Crown amplifiers vs. other amps in the audiophile world

[highfigh]

Crown is owned by Harman International and their latest Drive Core amplifiers is using a proprietary DSP developed by TI, these Class D amplifiers sound very, very good. In our consulting support business with Harman, we have been involved in several listening tests of the Drive Core amplifiers vs. the competition they do very, very well. In the 1990s' Crown sold the DC300A which was a very reliable pro sound amplifier, however its sonic performance was sub-par as it used a quasi-complimentary output topology and had audible, higher IM distortion...

Just my $0.02...

Large sound companies used Crown amps for a long time and when the DC-300A came out, I was seeing banks of them below the stage at shows- I think I saw close to 36 amplifiers under one side of the stage at a Genesis show, so that made a whole lot of output power.

 

[M Code]

Large sound companies used Crown amps for a long time and when the DC-300A came out, I was seeing banks of them below the stage at shows- I think I saw close to 36 amplifiers under one side of the stage at a Genesis show, so that made a whole lot of output power.

Correcto...
The DC300A did have some sonic shortcomings, compared to some of the esoteric audiophile amplifiers....
However its mainstay was its watts per $ and excellent reliability, which is pertinent in a pro-audio, sound reinforcement application..

Just my $0.02...

 

[Verdinut]

Interesting. Looks good. I see it is a Class A/B design as well. It's only down side is that constant noisy fan.

No, it's fan is not constantly noisy. I'm using four of those QSC Digital Cinema amps. I'm sitting only 6 feet away from them and only after a few minutes of operation, the fan speed slows down and I don't hear any of the 3 DCA 1222s. The only fan that I can hear when there's no music being played is the one on the DCA 1824, the 4 channel amp that drives my surround speakers. Since it has to keep cool 4 output stages in the same size chassis, it is a little noisy.

Anyways, who sits less than 6 feet away from the power amps? Also, when there's music being played, any fan noise and all other noises such as air conditioner, refrigerator etc are masked. With either of the 2 channel DCA 1222 or the 1622, the fan noise should not be a concern.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

No, it's fan is not constantly noisy. I'm using four of those QSC Digital Cinema amps. I'm sitting only 6 feet away from them and only after a few minutes of operation, the fan speed slows down and I don't hear any of the 3 DCA 1222s. The only fan that I can hear when there's no music being played is the one on the DCA 1824, the 4 channel amp that drives my surround speakers. Since it has to keep cool 4 output stages in the same size chassis, it is a little noisy.

Anyways, who sits less than 6 feet away from the power amps? Also, when there's music being played, any fan noise and all other noises such as air conditioner, refrigerator etc are masked. With either of the 2 channel DCA 1222 or the 1622, the fan noise should not be a concern.

Thanks for the info Verdinut. That looks good. I will put that QSC amp on my list of possible amps to purchase down the road. I already have a Crown XLS 1502 that I am not using right now. One thing I liked about the Crown amp is that in my particular usage, the fan never came on at all and the amp still remained really cool.

 

[Gmoney]

Correcto...
The DC300A did have some sonic shortcomings, compared to some of the esoteric audiophile amplifiers....
However its mainstay was its watts per $ and excellent reliability, which is pertinent in a pro-audio, sound reinforcement application..

Just my $0.02...

Comes down to how much your ears can tell the Difference. One's Taste is Another man's caviar.

 

[highfigh]

Correcto...
The DC300A did have some sonic shortcomings, compared to some of the esoteric audiophile amplifiers....
However its mainstay was its watts per $ and excellent reliability, which is pertinent in a pro-audio, sound reinforcement application..

Just my $0.02...

When reliability is the #1 concern and weight is #2, those amps were a great choice. Who's going to comment at an arena show that the imaging is a little skewed to one side or the other, anyway?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Comes down to how much your ears can tell the Difference. One's Taste is Another man's caviar.

