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Vintage Crown D 150A II Amp -- How good was it?

Hi,

I was cleaning up my spare bedroom and came across my old Crown D 150A II power amp. It was checked over by Crown about a year or so ago. Typical stuff -- old caps replaced, maybe some transistors. Anyway, I remember back in the 70s, the D 150 was considered to be a very good sounding amp. Some said even better than its big brother, the DC 300A. I keep it around as a spare amp.

For any vintage old-heads out there, any comments on how the D 150 compares to modern SS amps?
bifwynne
mechans
3,048 posts
 
Some of those early SS amps really were terrible, Never was a big fan of Crown even back in the mid 1970s. I found I liked the typical but lower powered Kenwoods, Pioneers, Yamahas etc. McIntosh was waaay to expensive. My buddies all of whom had stereos and were "into it" thought I was nuts for spending $550 for a pair of Klipsch Heresys (they would have been $600 but I didn't go for the $50 optionl grille covers.)
I have more vintage audio now then I oened when it was current It is a lot of 60s stuff. I found that I like Sansui more than the Kenwood Integrated KA-7100 that I owned and used continuously for the next 24 years. Heck, now I even own a McIntosh albeit a small old SS power amp. I wish I had one of those, back in the day, It sounds great with my Klipsch which I still own.
team212
250 posts
 
Ha memories! --Mechans hit the nail on the head-- I dumped the 150 for a Mac 6100--great Amp-wish I still owned it!

Des
fjp
1 posts
 
I bought a demo of this amp about 45 years ago and it ran just fine until recently it developed a 42db hum 8 feet from my Infinity floor standing speakers. Guess I can't complain, but it's probably the transformer and would be prohibitive to get it fixed. So a week ago I upgrade my electronics for the first time since those early years. I now have the Emotiva XSP-1 preamp and XPR-200 power amp. The Infinities, probably 30 years old, still sound like new and I'll probably keep them till I die.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,760 posts
 
Its not the transformer. Either bad filter capacitors in the power supply or a channel may have a damaged transistor.
bifwynne OP
2,206 posts
 
Fjp, I'm NOT suggesting that you repair the Crown in light of the comments above which kinda "dissed" the amp. But if the problem is just some power supply and/or electrolytic caps and some transisters, and if you have an emotional attachment to the Crown, I believe the factory still repairs these old vintage units. The cost is not prohibitive. Of course, if it's a tranny don't even know if they have any in stock. You may want to call the factory for more info if you're still in love with the Crown.
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