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Thread: CROWN PSL-2 (Straight Line Two)

  1. #1
    ken.pugmire
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    CROWN PSL-2 (Straight Line Two)

    I often hear this Pre on a local pair of L5's and am always blown away by the transparency. From what I understand this is basically a "CD Era" version of the classic SL-2.

    Id love to hear some opinions on it and how good you guys think it is.

    After Hearing a $12,000 flagship preamp, I cannot help but think thats OVER THE TOP! And the difference in sound was character not clarity

    Im in the process of acquiring a pair of L7's and want a really clean pre-amp. I listen to Jazz, Rock and Hip Hop.

    Is it me or is this kit really THAT GOOD???

  2. #2
    Senior Member jbl_daddy's Avatar
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    I had one along with the older IC150, not a bad unit. I sold both of mine, still have three of the PS200's in boxes that were part of that system. Good clean gear.
    Well why not it's just one more pair...
    4340's and 250ti's what an odd pair...

  3. #3
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    I have a Straight Line 2, and a Crown IC150. The Straight Line 2 is dead clean, and yes, it is that good.

    Additionally, I like the line of Crown amps from this time as well. The Power Line series, basically Crowns attempt at the consumer market, but good sounding, nonetheless.

    Out of curiosity, could you describe the differences between the Crowns sound and the $12,000 preamp?
    scottyj

  4. #4
    ken.pugmire
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    LOL

    I used to hang out at a very high end HiFi shop locally. They were running a Classe CP-700 on B&W 800D and Bryston 4BSST2. WOW was it nice and punchy and clean. So was the Crown. To be frank the crown had less sonic signature. The Classe is FINE unit and probably has its place. To be fair I head the Classe on Bowers and Wilkins and the Crown on JBL.

    For me id only use the Crown, I personally like a mastering studio sound. The Classe just feels TO REFINED to etched and sinister. Its not flat, and its doing a lot to the sound although pleasant and beats the hell out of Rotel.

    This is one piece of vintage kit im willing to shell 4-500 for!

  5. #5
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    I HEAR THAT!

    I'm a Crown man, myself,
    scottyj

  6. #6
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    I have a SL-2 and like it very much. Also have a IC-150 and although pretty good it's not as transparent as the SL.

  7. #7
    RIP 2010 scott fitlin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by midlife View Post
    I have a SL-2 and like it very much. Also have a IC-150 and although pretty good it's not as transparent as the SL.
    Yeah, the SL-2 was great.

    There's something about Crown!
    scottyj

  8. #8
    ken.pugmire
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    I'm about to acquire an APT Holman Preamplifier. Any opinions on these? and any other SUPER CLEAN, dynamic preamp recommendations for under $500. Going to be used on L7's.

  9. #9
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    I'll take the bait. By now many here will expect me to make my normal recommendation...so I will.

    Soundcraftsmen Pro-Control Four pre-amp and Pro-EQ 44 will both be less than your budget amount. When Opie tried the EQ on his 250Ti projects we heard some HF trash with our ears to the 044Ti's. I don't hear it in the 4345s but then I don't press my ears to the 2405s and I run the Pro-Control in "direct" mode for anything beyond low-level listening where the EQ provides my loudness contouring.

    :dont-know

    If I had the money, I'd have the Crown, too. And I will, someday.
    ". . . as you have no doubt noticed, no one told the 4345 that it can't work correctly so it does anyway."—Greg Timbers

  10. #10
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Pretty funny that I was playing the new-to-me Steely Dan "Two Against Nature" SACD on the Oppo through a PSL2, JBL/Urei 6260 and JBL L5s and decided to look up the specs on the Loudness switch on the PSL2 and came upon this thread—13-years later!

    I now own both a PSL2 and an SL2 after saying above that I would own one "someday". Every component in this small system is simply superb. I normally run the Oppo to an Emotiva XDR-2 but with the SACD I run it direct to the CD input on the PSL2 and I'm enjoying the hell out of the sound of my all-time favorite Steely Dan album on what has to be the best medium for it. I use this system mostly for TV but my only choice right now for SACD listening is either here or in my basement audio workshop.

    I just can't say enough about how nice this PSL2 is, or how I love the sound of the L5 through the JBL/Urei amp. Sure I can get more bass out of my L7s (or 4345) but the L5 is simply so "natural" in its sound that I'm glad I own two-pair because I'd never want to not have at least one! In the right room with the right front end they are very hard to beat for nearly any money.

    Makes me sad to re-read some of Scotty's love for Crown as well as other Crown fans on LH who are no longer with us. I'm sure I'll be one of those someday but owning Crown since 1971 has helped me enjoy music in a way most high-schoolers never get to experience, and as I enter my eighth-decade of life, I realize I've been listening to JBLs in my home for all but three of my 70 years!

    Here's to all of those no longer with us.
    ". . . 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 DerekTheGreat's Avatar
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    Hey, hey, wait up! I've become a Crown fan by happenstance. I've tried quite a few of their amps; K1, K2, MA-2402, a PS-200 and now a CE-4000. Haven't tried the 4000 yet, but the way it was packaged doesn't have me giddy with excitement.. I love the PS-200, haven't tried it for low bass duties, but it is covering everything from 90hz and up on my 813C's. I might just prefer it over everything else I've heard in it's stead. Considering it's price tag compared to the others, I'm blown away. Want to try a PS-400, it's about twice the power and offers a better slew rate, might just offer an improvement in sound, but it seems I can't get one for less than $700 shipped.

    How come nobody talks about the SL-1? I bought one for about $100 and it has blown everything I've heard before away. So we're talking about it trash canning a Marantz 3600, Dynaco PAT-5 and an Adcom GFP-555. The transparency, clarity and detail it brings are absolutely fabulous. Steely Dan and other well mastered pieces are just incredible to listen to through it. Bass and Treble controls? Meh, an Audio Control C 101 series III through a tape loop is what one needs should they desire EQ. Anyway, I'm not sure an SL-2 would give me anything the SL-1 doesn't and I like the apperance of the SL-1 better. By chance, does anyone know how long Crown made SL-1's? Seems like they first dropped in 1979, but my silver faced unit seems like it could've been made in the mid 80's.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
    Hey, hey, wait up! I've become a Crown fan by happenstance. I've tried quite a few of their amps; K1, K2, MA-2402, a PS-200 and now a CE-4000. Haven't tried the 4000 yet, but the way it was packaged doesn't have me giddy with excitement.. I love the PS-200, haven't tried it for low bass duties, but it is covering everything from 90hz and up on my 813C's. I might just prefer it over everything else I've heard in it's stead. Considering it's price tag compared to the others, I'm blown away. Want to try a PS-400, it's about twice the power and offers a better slew rate, might just offer an improvement in sound, but it seems I can't get one for less than $700 shipped.How come nobody talks about the SL-1? I bought one for about $100 and it has blown everything I've heard before away. So we're talking about it trash canning a Marantz 3600, Dynaco PAT-5 and an Adcom GFP-555. The transparency, clarity and detail it brings are absolutely fabulous. Steely Dan and other well mastered pieces are just incredible to listen to through it. Bass and Treble controls? Meh, an Audio Control C 101 series III through a tape loop is what one needs should they desire EQ. Anyway, I'm not sure an SL-2 would give me anything the SL-1 doesn't and I like the apperance of the SL-1 better. By chance, does anyone know how long Crown made SL-1's? Seems like they first dropped in 1979, but my silver faced unit seems like it could've been made in the mid 80's.
    I have used Crown DC300's and found them a very clean sounding power amplifier. They have driven many different types of speaker loads successfully, from JBL4430's to Quad Electrostatics and Apogee Diva's. Crown have now moved to 'digital' power amps, I haven't had an opportunity to hear their latest offerings and wondered if any on the forum have compared the legacy products with Crown's latest?

