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Crown Power Line One - any good?

S

Sierra71

Analog Retentive
Hi guys,

My brother just picked up a working Crown Powerline one amplifier.
Does anyone know about it? The manual from Crown states 80WPC.

I'm not familiar with Crown equipment, I'm told it's mainly targeted to "industrial" uses. I'd say this one's from 1980 or so going by the date codes on the parts.


He also got a pair of "Smaller Advent loudspeakers". They sound amazing!


Thanks!
Sierra
 
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Crown builds excellent amplifiers. They used to be a significant prescence in the high end home audio market, but in recent years have focused on the professional market.

The "Power Line" series was the next to last line from Crown that was designed for high-end home use/professional use. It was followed by the PS series that pretty much was the swan song for high-end home gear from Crown. After the PS Series, the focus was/is on the Pro Market.

The "Power Line" Series included a Power Line One, Two, Three and Four. The PL1 was the smallest and least powerful. It occupies only one rack space. It is very simular to the current D75A product still made by Crown.

For more info, explore www.crownaudio.com

Question for you - is the Power Line One Amp you mentioned silver or black?
 
70salesguy said:
The "Power Line" Series included a Power Line One, Two, Three and Four. The PL1 was the smallest and least powerful. It occupies only one rack space. It is very simular to the current D75A product still made by Crown.
Click to expand...

I thought the Power Line Four was like the PS-400, the PL Three like the PS-200, and the PL Two like the D75A designed to match the Straight Line Two in one rack-space. I remember the Power Line One to be the rather ugly earlier amp that matched the ugly earlier Straight Line One pre-amp. :dunno:
 
They are Microtech series with parts missing, maybe a added or removed alliterative input and the card slots for crossovers etc etc.The higher up in model, you get to a Microtech 600.

That would be a perfect home power amp.

People use them for guitar amps also.
 
qsaudio said:
They are Microtech series with parts missing, maybe a added or removed alliterative input and the card slots for crossovers etc etc.The higher up in model, you get to a Microtech 600.

That would be a perfect home power amp.

People use them for guitar amps also.
Click to expand...
You are referring to the Powerbase, not the Powerline. Very different amps.
 
I have a DC300A, D150A Series 2, D75, Power Line 4, MA600, and an ancient D40. I have owned or serviced D60's grey and black faced, IC150A's, DC300, and various series of DC300A. I want a Power Line 2, so this thread caught my interest. Most of the comparisons are good, I want to expand on the Power Line explanation a little more.
The Power Line 1 is a bit of an orphan. It is more powerful than a D75, and larger, but the first I.C. is a uA739 or uA749, not my favorite chip.
The Power Lines 2, 3, & 4 have a NE5532AP op amp in front, a pull down transistor in the positive output section and a faster slew rate than the D series amp equivelant.
The PL2 has supply rails of +/- 43 volts verses the +/- 30 of the D75, There was no equivalent PS amp that I know of to the PL2.
The PL3 and PL4 are true DC amps. The circuit is quit symmetrical from the op amp output to the driver stage. The PL3 is closest to the D150A and the PS200. The PL4 is closest to the DC300A and the PS400. PL verses PS amounts to a different front panel display, a socket for an accessory on the back panel of a PS, the option to have screw terminals for speaker connections on the PS, and 1/4" TR phone jacks instead of phono jacks on the PS. My favorite amp to date is an ancient, PL4. It is black, beat up and sounds great with full WAF.
Time to start recapping a 34 year old D75 that still has all originals. It may even sound better.
Crazy John
 
Wouldn't it be a relatively straightforward task to change out the uA739/749 with something a bit more modern, fast, and compensated?
 
It is not straight...forward. 14-pin is the µA739. Replacements are 8-pin, usually. Just gotta get the pin locations right.
 
Pl is basically home models of DC series I believe but, they used slightly modified driver stage so it'll run pure class a for a few watts or so before kicking in a/b.
 
