Crown D-150A Series II vs Crown DC-300A Series II vs PS-400
- Thread starter hntjr
- Start date
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
I'm sending my shipping address now?
MannyE
Exterminate!
The Crown D-150A is one of my favorite amps. If I remember correctly, it's the one that was still made in the USA. I read that the series 2 is manufactured in China and isn't as versatile as the 150A. I don't think it can be run in mono mode (could be wrong). I should have bought more of the D-150A on the used market when they were still plentiful and cheap. Now I see a lot of Series 2 or bombed out 150A units. 7 of the D-150A in mono config would make for a brutal HT setup.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
said I was sending an address, no mention of money.
Kinda what I knew when you said they were from your amp.
Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
Manny, I was a Crown authorized warranty in the early nineties, and I can confirm, at least all the series II amplifiers, both the 150, and the 300`s that came across my bench, and the ones that I own were all made in Elkhart Indiana USA., so this is the first that I`ve heard of them(D-150 II`s being manufactured off shore !!
Not saying it`s impossible, during the 2000`s, when HK started crapping up most of the audio electronics companies they purchased, as I had retired from public audio equipment repair by 2002 and was unconcerned about where they were manufactured, as I had collected enough of their earlier amps, plus multiple spares to carry me for the rest of my life, if need be..
I have owned, and still own and use their amps, from a D-60(excellent SS headphone amp) to the 2 PSA-II`s I`m loaning my B-I-L, and have all been solid performers for decades in daily use with very minimum maintenance after going through them on the bench and replacing the handful of usual suspects that time and rock bands abuse had delivered, since all my purchased Crown amplifiers, but a pair of 1997 2 Power Tech 3`s were purchased used..
MannyE
Exterminate!
Gosh darn it... you are right. I was thinking about the D-75 vs the D75A The A version was considered a cut-rate (or as marketing would say....more cost efficient) version of the original D-75 which was easily bridgeable to mono (vs the A version which had to be opened up) and was (I think) close to or a little over 100 watts in mono configuration plus balanced inputs! I "grew up" listening to them in pretty much every rack I worked with and I still keep an eye out for them.
What a brain fart!
BMWCCA
Addicted Member
I've never seen a D75A made in China, though I read the same Rockwell review you may have which makes it true because it was on the Internet! Cut rate really means it loses the binding posts and goes with barrier strip screw connections for speakers. I have several D75A (as well as D45s) but if I need to bridge any Crown amps, I just go up the next size, so lack of external mono switching never bothered me. Nice amps.
MannyE
Exterminate!
Yeah I think we read the same thing and I also read some posts in pro forums... if the internet is right, and it always is, right?
it was the final run of production that was switched to China.BMWCCA, I am not interested in the rack mounts with the handles, so if you could/might convert a PS-400 into one with the spare Rack Handles that you have, I would be interested in the non-handle Rack Mount. Let me know if this is a possibility. Thanks, Nelson
The version PS-400 I have has a line from Channel 1/2 to the IOC light, but no frame around the IOC lights.
Moving is always good for separating unused things that have been stored for years. Time to part with this instead of moving it etc.
Have a good day.
The version PS-400 I have has a line from Channel 1/2 to the IOC light, but no frame around the IOC lights.
Moving is always good for separating unused things that have been stored for years. Time to part with this instead of moving it etc.
Have a good day.
twiiii
Lunatic Member
well I have owned all three in addition P2SA, too. The D-150 was supposed to have a higher slew rated than a 300 A but all the Crown amps performed pretty miserably above 10 Khz at 4 ohms. I still have 2 D-150A II that. I hold on to in reserve for a rainy day. I loved my DC 300 A's pushing two ohm loads. where I seldom used over 50 watts. Above 250 HZ tri amped the Second DC=300A was pushing 8 ohms, and the third DC-300 A or D150 A was pushing 12 ohms, with less than 5 watts 99 %. of the time, so there weren't any issues there either. The over all sound of the Crowns was very dry, which helped my woofers below 250 HZ, But above 250 HZ the sound could be a little austere. And with the amps having to be totally rebuilt every 10 years because of miniature caps and small signal transistors I finally got fed up and went back to Mcintosh Direct coupled amps with out Autoformers. A much nicer sound that was just as revealing but with out the tendency to cause hearing fatigue. I didn't or I should say my speakers don''t like amps with low dampening factors for the woofers, and I didn't like the sound of the first two gens of Mac SS amps with my speakers. They worked great with other speakers but not mine. Finally when Mac introduced the MC 7200 and 7100 I knew What I needed. In 2008 and 10 I added home theatre and Changed to MC 207's for my Speakers supplemented with other models from the same factory for center and surrounds. Some bi-amped, L&R tri amped etc. I forgot to mention DC 300A and 150 A and PS 400 didn't meat FTC standards. So the 300A's got extra heat sinks added, so did 150's. PS 40 suck by the tests. But at 4 ohms in high frequencies would fail. So cooling was a must. P2SA had issues as did the later models pushing 4 ohms. I just gave up and used them with 8 ohm loads or higher .
