Best 80's 200WPC power amp?

Then you are looking at the wrong Crowns.

file:///C:/Users/Todd/Downloads/Studio-Reference-Data-Sheet-136734_original.pdf

file:///C:/Users/Todd/Downloads/Studio-Reference-Manual-k80604_original.pdf

I would have to agree. If a consumer grade amp was ever built with even 2/3 the power output of the Crown 5002 I am unaware of such a beast. This is one of those monsters that is held back by the power of the 120v 15a wall connection. Thats also why it has a 220v option.

Truly a monster of an amp. For a while this was the top of the food chain in pro audio and its like. Now with amps from Power Soft , Lab Gruppen so on those power barriers have been shattered. And by amps weighing 1/4 that of a 5002. That being said, you cant generate more power than you take in. And even these $15k 10kw power amps have interesting looking distortion at certain power levels and freq points. But hey, thats allot of power from a small foot print.

But back to the beast! LOL


  • 2-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2500W

  • 4-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2000W

  • 8-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 1300W

    4-ohm Bridged-Mono: 5000W

  • 8-ohm Bridged-Mono: 4000W
 

Attachments

  • 5002crown.jpg
    5002crown.jpg
    69.3 KB · Views: 65
That is correct; the 3016A used their semi-proprietary (some IP battles fought over that IIRC) feed-forward design rather than global negative feedback, shared with the smaller 3026A and the later production 3006A.

Some internal pics, borrowed from HiFi Shock:

3016-a-0b-tandberg.jpg


3016-a-1-tandberg.jpg


It's a true dual-mono design with 16 Hitachi MOSFET outputs, rated to handle 1 ohm loads. The overload indicators are for thermal and the peak indicators monitor clipping. Rated for 2.4kW input wattage, which in the US means a 20A line is a good idea.


John


Yeah that is an amazing looking piece of craftsmanship. Clean logical layout and looks like it could be worked on with careful disassembly. At least I dont have to kick myself for missing one in the wild near me. Quite a rare bird.

Has any manufacturer began making affordable and good MOSFET outputs yet? I remember reading Exicon made em but finding them in the states and at good prices was dicey.

Seems weird given how many devices used MOSFET outputs that there isnt reason enough to produce them on some level more mainstream. Real shame given how many great vintage amps use em and could really benefit from such a run.

Amazing amp!
 
IMG_20170820_095602.jpg View attachment 1089442 View attachment 1089442
That is correct; the 3016A used their semi-proprietary (some IP battles fought over that IIRC) feed-forward design rather than global negative feedback, shared with the smaller 3026A and the later production 3006A.

Some internal pics, borrowed from HiFi Shock:

3016-a-0b-tandberg.jpg


3016-a-1-tandberg.jpg


It's a true dual-mono design with 16 Hitachi MOSFET outputs, rated to handle 1 ohm loads. The overload indicators are for thermal and the peak indicators monitor clipping. Rated for 2.4kW input wattage, which in the US means a 20A line is a good idea.


John

Pioneer M-91 is dual mono, here's a pic of mine. No fan.

Some great amps mentioned in this thread, really like that Accuphase.
 
Last edited:
This is one master piece built from 1983 -1990. The built quality is just unbelievable. I just love how this brand designed the layouts of all their front face plates to the neatness under the hood on both the international to the Japanese domestic models. To talk about the transformers they made is another subject.

B2301
300WPC - Freq response DC - 300KHz

images (11).jpg images (12).jpg
http://www.thevintageknob.org/sansui-B-2301.html
 
Last edited:
My DBX BX-3 is 300 wpc @ 8 ohms in 2-channel mode, but I'm not sure if it slid in the 80's category--I think it is on the cusp of 1990. Big, beautiful meters and lovely rosewood end panels--it is a pretty beast.
 
I would have to agree. If a consumer grade amp was ever built with even 2/3 the power output of the Crown 5002 I am unaware of such a beast. This is one of those monsters that is held back by the power of the 120v 15a wall connection. Thats also why it has a 220v option.

Truly a monster of an amp. For a while this was the top of the food chain in pro audio and its like. Now with amps from Power Soft , Lab Gruppen so on those power barriers have been shattered. And by amps weighing 1/4 that of a 5002. That being said, you cant generate more power than you take in. And even these $15k 10kw power amps have interesting looking distortion at certain power levels and freq points. But hey, thats allot of power from a small foot print.

But back to the beast! LOL


  • 2-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2500W

  • 4-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2000W

  • 8-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 1300W

    4-ohm Bridged-Mono: 5000W

  • 8-ohm Bridged-Mono: 4000W

Big amps work OK on those circuits to play most kinds of music. The overcurrent protection (fuse/breaker) allows many times the rated current to pass for short periods without blowing/tripping. This facilitates high output for peaks yet no trip because of the (relatively) low average power.

