Crown CE2000 in the house!

Rex Aeterna

Rex Aeterna

Gigolo of Gigolos
Yesterday morning I picked up a crown ce2000 power amp off a really nice and very cool gentleman. Paid 200 for it. While some will find that high, I think it's a really good price. It's in excellent condition and even though the owner was a full time dj he took very good care of it. Said it was his favorite amp he used as a work horse and never failed on him once during his whole career. Was getting rid of It cause he told me he's just too old to be lugging around 40-50lb amps all day long anymore and needs to cut down his inventory. Said he liked it lot more than the newer crowns that are out.

This thing is a monster and biggest amp I ever owned. Heavy steel chassis, massive power transformer, and 24 T03 output transistors. This thing is litterly built like a tank.

Reason I went for the crown was not only curiosity on how a pro amp will perform but cause of intuition and price factor. Something inside told me to go for it and once again my gut feelings were right.

Not only does this amp has monstrous output I never see myself coming close to in real world listening but the sound of it is top notch. Very clean and smooth sounding. Straight forward. Very quiet too on the sound floor.

I'm driving my technics sb7000a off of them and really like the super clean and clear output.

I have my Schitt passive volume controller hooked up to it using 3ft rca to 1/4" mono cables. My source is my computer or hp8440p laptop hooked up to my echo audiofire 2@+4dbv and the amp is set to 1.4v gain and sounds really good.

Tried the amp directly to my phone via rca to 1/4" and while I got plenty of headroom it sounded ok and not as clear and clean as my main source. So, this is a transparent amp. Feed it crap, and it'll give you crap.

Fan did kick on once and it is not bad at all. Not loud or obnoxious. Not any different than my computer. It's noticeable of course but the sound is easily forgettable and ignored.

I really like this amp. Was getting it as a back up but i might be using this as my main for awhile and is worthy of rotation between my Harman kardon hk770 dual-mono power amp. Rest of my amps are going in the closet.

I never tried other preamps off of it yet but, will probably sometime later. For now I really enjoy it as is in the set-up. Will try to post couple crappy pics but cause my phone they might come upside down lol.
 

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Congrats on your new to you Crown. I am glad you like it, i to have been thinking next time (if ever around here) I see a Crown Amp for sale I will pick it up becaues of the same reasons you bought yours. Enjoy it.
 
Congrats. Your Crown has all the good hardware the boutique amps wish they had. It has monster transformer and plenty of old school metal die T-03 outputs for 24/7 operation. I bet that thing puts out an easy 300 wpc and can double down with 4 ohm load, which is the key to giving nearly clip free headroom. This is why the highs are so transparent and the bass so controlled and punchy at the same time.

I have a similarly endowed QSC 1310USA that is as good as any amp I've heard and I've heard a ton. It does have a fan that is not at all obnoxious (as some claim) and is masked by lowish dB's of output. I've disconnected the fan and run this amp to see what kind of heat it generates and the answer was not much.
 
If Crown could put a blingy case on it and larger heat sinks to get rid of the fan, then maybe the legendary warranty and customer service of Bryston or McIntosh...
 
Thanks!

I actually like the plain look of this crown. The newer crowns are more blingy but I heard they're not that nice sounding since crown decided to go full out class d from the ce4000 and up. The ce2000 was crowns' last big iron amps.


I was actually thinking about going with qsc but they seem to go for more everywhere I looked. I was always curious about crown though. I found them lot cheaper too.

I was actually surprised on how clean sounding and smooth the sound was since I was always told to stay a way from pro amps. So glad I never decided to listen :)
 
Rex Aeterna said:
Thanks!

I actually like the plain look of this crown. The newer crowns are more blingy but I heard they're not that nice sounding since crown decided to go full out class d from the ce4000 and up. The ce2000 was crowns' last big iron amps.

I was actually surprised on how clean sounding and smooth the sound was since I was always told to stay a way from pro amps. So glad I never decided to listen :)
Click to expand...

I don't believe the CE2000 was Crown's last big iron amp. I think at least XLS series, perhaps others as well, and big iron Macrotechs continued for some years later than that.

