Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Dean sez get a Peach, and Ben concurs. I don't know that a 40 or 60 watt tube can drive like my Crown. Anyone in Houston who runs tubes and wants to offer to A/B my Crown with their tubes? Houston's awfully big, so West Houston works best for me. Is there anybody....... out there? Or Dean, you could do like Rick and box up a loaner for me. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 A Peach is a tube pre-amp to drive your Crown Jeff.[] Another, lower priced, option is Juicy's Merlin. A straight line stage tube pre sans the HT bypass and low impedance driver circuit of the Peach for 1/2 the price. http://www.juicymusicaudio.com/ Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Oh. [:$] So, is a tube pre w/my Crown supposed to do for me what a tube amp would? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daddy Dee Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 A Merlin should be quite sweet with your Crown. a tube preamp driving your crown would provide a better result than an SS preamp driving a tube power amp. The preamp has a more mission critical task than the power amp, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 It's a start. It's a slippery slope. When I first started lurking hearabouts, I was like you. I had over 100 Watts on my Khorns and chuckled to myself when Mobil Homeless talked in exaulted phrase of SET, mark and Craig were going back and forth with PP stuff. I was smug in my SS but didn't post any being a bit intimidated by the knowledge. Shortly before I started posting, GaryMD started raving about his Scott integrated with Craig Nos' rebuild, everybody was raving about AL K's crossovers. and I blew a tweeter. Concurrent to that I had some health problems and had to close my garage and retire. I had a diploma in electronics, some experience and figured that fussing with old amps would be an interesting hobby in my retirement. Here I am now many many dollars lighter listening to a SET amp on ALK equipped Khorns. With the many tricks I learned with the help of my forum friends, my Khorns have never sounded better. Louder yes, not better. With your head banging listening levels, look for a nice reworked pair of Dynaco Mark IIIs making sure that the power supply mods (increased capacitance) have been performed or for new and even better sound NOS Valves DRDs have a very stout power supply. These amps with about 50 watts of tube power will give your Crown a go for powerful sound but better tubular sound. ) With a Merlin tube buffer this will open your eyes and get you dancing. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 'nother vote for the Merlin, Jeff i reviewed one ... you can find it on MD's site "juicymusicaudio.com" you see what I run ....dontcha...??,...half Tube Hi-Fi, and half Pro Sound ......[] your on a fast learning curve here on this Forum ....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 I hear you, Rick. It'd be nice to see what the rave is about, but even if they're good, $2500 for an amp? ..... Ouch. I got a pretty darn good amp that's paid-for. Same goes for pre-amp. Now, if I ran across one of those once-in-a-lifetime jump-on-it deals, that'd be different. But in order to even be knowledgeable on when such a deal came along, I'd first need to listen to someone's gear to get an idea of what I'd be getting into. Craig LeMay is supposed to have VRD's. He's local. I need to hook up w/him. I'm sure he's been busy. I also have seen many tubes that have the tubes exposed. They look neat, but I'd want mine covered. All I have to do is fall back on the drum throne - and ouch!!!! Also, it seems like alot are plain Jane. Not that I want a remote and a million buttons (see my Yammy for example of a decent appearance), but a nice sleek look would be nice. I'd at least want to be in the 1980's as far as appearance. It'd be interesting to see a 50-watter give my Crown a run for the money. Maybe it can, but I've never seen one yet. But then, I've not had too much experience with $2500 50-watters. I've heard a few in hi-fi shops long ago, like McIntosh, and they sounded good - but no dice. Either that or the guy was seriously afraid to open them up. Just not real impressive. Very detailed, yes. But power? No. They would definitely punch, but the volume was still moderate. Sounded like my Crown does when the volume is turned up to 3 on a scale to 10. The knob actually has different numbers, and I don't pay attention. But you get the idea. Their $3000 amps sounded like my Crown does when I turn the volume up to 1/3. Who knows? There might have been more detail, but the power was lacking. Thanks for all your input. I'm listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Same goes for you, Duke. Thanks for input. You ever see those sleek-looking Conrad Johnson's? Well..... you can get sleek if you want to pay $4000 on up for a used one. If you want to pay $1,000 for Conrad, you get taken back to the early 70's. You get the idea. Appearance means a little something to me if I'm going to shell out a few bucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 "The preamp has a more mission critical task than the power amp, IMO." I agree. No matter what amp I use, the music sounds 'peachy'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Hey, Duke. I left a question for you in another thread you probably missed. When I turn up my Crown to 1/2, I get volumes comparable to what you might hear in one of