Crown experts step in please

Old timer/newbie/Crown questions.

Okay guys. I started using analogue stuff in the 70's. Crown real to real, pre amps, amps, equalisers, the whole nine yards. Now I am 58. Thekids are grown and gone, and some of my stuff is just plain old. Needing recaps, pots cleaned, etc.
My SX 700 was rebuilt by that old factory tech guy before he passed.(I forget his name now).
My B&O 6000 turntable sees SoundCraftsmen every 10 years for a clean up/tune up.
ATE will restore my IC-150 preamp, and will still do DC-300A's.
No one has parts for my EQ-2, VFX2A, or my smaller D-150A's.
Now the questions start:
Should I have my EQ-2 gone thru by some tech/geru, or dump it for a new DBX unit? (Or other)
Same query with the crossover.
Rebuild a pair of DC-300A's to bi-amp my 846B's, or does Crown have an equal/better spec amp now?
I have no idea who makes good stuff, or what direction to go. I am willing to bet someone here will know, or have 40 opinions. LOL

I am going to guess that Crown can still service the amps, not sure about the crossover and EQ. Good thing about the crossover is that would be a fairly simple job to re cap. The manual and schematic can be downloaded at the Crown website.
Lots of good power amp choices these days if you want to stay in the professional amp category. Crown and QSC are major players with a wide range to pick from. LabGruppen, Powersoft, Camco are a few more, excellent quality but expensive.

The Eq-2 was a very unique EQ that would be hard to directly replace with an off the shelf newer piece. A good parametric EQ would be close.

I'd look into having your old gear fixed if you can. It's good old quality stuff and will probably play another 20 years without issue w/repairs. That said...

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Originally Posted by Mike Caldwell

Crown and QSC are major players with a wide range to pick from.

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I'm very happy with my Crown XLS 2500... Yes, it's class D and digital. Yes, it's the "bottom end" of their pro audio offerings. It also lays out honestly huge amounts of power for under $600. I'm using it on my dual 2241H cab and it's impressive. I've also played it on my L100Ts and it was shockingly musical. I'm not "magazine review" type of audio guy, so I don't have any analysis equipment or other real "data" to provide. I just enjoy music and home theater. My full review can be found here (and yes, I purchased it from PE and got my free hat ;)): http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=245-506

For comparison, my "non-pro-audio" (well... sorta) Sherbourn 5-200 (Same as Emotiva XPA-5) playing into the same speakers is obviously less powerful, even in casual listening. ...the Emotiva does sound "better" though... It's also 40% more money and is a 5 channel amp... Anyhow, the Crown XLS series is great for the money. I've been playing mine for over a year now with 0 complaints.

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Originally Posted by Maxwelhse

I'd look into having your old gear fixed if you can. It's good old quality stuff and will probably play another 20 years without issue w/repairs. That said... I'm very happy with my Crown XLS 2500... Yes, it's class D and digital. Yes, it's the "bottom end" of their pro audio offerings. It also lays out honestly huge amounts of power for under $600. I'm using it on my dual 2241H cab and it's impressive. I've also played it on my L100Ts and it was shockingly musical. I'm not "magazine review" type of audio guy, so I don't have any analysis equipment or other real "data" to provide. I just enjoy music and home theater. My full review can be found here (and yes, I purchased it from PE and got my free hat ;)): http://www.parts-express.com/pe/show...number=245-506

For comparison, my "non-pro-audio" (well... sorta) Sherbourn 5-200 (Same as Emotiva XPA-5) playing into the same speakers is obviously less powerful, even in casual listening. ...the Emotiva does sound "better" though... It's also 40% more money and is a 5 channel amp... Anyhow, the Crown XLS series is great for the money. I've been playing mine for over a year now with 0 complaints.

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Hi

I just want to shime in and say that I am also very pleased with my Crown XLS1500 powering my JBL4312E speakers. I am suprized over the good sound quality that is coming from this amp. My first D-class amp ever, except for my two I-class amp on my primary system:)

Very satisfying.

Oh man, crown r2r's kicked keester. They were the best. And they looked it too. All the old crown gear was pretty well regarded except the preamps. But if it were me I would try and have the stuff repaired if its not working.

Just remember that its only electrolytic that die of dehydration, lol. The crossover will more then likely have film caps in the signal path and lytics in the power supply. But just because there old doesn't always mean there dead. If you have a variac you can bring the stuff up slow with an amp meter. You'll know if you've got a problem before something blows that way.

If you want to go with a new active crossover I'd go with a minidsp. Dbx drive rack are good for pro work but I'd not use them for home audio. Plus the minidsp is only 100 bucks for a 2 way active unit. But if I were you I would stay with the analog unit you have. You'll avoid the hiss that way.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by big2bird

ATE will restore my IC-150 preamp, and will still do DC-300A's.
No one has parts for my EQ-2, VFX2A, or my smaller D-150A's.
Now the questions start:
Should I have my EQ-2 gone thru by some tech/geru, or dump it for a new DBX unit? (Or other)
Same query with the crossover.
Rebuild a pair of DC-300A's to bi-amp my 846B's, or does Crown have an equal/better spec amp now?
I have no idea who makes good stuff, or what direction to go. I am willing to bet someone here will know, or have 40 opinions. LOL

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Can't imagine that AETechron isn't able to work on the D150A if they still do the DC300A and yet I don't see it on their current list. Many similar parts. They do, however, still list the PS400 and PS200 which I've switched over to from my still-working D-series amps. I'm very happy with them and there's information on this site comparing them to the later Series-II D-series amps and describing why they are an improvement. Scotty Fitlan was a proponent of the PS-series amps.

I have two of the VFX2-A crossovers and they seem to keep plugging along but I use the Ashly XR1001 in my 4345 bi-amp system with Crown PS400 and PS200 amps. It works perfectly, introduces no noise, hum, or hiss, and costs just $250 brand-new or as little as $100 used. I'm using a Soundcraftsmen Pro-EQ 44 third-octave EQ that I think was their finest and likely their last model. If you need an EQ, that's a good one. It pairs nicely with my Soundcraftsmen Pro-Control-Four but I'd love to add a Crown SL-2 someday, just to compare.

To update, I have pretty much repaired everything but the 5K rt channel of the EQ-2, and have purchased a Straight Line 2 preamp. I appreciate all the suggestions, and audio is on the uptick around here. :)