About the CE4000, they're awesome, SMPS and switching output. I use mine on subs and bass duty.

K-series, of which there are some fans here, are a half breed. Big iron power supply with a switching output stage.
 
whoaru99 said:
I don't believe the CE2000 was Crown's last big iron amp. I think at least XLS series, perhaps others as well, and big iron Macrotechs continued for some years later than that.

About the CE4000, they're awesome, SMPS and switching output. I use mine on subs and bass duty.

K-series, of which there are some fans here, are a half breed. Big iron power supply with a switching output stage.
Click to expand...


Alright. Thanks for the correction. I didnt know. I heard about the macrotechs but I thought they were around same age as the ce2000. Guess I read somewhere wrong.

It's good to hear they're still making good amps. Maybe it's the microtechs I heard that were not that great. The guy I bought this ce2000 off said he doesnt like the newer "digital" amps. I guess he was talking about the microtechs.
 
Macrotechs have been around a long time, pre-dating and post-dating the CE series. They were made in both big iron flavor and in recent history switching amp style. The current models are switching amps.

Anyway, there are a number of forum participants with Crown's newer amps that are switching amps, like the XLS Drivecore and perhaps XTi series. They report quite favorable results.
 
I run Martin Logan Aerius I's powered by an Aragon 4004. Recently my Aragon required some repair and I put in a Crown XLS 402B until my 4004 is fixed.

What I was prepared to hear and what I actually do hear , is two very different things.

It's no 4004, but nice sounding amp on ML's :)

Alan
 
whoaru99 said:
Macrotechs have been around a long time, pre-dating and post-dating the CE series. They were made in both big iron flavor and in recent history switching amp style. The current models are switching amps.

Anyway, there are a number of forum participants with Crown's newer amps that are switching amps, like the XLS Drivecore and perhaps XTi series. They report quite favorable results.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info! If I ever go crown again I probably go with the older macrotech amps if I ever find them for a good price.
 
SoCal Sam said:
Congrats. Your Crown has all the good hardware the boutique amps wish they had. It has monster transformer and plenty of old school metal die T-03 outputs for 24/7 operation. I bet that thing puts out an easy 300 wpc and can double down with 4 ohm load, which is the key to giving nearly clip free headroom. This is why the highs are so transparent and the bass so controlled and punchy at the same time.

I have a similarly endowed QSC 1310USA that is as good as any amp I've heard and I've heard a ton. It does have a fan that is not at all obnoxious (as some claim) and is masked by lowish dB's of output. I've disconnected the fan and run this amp to see what kind of heat it generates and the answer was not much.
Click to expand...

Manual states 400w into 8ohms and close to 1kw into a 2ohm load in stereo. Has warning stating a needed dedicated 30a circuit is required for low impedance loads and bridging so this thing is a monster. I never see myself ever coming close to even half this amps output capability. Thing that is amazing as well, it only draws 90w at idle. Really efficient for a traditional class A/B design.
 
No need to worry. A 30A circuit is only needed it you're going to attempt to run full power bench tests.

Considering the peak to average ratio of music, it will produce full power in that regard just fine on a normal house circuit, in the normal function of playing music.

Playing music, if you cranked it up until the clipping indicators were occasionally flashing, you might get it to draw 1/3 of that, maybe. Momentary peaks may be higher, but house breakers can handle very large short term peak draw without tripping.
 
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whoaru99 said:
No need to worry. A 30A circuit is only needed it you're going to attempt to run full power bench tests.

Considering the peak to average ratio of music, it will produce full power in that regard just fine on a normal house circuit, in the normal function of playing music.

Playing music, if you cranked it up until the clipping indicators were occasionally flashing, you might get it to draw 1/3 of that, maybe. Momentary peaks may be higher, but house breakers can handle very large short term peak draw without tripping.
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I think my speakers would be fried before I even come near to that output draw lol. Good to know im not limiting the amp for normal operation though.
 
So, this is it? Not much crown power amp owners here for home use? I know lot use them just for subwoofers but, is that it? I think they're worthy of much more...well, that's what I get from my ce2000.
 
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