If you want to bench test full continuous sine wave power that's a completely different matter re. main circuit capability. For this sort of use, yes, you'd need much more than 15A circuit to bench test full rated continuous power.
 
Last edited:
In the 80's, I preferred the PS Audio 200C. Great sounding amp, and one of the few that actually doubled it's power going from 8 ohms to 4 ohms due to it's massively overbuilt power supplies. I still have one.
 
My DBX BX-3 is 300 wpc @ 8 ohms in 2-channel mode, but I'm not sure if it slid in the 80's category--I think it is on the cusp of 1990. Big, beautiful meters and lovely rosewood end panels--it is a pretty beast.
OK per HFE as a 1986 amp but fails on the power with only 180 wpc 8Ω. Now if your 300 wpc number is an actual test number, that is a bench number in my book and every amp I have ever seen benches for more than the rating and is a number that should be qualified with the indication it is a bench number not a spec. But the amp does look good and has plenty of power for most things, just not the list of 200 watters.
 
Must cause some more mouth watering with a pair of Krell MDA500....
$_3.JPG

I would have to agree. If a consumer grade amp was ever built with even 2/3 the power output of the Crown 5002 I am unaware of such a beast. This is one of those monsters that is held back by the power of the 120v 15a wall connection. Thats also why it has a 220v option.

Truly a monster of an amp. For a while this was the top of the food chain in pro audio and its like. Now with amps from Power Soft , Lab Gruppen so on those power barriers have been shattered. And by amps weighing 1/4 that of a 5002. That being said, you cant generate more power than you take in. And even these $15k 10kw power amps have interesting looking distortion at certain power levels and freq points. But hey, thats allot of power from a small foot print.

But back to the beast! LOL


  • 2-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2500W

  • 4-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 2000W

  • 8-ohm Stereo (Per Channel): 1300W

    4-ohm Bridged-Mono: 5000W

  • 8-ohm Bridged-Mono: 4000W

Seems to me that one of these is pretty much anyone would ever need. With headroom to spare forever and ever. This post made me start a new thread.
 
Fabulous! I'd love to add one of those to my system one day. They are supposed to be fabulous. I believe that the schematics are available for you to modify it to the 7'B' series if I'm not mistaken. Kudos to you!!
The schematic floating around on the interweb is REV.B, the version I have here is REV. D and looks to have had servos added for DC offset I'm guessing for now. It still has it's B+ voltage regulators so I know it's not a 7B. The 7B got rid of the regulators and bumped the output power to over 400WPC. I'm waiting on one transistor then I get to try and get it running.
 
I don't know if it was among the best, but it was designed by Jim Bongiorno. As such, the Sumo Andromeda fits the 80's 200 WPC amp criteria.

Some 80's amps didn't always meet their "specs", like the Sumo in the review you linked. I suspect Crown amps are the same way..

"The Andromeda measured less than 0.028% Total Harmonic Distortion plus Noise (THD+N) at its rated power into 8 ohms, and less than 0.053% THD+N into 4 ohms at 324Wpc. The amplifier could not produce more power at 4 ohms, going into mutual conduction when pushed further. (Mutual conduction occurs when the complementary output devices (which normally work in turn) conduct current simultaneously, and thus work against one another, behaving like a partial short circuit across the power supply.) This was evidenced by a sudden increase of current draw, which suddenly jumped from 15 to 25 amps. This condition is unlikely to occur when playing music, but the measurement does indicate a failure of the amp to meet its specs.
Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content...plifier-1984-measurements#SU56KZOo58SqqYIl.99"
 
Some 80's amps didn't always meet their "specs", like the Sumo in the review you linked. I suspect Crown amps are the same way..
I don't think Crown amps were overrated. I know they handled the preconditioning prior to testing not like some amps. Reviewers doing the test and then stating that it took longer to do the 60 minutes at 1/3 power because of thermal shutdown but once the preconditioning was done the amp power was as specified. Reviewers didn't consider a thermal shutdown during the preconditioning a failure, just worthy of mention not an issue. Well, ok. I guess the next iteration of that amp got more heat sinks.

My DC-300a was tested just before the expiration of the 3-year Hi-Fi House warranty and it did just fine. Clipped above the 150 rated power, THD was .008/.009@1kHz, .012/.010@20Hz, well within the typical measurements for the amp and below the spec for a later amp that was rated at 155 wpc, .05% THD. The IM distortion of my amp was .004/.002 0dB and .005/.004 -20dB. More that capable after nearly three years of getting worked hard for a home amp, living a pampered life compared to a road amp.
 
I don't think Crown amps were overrated.

Generally speaking, Crown specs are listed in terms of minimum guaranteed power.

Pro amps of good name generally meet or exceed their specs. They don't get to play fast and loose with numbers like overrating or sandbagging ratings because the pro market won't tolerate it. In the intended market it's like a tool. It's not jewelry where people are willing to pay more for just extra flash or fancy talk.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom