reel was superior. I was into all sorts of tape machines 2 track masters ect.
I visited the crown factory in 1982 they gave free tours. Got to sit thru employee training talks and talked with the factory service techs turned out the factory stopped working on my unit 2 years earlyer. At the time of the tour I had on factory order the Dl-2 and Eq-2 i saw banks of them burning in there. crown used to be great stuff. Because of indiana tax rules crown did not stock parts for anything over 8 years old so MANY older crown items you are %^&* out of luck on repairing them.

MikeM
06-15-2003, 06:45 AM
I forgot to mention. I went to purchase the mx4 crossovers and they had been phased out. I Talked with the crown factory An d I recieved the LAST 2 mx4 crossovers the leave the factory new. Nice suff. This was early 1980. The gentelman is still with the factory. If you want a nice amplifier the crown DELTA OMEGA 2000 mono blocks are sweet clean and 2K into 2 ohms powerful they only made about 600 in 6 diffrent front ends. The later units with the led bars are the sweet sounding ones Ive owned 3 pairs and about to purchase my forth pair from canada :)