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Thread: Crown Amps

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Personally I like Bryston. They back their amps with a 20 year warranty and offer excellent customer service. While their faceplates have gotten a bit frillier, they aren't spending gobs of money on CNC'd 2" thick billet aluminum like some of those boutique brands.
    Widget
    I can vouch for the new "squared" series too. Since hooking them into my system, I haven't felt any need to go back to tubes.

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    I don't think Crown is building anything these days that is really suitable for home use.
    Dude! I'm quite sure they never did.


    Yeah, yeah, I realize that some people out there equate Crown and Cabaret as the go-to rig for their man cave.

  3. #18
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    If you're going new with enough of a budget, you might want to consider Perreaux amp which have a good following here. I believe Opimax is happy with his and Ian's a fan, of course. Good luck finding a dealer in the USA as every link I tried showed that outlet no longer carrying that brand. They do offer several different product ranges, from what they call "entry level" to TOTL stuff.

    I believe everyone at the last Mid-Atlantic social fest was impressed by Mark's system.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  4. #19
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    Dude! I'm quite sure they never did.
    Granted it may never have been Crown's intent to produce amplifiers for home use, at least until the PowerLine series, but in the late '60s and early '70s the best hi-fi shops where I grew up offered Crown products alongside JBL, Marantz, McIntosh, and the rest. Hi-Fi Showroom in St. Louis offered the Crown D-series to me as a replacement for my Mac and Fisher tube amps when I wanted to go solid-state. At their suggestion I took home one each D75, D150, and DC300A to compare to my Fisher SA1000/Mac system. I ended up buying a D150 and still have it in daily use today.

    I'm not saying that my use of Crowns in the home validates their applicability in that type of use. But they were carried as a home-hi-fi amplifier by reputable hi-fi dealers back when you could trust such opinions and there weren't tons of choices for high-power amps. A review of nearly any audio magazine from that era (Audio, Stereo Review) appears to confirm that Crown hit the audiophile market on-target, and was for years the standard for just such applications where high power and low distortion were the goals. Sure electronics have come a long way in the last 40 years, but no one has ever complained about any of my Crown systems not sounding musical, regardless of volume level.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  5. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    Granted it may never have been Crown's intent to produce amplifiers for home use, at least until the PowerLine series, but in the late '60s and early '70s the best hi-fi shops where I grew up offered Crown products alongside JBL, Marantz, McIntosh, and the rest. Hi-Fi Showroom in St. Louis offered the Crown D-series to me as a replacement for my Mac and Fisher tube amps when I wanted to go solid-state. At their suggestion I took home one each D75, D150, and DC300A to compare to my Fisher SA1000/Mac system. I ended up buying a D150 and still have it in daily use today.

    I'm not saying that my use of Crowns in the home validates their applicability in that type of use. But they were carried as a home-hi-fi amplifier by reputable hi-fi dealers back when you could trust such opinions and there weren't tons of choices for high-power amps. A review of nearly any audio magazine from that era (Audio, Stereo Review) appears to confirm that Crown hit the audiophile market on-target, and was for years the standard for just such applications where high power and low distortion were the goals. Sure electronics have come a long way in the last 40 years, but no one has ever complained about any of my Crown systems not sounding musical, regardless of volume level.
    I'm thoroughly aware of where Crown has always stood in the scheme of things. It was my business to know. It was a great American company. We used to use Crown exclusively with the entire JBL Professional 43xx Studio Monitor line.

  6. #21
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    I'm thoroughly aware of where Crown has always stood in the scheme of things. It was my business to know. It was a great American company. We used to use Crown exclusively with the entire JBL Professional 43xx Studio Monitor line.
    Of course, and I never intended to challenge your credentials! I always appreciate your sense of humor and tongue-in-cheek delivery. It must have been the one-line delivery that caused me to interpret the original remark as deprecating the suitability of Crowns for "domesticated" use. Perhaps it was instead backhanded praise?

    I'll have to adjust my Internet clairvoyance filters . . . again.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  7. #22
    Senior Member stevem's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    I don't think Crown is building anything these days that is really suitable for home use. Most of their new amps are simply PA or Commercial use powerhouses. The days of their studio amps and moderately powered "high fidelity" amps seem to be over.

    Define boutique.

    Personally I like Bryston. They back their amps with a 20 year warranty and offer excellent customer service. While their faceplates have gotten a bit frillier, they aren't spending gobs of money on CNC'd 2" thick billet aluminum like some of those boutique brands.

    If you are willing to go with a second hand amp, some of the older Crowns are quite good and very reasonable, though to guarantee top performance you will want it gone over by a tech.


    Widget
    +1 on Bryston. I've been using their stuff for years. Well built without overkill.

    I had a Crown Reference One amp on demo once, and it sounded murky compared to the Brystons. I think maybe Crown overdid the protection circuitry, which may have affected sound quality.

