Crown D150A

nebfan

Member
I just picked a real beauty for dirt cheap, what should I expect from this baby. Any insight appriecated.....thanks
 
A good preamp with very useful controls. It suffers because of the reputation of its predecessor, the 150, which is widely considered the worst sounding piece of high end equipment ever made (John Curl is only one of the detractors piling on). The 150 used early ICs which were not the best sounding, though the specs were spectacular. The 150A, I think, used different and better ones. At any rate, it doesn't take the crap the the 150 does.
The original one sounds very 70s -- clinical, maybe harsh. I suspect that the 150A would also be less harsh but still relatively clinical, which is not everyone's ideal. But you may like it. I also think its lack of a moving coil phono section hurt it in the high end market, since the style was definitely moving towards MCs when it came out.
I have the dreaded 150, and I thought it sounded pretty bad until I cleaned the controls, especially the selector control. Now it sounds fine to me, though I haven't tried it with the most super high resolution amp and speakers. And I like its looks, the feel of the controls, and the panorama control is cool. I thought I would sell it off, but I seem to still have it...
 
To the best of my knowledge, and I could be wrong, but think the D150A is an AMP and Not a PRE AMP.
I owned a D 150 A and a D 150 A II at one point along with a IC 150 Pre and OC 150 Control monitor.
Felt all the equipment was well made and durable yet a bit lacking in musicality. Always considered this equipment better suited for PA systems then for Audiophile use.
Gary
 
The D150A is a 75 watt rms / channel power amp and built to take a nuke. Crown's marlet was not really in the home audio market but did realease product into it only to find a willing buyer that soom learned that for sound, Crown's real acheivement was the tape decks and the D40/60 series power amps. The 150 will do okay but as you compare it to other amps its shortcomings will become apparent. That all said, compared to much out there it still is heads above and worth running.
 
ARGHH -- stupidity strikes again! Of course the D150A is an amp, not a preamp. I'm glad that at least I wasn't misleading you about something you were about to buy. That would have been more than just embarrasing.
 
DC300 was the first Big Star Power Amp at retail. 150WPC, a monster in the day. IIRC, it was the first sort of "naked" looking Big Power amps.

Funny you say that they were "built to take a nuke". I seem to remember them sometimes going up in smoke unceremoniously, while Mac owners politely sniggered to themselves.

The IC150 preamp never garnered the same respect. I saw the DC300 with a Sony 2000 preamp in a nice JBL system once, both lookin' nasty and dangerous in their shiny silver faces... :D
 
I remember now how they got the "solid and reliable" mantle: Crown's main product was shaker tables, those big ones used to sort ore in mines. How power amps and shaker tables connect, I can't imagine.

"Anything that could take THAT kind of punishment..."
 
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