Crown Amps

[Bobecca]

Hi

It is my system with the XLS1500 powering a pair of 4312E that Mctwins is talking about. I run same speaker with an Quad 909 and there is no more harchness than with the Crown. I was a bit suprized how actually a good sounding amp this is, just saying.

I also am running my main system with 3 MAi5000 powering my Cinema Screen Arrays 3731 with additional twin subs of 4641 and also dont feel any more harchness compared with monoblock of McIntosh MC275 running for the horns. Also have been running McIntosh MC252 for the same tops as well. It all bottoms down in how one is tuning the system and take acount for any room acoustics anomalies. That is how I see it.

I can easily mess up my both system to not sound got, and it is very easy to do

[Mctwins]

Hallo!

Crown 2/600N in action via HiQnet...

[antoninus9]

I just picked up an old Crown CE-2000 in good condition (at least cosmetically) to run a pair of JBL passive subs. I'm not very familiar with Crown amps, and was wondering if this was a good decision on my part. Perhaps I should have went with a newer model Crown?

[1audiohack]

I have some of these amps and while they are not audiophile nor tour grade they have worked long and hard for me. No complaints at all.

Barry.

[antoninus9]

I have some of these amps and while they are not audiophile nor tour grade they have worked long and hard for me. No complaints at all.

Barry.

Hi Barry,

Thanks for your reply to my Crown question. Sadly, the amp is dead, and the owner took it back. Now, I'm thinking about hunting down a Crown K1 or K2 to run the subs.

I never thought of myself as an "audiophile" because I would be considered a heretic in those circles. I use Belden cables, don't use tube amps, don't read Stereophile, and of course use JBL speakers. One post from me at AudioKarma and the audiophiles would go shrieking away in search of holy water to purify my soul.

BTW: Apparently, your inbox on this site has exceeded the limit. My reply to your earlier message was rejected for this reason. You may want to delete a few older messages.

[baldrick]

I recently bought a few CTS1200 and 2000 without DSP Cards, only the basic PIP card.

PIP-USP2 are very cheap on ebay, are there much differnce between USP2 and USP3?

I guess the newer USP4 (as used in new Crown amps) is in another leauge, but it's too expensive.

[Jonas_h]

I recently bought a few CTS1200 and 2000 without DSP Cards, only the basic PIP card.

PIP-USP2 are very cheap on ebay, are there much differnce between USP2 and USP3?

I guess the newer USP4 (as used in new Crown amps) is in another leauge, but it's too expensive.

Really nice amps: I use the CTs1200's as LCR-amps and CTs2000 as sub amps.

[1audiohack]

Over lunch I just straight wired up (all DSP off) a new I-TECH 5000 HD and the 4435's in the office like it. At a glance it sounds pretty damn good, clear, clean, quiet and powerful.

Can't wait to get it home on the 4365's.

I can see it coming, vertically bi-amped and full DSP. Does it ever end?!?

[Mr. Widget]

Can't wait to get it home on the 4365's.

How will you handle the fan noise?


Widget

[Mctwins]

How will you handle the fan noise?


Widget

He just have to turn up the volume a little bit more

[Mctwins]

Over lunch I just straight wired up (all DSP off) a new I-TECH 5000 HD and the 4435's in the office like it. At a glance it sounds pretty damn good, clear, clean, quiet and powerful.

Can't wait to get it home on the 4365's.

I can see it coming, vertically bi-amped and full DSP. Does it ever end?!?

Do you have two of them or just one?

[1audiohack]

Hi All;

If I end up using this/these on the 4365's I may have to remote vent the amp rack. In the office there is a step down transformer in the UPS system for the computers and its cooling fan made the Crown's fan inaudible so I don't know how problematic it will be, for about another hour.

I only bought one to test and I have to say that I am quite suprised at how good the 4435's sound on it. I have had many amps in the offfice over the years and I don't recall any sounding better. The little drivers on the HF horns get in a bad way, noisy fast when pushed with an amp they don't like, they have never sounded as good so I am off to a positive start.

Barry.

[1audiohack]

After a weekend of listening to the I-TECH 5000 HD I have a few things to share.

I have not yet cracked into the DSP engine so this is really amplifier only. It takes me some time to really settle in and get to know something that isn't supposed to have a sonic signature of it's own.

Just a few observations and what they are being compared to:

I have a pair of 64Volt 2kW 7560 series AE Techron amps that deliver a smooth 600 Watts into an 8Ω load . The pair I have are configured equal to the Crown M600 with .775 Volt input sensitivity and infinitely variable fans that you have to work to get them warm enough to even idle. I bought them new optimized for audio. These are currently my favorite amps, and have been for several years.

The sound quality is very similar. I really don't know that I can hear any difference, at least not yet, and for me that is a good thing.

The fans aren't terrible but I won't live with them in an open rack.

Power grid and RF noise immunity, not stellar. My audio system has a dedicated 50A 240 volt four wire outlet that is uninterrupted in it's home run and I have never heard any noise that is supply related, until now. I hear a click in the 4365's when the air-conditioning turns on or off. Not terrible but it's there. Also, if I put an ear up to a horn, I hear a radio or television station, well enough to know that it is in English. When the same is done with the Techrons, nothing, zero audible hiss and certainly no discernible RF. I can't hear that from the chair but, it's there.

I guess having all that iron and huge capacitors in between the grid and the amp output is a good filter.

Digital VS analog input:

The 5000 HD can be configured for either and or a preference that is auto switched. I set this one up for Digital in with analog as a back up so in the event that there is no digital signal to lock on to it defaults to digital.

This gave me a chance to do something I have long wanted to try, digital direct out from the CD player straight to an amp while being able to directly compare that to the analog signal from my AV pre. After setting the amp output voltage level at 1kHz to exactly match both types of input the test was on. I had a friend over and we took turns plugging the SPDF connector in and out well out of view of the listener, a blind test. When this is done the amp quietly self mutes about a second and softly comes back on in about one second. I did plenty of in, out, in at once so that it wasn't just a repeated in and out test. Could we hear a difference? Yep, with fairly good repeatability but barely. The difference?, the direct digital drive has just a touch more edge. We agreed that it was just different and neither was constantly desirable. It depended on the material.

I have always wondered what my AV pre contributed besides convenience. This test got that wonder out of my head. I do believe that the more direct the better but the "drive" that comes with a good pre amp is usually a welcome addition in the chain, at least to me.

I am going to get into the DSP this week.

Nothing in my system is top tier so I hope that this is at all useful.

All the best,
Barry.

[bubbleboy76]

Very interesting. Thanx.

Which AV preamp do you have?

[1audiohack]

Time to laugh. It is a 1991 or 1993 Sony TAE? 1000 ESD.

It as gone up against a couple of Pioneers and a Marantz AV pre and hasn't been bested yet, for two channel sound quality. I don't care enough about video to sacrifice audio. The video part of it needs be only good enough to satisfy the kids and easy enough for the wife to use.