L-65 with Crown K2

[4345]

Anyone using the Crown K2 full range for home hifi? I like it, but was wondering others opinions. I use it at my office with the L-65's. The bass is much improved over my old set up. Would a Bryston be even better?

[1audiohack]

I drive the 4435's in my office with a K2. It's the only amp I've ever had on them and having never had anything Bryston I can offer no opinion. I am not dissatisfied with the K2 however.

Barry.

[SEAWOLF97]

put them on the floor and you'll have lots'o bass, with just about any amp.

[jblsound]

put them on the floor and you'll have lots'o bass, with just about any amp.
I was thinking the same thing when I saw the pic of them in the cabinet way above the floor.
Much like the L55s, the floor adds boundary reinforcement.
I used to have a K2 amp, its very good, I had used it for my passive subs.
But because of how I wanted to use them, I switched to BASS plate amps, which then provided a XO w/o having to add yet another box.
Wish I had kept the K2 cos it was so good. It sold the first day on ebay.

[Retroman]

I have owned a Bryston 4B NRB and a 4B SST Squared. I listened to them extensively with XPL200s and my Array 1400. The amps are very detailed and have outstanding bottom-end impact and control. Unfortunately, when used with JBL Ti-based speakers, the combination results in hard, bright and fatiguing high frequencies. However, given that your L65s have Aluminum 077 diaphragms, this combination may be worth trying.

I also own a Crown K1 recently-purchased used through Guitar Center on-line. GC nationwide currently have several K2s' in various condition: http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm

Importantly, they will give you a full refund within 30 days if you are unsatisfied for any reason.

I listened to the K1 for over a month driving my Array 1400 full-range. The sound of this combination is outstanding in the bass, very clear and warm in the midrange and smooth without any trace of hardness in the treble. However, the top-end is nowhere near as transparent and detailed as my Mac MC302, but the 302 with its autoformers has inferior bottom-end performance. So, I now passively bi-amp with the K1 on the LE14H-3 woofer and the Mac on the SAM1 horns. The sound is far better in every way to either amp driving the Arrays on its own. Tight, visceral, authoritative bass is very important to me. So if I had to choose between these two amps full-range, the K1 would be it. One good test disc I use to check amps and speakers for bloated/boomy bass performance is The Black Keys Brothers CD. In this regard, the K1 does everything right. My listening room is relatively small at 14 ft long x 10 ft wide. I listen to a lot of rock, blues and blues rock at 85-100dB and I cannot clip the K1 into the Arrays at any sane volume level. It's never fatiguing and is very dynamic and impressive on drums, bass guitar, synthesizer.

From what I've read, the K2 is not quite as refined-sounding as the K1, but they're probably close. Given the relatively high sensitivity of the L65s, you might consider trying a K1. There is a date code embeded in the serial number. I would get one from the later years of production, as these have the turn-off delay lengthened to about a minute. Mine I believe is from 2004. I cannot recall the date code breakdown, but give the Crown tech support guys a call and they'll explain it.

What application the amps were used in is also important. Obviously, the ones used by touring sound companies that look like they were thrown out of a car at 50 mph are probably not going to be as reliable as ones used in a recording studio. If you are willing to trade some transparency and top-end detailing for outstanding bass, almost limited dynamics and a very 'lively' presentation, then the K1 or K2 at from $300-450 in excellent condition are great values. And, they are American made, unlike the current new <$1000 Crown amps.

[1audiohack]

The auto off delay is easy to extend or defeat if desired on the K series amps. I think it should have been a switch on the back though.