@mijostyn wrote:
Funny you should mention the K2. They were the last Crown amps I will ever own. Their control over big sub drivers with high BL products was terrible. I think it was the back EMF that destroyed one of mine, the other went in the dumpster.
My context of experience with the K2 is having heard it driving different high efficiency, large subs (a pair of them in all cases) fitted with woofers with a BL factor in the 20-26Tm range, and no control issues here. Honestly I’ve never heard the K2 at the end of its ropes here either, nor the subs for that matter - even at bonkers SPL’s.
Your context of previous use with the K2's is obviously quite different, and to put things into perspective: using sealed subs with over 10dB’s lower sensitivity there’s a power requirement over 10 times as much, meaning - in theory - a 500/800W K2 would do with high eff. subs that a some 10kW amp should do with a low eff. subs equivalent. That is: the first scenario offers you both headroom and prodigious pressurization in a domestic environment; the latter would end up in smoke trying to achieve anything similar.
... So, you burn up a voice coil once in a while. I keep two drivers in reserve although I have yet to lose a dual voice coil Dayton yet, it is only a matter of time. Subwoofer drivers take a beating as it is leading to a high failure rate in any event.
...
@phusis Good article and no arguments from me. I cringe every time someone characterizes a subwoofer driver as being "fast"
I do not care so much about efficiency. I care most about accuracy and by a huge margin it is the enclosure that causes the most trouble, not the driver. The majority of enclosures are musical instruments.
I’m assuming the latter quote of yours is aimed at poster @ditusa, but I’ll have a go at it nonetheless.
From the above it follows that the driver is a potential issue of yours. Needing a couple of them in reserve due to expected woofer failure - that is, woofers used here that are by all accounts no slouches in themselves - is indicative of very high power output and occasionally using the subs close to or even beyond their capabilities, which again equates into steeply rising distortion levels. You may have won points with close to inert sealed subs cabs, but from my chair the drivers will bring that score into the negative again if working very hard.
I’m assuming though you have a winning combination at more "normal" listening levels.
@ditusa wrote:
In my opinion, not all Crown amps are created equal. The mother of all Crown amps is the Crown Studio Reference One, it’s the best sounding Crown amp, past and present and it’s class A B! You must run the Crown amp on a dedicated AC 120 Volt 30 Amp circuit minimum. 😎
+1
The Studio Ref. 1 and 2 are great sounding amps indeed. I almost bought the Ref. 2 some years ago, but have heard them regularly at friends’ places over the years. Rock solid, reliable amps, and it takes some heavy beating to spin up those fans. I never get to that (i.e.: spinning up the fans from their close to idle state) with my MC² Audio amps and efficient speakers, only the occasional flashing of the blue signal LED’s on the midbass and subs amps when watching movies, in which case it means they are using +10W.
