Any opinions on these Crown Studio Reference I & II amps?
I heard they are not universaly liked in the audiophile world. Any idea why?
Thanks,
Tom
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Any opinions on these Crown Studio Reference I & II amps?
I heard they are not universaly liked in the audiophile world. Any idea why?
Thanks,
Tom
Tom,
As you may know, Scott Fitlin is testing one of my amplifiers!
Even if Baltimore is not that close to New York, why don't you get in touch with him thus he can send you this amplifier for testing for an audiophile use as you have the right speakers?
It might be of some interest for all of us.
I honestly think I hold all evaluation against big names...
Hello Tom,
I can only tell, that I drive my 250ti with a Reference 2, and in my Opinion,
it's a very good sounding Amp.
Bass is fast and punchy, Mid/High very clean.
:) Dieter
The Reference crown is a good amp, but, because of its extremely high damping factor can be percieved as a dry sounding amp! However, the bass this amp can produce can be very tight, very fast, and very punchy! The mid/high will be clean, but solid statey sounding! Ive heard this amp on many different occasions, and its all about WHAT you put into the amp! Shit in = Shit out!
Another thing to point out is the speakers, if your speakers sound great, this amp will drive them with clean power, BUT, this amp can also show up flaws in your speakers. Its not a forgiving amplifier that will color things one way or another!
My personal opinion on this amp is that its good, but if you seek certain colorations that some amps DO produce, this one isnt for you!
say if hooked up to a pair of 4430:s would it be noticebly dry sounding? or would it simply kick ass?
It has everything to do with WHAT you put into the amp! This amp, with its very high damping factor is suited to ported bass enclosures, IMO!
I just ran across this thread and it brings back memories of two of my Crown idols, Tom and Scott. We miss them here.
As a Crown fan and owner for over 50-years, and now the proud custodian of a Studio Reference-II, I have to say Tom would have loved one of these and Scotty knew what he was talking about. I suppose my collection of Crowns and JBLs has prepared me for liking the SR-II, but I newer knew just how much I would like it. I acquired it in preparation for powering my pair of 250ti's and have yet to connect that pairing, but everything I play it with sounds fantastic from my newly refurbished original Gen-1 L100 Centuries, to L7, to DCM TimeFrame 600s, the Crown makes everything sound so good it is now the only amp in use on my test bench—while the 250ti await their new surrounds.
Tom got me started on my collection of PL-series Crowns after owning D-series amps for decades. It was his love and devotion to the Crown sound and quality that got me hooked, and I well remember the graphic he used in his avatar on this site:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bf5681d901.jpg
And I'm sad to have never taken the time to meet Scotty and visit him at Coney Island to hear his Eldorado Auto Skooter bumper car ride and disco sound system.
https://negative-g.com/coney-island/...-31-2009-6.jpg
For Scotty and Tom, I hope you both continue to "Bump Your Ass Off".
Just bought a Studio Reference II. Stay tuned for my laymen review... :bouncy:
:banana:Quote:
Originally Posted by DerekTheGreat
Oh boy, are you in for a treat! Did yours come with the end-caps? Mine did not, not that it makes any difference in how it sounds but I like to be complete.
(BTW, I'm off today with plenty of chores but one of them is to get your PS-MOD/X pins in the mail.)
Awesome, was hoping to hear that! I've heard they are sort of a holy grail, but online reading seems to suggest otherwise unless used for subwoofer duty. However, online reading tried to tell me I'd HATE compression drivers and well, my experience with these UREI 813C's has been nothing short of :spchless: and :rockon2: Hands down the best audio purchase of my life. Thank you, Rusty!
I don't think they did... The side view photo of it showed what looked to be a cap, but its hollow with fasteners inside. I know nothing about these, although the photos I've seen of other ones show the same hollow-cap deal.
Thank you! And no worries if it doesn't happen today, whenever you find time is great by me.
Well, I got my SR-II going last week, but discovered it was having some issues; One IOC light wasn't working, the power light was intermittent and the ODEP lights stayed illuminated after it was powered off. I got in touch with the seller from eBay and offered to send it back so he could relist it or let it stay with me for half the purchase price. Told him if it stayed with me, I'd send it to AE Techron and update him with receipts as well as refund any money that was left over.
He chose to let it stay with me. A decision I'm pretty happy with given the positive, but brief experience I had with the amp. It was without a doubt the best amp I've had on bass to date. Tight, fast, crisp and authoritative. I think it digs deeper than any other amp I've had in the system as well. I was listening to No Doubt and there was this nasty pulsing down low I don't remember hearing before. Never listened to that tune with subwoofers before though either, so perhaps it was something missed by the studio or part of what is going on with the amp.. Anyway, was going to do more listening and then move it to power the 813C's to see if it would best the PS-200. But that weirdness caused me to take a closer look at the amp and then that's when I discovered it needed some help. Looks like this review will have to wait a little longer, tis a shame as I just got my SL-1 back in the system too.
No need to embarrass a PS-200 (or even 400) comparing it to a Studio Reference. It's just not a fair fight! :DQuote:
Originally Posted by DerekTheGreat
Curious which No Doubt tune you were playing?Quote:
Originally Posted by DerekTheGreat
"It's My Life" (the Talk Talk cover) is one of my test tracks to evaluate a system, in no small part to see how it handles the LF pulsing and some percussive-synth parts...
Hah, good to know. The 200 is my leader so far, so it's good to know it shouldn't be a fair fight for it. Now I'm even more pumped up to get the amp back. Here's hoping the repair(s) are cheaper than expected...Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWCCA
It was off of Tragic Kingdom; "Happy Now" or "You Can Do It," I think. Unfortunately, I can't remember as my focus got pulled to the amp. But despite the weirdness, there was no cause for alarm other than my surprise at what I was hearing. Actually, yeah, I think it was "You Can Do It" as there's some cool synth followed by some brass..Quote:
Originally Posted by Flamingo
It was indeed "You Can Do It." The Adcom GFA-555 II does something similar on that track, it just doesn't have the finesse or control the SR-II does so it isn't as noticeable. It's actually rather sloppy down that low, so the bass feels more like a slow roll, like a boat in sloshy water. Although I do not mean to knock that amp. I rather like it, feel it is a great piece of kit. It doesn't excel in any area, but doesn't stink either. Not to mention I've got two of 'em and neither have had to go into service or let me down. The other thing is, they punch way above their belt. Supposedly rated at 200w RMS into an 8 ohm load. Yet when the SR-II was driving the 2245H's, the single clip light was flashing at roughly the same point as the ones on the Adcom. For what it's worth, the Adcom's lights supposedly illuminate at 1% distortion whereas the SR-II's illuminate at 0.05%.