Crown amps

Undertow mentions a couple of points about pro sound power amps. With regard to the ZR1600....sensitivity is no problem. A jumper plug lets you select any of four sensitivities, 0.316, 0.775, 1.23 and 2.45 vrms. The 0.316 value is for consumer single ended sources, and the 1.25 vrms value is for normal pro sound balanced lines.
The ZR1600 does have a fan. It is said that for home audio use it can be disconnected, but a better approach is to swap it for a very low noise fan that you won't hear even when no music is playing. For single ended RCA input you need only a MONO 1/4 inch phone jack to RCA adapter. (MONO provides the grounding of the (-) balanced input pin). Finally, being a digital amp, it wastes almost no power and runs cold.

Thanks for all the info. My Crown pre-amp has a maximum output of 12 volts, so driving any one of these things should not be a problem. What I may have to deal with is hum, but I figure if I keep my runs to 4 feet that shouln't be a problem either. If I were to get one I think I would go with the Crown XTI-2000. 475 watts into 8 ohms for $699.00. Everything I have read about there reliability has been great, I just have not read a lot about their sound quality. I liked the sound of the DC300a. If it sound like that I'll be happy. Has anyone heard one?

Yes they are powerful as heck with solid bass. They lack resolution and image Placement and deep soundfield. if this dosent matter that much they are a steal, althogh there are some digital poweramps that are getting close but thay have problems also

Ok, I heard about this amp called Blue Ice by Technical hifi. I went to their website to have a look, and it seems to gone. I'm just curious who they are? I think I have settled on the Crown XTI-2000. It's a lot of amp for $700.00 bucks. Looks well built also. Has anyone here heard one?

Just out of curiosity...where are you shopping? A stereo store or a D.J. store?

The reason I ask is that I had a friend that owned a store that had a stereo side and a mobile DJ side.

I asked him about the Crown Amps that he had and was informed that they were really intended for "club" atmospheres where chest thumping bass and high SPL levels were the most important thing.

So...anyhow...I went to read the reviews over at audioreview to find out what users had to say about the amps.

some things that I noticed were...

1. People seemed to be buying them for use as subwoofer amps.

2. Some of the reviews seem to have been written by the same person with the same associated equipment yet under a different name??? (This was their $4,000 reference amp) I dunno...things just seemed a little fishy...most EVERYBODY seemed to think that they were better than their previous Krells...go figure.

Have I heard crown?

Yes...in nightclubs/bars

Was I Impressed?

Not especially.

I'm not trying to belittle you for your choice, but having been hanging around Audiogon for 5-6 years now I would have to say that there is equipment that you would probably be happier with in the long run for similar prices.

Bryston, McCormack and Odyssey to name a few (in no particular order), seem to get alot of praise for their sound quality and reliability. I am sure there are others.

no...I'm not a dealer and have no affilation with any manufacturers yada yada yada