  8. #23
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    Yes, Widget makes a point, NEW CROWNS are admittedly pro amps. But older DC, PS and power line series make great sounding home amps.

    However, the NEW XTI, iTech, and Macro Tech i Series make outstanding subwoofer amps, IF you can afford them, and IF your subs can handle the power. Although, the iTech and Macro tech i amps can be dialed in to whatever power levels via avg and peak power limiters, but the bass they make is PHENOMENAL.

    I mean years ago, a Crown DC-300A was a pro amp, but worked really well for consumer hi fi!

    Jus my opinion.
    scottyj

  9. #24
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    Smile Power Line Four

    Since BMWCCA was so kind as to post a picture of a PS-400, I thought that I would post a picture of a Power Line Four for the benefit of those who have never seen one.

    The detail picture shows the "Frequency Analyzing Display".

    The Power Line Series were definitely targeted to the consumer market! The other units in the "Power Line" series were the Power Line Two and the Power Line Three.

    The Power Line Two was rated at 50 watts RMS per channel both channels driven from 20hz-20khz and a THD of .05% with an 8 ohm load, 60 watts at 4.

    The Power Line Three was rated at 90 watts under the same conditions at 8 ohms, 140 watts into 4 ohms.

    The Power Line Four was rated at 165 watts RMS per channel at 8 ohms and 265 watts per channel at 4 ohms.

    These units were available in silver or black, and the combination of a Straight Line Two preamplifier, a FM Two tuner and a Power Line Two mounted in a 3-space walnut Crown cabinet made for an exceptionally nice "receiver" with 50 wpch and extremely good specifications!
    Attached Images Attached Images   

  10. #25
    Senior Member jbl_daddy's Avatar
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    CROWN ALL THE WAY

    I have 13 or 14 crown amps ranging from PS-200's to K2's they all rock. One of my favorits is the DC300 II's I know there is at least four of those in my basement.

    Well why not it's just one more pair...
    4340's and 250ti's what an odd pair...

  11. #26
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    4 speakers ?

    There's a "power line 3" on eBay with two pair of speaker posts and A/B switch on front next to the power button.
    Anybody know if its big brother "4" was ever available in that configuration?
    (Not that I'd pay the premium for such a rare bird, but I'm curious if it exists.)

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by BJL View Post
    There's a "power line 3" on eBay with two pair of speaker posts and A/B switch on front next to the power button.
    Anybody know if its big brother "4" was ever available in that configuration?
    (Not that I'd pay the premium for such a rare bird, but I'm curious if it exists.)
    I have 2 Powerline 4 amps with the brushed aluminum face, it doesn't have the A/B selector switch as the Powerline 3 does.

    However, us Dinosaurs from the from the ancient times of DC300, of the 1970,s prehistoric eras didnt need it, because we had Crown OC-150 VU Meter units that could have multiple speakers connected to it and this had selector switches.
    scottyj

  13. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Widget View Post
    Personally I like Bryston.
    +1, again...

    Quote Originally Posted by 4313B View Post
    Dude! I'm quite sure they never did.
    +1

    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    I'll have to adjust my Internet clairvoyance filters . . . again.
    +1,

    Quote Originally Posted by Wagner View Post
    I love my vintage stuff (electronics) but want something new (and with some balls) to run these new L112s and my other JBLs.
    Thomas, give some more details?
    - Are you wanting rack mounted, or not important?
    - As someone asked above, are "fans" OK?
    - How many watts?

    We just did a show using racks of the the new Crown I-Tech HD. They have far too much power for home use (even for the average public classroom size ), but they sure did a fine job. All sorts of ethernet connectivity and programmable DSP. Crown are working hard to stay well in the game.
    bo

    "Indeed, not!!"

  14. #29
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    Bo, how are you, hows your summer?

    How do you like the I Tech HD,s? I love the Macro Tech i on subwoofer duty.

    I even tried the i series 5000 on my 15,s, and IT SOUNDED VERY GOOD! That will be next summers addition, Macro Tech i series for the 15,s in my system.

    And, operating up to 14 hours a day on weekends, and working fairly hard, the i series are totally reliable in my place. I use 5 Crown Macro Tech 9000i amps for subs, my god, the power, and you never have to really push the system, BUT WHEN I DO.............:shock:

    I do totally agree with Bo about some of todays amps being capable of far greater power levels then could ever really be used comfortably in home use. Although, I could see some very extravagant home theater rigs with subs that reach VERY deep, but need power, to cleanly reproduce movie sound effects with complete control and authority.
    scottyj

  15. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by JeffW View Post
    There's a guy with (15) PS-400s on Ebay, but they seem to be bringing more than $200 these days.
    (s)he's lowered the price $199obo
    I bought one to try with L96, LE10H Econo-Waveguide etc.
    [been using 50W Pioneer receiver]

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