[Vintage Pete]

Originally Posted by chops-tube

Pete, I don't think there's a member on this fine forum that hasn't seen your beautiful living room system, including the extensive wiring upgrades you did a while back. The first time I saw the pic above when I first joined here, I admired all of the solid equipment furniture and noticed how it closely matches the McIntosh cabinets.

Like you, I'm a firm believer of mixing good new gear with good vintage gear. It's funny you have an interest in vintage Crown equipment as I have always had a thing for old Crown stuff as well, mainly for their looks as I've never heard any of their older equipment except for that D-75A, which wasn't all that old.

Thanks for the invite to come tour your humble abode. True, I'm not too far down the road from you, but used to be closer when I was in St Pete. Oh well. One of these days, I'd gladly take you up on that offer for sure.

Charles...I've been a Crown fan for many, many years...in 1974 I was lucky enough to acquire an original IC150 preamp and an original DC300 amp. In 1977 I upgraded the IC150 preamp to the more refined IC150A. I still have the original DC300 amp boxed up in a closet. The IC150A preamp that I purchased in 1977 is the preamp you see in my office system today. It has had only one repair incident in 36 years, and I replaced the front panel in 1992.

I like my two D-75A's a lot, they are really the only amps that Crown still produces today that can be considered aimed at the audiophile market, as well as the professional market. The rest of their current products are aimed at pro sound reinforcement, and aren't the type of product I would put in my living room.

It's a shame in my opinion that Crown didn't keep their line focused on the home audio market, or at least a portion of their line. I believe if they had, they would really be a strong contender against some the other big names of today i.e. McIntosh, Bryston ,etc.

Attached are a few photos from around 1977 or 1978 that are really the beginnings of my living room system of today.

Incidentally, my purchase of the Crown Power Line Four now puts the number of Crown amplifiers I own higher than the number of McIntosh amplifiers I own. Crown 6, McIntosh 5.


Pete