Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Crown D45 Amplifier (SS) by Roublard Cache

Model:	D45
Category:	Amplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$389
Description:	25 Watt a channel Balanced SS
Manufacturer URL:	Crown
Manufacturer URL:	Crown

Review by Roublard Cache ( A ) on February 18, 2006 at 09:45:14
IP Address: 206.209.126.2

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I recently picked up a crown D45 after hearing about it from a friend who uses it in his studio. You can get them for around 120 dollars shipped. My setup before the amp was a NAD 116 pre amp w/balanced outputs Monarchy Audio SM/70 Class A amp,a Sony XA7ES cd player and a AR XB turntable with a Sure V15 MK III cart. I also have a Yamaha CR-1020 receiver, NAD 3020 amp (modded with new caps/resistors)Harman Kardon Award a-300 6v6 tube amp, Scott 233 based tube amp (both redone)and an Adcom GFA-450 pre amp.
My speakers are a pair of Castle Richmond MKII, Madisound BK-16 w/super tweeters and a pair of Kef 104/2s.
Cables are IXOS interconnects and home made Cat5e cables.
I realize that to many of you reading this, my systems are laughable at best, but this is all I can afford, and it makes music to me.
The Crown D45 amp is a 19 inch rack mount 25 Watt per channel amp into 8 ohms. According to Crown, it is a class AB amp and is pure class A up to about 1 watt (950 miliamps according to my calculation. It features two rheostats on the front for separate channel volume control, and they are notched, which provides very easy sound level matching.
The first thing that I did was to hook up the amp straight to the pair of Castle Richmonds with a balanced to RCA box between the Sony CD player. I was very surprised how well the amp sounded. It is a very neutral amp, and what you put in, is what you get out. Harsh recordings sound harsh, warm 50s vinyl sounds, well, warm. The amp is very balanced in its presentation and plays much louder than its 25 watts suggest. The bass slam is amazing, and so is the inky black background. I could not hear the amp on while putting my ear up to the 96 db BK-16 speakers. Even the Monarchy Audio amp has some what noise.
This is one amp that sounds best without a pre amp. It was amazing, the Adcom pre amp, which can drive about everything really constricted the sound stage, and lost lots of detail. The Treble was not there, and things sounded congested. The NAD 116 was better, and being balanced, I would have thought it would be the perfect combination. It sounded great with the Castle Richmonds (a wonderful, if warm and sweet sounding speaker, but it lacks detail) but when driving the BK-16s and KEFs, much of the magic was lost. It was quite sad to have to listen to my Vinyl without the detail that I love (using the Adcom as the phono section).
The BK-16s, which do not sound that good with the non-tubed amps to me, sounded great with the D45. Yes, it does not have the tube bloom or magic that some people love and want, but I heard things that were not there, and the images were layered, and the soundstage was vast and black.
I have turned a few people on locally about this amp, and they seem to love it. One of them describes it as a Bryston 2B (but with 25 watts instead)
Now the inputs are not gold plated, and the speaker terminals are not binding posts, but screw terminals. I have replaced the terminals with nice 5 way binding posts, and some of the internal wiring with larger gauge wire. There was somewhat of an improvement in the bass, but, while nice, was not earth shaking.
I have actually put away the Monarchy SM-70 and have been using the Crown with the KEFs exclusively and have not looked back.

Product Weakness: Straight forward, this is not a Tube amp. Do not think it will be a warm sounding amp. It will not drive very power hungry speakers. The imaging is nice, but not that of a EL84 based Scott amp.
Product Strengths: Neutral and Detailed sound. Incredible bass slam for a 25 watt amp. Very wide and deep soundstage.

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Monarchy Audio SM70, Yamaha CR-1020,NAD 3020, Scott 233, HK Award 300
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Nad 116,Adcom GFA-450
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	AR-XB w/ Sure v15 MKIII, Sony XA7ES
Speakers:	Madisound BK-16, KEF 104/2 Castle Richmond MKII
Cables/Interconnects:	IXOS/Cat5e
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Jazz, 60-70s rock, Ambient
Room Size (LxWxH):	14 x 12 x 9
Room Comments/Treatments:	Blanket hung on wall behind speakers and behind listener
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 months
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner

Product Weakness:	Straight forward, this is not a Tube amp. Do not think it will be a warm sounding amp. It will not drive very power hungry speakers. The imaging is nice, but not that of a EL84 based Scott amp.
Product Strengths:	Neutral and Detailed sound. Incredible bass slam for a 25 watt amp. Very wide and deep soundstage.