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
Has a Crown D-150 a loong time ago. Probably not very good by today's standards...but its free. The original version had RCA to 1/4" mono phone plug with sometimes poor contact. If the II is the same, be sure to check the cable and phone jack. Also, if it has a hum, an amp this old may need filter caps replaced and it may not be worth it.
The DC300 (or 300A) was often used with the first version of the Infinity Servo-Static 1 (and also the 1A), until the early SAE electronics arrived in the very early 70’s and found favor amongst Infinity dealers. When Audio Research arrived in California, both Crown and SAE were history!
Always recommended/installed Crowns, for road gear/live venues. It was virtually impossible to kill them(rugged as they were, in the late 70’s-early 80’s). I never thought the sound came close, to the home audio amps I carried. Nor did my customers.