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Crown 4|300N Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 14 7.5%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 68 36.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 95 50.8%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 10 5.3%

  • Total voters
    187

Mnyb

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Voted not terrible as the fr deviations are small but broad , it can be audible. It can also be corrected if you know about it ! This product is probably better in a professional installation.

Btw why I built processing in amps ? Why not a separate processor or “drive rack” or wth :) the pros call these kind of things ? Why inbuilt in the amp ? Clutter and heaps of equipment does not bother pros as much as home consumers?

Amps may live longer than digital processors in general?
 

respice finem

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Voted not terrible as the fr deviations are small but broad , it can be audible. It can also be corrected if you know about it ! This product is probably better in a professional installation.

Btw why I built processing in amps ? Why not a separate processor or “drive rack” or wth :) the pros call these kind of things ? Why inbuilt in the amp ? Clutter and heaps of equipment does not bother pros as much as home consumers?

Amps may live longer than digital processors in general?
Maybe it is just "testing the market"? There is a growing number of amps with DSP built in for the home user (not limited to AVR), so maybe the same will work for small pro or "prosumer" setups? Not everyone is inclined to travel with a rack, if it isn't really necessary.
 

Geert

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Maybe it is just "testing the market"? There is a growing number of amps with DSP built in for the home user (not limited to AVR), so maybe the same will work for small pro or "prosumer" setups? Not everyone is inclined to travel with a rack, if it isn't really necessary.

Crown amps have had built-in DSP's for more then 10 years. It's about providing plug-and-play functionality and keeping systems compact. Imagine a PA concert system, which can have more then 12 amps easily and different types of speakers requiring different crossover and eq settings.
 
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kipman725

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Reducing weight and volume on tours is very important so fitting more channels into less space is advantageous. State of the art is 8 high power channels + DSP in 2U. Someone send in a powersoft X8 ;)
 
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TonyJZX

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yeah but who is the intended audience

i'm pretty sure Crown doesnt build amps for ASR (China does... lol)

i'm also in the category that they should have split this up... why lock your dsp with those amps

also password locking professional equipment is not surprising... so is being able to download and upload settings
 
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Willem

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I am still curious to see how the now discontinued more traditional Yamaha Pxx00S series compares. See here some AP measurements of the 2x350 watt into 8 Ohm Yamaha P3500S: https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...mpli-yamaha-p3500s-mise-a-jour-t30056383.html At the time it sold for some 500 euros, and sometimes even less. I gave my son the 2x250 watt P2500s (just 300 euros) and the fan never comes on in domestic use. It is well made, looks good, and sounds fine. It does not have quite the versatile dsp options of this Crown amp, but it does have an adjustable high pass filter, which makes it an ideal choice to combine in a stereo system with subwoofers. Thus far, I have not yet seen measurements of the Yamaha class D successors to this series.
 

Tangband

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Voted not terrible.

With that said , for the same money one can buy two HYPEX stereo power amps and a Minidsp flex with balanced connectors for the same money, with probably better performance.


 
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thin bLue

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Nice review!

I have one question, How can I get Power on output level like you?
Just use recorder and plug in -> turn amp on?

Show pop noise seems really useful!
 

juliangst

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For professional installments this amp might make sense but for normal people and pro-sumers it’s just an overpriced underperforming amp.
If you need 4 channels with a lot of power and DSP there are many less expensive options like a MiniDSP flex with some Audiophonics LPA-S500NC for example.
 
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CedarX

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There is only a power on/off on the front. I wish there was a processing bypass as well.

No processing bypass… Does it mean, for these measurements, the internal chain was: input signal > ADC > DSP > DAC > Amp ? In that case, the ‘high’ noise may not be that bad.
 

Koeitje

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Voted not terrible.

With that said , for the same money one can buy two HYPEX stereo power amps and a Minidsp flex with balanced connectors for the same money, with probably better performance.


For home usage yes, but that Hypex amplifier is not going to withstand the abuse this Crown would get in a PA situation. Not unless you implement an active cooling solution.
 

Tangband

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For home usage yes, but that Hypex amplifier is not going to withstand the abuse this Crown would get in a PA situation. Not unless you implement an active cooling solution.
Thats true.
 

Mnyb

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Maybe it is just "testing the market"? There is a growing number of amps with DSP built in for the home user (not limited to AVR), so maybe the same will work for small pro or "prosumer" setups? Not everyone is inclined to travel with a rack, if it isn't really necessary.
Ok maybe a small touring band or person can use this amp :) or down at the local pup for a PA ?
 

sarumbear

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