Crown K Series amp opinions?

[scott fitlin]

I know some of you have used, or are using Crown K Series amps on woofers, and I would like to hear your opinions of these amps.

Right now, I am testing JBL 2226H, TAD 1603, and B & C 15NDL76 woofers in my cabinets. All these woofers, whichever I decide to use, will need more power than my trusty old DC-300,s, and I would like to hear from anyone who has anything to say about Crown K1 or K2,s!

Thanks in advance!

[Ken Pachkowsky]

I know some of you have used, or are using Crown K Series amps on woofers, and I would like to hear your opinions of these amps.

I to have always wanted to try a pair of these. I almost bought a pair of K1's last month in LA.

Nice to see you Scott

Ken

[scott fitlin]

Nice to see you, too, Ken.

From what Im told, according to Crown, the K series has the same front end as the older but discontinued Macro Reference series. The Ref,s were good sounding amps, particularly for low frequency. K,s are considered " good enough " for studio use, and I see them when Im out and about.

I have tried some other amps, and Im finding out I really am partial to the way Crown sounds on bass. Got that Crown punch and growl.

[Baron030]

Hi Scottyj

I have been using the Crown K1 and K2 amplifier for some time now. And personally, I think the sound quality to be excellent.
For several years, I ran my old 030 system with a K1 and found it to work very well. Admittedly, I could not run the K1 at anywhere near its full power level with the old 030s.

Currently, I am using a K2 to power JBL 2226H drivers and a K1 to power JBL 2012H drivers in a quad amplified system. Since, the K series amps do not have a cooling fan and they have a very low noise threshold. The resulting dynamic range is from dead silence to an ear splitting 120+db.
And surprisingly, the K2 has slightly better transient response then the K1. I am guessing that the higher rail voltage of the K2 does a better job of goosing the voice coils into giving a slightly puncher sound then the K1 does.

The only bad thing that I can say, about the K Series, is that they do not work well for driving high efficiency compression drivers. I once ran a JBL 2446H/2382a HF horn combination with a K1 and found that the power supply was shutting down between songs. The cause of this shut down is that there is an energy saving circuit built into the K series amplifiers that will put the power supply in sleep mode, when there is no input signal for about 50 seconds. Since, the 2446 drivers were drawing only a fraction of a milli-watt at low volume levels, the amplifier was going to sleep. This sleeping amp problem does not occur with lower efficiency drivers like the JBL 2226H. So, it’s not an issue for driving woofers. For driving high efficiency compression drivers, the crown D series is a better choice over the K series, because of this “sleep mode” issue.

Baron030

[scott fitlin]

I have been told Crown fixed the sleep mode problem.

I do use D series Crowns, on my compression drivers i use a D-150A, and that isnt going anywhere anythime soon.

The thing at this moment for me, is Im going to different woofers, I have replaced my Altec woofers. They worked really well with Crown DC-300A,s but, 125/150 watts per woofer just isnt enough for either the JBL 2226H or the TAD-1603. The B & C,s Im trying also want more power.

Nothing snaps and growls like a Crown.

Baron, the bass the Crown K makes? Its nice tight bottom end?

[matsj]

I have 4 K2 and i really like them. I have 3 in my HT to feed 8 2226h and the last is for future.
I have also tried them to 2446h, and they were never fall to sleep .

mats

[louped garouv]

The thing at this moment for me, is Im going to different woofers, I have replaced my Altec woofers. They worked really well with Crown DC-300A,s but, 125/150 watts per woofer just isnt enough for either the JBL 2226H or the TAD-1603. The B & C,s Im trying also want more power.

Nothing snaps and growls like a Crown.

have you ruled out the TAD 1601a?

125/150 wpc is right up their alley, no?