rollcentre
Boom-tizzz
Thanks guys! I really appreciate the guidance.
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Magnepan MG-IIIA and crown DC300
- Thread starter rollcentre
- Start date
rollcentre
Boom-tizzz
Thanks Blue Shadow,
Makes ya wonder about the history of this stuff. I sit around listening to it, pondering all the music it could have played before &c.
The only info I was able to gather is it belonged to a gentleman who has unfortunately passed on. It was part of a package deal which included a Marantz 10B, his beautiful home built JBL 4520 scoops and was part of his full Crown triamped system. It was sad to hear of his passing & i didn't even know the guy. Fortunately, his gear went onto a fellow enthusiast who knows what it is and can give it the appreciation it deserves. It sure was one hell of a system for it's time, and this DC300 still continues to play music 50 years after he bought it!
This was the only thread from the last few years that mentioned the Magnepan MG-IIIa's and an amp in the title so I'm going to see if I can elicit a response that might assist me. I have spent most of my money on my MG-IIIa's but AI and my own doom scrolling has given me a couple ideas on how to power them without breaking the bank. One thing that comes up from time to time is the Adcom GFA 5400 with the GTP 450 which on the surface appears a little under powered. I wonder if anyone knows anything about this since I can get that Adcom amp/preamp combo for $380 or how your experience with the high power Aiyima a07 max or Fosi Audio V3 with the 3255 chips work? Any other budget recommendations? Thanks
I'm posting here because I'm getting some Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers which are breaking the bank and I need to power them really for less than $400 but $300 would be even better. This thread mentioned those speakers and an amp so I figured I'd start here. I had my eye on an Adcom 5400 which is supposedly 200 watts per channel at 4 ohms, high current, and 2 ohm stable along with the gtp450 pre that I can get between those price points but should I consider monoblocking with the 48v 10A aiyima a07 max or the Fosi Audio V3 and one of their preamps? Or maybe somebody is using something else that's used, reasonably and it's working great.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
Good that you posted your own thread, What are some good used amp values to look for to drive Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers? to get the answers you want. Hopefully it will get some results. This post of yours could get lost hanging to the end of this other discussion.
stereofanboy
Addicted Member
Shanebow do you have something to use as a preamp? Often the cheapest way to get a preamp is to find a receiver or integrated with pre-out/main-in jumpers on the back.
Someone in this thread mentioned using a Crown 1502 with no problems. You could probably pick up a used one of those for cheap. Well, cheap isn't what it used to be five years ago, but it ought to be doable under $400.
Lastly, since I can't answer your specific question, having no direct experience with Adcoms, you might get more answers starting a new thread devoted to only your situation. The only reason I read to the end of this one is because I wanted to see if rollcentre had posted an update about his DC-300 situation.
Someone in this thread mentioned using a Crown 1502 with no problems. You could probably pick up a used one of those for cheap. Well, cheap isn't what it used to be five years ago, but it ought to be doable under $400.
Lastly, since I can't answer your specific question, having no direct experience with Adcoms, you might get more answers starting a new thread devoted to only your situation. The only reason I read to the end of this one is because I wanted to see if rollcentre had posted an update about his DC-300 situation.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
He has a separate thread. Put it in $&¢ because it mentioned pricing.
Well I've spent the last couple of days looking at everything on marketplace that might work and even though it's not a perfect solution I went with the Adcom GFA 5400 amp and the GTP 450 preamp which should be sufficent until I can get something that can fully flex the speakers the way they're meant to be.
Blue Shadow
Waiting for Vintage Gear from this century
So you’re buying a share of the output of Hoover Dam? Not really, but if you do, get in before the data centers run up the price. Those newer high end 600 wpc amps work well.
With a 125-8Ω/200-4Ω you should get a good idea of how much power you might want.
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I run one of these. Beast of an amp. For when you want no limits on how low you can go. Only a few caps inside to worry about. Has not had issues with anything I've thrown at it. Absolutely no protection circuit. You give it DC, you get DC. I use one of the Amazon relay circuits as the turn off pops and farts can get intense. New cans are in the future for sure. Crown recommends inline fuses on whatever you're driving, and with this amp you will be tempted to see what your speakers can do.
But again, it's a beast. The originals were more industrial than hifi. Very easy to recap and work on. Tight tight low end control. Quite a lot of amp for the money too.
I definitely think this will do the trick under most listening conditions. I just think at some point in time I may want to bump it up enough to be able to say I've got an amplified, live, loud, crystal clear sounding, 20 foot piano playing right here in the middle of the room. Next year.
tadawson
Active Member
Crown would beg to differ with you on "No protection" https://www.crownaudio.com/en/site_elements/dc-300aii-reference-manual
It does not have *DC* protection, but that was by design, not oversight (the DC 300 was often used in labs to comtrol motors/servos/etc. and needed the DC response). Short/overcurrent/bad load all result in the protection kicking in and current limiting the outputs. Not so much just the DC300, but other Crowns as well were reknowned for tolerating darn near anything. At the NSCA show way badk inn the 90'smor so in Indianapolis, I helped Crown wire thier demo suite. One of the demos was a balls-out MA2400 (iirc) that they would hard short the outputs onnwith a large wrench, and they would always protect and come back when the wrench was removed. All day, for 3 days, no issues . . .
RE: Low end, Crown was legendary for thier damping factor . . .
And you likely do need some work. I did a lot of live works with the DC300 (and others) "back in the day" and have no recollection of power up/down transients on those . . .
They were great amps, and delivered what they were rated for, but the ratings always seemed pretty low to me . . .
For those that check back on this thread I thought I would add that economics and availability drove me to get an Ashly FET 200 amp and an Adcom GFP 555 pre amp. It's a little underpowered but it is 2 ohm stable and I think it will deliver a peak 300 watts at 2 ohms for a sec. It just can't live there. I think it will work until I can get one of those monsters.
That Ashly should be able to give you enough juice. 100w stereo but 320w bridged? That's gonna be a pretty damn solid 100w I bet.
Plus, mosfet. Very nice.
Plus, mosfet. Very nice.
GD70
Lunatic Member
My son just put together a very nice system for his girlfriend’s birthday present.
A Crown Com-Tech 1610, Magnepan 1.6s with upgraded crossovers and a Toshiba preamp. She has a TT.
So far, I’ve only heard it in a FaceTime call, and my son said it sounds incredible. More than enough power. He replaced the crumbling foam dust filter on the front panel. Interior is spotless. He lives in Henderson, NV. Looking forward to hearing it in person.
A Crown Com-Tech 1610, Magnepan 1.6s with upgraded crossovers and a Toshiba preamp. She has a TT.
So far, I’ve only heard it in a FaceTime call, and my son said it sounds incredible. More than enough power. He replaced the crumbling foam dust filter on the front panel. Interior is spotless. He lives in Henderson, NV. Looking forward to hearing it in person.
I've not run one of those on Magnepans- but, I will say, they do a great job running Dahlquist DQ_10s. We were all amazed at how good of a match it was.
Regards,
Gordon.
The ONE product that I know work as well as the originals!
At depot and Lowes you can find air conditioner filters. About $3 gets you an 18x24x0.25" sheet of the black foam filter that was so prevalent in amps of the era. Cut to size and voila! Absolutely will save the interior of your fan cooled amp.
jazzmans
Super Member
oooh! hooterville!
when you're in town, hit me up, maybe you can come listen to my 3.7i and compare sound. I live on the east border of vegas and henderson.
Especially if GD stands for grateful goddamn dead!