Mike, I ate some caviar last weekend. It was way too salty for me. Must be an acquired taste because I hated it.

 

[highfigh]

Thanks for the info Verdinut. That looks good. I will put that QSC amp on my list of possible amps to purchase down the road. I already have a Crown XLS 1502 that I am not using right now. One thing I liked about the Crown amp is that in my particular usage, the fan never came on at all and the amp still remained really cool.

If fan noise is a problem, why not relocate the amplifier?

 

[highfigh]

Mike, I ate some caviar last weekend. It was way too salty for me. Must be an acquired taste because I hated it.

Was it like the scene from Big, where Tom Hanks wiped the caviar off of his tongue with a napkin and then asked for a milkshake?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thanks for the info Verdinut. That looks good. I will put that QSC amp on my list of possible amps to purchase down the road. I already have a Crown XLS 1502 that I am not using right now. One thing I liked about the Crown amp is that in my particular usage, the fan never came on at all and the amp still remained really cool.

Why do you need another amp when you already have an unused amp?

I actually only have one unused amp right now, and it's just a single Ch sub amp, not even a stereo amp.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Was it like the scene from Big, where Tom Hanks wiped the caviar off of his tongue with a napkin and then asked for a milkshake?

Not quite that drastic. I just voiced my opinion and ate my caviar like a good boy.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Why do you need another amp when you already have an unused amp?

I actually only have one unused amp right now, and it's just a single Ch sub amp, not even a stereo amp.

Yeah really, it's like I need another amp laying around which I don't, but it seems like I'm always kicking tires so-to-speak, I think I have some residual audiophilia leftover in me from the past. I thought it was over it, but now and then, it comes out and rears its ugly head.

But that QSC amp looks nice.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Comes down to how much your ears can tell the Difference. One's Taste is Another man's caviar.

Who is that lady in your avatar?

 

[Gmoney]

Who is that lady in your avatar?

I pulled that off Apple Iphone Images, But the young woman in that pic, Closely reminds of a lil barkeep that use to work at a hole-in-the wall dive bar here where I live. Only Difference was she had Tats all over her body. How I know this you may ask? Well she is a lil umm like to share and had a thing for older men with Benefits if you catch my drift. Her name is Tayler. Rumor around the town was she was one of the Bandido's best money makers.

 

[Alex2507]

I actually only have one unused amp right now, and it's just a single Ch sub amp,

I'll take it. How much? Seriously.

 

[Gmoney]

Why do you need another amp when you already have an unused amp?

I actually only have one unused amp right now, and it's just a single Ch sub amp, not even a stereo amp.

sell me your Denon AVR the one you got in your Den room that Hardly gets use, Andrew your being tracked by the way. One of them lil nurses done went and put a tracking bug on your PC. I got a text back she looks something like this.

 

[Gmoney]

Not quite that drastic. I just voiced my opinion and ate my caviar like a good boy.

What your Opinion, on Emotiva amps drasstic enough for you to become a Dealer? lol

 

[Gmoney]

Not quite that drastic. I just voiced my opinion and ate my caviar like a good boy.

Not good, Get free money from Government to go to school, its Like that show Deal or No Deal. In your case No Deal for the You!
Or open Case and find one way Ticket back to Vietnam. Time to go You been on AH 4 hour.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'll take it. How much? Seriously.

R------------------I-------------------G---------------------H-----------------------T

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

sell me your Denon AVR the one you got in your Den room that Hardly gets use

2 weeks ago I sold my Denon AVR-5308CI (the last Denon component I own) for $1K.

Funny thing is, the guy who bought it just sent me an email thanking me for selling him my Denon AVR-5308CI and also asking if I had a used Denon AVP-A1HDCI to sell him.

I told him I do have a Denon AVP-A1HDCI, but it's not working.
So it's just being used as a decor. It does look awesome just sitting there.

I mean look at that Denon! It looks much better than that Yamaha RX-A3080.