ChazHS Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Hi guys, I've had a couple of Crown K2 amps in from a guy, says he wants to sell them. I've looked them over, tested them, no signs of any repairs internally and both sound ok. I'm just wondering, are these GOOD crown amps? (I'm thinking more Powertech than XLS). I've never used these before (convection cooled jobs!) and was wondering if anyone had any expirience of them? Also, how much do you guys think they are worth? (They are in good condition). Cheers.
James Remo Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 I got one as an insurance replacement about 7 years ago, so not sure what the purchase price was but it was to replace a macrotech 1200. Very disappointed with it, it was run in a reasonably warm atmosphere, and it started cutting out after 3 months daily use. Replaced with a matrix unit which worked flawlessly for 2 years until the install came out. However a friend has one he bought recently for £300 and it appears to be fine so far, albeit not under the same conditions as mine ran.
Wrighty Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 I've got a couple which I use for sub-bass duties and they're absolute beasts! If run hard, they do require extra cooling in the rack, since they are a convection cooled design. You really do have to be abusing them or running them in a very hot environment to get them to cut out completely.
KevinE Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Very nice quality. Some people are skeptical of their performance because of the lack of fans or huge capacitors or transformers, this is simply because they're an early Class-D switching amp and is largely unfounded. Most people I know who have them wouldn't want to part with them and they have a dedicated following on the second hand market. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_3/images/svs-b4-subwoofer-crown-k1-amp-front-main.jpg Ok this is a K1 but its just slightly smaller than the K2
ChazHS Posted February 21, 2009 Author Posted February 21, 2009 So if I put in a rear mounted 2 x 3U cooling fan units (the ones with 3 big fans) in the back of a 6U case with 3 of these suckers in they should get adequate cooling? The guy wants SILLY money for them, so I'm really concidering it.
KevinE Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 Silly as in alot, or silly as in cheap? If these are 2u each and you've got 3 in a 6u case, that sounds pretty tight to me. I'd rather see them in a bigger case with 1u between them or maybe top and bottom to allow a bit of air to circulate and to be on the safe side. Dont forget these were designed in America and their weather is generally hotter than here..I guess.
ChazHS Posted February 21, 2009 Author Posted February 21, 2009 Silly as in cheap, £250 per amp. Would I be better putting them in a 9U case with 1U inbetween and 3 x 3U fans on the back? The Crown website says they will drive a 2ohm load 6dB into clip @ 40C without problems. Although I'd rather be safe than sorry!
KevinE Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 If you've got a 6u case, then of course, try it. But if you've got to order one, I'd get a 9u, rather this than have to order two because the first got too warm! And I wouldnt bother with the fans just yet.
ChazHS Posted February 21, 2009 Author Posted February 21, 2009 I'll get in a 9U one. I've been looking at the data sheet for the K2, pretty decent damping factor! < 3000 is pretty good! Looks like a bit of a steal I've got here!
KevinE Posted February 21, 2009 Posted February 21, 2009 You might want to make a bracket or adapters for speakons if you're going to plug and unplug them alot, they are fitted with 4mm binding posts like alot of American amps.
ChazHS Posted February 22, 2009 Author Posted February 22, 2009 Yeah thats what I plan to do, I'm NOT a fan of binding posts at all. I'll be making up a patch panel with the appropriate speakons.
Wrighty Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 I've got 2 in a 4U case and they ran all day and night fine doing anything from acoustic to rock, each one bridged driving a pair of 18" folded horns (so a load of 4 ohms per amp = 2 ohms per channel). However, when I used one to drive a pair of monitors and the other to drive the hi-mids on the FOH at a different gig, I was running into heat problems due to a much higher duty cycle on hi-mids than I had on the subs before. For that reason, I'd recommend spacing them 1U apart in a bigger case with fans at the back. The manual suggests doing this. I expect I can overcome my problem by installing some fans in the back, as I've got grilles in the side of the case, so should get some airflow through. You'd be amazed how much difference even a small amount of air movement makes. EDIT: £250 per amp is a bargain, btw! I paid about £400 each for mine.
david.elsbury Posted February 22, 2009 Posted February 22, 2009 each one bridged driving a pair of 18" folded horns (so a load of 4 ohms per amp = 2 ohms per channel).Do you understand what bridging is? From your description, I'd say not...
ChazHS Posted February 22, 2009 Author Posted February 22, 2009 each one bridged driving a pair of 18" folded horns (so a load of 4 ohms per amp = 2 ohms per channel).Do you understand what bridging is? From your description, I'd say not... Probably a typo, lets hope so anyway, or we are gonna have some cooked up amps!
Wrighty Posted February 23, 2009 Posted February 23, 2009 each one bridged driving a pair of 18" folded horns (so a load of 4 ohms per amp = 2 ohms per channel).Do you understand what bridging is? From your description, I'd say not... Yes, I fully understand what bridging is! The way I worded it was a bit ambiguous though... 2 x 18" folded horns in parallel = 4 ohm load. Each channel of the bridged K2 will see 2 ohms load. Is that clearer? :)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.