Jump to content

The Crown K2 has landed!


stormin

Recommended Posts

Well I've done alot of jammin with QSC. A QSC SRA 2422 to be exact. (Tube lovers look away this may cause nausea.) But as of yesterday I finally got my hands on a K2. Now specs are very close between the two. The Crown boasts 500wpc the QSC 425wpc. The QSC has been an extremely smooth amplifier. Plenty of slam and alot of fun to jam with.

Bass is not created equal. This K2 is just as smooth as my QSC but the bass went from hard hitting to "you got to be kidding me". I can see why they use these in night clubs. I am still using my vintage Marantz preamp with its warm colorations. Yes, I know but its true it is colored but it enables me to listen to all my old favorite recordings without fatigue.

Anyway I just wanted to chime in to all the other folks using the K2's and folks who have been thinking about picking one up that they are indeed the real deal. The K2 works very well with horns. No ear bleed here. Now excuse me while I get back to my massage[;)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shhhhhhhhhhh....you're letting the little secret out!

I'm currently using two K2's. I find if I have the gains wide open I get a lot of hiss at idle. (not huge deal with music turned up)

I usually have mine on the 4th click which allows me to maximize my Peach and still drive my active crossovers input to full signal.

Welcome to the Kludge Club!

[Y]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats on getting a BEAST! I have two of them in my PA rig, they work well if you create a dedicated air duct with plenty of fans. I have two boxer fans working in my rack and they were cool to the touch after rocking HARD for 4 hours last night. I have them strapped to mono and belting out bass below 120 Hz to my KP682 dual 18" Klipsch subs.

Rated at 4 ohms bridged that's 2500 watts at 1K or about 2,000 watts full range. That's just about right into a pro cabinet rated at 800 watts. You always want about 2-3 x the rated power of the speaker.

Sounded very tight last night. I could even use the DBX driverack PA's subharmonic synthesizer (35-56 bandwidth) to give even more deep rumble to the music. I only lit the bottom signal lights, never got close to hitting the IOC or clip indicators thanks to a little compression and limiting on the mains.

There was a green one on the Bay just the other day for $699. That's the right price.

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shhhhhhhhhhh....you're letting the little secret out!

I'm currently using two K2's. I find if I have the gains wide open I get a lot of hiss at idle. (not huge deal with music turned up)

I usually have mine on the 4th click which allows me to maximize my Peach and still drive my active crossovers input to full signal.

Welcome to the Kludge Club!

Yes

Yeah I did notice that I needed a little more gain for the K2 than for the QSC. I am using the 1.4 volt settings and have the gain sitting on 7. But wow does this thing sound good with some outrageous slam. I turned the gain up all the way and dont have the slightest noise with my ear next to the tweeter. So I'm not sure on the hiss. I will say the QSC has a hiss and every home audio amp I have ever had has a slight hiss on my Chorus II's but this amp is dead silent.

Thanks for the welcome. I like the new Club. [Y]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Congrats on getting a BEAST! I have two of them in my PA rig, they work well if you create a dedicated air duct with plenty of fans. I have two boxer fans working in my rack and they were cool to the touch after rocking HARD for 4 hours last night. I have them strapped to mono and belting out bass below 120 Hz to my KP682 dual 18" Klipsch subs.

Rated at 4 ohms bridged that's 2500 watts at 1K or about 2,000 watts full range. That's just about right into a pro cabinet rated at 800 watts. You always want about 2-3 x the rated power of the speaker.

Sounded very tight last night. I could even use the DBX driverack PA's subharmonic synthesizer (35-56 bandwidth) to give even more deep rumble to the music. I only lit the bottom signal lights, never got close to hitting the IOC or clip indicators thanks to a little compression and limiting on the mains.

There was a green one on the Bay just the other day for $699. That's the right price.

Michael

Thanks mang !

I don't believe I'm asking nearly as much from the K2 as your are LOL. Mine just sits and idles no warmth at all. ( I take that statement back. As you work them they do tend to heat up. Case gets pretty warm to the touch.)

This K2 I have came from a large Church in Michigan. It was amp number 14 of their arsenal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Coytee,

Whats the advantage of running two K2's on your Jubes? I believe the K2 can run as 2 complete seperate power amps. What that means is one channel can run one speaker with one impedance and the other channel can run a completely different speaker with a completely different impedance.

Unless I am misunderstanding something it makes the Crown K2 two completely seperate amplifiers in one chassis.

The Aragon 4004 MII I had was designed with two seperate transformers but I believe you had to run speakers with the same impedance or you would have a thermal meltdown.

Makes the K2 rather unusual and I dont see the need to run two unless you are bridging at an enormous amount of power.

Wait a minute, could it be[:|]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if you're actively biamping the Jubilees you require FOUR channels of amplification.

I created some nice ductwork for mine and after a punishing 4 hour bar workout they were COOL to the touch- yeah! (see commercial threads for more on these shows)

that green one on eBay is relisted at $599. Somebody jump!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dont see the need to run two unless you are bridging at an enormous amount of power.

heh heh heh.... [6] Sorta.... I'm not bridging, I'm using an active x-over and biamping. I've got one speaker mated with each amp. One channel of each amp goes to the woofer and the other channel goes to the K402.

I think the K2 is rated at something like 500 watts at 8 ohms? (doesn't really matter now, does it)

What I find interesting is, the K2 , probably the K1 as well, has some kind of sleeper circuit. If it receives a signal less than "X" amount of volts, it will shut that channel into idle mode to save energy/heat.

