Let's do it again!

[tweet]

Dan - Thanks. Interesting that you still have a Crown amp.

I really enjoyed owning Crown. It was extremely well made and some of the heaviest amps around at the time. I often wonder where they would be if they had charted a different course. At the time, it produced great sound and the only other brand that interested me was McIntosh. Unfortunately, no dealer in my area carried it. So, Crown was the only choice if high-end was your goal.

Terry

[Joe]

Well!
This has been a very informative experience for me, as I see all you gentlemen sharing your Crown experiences.
I'm also very glad to see you dong things on the systems Pete! Thanks for sharing it all.
You would think by now they could send you that UPS girl though!

[joeinid]

Pete,

Thanks for sharing the story and posting those wonderful photos. I am glad you are happy. I have fond memories of a Crown Studio Reference amp that I owned many years ago. It was a great performer.

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by tweet

Dan - Thanks. Interesting that you still have a Crown amp.

I really enjoyed owning Crown. It was extremely well made and some of the heaviest amps around at the time. I often wonder where they would be if they had charted a different course. At the time, it produced great sound and the only other brand that interested me was McIntosh. Unfortunately, no dealer in my area carried it. So, Crown was the only choice if high-end was your goal.

Terry

Terry.....I too wonder where Crown would be today had they continued to produce that beautiful home gear, and indeed wish they get back to it. The D-75A works well with my home systems, is class AB+B but is only moderately powered. Most if not all of the rest of their amps today are the lightweight Class D variety. That's not to say they aren't fine performers, but their cosmetics are also not what they once were in terms of being drop-dead gorgeous.

Your story of the Doobie Brothers concert put a smile on my face...ah yes, those were the days!

I grew up in the Binghamton area and so, obviously McIntosh was also on my radar. I briefly owned an MR77 tuner but couldn't afford it...that's another story. After that I landed an original IC150 preamp and an original DC-300 amp. When the IC-150A came out I just had to have one, and managed to muster up the cash to buy one. But the DC-300A was over my young head, and never did get around to procuring one until this year. It was well worth the wait...I love it. Listening to it right now.


Pete


Pete

[tweet]

Pete,

It's a pleasure to read your audio journey with Crown. I had been looking and lusting for Crown for months when I first saw the amps at the concert. Seeing those amps in a large coliseum setting producing that level of sound just put me over the top. One of the stereo magazines at the time had a DC300A review - it may have been Stereo Review - and I carried it around everywhere for weeks reading the specs over and over and looking at the pictures!

I really wanted the DC300A but there was no way, so I purchased a single DC150A and added the second DC150A a few weeks later so I could run them in mono. Once I had both amps, I went without food for a few more weeks to save enough for the Crown "cabinets" to complete the setup. Man, that system was some seriously good looking audio gear!

It's too bad they let the gorgeous designs slip away. I'm sure they are still producing fine gear, but the "Wow" factor they once enjoyed is just not the same.


Terry

[Ritmo]

Very cool Pete!

Mike

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by tweet

Dan - Thanks. Interesting that you still have a Crown amp.

I really enjoyed owning Crown. It was extremely well made and some of the heaviest amps around at the time. I often wonder where they would be if they had charted a different course. At the time, it produced great sound and the only other brand that interested me was McIntosh. Unfortunately, no dealer in my area carried it. So, Crown was the only choice if high-end was your goal.

Terry.......Just like Pete, I lusted for Crown back in the day when I was young and couldn't afford it, and the good stuff was still too new at the time to find anything at a decent price pre-owned.

Yes, I still have the Crown K1 two channel amp in use in my studio. Here is a photo of it in the rack in the right, mounted at the bottom. The K1 is powerful, 350 watts into 8 ohms, 550 watts into 4 ohms, 750 watts into 2 ohms (per channel, stereo mode); 1,100 watts into 8 ohms, 1,500 watts into 4 ohms (bridge-mono mode).

[tweet]

Dan - That's a great looking setup. I'm sure you spend many pleasurable hours sitting in that room.

I was the audio and video guy at a large church for many years and we had a few Crown pieces in our racks. I can't recall a single Crown failure. I can't say the same for some of the other "pro" brands.

Thanks for sharing the photo. You have a beautiful studio!

Terry

Originally Posted by jdandy

Terry.......Just like Pete, I lusted for Crown back in the day when I was young and couldn't afford it, and the good stuff was still too new at the time to find anything at a decent price pre-owned.

Yes, I still have the Crown K1 two channel amp in use in my studio. Here is a photo of it in the rack in the right, mounted at the bottom. The K1 is powerful, 350 watts into 8 ohms, 550 watts into 4 ohms, 750 watts into 2 ohms (per channel, stereo mode); 1,100 watts into 8 ohms, 1,500 watts into 4 ohms (bridge-mono mode).

[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by tweet

Pete,

It's a pleasure to read your audio journey with Crown. I had been looking and lusting for Crown for months when I first saw the amps at the concert. Seeing those amps in a large coliseum setting producing that level of sound just put me over the top. One of the stereo magazines at the time had a DC300A review - it may have been Stereo Review - and I carried it around everywhere for weeks reading the specs over and over and looking at the pictures!

I really wanted the DC300A but there was no way, so I purchased a single DC150A and added the second DC150A a few weeks later so I could run them in mono. Once I had both amps, I went without food for a few more weeks to save enough for the Crown "cabinets" to complete the setup. Man, that system was some seriously good looking audio gear!

It's too bad they let the gorgeous designs slip away. I'm sure they are still producing fine gear, but the "Wow" factor they once enjoyed is just not the same.


Terry

Terry....it sounds like you had the fever bad!! I was very much that way too. I was reading the brochures and reviews continuously, and I was in heaven the day I actually landed an original IC150 preamp and DC300 amp.

Attached is an early review of the original DC300 amp, as well as a brochure. The DC300 was a really groundbreaking design at that time. What followed later, starting around 1976 was the era of the really beautiful designs from Crown...at that point they started revamping the cosmetics of their products, and it was also at that time that the revamped IC-150A preamp was introduced.

I'm actually considering writing to Crown and expressing my dismay that they let go of these beautiful designs. I think we need to rattle some cages in Elkhart. How else will they know?


Pete

[Vintage Pete]

One day in 1976, in my mailbox I found a new catalog from Crown-I was always requesting information through the magazines using the reader service cards. My eyes opened really wide when I opened the brochure and saw the new IC-150A preamp, as well as the revamped cosmetics of the DC-300A. Also appearing was the new version of Crown's output control center, the OC-150A.

I couldn't sleep until I bought myself an IC-150A preamp. Someone mentioned the reliability of these products....I bought my IC-150A in 1977, and in 35 years of nearly continuous service, it has had one repair incident....and that was simply some leaking caps in the power supply that needed replacement.


Attached is the brochure that gave me a really heightened Crown fever.


Pete