Mech986, I wish you were right. I was thinking about a modification board for the op amp, but that still leaves the area between the i.c. and the pre-driver, and the differences on the PL3 and PL4 are not slight compared to the D series.
The output section of the Crowns in discussion are all AB+B. Some reviewers have written as Rex Aeterna has, about at what wattage the changeover to class B occurs. It actually occurs in the milliwatt range. I may measure that again soon, my previous notes are long gone. There is not a lot of difference in the D and PL output stage when it comes to operating parameters. The PL home series and the PS industrial series differences are in the output indication and accessory areas. The PL has a "Frequency Analyzer Display" and the PS has a simple signal indicator LED with a bezel. The first I took the panel off I was surprised to find the holes for the FAD were drilled and the bezel covered the unused holes. The back panel has screw terminals and a multi pin socket and a ground jumper and 1/4" inputs, The PL has none of those. The main PCB and output modules are interchangeable between PL and PS. Rex is right in the sense that the PL series is an updated D series.
CJ
 
Yes, an older thread, but hopefully worthy of renewed interest and additional info. I found this thread looking for PL1 info so thanks for the info provided thus far, Not sure if the PL1 is designed to function the same way but according to the manual my PL3 operates in class A up to 10 watts before switching to AB, then at a higher threshold (likely towards highest range of operation) goes into B. I just had mine serviced and bias and offset checked but didn't think to ask about verifying those first 10 watts as I took it for granted.

I had a silver PL3 back in '84 and was extremely happy with it. Since then I've used Counterpoint and Acoustat amps. As nice as those were I've returned to now a black PL3. Given it drives Infinity's with EMITs, Linn, and Thiel speakers without strain or fatigue, if there were any shortcomings sonically all three of them would rat it out. Given the PL 2, 3 and 4 are essentially equal by design, I'd feel completely confident trusting their sonic performance feeding any speaker regardless of make or pedigree. They're as musical and enjoyable to listen as anything I've heard. I was hoping to find out more about the PL1 to see if there were any similar attributes to the 2's, 3's and 4's.
 
The manual for the PL One indicates AB/B operation. They state no bias current and low idle temps so it doesn't appear to have any class A operation.

Although @BMWCCA correctly calls the PL One a rather ugly...to match the rather ugly SL One...At least Crown made them in numerous colors that frequently didn't match each other. Silver some number of bronzes and black are ones I have seen. I have an SL One and its faceplate lettering is coming off nicely. Since I only have it to use as a power supply for the Crown phono modules, it doesn't need to look purty even if it still works just fine.
 
I still own a Crown SL-1 PL-1 pair. I currently use them everyday after 35 years. 8 years ago they were sent back to Crown for a checkup. A few small capacitors were replaced in the PL-1 for about $2.50 labor was only $40.00. The SL-1 needed nothing and both met manufacturers specifications before shipping back. The SL-1 and PL-1 was one of the best power amp / pre-amp combinations tested in its price range by Stereo Review back in the 80's. Who ever thinks this combination does not sound good is definitely wrong or they need to be repaired and speced. I have compared these against Pre- amps/ Yamaha Power amps twice the power on the same turntable and speakers. The 50W Crown held its own against the beefy Yamaha (Torrid Transformer 100W /RMS - Great amp) and sounded almost identical to the Crown when using the better sounding SL-1 Pre amp instead of the Yamaha with the EQ / Parametric combo. It did then have more punch at high SPL. The Crown was quick, and dynamics were good. The PL-1 completely blew away the Hafler Cube 100W / Ch AMP of that time period. It was not even a contest for sound quality. On the same turntable / speakers the Hafler distorted on heavy bass and the Crown kept going leaving it far behind.
In a small to medium room 20" X 20" or less it is plenty of power. The Unit could drive 14" JBL Lancers (White cone) and sounded great in the day. It is used now for Stereo for the LCD and pushes out good sound to this day. How many Amps still run after 35 - 40 years and still sound good? I may be purchasing a Bluenote 2 Vault and connecting it up.
 
I used to run this pair in the garage, never had an issue with them

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