What I find is sometimes at night when things are quiet, I will get a channel to drop out because I guess, I'm barely driving anything. During a commercial or a quick blip on the volume control will fix that but it took me a while to figure out exactly what was going on.

Though people think I'm a volume ***** (and can be), I actually listen to normal levels when I'm actually in the room with them. If I had less efficient speakers I would need more volume. If I needed more volume I would not have discovered this situation. I guess this means at times, I'm listening to the absolute bare minimum of what the K2 can do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if you're actively biamping the Jubilees you require FOUR channels of amplification.

I created some nice ductwork for mine and after a punishing 4 hour bar workout they were COOL to the touch- yeah! (see commercial threads for more on these shows)

that green one on eBay is relisted at $599. Somebody jump!

Ahh I understand now. Actively biamping. Now it all makes sense.

I did have mine sitting directly on a shelf and it ran warm to the touch if I was throttling it. I have since put 4 cones under it to allow air to vent both top and bottom and wow what a difference. Doesn't even get warm.

Another observation is with my preamp I have tone controls and loudness contour. With my other amps I would tweek a little here and there but with the K2 I am finding flat on the pre is the way to fly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I find is sometimes at night when things are quiet, I will get a channel to drop out because I guess, I'm barely driving anything. During a commercial or a quick blip on the volume control will fix that but it took me a while to figure out exactly what was going on.

Ah you have one or both of the early models. That is called sleep mode. Crown done away with that on later K2 models just for the fact you describe. If it wasn't getting a strong enough signal it would drop out and some folks would here a click when this would happen, even when playing at low volumes. You can send it in for an update from what I understand. I was lucky enough to get one of the later models so don't have that issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

heh heh heh.... Devil Sorta.... I'm not bridging, I'm using an active x-over and biamping. I've got one speaker mated with each amp. One channel of each amp goes to the woofer and the other channel goes to the K402.

Yeah I read CP's thread and was shown the light[:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I currently have a QSC PLX 1202 driving the bass bins on my Jubilees. I always wanted to try a K2 thogh. Should I expect much difference?

Kudret

Well, I've been using a QSC SRA 2422 which is basically the same as your 1202 with 225 more wpc. Between my QSC and Crown there are a couple of differences worth noting.

1. The Crown actually has a more tunefull bass which means more realistic.

2. But also the crown hits with much more authority.

So in terms of bass for driving your bass bins you would be winning on both accounts. With what I know now I would switch in a New York minute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I currently have a QSC PLX 1202 driving the bass bins on my Jubilees. I always wanted to try a K2 thogh. Should I expect much difference?

Kudret

Well, I've been using a QSC SRA 2422 which is basically the same as your 1202 with 225 more wpc. Between my QSC and Crown there are a couple of differences worth noting.

1. The Crown actually has a more tunefull bass which means more realistic.

2. But also the crown hits with much more authority.

So in terms of bass for driving your bass bins you would be winning on both accounts. With what I know now I would switch in a New York minute.

Also let me add, this is by far the quietest amp I've ever heard. There is zero noise or hiss from my horns. It's really as if its not on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also let me add, this is by far the quietest amp I've ever heard. There is zero noise or hiss from my horns. It's really as if its not on.

I'll add that when I have the gains on the K2 about halfway up, I can't hear much if any noise. If I max them to 100% I can easily hear some hiss. The cool thing is, with them at 50% they will still give a whole lotta whump if you want it.

My daily position on the K2's is usually at the 4th click and the volume on the Peach is at 75% or even maxed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also let me add, this is by far the quietest amp I've ever heard. There is zero noise or hiss from my horns. It's really as if its not on.

I'll add that when I have the gains on the K2 about halfway up, I can't hear much if any noise. If I max them to 100% I can easily hear some hiss. The cool thing is, with them at 50% they will still give a whole lotta whump if you want it.

My daily position on the K2's is usually at the 4th click and the volume on the Peach is at 75% or even maxed.

I wonder if that is a difference in our speakers with your Jubes at 110db/1w/1m and my Chorus II's at 101db/1w/1m or if its our systems in general.

I can actually max out my gains and not the slightest hint of anything. Dead silent.

I only run a preamp an amp and a cd player.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. I am still using my vintage Marantz preamp with its warm colorations. Yes, I know but its true it is colored but it enables me to listen to all my old favorite recordings without fatigue

I'll second that!! As you know, I also use a vintage Marantz Model 3600 preamp. I love this preamp. With Crown XTI 2000's pumping out the bass and a vintage Harmon Kardon 430 on the highs, my RF-7's sound bad-***.

Someday I would like to replace the XTI's with some K-2's. [Y]

Congrats on your new Crown. [:D]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

. I am still using my vintage Marantz preamp with its warm colorations. Yes, I know but its true it is colored but it enables me to listen to all my old favorite recordings without fatigue

I'll second that!! As you know, I also use a vintage Marantz Model 3600 preamp. I love this preamp. With Crown XTI 2000's pumping out the bass and a vintage Harmon Kardon 430 on the highs, my RF-7's sound bad-***.

Someday I would like to replace the XTI's with some K-2's. Yes

Congrats on your new Crown. Big Smile

Thanks man.

New toys are always so much fun especially when they exceed expections. [Y][H]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...