Crown 75

[djnagle]

Hi All, I have a line on a good Crown 75. I want to drive my 515b 16 ohm with it. I will drive the 511 with my 300b (using a Rane). Does anyone have experience with the Crown. I know it is commercial but it is in good shape.

[Altec19]

Hi Igor,

Crown makes rock-solid commercial equipment. (After lifting your 300B I'm sure you're aware in more ways than one about how the term "rock" might apply ) I like the vintage Crown stuff and have used it in various PA systems over the years. Altec and Crown gear are most certainly not strangers to each other either. But, at the risk of starting a religious argument, there are those who would argue the musicality of Crown equipment when used in a hi-fi situation. It can tend to have a distinct "solid-state" sound (harshness?). I think using Crown for the bass in a bi-amp situation would work well providing a very solid bottom end. Certainly Crown is no slouch with high frequencies. But, after listening for a while, perhaps you could beg or borrow another amp with a reputation for smoothness in the mids/highs just to compare (tubes would be the ultimate but I'm biased). If you hear a difference then you have a quandary. If you don't, well, now you know!

Just my two cents worth.

Later . . .

[MikeInNH]

In many ways I agree with Altec Fan.....HOWEVER....

Crown has also made some extremely good musically sounding amps. Their Studio Reference is excellent, also the older PL line (PL-one, Pl-two, PL-three and PL-Four), and among some of the best sounding amps in their range and era.

I had tried using a DC-300A as a home amp once with my Altec 15's. It was a very harsh amp. I ended up buying a PL-Four...This was my main amp for almost 20 years, until I went to home theatre. One nice thing about the PL line amps is that at low power they are a pure Class-A amp. Very melo and smooth. Then at higher volumes it swithces to a A+B, then to a AB. With my speakers being pretty efficient, the amp rarely got out of Class A mode.

[scott fitlin]

The D-75 in bridge mono at 16 ohms will only be about 45 watts! However, since your using a 515b it might be enough!

It will make good bass, and as long as you dont overdrive the D-75 it will sound good!

Crowns are known for the bass they make. I use D-75,s on my JBL 2402 tweeters, but I wouldnt call it Hi-Fi, rather that classic dancefloor sizzle! Sizzle is the thing audiophiles tend to want to avoid in their hi frequencies, and its what the dance clubs crave!

The DC-300A! Also good bass, but tends to get grainy in the midrange, and high frequencies!

[joyspring]

The D-75 is an excellent amplifier, provided it is powerful enough for your listening requirements. I currently use many of these units and they're quite nice.

Be certain to include ample headroom when calculating total power required. If not certain, you can work backwards.

For instance, the FTC 20Hz-20kHz rating of the D-75 at 16 ohms is 25W. Assuming that the sensitivity of the 515B in a 825/8 enclosure is nominally 102dB 1W/1M and that you desire a 20dB peak-to-average, then your average listening power will be 0.25W. With current digital media, this is a prudent margin.

This will yield an average that is -6dB below 102dB at 1M, or 96dB at 0.25W with peaks at 116dB at the D-75's rated 25W FTC 20Hz-20kHz 0.1%THD rating.

The D-75 has an excellent S/N figure, better than many `audiophile' amplifiers: 106dB below rated power, 20Hz-20kHz.

If you listen primarily to dynamic-range limited media (vinyl LPs for example), you can reduce the headroom requirements and yield a higher average listening level for the same amplifier.

Lastly, having worked for a professional amplifier company many years ago, I have just one comment regarding the subjective views of amplifiers that many seem to possess: the perceived audible difference between all competent amplifiers - that is, ones that have proper power supplies, grounding, ability to tolerate strangely reactive loads, etc.- is influenced primarily by marketing. Any appropriately proctored double-blind test will quickly bear this out (yes, audio engineers like most scientists insist on statistically-valid data).

That being the case, your decision should be based on power requirements, features, quality/reliability and price.

BobR

[joyspring]

Scotty J,

The D-75 puts out 70W FTC 20Hz-20kHz 0.1% THD into 16 ohms bridged mono.

Here's a summary of the FTC Continuous Average Power at 0.1%, 20Hz-20kHz:

<pre>
DUAL

load (ohms) power (watts)
4 45
8 35
16 25

BRIDGED-MONO

load (ohms) power (watts)
8 95
16 70
</pre>

BobR

[scott fitlin]

your right Bob, I made a mistake, the D-75 is 70w@16 ohms mono!

Nonetheless, you can hear differences betweent amp brands using various circuit topologies, and for whatever reason, one amp sounds better to a person than another amp with the same power!

I happen to like Crown, but, I also know that certain models sound better to me for certain things than other models! case in point, to me the DC-300A makes great bass, but sounds grainy to me in the upper mids. For the upper mids I like the Crown D-150A, and for tweeters I love the D-75!

Yet, I know people who dislike the D-75 on tweeters, for exactly the reason I like it!

Of course, to be fair, Crown makes solid amps for any application, and they will work at home, but are mostly intended for commercial use!

I also liked the PL series! The PL-2 was a bit more refined sounding at the upper extremes than the D-75, but its all a matter of preference!

I love VINTAGE Crowns, especially, however, these days Im using Crest on my bass. This kicks really good too!

[MikeInNH]

I do agree that the DC300a is not the right amp for home...it is however one of the first "true solid state high powered amp". That amp set the standard for other solid state amps when it was designed some 50+ years ago.

I haven't auditioned the Studio Reference amp, but from what I've read and heard, it considered one of the best souding SS amps on the market. It's beating out amps by Krell, McIntosh, Boulder...etc....

I don't know if this has to do with Crown now being owned by Harmon....The same company that owns JBL and Mark Levinson. I'm sure there's sharing of technology. Mark Levinson....Another nice amp I was never able to afford (at least if I wanted to stay married).

[scott fitlin]

The Studio Reference was originally called the Macro Reference and was developed by Crown way before Harman bought them.

I wish Harman never bought Crown, I really do! Today, Crown actually has a series of amps that are assembled in China! Yes, the XLS series! Im sorry, but Crown is supposed to be American designed, and American made!

But I still love VINTAGE Crowns!