  13. #13
    Senior Member DerekTheGreat's Avatar
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    I have heard good things about the DC300, the A variant, I think.

    As for how the amplifiers sound? I prefer the Crown PS-200 to the MA-2402, K1 and K2 on full range duty. MA-2402 had the K series beat for full range in my opinion, but I did find the MA-2402 to be a bit grainy on the highs and mids and the fans were LOUD. The grainy-ness worked for rock & roll though.. However, I didn't really care for the K1 or the K2 on high detail either, a too little sterile and shrill on my ears at high levels. Didn't care for the MA-2402 on bass, not very tight down low. For subwoofer duty, you cannot or will be very hard pressed to beat a K series, I absolutely love them for that task. Tight and authoritative. I listened to the CE-4000 last night, and it is pretty darn good on subwoofer duty, I'd put it just behind the K amps. Tight bass down below 70hz, (Maybe not as tight as a K..) but they sound a bit bloated above that. I no longer have a functioning K amp to test it against though. Fan is the quietest I've heard so far, but it still noticeable. But so long as you've got music playing low you won't hear it. Verdict is still out as to whether or not I can live with the noise. If one reads closely, it appears as if I'm starting to miss my K amps..

    Anyone know anything about the Crown Straight Line One???

  14. #14
    Senior Member Odd's Avatar
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    I use CROWN POWER LINE FOUR for bass on my DIY 43xx

    Very good bass amplifier.
    43XX (2235-2123-2450-2405-CC 3155)5235-4412-4406-4401-L250-18Ti-L40-S109 Aquarius lV-C38 (030) 305P MkII

  15. #15
    Senior Member BMWCCA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DerekTheGreat View Post
    I have heard good things about the DC300, the A variant, I think.

    Anyone know anything about the Crown Straight Line One???
    Since the SL1 was Crown's first foray into "consumer" electronics, I suppose its run was cut short from lack of acceptance due to limited capabilities. It has often been said the perfect pre-amp was a "straight line", Crown took it literally and offered little more than a volume control on the SL1. If that's all anyone needed they could simply plug their tape deck directly into their Crown amp with its input attenuators and not even need a pre-amp. Sales obviously didn't take off until the SL2 arrived with better aesthetics and more controls for inputs, etc. That's my theory. Very little written about the SL1's performance, so let's assume the guts were the same as the SL2—or just a "straight line".

    I bought my first D150 (pre-A) around 1971. Still have it today. I've added a couple of D150A-II and DC300A-II to the collection, using them for years as my amps of choice. I've often mentioned how my favorite hi-fi shop while growing up in St. Louis, first turned me on to Crown as an affordable alternative to their main featured brand McIntosh. When I was looking to replace my Fisher SA1000 amp, they gave me a D60, D150, and DC300 to take home and try out. I loved them all, hooked to my Mac C20 (which I still own), and settled on the mid-priced D150, since I was still in high-school at the time. Within the past decades I gradually replaced the D-Series amps with PS-200 and PS-400, which are still running in my main system today. I much prefer them to the Ds for their turn-on delay and they just sound better to me. I still have all the Crowns, including several D75A and D45s, all latest versions. But my new favorite is my Studio Reference-II I got in anticipation of powering my 250ti's. I've yet to re-surround those so I'm playing the SR-II with everything from JBL Pro-II Plus to DCM TimeFrame 600s, L100s, S38s, and L7s. It sounds fantastic anytime I listen to it. My Power Line 3 sits right next to it on my testing table, for comparison. Someday I may cut loose most of my D-series amps. I even have one D150-II out on loan to a neighbor whose husband passed before I could get his Phase Linear 400 fixed for him. I just can't bring myself to do it now.

    Here's a small sampling of what I have stashed away:

    ". . . 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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