those techno night club raves. I figure you get the same or thereabouts when your K-2 is up 1/2 way. I have no meters. Do you have anything to tell you how many watts you're pushing when you go 1/2 way on your K-2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev313 Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Jeff, I hope you get your chance to hear some high power tubes. With your focus on VOLUME, however, you may not be satisfied with anything less than MEGA wattage. You might just be the first to find that 50 watts doesn't produce enough volume on a Klipsch (it may not do some things that higher wattage amps may, but volume should not be a problem) but, hey, we all got our things, right? Of course, the longer you listen like that, the less likely you are to hear diff.s in crossover changes[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 i was thinking , Jeff ......yea, I know ....[:$] well, all the advice here, really is speculation .. probably being a Half Deaf Drummer, we don't know How Loud you actually listen ... go buy onena them $60 rat Shack meters...... then give some figures ....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Hey, Kev. I know. I don't always crank like that, and when I do, it's for about 3 or 4 songs - just because it's nice that I can. So, for those who think I'm hell-bent on volume, I don't crank like that for an hour or 2 or 3. I just like to for a few songs because it's nice that I can. Most volumes are for playing drums - which I bet I could easily do with 50 watts. That extra 3 or 4 song jam session is a nice feature for me, though. It'd be hard to think to myself that an upgrade is really an upgrade if it would not deliver that 3 or 4 song crank-session. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 . When I turn up my Crown to 1/2, ......your K-2 is up 1/2 way. I have no meters. Do you have anything to tell you how many watts you're pushing when you go 1/2 way on your K-2? HALF WAY ...! ! ! ! ....[]....[].......[]........[] Dude, on Klipsch, it barely cracks 1 watt, average on the JBL's, maybe 4-5 watts .... the JBL's do make it Work, with Peaks of 350+ watts on a kick or snare hit you can measure your Average Output Voltage, convert to watts using ohm's Law..... they answer probably will shock Us ..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 . When I turn up my Crown to 1/2, ......your K-2 is up 1/2 way. I have no meters. Do you have anything to tell you how many watts you're pushing when you go 1/2 way on your K-2? HALF WAY ...! ! ! ! ....[]....[].......[]........[] Dude, on Klipsch, it barely cracks 1 watt, average on the JBL's, maybe 4-5 watts .... you can measure your Average Output Voltage, convert to watts using ohm's Law..... they answer probably will shock Us ..... SAYYYYYYY WHATTTTT!!!!!! You tellin' me I'm listening to 1 watt? That'd take the cake. If that's true, I have to re-think EVERYTHING. Duke, are you pulling my leg? Show me how 1/2 way on my Crown is 1-watt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deang Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Jeff, most here have been where you're at. You are just going to have to trust us. The better the resolving power of the system the less power you will feel the need to use. When a system excels at low level and ambient retrieval (microdynamics and 'air'), is able to push the soundstage well out into the room (bloom), and can layer and separate the information in the recording -- the volume control goes down. IOW's, the more realistic the music sounds, the less the need to use high SPL's as a way to compensate for what's missing. Since there is so much there, the room loads up faster and the soundfield is immersive in nature instead of coming at you like a wave. A nice tube preamp gets you much of the way there. I've used both the QSC PLX 1602 and Crown MT-600, and I thought the sound was very good being pushed by the Peach. The QSC was especially impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 nooooo.... it's not ... we don't know the pre-amp drive voltage measure the output voltage of the amplifier, give us the reading i think you may be surprised at just how few watt's you run .... that, or the rest of the board, will be Shocked .....[] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 Well, that's more like it...... your edit that is. Pulling the power for the peaks. I just wonder what the peaks are at in terms of watts with my Crown when volume's up 1/2 way. It's max rating is 325 watts/chan in 8 ohms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 I've used both the QSC PLX 1602 and Crown MT-600, and I thought the sound was very good being pushed by the Peach. The QSC was especially impressive. the PLX is a next generation design compared to the MicroTech ... it's a Great amp .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Matthews Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 nooooo.... it's not ... we don't know the pre-amp drive voltage measure the output voltage of the amplifier, give us the reading i think you may be surprised at just how few watt's you run .... that, or the rest of the board, will be Shocked .....[] I would not be surprised if it's low when you measure average watts. But those peaks have to be pretty high I'd think. I thought Crown posted alot of graphing for this sort of thing in their manuals. No? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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