Crown clean enuf for HT?

[robertbartsch]

These amps are powerful and reasonably priced.

However, their THD ratings (.5%) are dismal (??) compared with some of the more popular multi-channel HT systems rated at (.05%).

I have several pairs of JBLs in my main HT system. I'm considering an extermal power amp for the front pair which are 15s with compression drivers. This power amp would run from a new Onkyo muilti channel rated at 130 watts x 7.

Anyway, is the Crown 802 suitible for this purpose or is the THD too high?

Thx...

[Mr. Widget]

These amps are powerful and reasonably priced.

Usually a sign that the gear in question is questionable. Think about it, if a company makes two amps with similar specs and one is half the cost of the other... you need to ask why. I don't know anything about these amps, but it is likely that they are not as robust as Crown's more expensive amps... a feature that may not matter in your HT application. I would also expect that they don't sound quite as good, but you would really have to do a comparison. It is possible that the budget Crowns sound stellar...

However, their THD ratings (.5%) are dismal (??) compared with some of the more popular multi-channel HT systems rated at (.05%).

The THD rating of an amp is essentially meaningless... 40 years ago it was a measurement of quality, but with modern amps it has almost no value... except as a hint as to the amount of negative feedback used to reduced distortion. For example an amp that has the specification of 0.0001% THD very likely sounds terrible as the designer probably used far too much negative feedback in an attempt to get stellar bench measurements.


Back to the focus of your post, will the Crown sound and perform better than the amplifiers in your Onkyo receiver? Very likely. Today's amplifier sections in these contemporary HT receivers are generally quite compromised. They certainly won't keep up with a stand alone similar wattage power amp or even a vintage two channel stereo receiver... how could they? They have minimal power supplies and pack 5 to 10 channels of amplification into a rather compact package. They certainly won't pass the FTC power rating system of yore.



Widget

[Chas]

Back to the focus of your post, will the Crown sound and perform better than the amplifiers in your Onkyo receiver? Very likely. Today's amplifier sections in these contemporary HT receivers are generally quite compromised. They certainly won't keep up with a stand alone similar wattage power amp or even a vintage two channel stereo receiver... how could they? They have minimal power supplies and pack 5 to 10 channels of amplification into a rather compact package. They certainly won't pass the FTC power rating system of yore.

Widget

Especially if you think about how much power supply that could fit in the box.

[BMWCCA]

We started to answer your similar question here: http://www.audioheritage.org/vbullet...890#post214890

Especially if you think about how much power supply that could fit in the box.

Yeah, I wonder about that every time I see a Crown I-tech 8000 putting out 8,000 watts, bridged, at only 26 pounds! But at over $7,000 I figure they probably know what they're doing. The XLS-802, however, is 1,600 watts for about $500.

[Chas]

Yeah, I wonder about that every time I see a Crown I-tech 8000 putting out 8,000 watts, bridged, at only 26 pounds! But at over $7,000 I figure they probably know what they're doing. The XLS-802, however, is 1,600 watts for about $500.

Well, I think that they are different kettle of fish and technology. Run of the mill A/V receivers use standard EI core transformers and basic rectifiction and smoothing. The laws of Physics have to pevail here. Good iron and capacitors take up space, no matter how you slice it.

[BMWCCA]

I'm certainly not disagreeing with you, but after years owning Fisher SA-1000 and Crown DC300A-II amps, the power and size of the I-techs just amazes me. But then they are 3.5" tall! I believe you must be paying for the suspension of the laws of physics, or the flux capacitor. Or maybe both? I didn't assume it was the same technology as a 7.1 Durabrand surround-sound receiver.

I guess the real question would be why Crown would even make a line of inferior amps and possibly hurt their reputation. Part of the answer is DJs and another must be Harman. The label on the back panel looks oddly Olympian today though: "Made in China". And, yes, the I-techs say: "Made in USA".