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Thread: Got me a nice Crown "receiver"

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mike F's Avatar
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    Got me a nice Crown "receiver"

    My original intention was to get something along the lines of a Marantz 250/3200/112 combo or perhaps a 2325 but it`s been tough to find. Prices, operational issues, questionable mods, cosmetics kept me from settling on something when I came across this.

    OK so it`s not technically a receiver, how about "modular receiver"?
    Crown Power Line 3 amplifier, Straight Line 2 pre-amp and FM 2 tuner.
    Picked up as a set locally in near mint condition!


    At only 90 wpc I`m hoping my 4425s will get along well, 99.9 percent of my listening falls well short of the speakers 1 watt sensitivity level so I should be good.
    I must admit as a long time Crown owner/user/fan, I have no knowledge or experience with this particular series, only that they and the speakers are of the same vintage, maybe someone can enlighten me.
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  2. #2
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    You got a pre-amp I've lusted after for years. A fine little unit. The amp is essentially the consumer version of the PS200, another fine piece. The FM2 is a great tuner though where I live I wonder why anyone spends 10¢ on a tuner these days when a Squeezebox Touch will outperform any of them and access never-ending material. That being said, I own an FM3 (thanks to a forum member who is no longer with us). You have a fine "little" system there, you lucky dog!
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  3. #3
    Senior Member Mike F's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    You got a pre-amp I've lusted after for years. A fine little unit. The amp is essentially the consumer version of the PS200, another fine piece. The FM2 is a great tuner though where I live I wonder why anyone spends 10¢ on a tuner these days when a Squeezebox Touch will outperform any of them and access never-ending material. That being said, I own an FM3 (thanks to a forum member who is no longer with us). You have a fine "little" system there, you lucky dog!
    Are you implying the SL2 is the Jewel? It sure sports some pretty impressive specs, thats for sure.
    As for the amps, my understanding is that Power Line series are indeed home versions of the PS series however, looking at their power specs, is it possible the PS series share something in common with the
    D Series II or is that merely a coincidence?
    Now if only my Radian diaphragms could arrive.....

  4. #4
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike F View Post
    Are you implying the SL2 is the Jewel? It sure sports some pretty impressive specs, thats for sure.
    As for the amps, my understanding is that Power Line series are indeed home versions of the PS series however, looking at their power specs, is it possible the PS series share something in common with the
    D Series II or is that merely a coincidence?
    They were considered upgrades to the Series II D-series amps, adding turn-on delays and some other changes along with slight claimed increases in power output. They supposed to replace the D-series and were also more expensive which, according to Crown, caused a surge in D-series sales which kept the D-series running concurrent with the PS series for years.

    According to Crown:
    The PS series was meant to be the replacement for the D series. However, it cost a little bit more and even though it did have some circuit improvements because of the cost differential it drove the sales of the DC-300A up. This sales increase caused us to keep the DC-300A in production long after it was scheduled to be discontinued. As a matter of fact it was only a couple of years after the DC-300A was discontinued that the PS series was also discontinued.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  5. #5
    RIP 2013 Rolf's Avatar
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    Nice looking amps, but in my opinion a little old. I believe you have to replace some components in them to get them to spec.

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    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rolf View Post
    Nice looking amps, but in my opinion a little old. I believe you have to replace some components in them to get them to spec.
    just like a vintage Neve or SSL studio sound board, a little maintenance is sometimes required...


    it's not all bad though, as the older models tend to be a bit easier to work on due to the construction methods... with through hole circuit boards instead of SMT, etc -- unless you run into obsolete parts with no modern replacements....

    granted, it is probably never going to perform as well as a thoughtfully deployed,
    high end, or esoteric, set-up (Mark Levinson, parasound, or ????), but it was never intended to do so, right?

  7. #7
    RIP 2013 Rolf's Avatar
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    I totally agree. The "older" amps are much easier to fix as there are no processors. But, resistors, condensators maybe in need to be replaced with new ones.

    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    just like a vintage Neve or SSL studio sound board, a little maintenance is sometimes required...


    it's not all bad though, as the older models tend to be a bit easier to work on due to the construction methods... with through hole circuit boards instead of SMT, etc -- unless you run into obsolete parts with no modern replacements....

    granted, it is probably never going to perform as well as a thoughtfully deployed,
    high end, or esoteric, set-up (Mark Levinson, parasound, or ????), but it was never intended to do so, right?

  8. #8
    Senior Member Mike F's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by louped garouv View Post
    just like a vintage Neve or SSL studio sound board, a little maintenance is sometimes required...


    it's not all bad though, as the older models tend to be a bit easier to work on due to the construction methods... with through hole circuit boards instead of SMT, etc -- unless you run into obsolete parts with no modern replacements....

    granted, it is probably never going to perform as well as a thoughtfully deployed,
    high end, or esoteric, set-up (Mark Levinson, parasound, or ????), but it was never intended to do so, right?
    What would you recommend be done in particular?

  9. #9
    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike F View Post
    What would you recommend be done in particular?
    if it's operating well, not anything at all...
    I have some D series amplifiers that are early units, and still
    operating well to my knowledge...

    (granted, i do understand that in a professional studio environment, re-cap jobs may very well be a regular scheduled maintenace item)


    IOW I have some amps on hand that sound OK at VERY low levels...

    as soon as you try to feed the amp some more significant signal level,
    the response gets all "crackly" -- bass goes soft too --
    that sort of response is likely related to the unit
    needing some capacitors and resistors replaced...

    so that's now on the 'list of projects'

  10. #10
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike F View Post
    What would you recommend be done in particular?
    Everyone has convinced me that it's just too much trouble to even expect these to perform.
    I suggest you just send them to me and be done with them!
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  11. #11
    Senior Member Lee in Montreal's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BMWCCA View Post
    Everyone has convinced me that it's just too much trouble to even expect these to perform.
    I suggest you just send them to me and be done with them!
    Actually, I am local, it will be much less hassle if I pick everything up. It'll make his life easier...

  12. #12
    Senior Member Mike F's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lee in Montreal View Post
    Actually, I am local, it will be much less hassle if I pick everything up. It'll make his life easier...

    Sorry guys, I got them racked today, I think their keeprs
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  13. #13
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    I love your stacked CRTs! Do they "image" better that way?
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  14. #14
    Senior Member gmarascortt's Avatar
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    Nice score Mike! I too, am looking for a Crown Straight Line Two pre-amp.

  15. #15
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike F View Post
    Sorry guys, I got them racked today, I think their keeprs
    Now all you need is a PL3 in the same finish, or is it just that racked photo?

    I have a couple of the PS200s and PS400s in the finish that matches your SL2 and FM2 (and a couple just like yours, too, for that matter). Can't really tell you why they made both Graphite and Black in addition to the silver, but they certainly did. Can't just be a production change since my FM3 is in the Graphite, too. Though all my later PS amps are black and the early ones are the graphite ones.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

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