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Thread: crown dc 300a power amps

  1. #1
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    crown dc 300a power amps

    hello do any one know how good or bad are crown dc 300a amps are.this guy name joe put an ad in the washington post. selling old tube and solid state eq.he is some kind of audio nut like my self, but you would not belive all the audio eq this guy have. from altec lansing jbl mac sansui tube klipsh fisher marantz the list goes on and on. I ask him why not go to lansing heritage and sell all this stuff his reply was to much of a headache . any way he selling all this stuff dirt cheap. he told me he is not in this for the money, but he lives for good eq. but back to my quesiton how good is this amp I got 2 amps for 50 dollars each thanks gene

  2. #2
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    The DC-300A, some say this was the best sounding amp crown ever made! I say it is good for bass, if its enough power for your speakers, but most of todays speakers need considerably more than this amp can give. Still, has a certain sound on the bottom that I think is good.

    Up further into the mids and highs, I always thought the DC-300A was a bit grainy sounding, it will work though, not as refined as I like in the mids and highs!

    Hook em up, listen to them, and see what you think!
    scottyj

  3. #3
    pelly3s
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    I just got my DC300A for $60 in mint condition

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    crown dc 300a

    scott I have two dc 300a amps .I am going to used mono blocks. one left and one right. thats 300 rms. my speakers are custom jbl. 12 cubit ft cabinet 18 inch 2245h/ 2202h mid bass/ 2425h with 2344a biradial horn and a 2404h high freq driver crossover at 250 hz to 1200 and 5000 khz. I hope 300 watts rms is enough power

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    DC300a= bullet proof

    Actually,

    You might be better of leaving them stereo and biamping a the 250 hz crossover point.

    As a result of the biamping at this crossover point (thereabouts) you get a effective 6 db increase in power to the speakers. ie 180 x 4 per side.

    Using a passive crossover will result in power losses and damping. The 2245 prefers to be biamped. it will most probably sound better.

    Great speakers, post some images if you like.

    Ian

  6. #6
    pentictonklaus
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    crown/amcron DC 300 a

    The dc 300 a are all I use after many years of dealing with the expensive stuff. I use the for JBL 4350 and 4435. The crown stuff is very reliable, but take the drivers along when they go due to DC output. I am still working at some DC preventer curcuits to avoid damage to expensive drivers, but time,,
    time.. time is like JBL's. You can not get enough.

    Klaus

  7. #7
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    The DC-300 still sounds good after all these years! I have to agree with Ian on bi-amping, its better, and safer than bridge mono!


    That old amp still has a sound on the bottom, Im told this is the work of the " Direct Coupled " design, and its lack of interstage coupling capacitors.

    As for reliability, they are very reliable, and pretty bulletproof!

    Let us know how they sound to you!
    scottyj

  8. #8
    Dang. Amateur speakerdave's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pentictonklaus
    The crown stuff is very reliable, but take the drivers along when they go due to DC output.
    A Crown DC amp can be fatal to speakers even after it has been blown, disconnected, unplugged and put up for sale. Take it from me--do not hook up an unknown Crown or other Direct Connected amp to a good speaker. It can fry a voice coil instantaneously, making a horrible but very brief noise and little curls of smoke rising slowly from the scene of the crime. See it work on the seller's speakers, have it checked out by a technician, or hook it up to a dummy load and check the output for DC voltage before trying the amp with a speaker. (I think this last is a good way to check, but I am not a technician.)

    David

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    Well its one of the problems with amp that has gain at DC rather than unity gain. (who cares for square waves to 5 hertz)

    Personally I think its a dumb arse idea when one can design with suitable time constants to avoid dc floating down the signal path using audiophile capacitors like BC N series.

    In the case of compression drivers I would always a/c couple using a hi quality film foil capacitor (charge couple if you like) .

    Also, with any pro amp you buy SH, get the output stage serviced before use. The power output devices do age and fail and this is the prime reason for such reputaions. Better still...buy a new one..they are cheap enough these days.

    Ian

  10. #10
    Senior Member duaneage's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by pentictonklaus
    The dc 300 a are all I use after many years of dealing with the expensive stuff. I use the for JBL 4350 and 4435. The crown stuff is very reliable, but take the drivers along when they go due to DC output. I am still working at some DC preventer curcuits to avoid damage to expensive drivers, but time,,
    time.. time is like JBL's. You can not get enough.

    Klaus
    Old Colony Sound Lab sells a speaker protection circuit kit for 40 bucks. It is made by Velleman. If your going to run Phase Linears, Crown , or any other straight through amp this is manditory to have.

    http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/kits/kv-k4700U.htm

    Cheap insurance for a 200 dollar cone kit. I have worked with PL amps before and they can be bad little boys. Took out two JBL E140 drivers for a friend of mine.

  11. #11
    Senior Member louped garouv's Avatar
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    how do these things work, and how do they effect the sonic signature of the amp?

  12. #12
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by duaneage
    Old Colony Sound Lab sells a speaker protection circuit kit for 40 bucks. It is made by Velleman. If your going to run Phase Linears, Crown , or any other straight through amp this is manditory to have.

    http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/kits/kv-k4700U.htm

    Cheap insurance for a 200 dollar cone kit. I have worked with PL amps before and they can be bad little boys. Took out two JBL E140 drivers for a friend of mine.
    Yes, Flame Linear can be a bad amp! Matter of fact, Flame Linear is more dangerous than the DC-300!

    But, there are guys that love those old 700B,s!
    scottyj

  13. #13
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    crown dc300a

    thanks duaneage. i went to audio xpress . I will order the two channel loudspeaker protection kit first thing in the morning thanks gene

  14. #14
    Senior Member Fred Sanford's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by duaneage
    Old Colony Sound Lab sells a speaker protection circuit kit for 40 bucks. It is made by Velleman. If your going to run Phase Linears, Crown , or any other straight through amp this is manditory to have.

    http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/kits/kv-k4700U.htm

    Cheap insurance for a 200 dollar cone kit. I have worked with PL amps before and they can be bad little boys. Took out two JBL E140 drivers for a friend of mine.
    Why does that item say 220V supply voltage? The search wasn't too helpful on that site, maybe there's another model...

    je

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by scott fitlin
    Yes, Flame Linear can be a bad amp! Matter of fact, Flame Linear is more dangerous than the DC-300!

    But, there are guys that love those old 700B,s!
    I think any amp can he dangerous if not used correctly or maintained.

    You have to ask yourself why would it break....Carver was not an idiot!

    But some idiots like shorting the outputs and turning them on and off in the wrong sequence, cooking them or clipping them from an overloaded desk for days on end ......the odd failure is hardly surprising when they turn up clapped out on Ebay to the un suspecting buyer.

    My 700 B series 11 was used in a Clair Bros system Touring around Aust for years powering S4 's before I got it and it never missed a beat. I owned a 400 for about 10 yrs and it never missed a beat either.

    I called the tech who serviced them before I bought them because his ph was on the back.

    Common sense applies.

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