Crown amps had their uses and the models from that period if not pushed were pretty good performers and the sound was clear and clean. They competed well against BGW, Crest, UREI JBL and ALTEC SS amps. I though Haflers sounded better. But none of the amps held up as well as Professional Yamaha, Bryston, or Mcintosh. Mac amps became to heavy and to complex and to expensive. Crown Reference amps were fantastic, but marketing issues prevented them from being a success. Harmon bought Crown, and factory service and support became an issue, so we dropped the line. I still don't understand how the professional series power amps from Yamaha could be so well belt and sound great, when the consumer division, was just going down hill in the 80's and 90's. The difference I guess was the consumer line was building their units to reach price points, where the professional division was still trying to make great sounding units. Unless you up grade the small caps in your Crowns, keep them cool, they will not perform well over the long hall. The later models that I dealt with up through the early 2000's still had the same issues the models did from the 70's. Some models sound better, some about the same. It seems models today are all about price, weight and gross horsepower. I think QSC is a better choice in all respects, or a least it was in the 2000's when I retired.
Crown amps had their uses and the models from that period if not pushed were pretty good performers and the sound was clear and clean. They competed well against BGW, Crest, UREI JBL and ALTEC SS amps. I though Haflers sounded better. But none of the amps held up as well as Professional Yamaha, Bryston, or Mcintosh. Mac amps became to heavy and to complex and to expensive. Crown Reference amps were fantastic, but marketing issues prevented them from being a success. Harmon bought Crown, and factory service and support became an issue, so we dropped the line. I still don't understand how the professional series power amps from Yamaha could be so well belt and sound great, when the consumer division, was just going down hill in the 80's and 90's. The difference I guess was the consumer line was building their units to reach price points, where the professional division was still trying to make great sounding units. Unless you up grade the small caps in your Crowns, keep them cool, they will not perform well over the long hall. The later models that I dealt with up through the early 2000's still had the same issues the models did from the 70's. Some models sound better, some about the same. It seems models today are all about price, weight and gross horsepower. I think QSC is a better choice in all respects, or a least it was in the 2000's when I retired.
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Bill Ferris
Lunatic Member
That`s ok Manny, living in Miami FL. can have that effect on the mind over time !!
I completely understand Sir.
Crown was a very, very good audio company in it`s day IMHO/E..
MannyE
Exterminate!
That`s ok Manny, living in Miami FL. can have that effect on the mind over time !!
I completely understand Sir.
Crown was a very, very good audio company in it`s day IMHO/E..
Meh... it happens.
Is Crown no longer making good/reliable products? I looked up the new XLS series and the specs are crazy for the price of under $400. Look:
Yes, it's "recommended" for a PA system, but geez, talk about headroom. Maybe the fans are super loud or something. Has anyone ever hooked one of these up to a home stereo speaker?
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
You could search the model numbers of the XLS amps and find out many use them. Some on subs some for the main amp. Crown still makes great gear just more aimed at the pro sound business and not the home audio guys. but some of their gear is just fine for that, too.
BMWCCA
Addicted Member
Let's just say you wouldn't be the first to integrate modern Crown amps into a state-of-the-art system:
http://www.jblpro.com/china/product.../m2-series/m2-system-integration#.XFZWsBlKgWo
MannyE
Exterminate!
Let's just say you wouldn't be the first to integrate modern Crown amps into a state-of-the-art system:
http://www.jblpro.com/china/product.../m2-series/m2-system-integration#.XFZWsBlKgWo
Yeah, I have used Crown amps before, just way way before as indicated by my affinity for the D-75. I think I will try out one of these especially at these prices and see what the modern Crown amps are sounding like. I'm looking for new stuff to replace my aging but much loved Outlaw amp I have in the HT and maybe Crown amplification and something I can encrust in the walls for monitoring would make for an effective new system that leaves me plenty of money for records.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
1502 in BT if you hurry.
