Favorite amp for VOT?

[MikeInNH]

So I probably have heard the combo, just didn't know it.

Do you know why the Crown amps (and tape decks) were built like tanks?

Why...Quality...Pride in Workmanship.

One thing they did which I thought was real cool.... Every resister was tested. Not all resisters registered the same...Let's say you had a bunch of resistors that were rated at 1000 ohms....But measuring them you found some at 970 ohms..and others at 1000 ohms..and others at 1010 ohms...Crown would them put them in three different piles...And when they built an amp they only used ONE of the piles...This was clearly indicated when they wrote up the spec of each amp they built...Lets say the amp was built with all the 970ohm resistors...then if a resistor failed they could look up the spec on that particular amp and replace it with the correct 970ohm resistor..

I just LOVED their philosophy...too bad it doesn't seem to be the same since the Harmon group bought them.

[Altec Best]

Don't think I'm going to need all that power though....

As I say it never hurts to come out packing.If you need that extra firepower you GOT IT.

[Panomaniac]

Crown R2R tape recorders and later amps were built tough to stand up to the rigors of missionary work, especially in Africa. Clarence Moore couldn't find anything that would take the beating, so he started modifying then building his own.

Being able to survive touring around the wilds of Africa and other far flung places day after day in the back of a Land Rover or worse - made for tough gear.

[aeyb701]

Favorite is Mcintosh. So expensive. Try to lift one .Go on their site and click bottom left Less Paul testimony on Mcintosh and Altec speakers.

Good, working used Mac amps like the MC2100's and 2200's can be had very reasonably, half a thou or so each for mine, from the auction site.
Jon

[aeyb701]

Crown with Altec's is probably the common and popular setup. If a theater wasn't using Altec amps they were using Crowns. Almost every recording studio I ever went to all used Crown amps with Altec or JBL monitors. Not only did Crown amps sound good..they were built like tanks...

When Crown brought out the DC-300 in '68 or so it was not advertised as pro- or home-specific; it was just a high fidelity "laboratory amplifier" as the owner's manual stated. In the day there wasn't much market separation between pro- and home-audio. There was just what was considered good gear.Look in the links at 1950's Altec A-7 literature.
For example, The Grateful Dead used Mac maps, first tube then later SS, in their stage kit. Google old Dead photo's and you'll see.
Jonny A.

[theebadone]

I usually have my A-7s running on my Mcintosh 2505 amp and Mcintosh MX-110 pre. which sound nice, but now that system is doing bedroom duty pushing a nice pair of JBL-4410s So right now they are hooked up to a Sony STR-6800SD receiver, and the sound is very nice, I would have never believed the little sony costing less than a fourth of the mac gear, could make these votts sound this good. The sound pulls you in, and the votts seem to disappear, very nice combination. :2thumbsup: