Crown Amplifier for Advent 300


Have had one respondant to another thread suggest a Crown DC300 as a good power amp mate to go between an Advent 300 and Large Original Advent speakers. Am interested in general info on this amp, as well as the DC150 and DC75 models. I remember them vaguely as being quite handsome units and of good build quality. But I never listened to the amps critically - they were just out of my league - pricewise - back in those days. Any info at all on this equipment will be appreciated.
classicaudio

Showing 5 responses by dekay

Whatjd: I wonder if the Advents would sound better today without "shag" carpeting? Or do you think that they would have too much bass?
I thought that the whole idea was "classic/vintage audio" which modern amps are not - yet. I am also under the impression that this is to remain a budget system. Are you interested in modern and pricy gear for this project or will it remain a classic reasonably priced system?
Hi Classic: It's me again pushing the Phase Linear 400, it is not transistor sounding as suggested at the other site. It gained a bad reputation because a lot of people used it for PA's in the 70's and 80's and still do today. If you can listen to one you will hear that it has a very musical sound. Sean is right on in regard to the Crown equipment. The better sounding one of the series is the DC75 but it is still not very musical and would not be enough power for the Advents. The old stock Dynaco amps (the 120 and the 400) do not seem to have fared well with age, as the ones that I have listened to at the local pawn shops do not sound as they once did. A couple of other musical sounding SS amps are the Apt-Holman amp (I beleive that he only made one model) and the Hafler 500. Either should be available for $400.00 to $500.00 used. My personal preference would be the Hafler though once again it would depend on the condition of the amp. I did not care for the other Hafler amps, just this model. Citation and Marantz also made nice sounding 60 watt per channel power amps in the 70's but I cannot remember the model nos., I am pretty sure though that they were 60 watters which should narrow it down.
The utility cabinets sounded better when stacked and the Walnut better when used as a pair. The Shag used in these listening tests was multiple hues of green. My ex-brother-in-law still has the AMT-1's but I sold all of the Advents years ago.
Classic: You may want to check out Hawthornestereo.com. They are in Washington or Oregon and have tons of used vintage gear that they sell with a 30 day warrenty/return policy. If you call them they have a lot more stuff than is on the website. I ran across them on Ebay a while back and they are nice guys, I have talked to them.