[Cool Ohm]

Hello!

I confess I have a thing for big power amplifiers.  As pointed out in another recent post of mine, I have a Hafler 500 power amp that use for some seriously power-hungry full range speakers. 

Anyway, one day I stumbled on a review for the Crown DC300A power amplifier…. here is the link:

Stereophile Review Link:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/crown-dc-300-power-amplifier

Call me naive, but I read that review and I had to have one.  A few years later I found a bargain priced unit in Quebec City.  A good friend (and neighbour) was there collecting family furniture to bring back.  A few emails and calls and my latest hulk amplifier was in my basement (no shipping fees). 

I am thinking pairing this brute with some B&W DM1400s (another pair of power hungry speakers I have laying around), for a possible workshop system. 

Should I invest in a full resto of this thing?  It has two filter caps the size of beer cans that cannot possibly be okay after 40 years.  Should I simply replace these caps (not inexpensive).  Has anyone owned one of these?  What were/are your impressions?

As usual, thanks for any input you are able to provide. 

Kind regards,

David.

[Nick B]

Hi David,

Congratulations on getting that amp. I’ve never owned a Crown amp, but know a guy via an audio club who loves them. Have you powered it up yet? I’d restore it, but maybe a start might be to just replace those caps at first and see how you like it. Any idea as to cost for a rebuild?

Nick

[BruceSB]

I had a Crown DC300A many years ago.
Used it to drive a pair of Gales.
Thought it sounded really great.
Sold it when I purchased some electrostats.
Did not think it was able to drive them and did not want to take a (potentially disastrous) chance.
Always liked that amp.
I think it was regarded as the pinnacle of power amps at the time.
I am sure that you will get many hours of listening out of it.
If it was me I would get it professionally serviced.
Enjoy.
Bruce

[dB Cooper]

For novelty, maybe, but...


I would have suggested the Hafler as a better candidate for a high power daily driver. Audio by Van Alstine used to do modern rebuilds of those but all info on the Dyna and Hafler rebuilds has vanished from their website. I'd call him anyway. The DC300 is a legend albeit a ~50yo one (remember, the enthusiastic review you linked was from 1970) and he is doubtless familiar with it and could guide you as to the best option going forward. 651.330.9871 Personally I think the Hafler is the better bet but Frank would give the best advice.

[Wayner]

I don't think Frank wants to fool around with mods anymore. I suggest that if you want the amp to be like new, find someone that you have learned about rebuild it. I personally think its a waste of time unless its running fairly well. I have several vintage amps, that did have some minor issues that I fixed, but a major overhaul is just not worth it in my books. If the chassis and faceplate were nice, I'd strip the innards and put a high powered B&O Ice amp in it.

[Cool Ohm]

Thank you everyone for your valuable input! 

I think the cost of a resto would depend on whether the output transistors are okay or not. 

I haven’t even plugged this thing in and tried it.  I am trying to assemble a 200W 8 ohm dummy load.  Once I get that together I will feed a test signal into the amp and use scope to determine how much power it can sink into the load at the onset of clipping.  If that is near rated power, I think it would be safe to assume the output transistors are okay.  At that point I would change the filter caps and try it.  If it sounds good to my ears at that point I might look into some modest amount of service. 

That will be a future endeavour.  For the time being I have a couple other item on the bench.

Thanks again!  When I get started I will revive this thread and and post some pictures!


Kind regards,

D

[FullRangeMan]

Restoring this vintage amp with modern parts will mischaracterize it and modify the original design.

This amp has great historical value in its original condition as it is now, modifying it will turn it into a Frankstein with old and new parts, IMO.
What is recommended is a cleaning 

[planet10]

DC300 is one of the worst sounding amps i have heard.

dave

[mick wolfe]

Yes, that was the general concensus back in the day. Most preferred their Hafler's, Amber's, GAS, etc. as I remember.

[planet10]

We did all of those. The GAS was cool looking, we sold (literately) a ton of Haflers, but the Amber was very sweet.

dave

[RonN5]

This amp was built for one purpose (maybe)...to power the Ohm F's....and it could make them sound quite good...but it also blew a lot of them up.  I think retirement for this amp is in order.

[rbbert]

DC300 is one of the worst sounding amps i have heard.

dave

Yes, I owned one for a while, powering Gale 401's (as noted by another poster above).  A Phase Linear 400 soon replaced it (quite a noticeable improvement, and the PL 400 wasn't a great amp), then a HK Citation 16 (another, even more noticeable improvement).  Then I moved to Acoustats for about 20 years, so no separate amps for many years.

[planet10]

You had teh Acoustats with the built-in amps? Lived with a set of those for awhile.

dave

[Cool Ohm]

Well I am still curious to hear this thing.

Based on what I am hearing on this thread (thanks to everyone), I am inclined to invest the minimum.  The main caps are a considerable commitment (ouch), so I will start with testing to see if it is in fact fully functional. 

Need to find a cheap DIY method of building a dummy load so I put the amp through its paces. 

Best,

D 

[Teleos]

Crown made pretty good stuff.

[mitch stl]

I owned some Crown gear back in the mid 1970s, though not the DC300A.  It wasn't bad for its day, though did have that solid state gritty sound that so many transistor amps suffered from in those days.

To me, having one these days is kind of like being into classic cars.  One does so because of nostalgia -- either direct memories of what things used to be like when you were young, or a recreation of what you think things would have been like except for the fact the object predates you.  Your 1957 Chevy Belair may be a lot of fun, but it will never be faster, handle better, or be more comfortable than any number of modern cars (which will likely cost a lot less than a fully restored classic Belair.) 

So, if you are into collectibles and nostalgia, the Crown may be a great find for you.  If you want better sound, lots of other options available these days.

[LostInTennessee]

I have several vintage Crown amps and preamps (PS-400, PS-200, PL-3, PL-1 D150A, SL-1, SL-2 etc) and they all sound great (too me). You can't kill them.  The DC300 powered rock concerts, recording studios, churches in the '60/'70/'80 and home stereos even to this day. And there cost effective.

[S Clark]

"Should I invest in a full resto of this thing? "
No.

[charmerci]

I have several vintage Crown amps and preamps (PS-400, PS-200, PL-3, PL-1 D150A, SL-1, SL-2 etc) and they all sound great (too me). You can't kill them.  The DC300 powered rock concerts, recording studios, churches in the '60/'70/'80 and home stereos even to this day. And there cost effective.

I used to temporarily own a IC-150A preamp. It sounded good so I got the SL-1 pre and the PL-1 which also sounded really good though it was not a very strong 50W.

Ah, memories!