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Author Topic: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz  (Read 15997 times)

Bill Schnake

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Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« on: March 23, 2014, 03:57:54 PM »

We are a Crown amp shop.  Our main system is EAW KF850/SB850.  Last year I had an I-Tech 6000 go down on the last song of a show with Tracy Lawrence.  Of course this was the first of August during our busiest part of the year.  I rented a 5002VZ from Mason Sound, thank for saving my but yet again Mike, until the I-Tech 6000 came back from being repaired at Crown.  I really like the sound of the 5002VZ it just seemed to be much more punchy and full than the I-Tech 6000 is.  I was running the I-Tech 6000 on one set up SB850 subs and when I replaced it with the 5002VZ I could feel and hear the difference and it was good...very good. :D     So now I am starting to think that before we get to anything big this year, I should move to 5002vz for the subs and leave the I-Techs on the Low, Mid and Tops of the KF850 system.  We are also using a dbx DriveRack 480 on the system.  So am I hearing things...besides the voices in my head...or do the 5002vz sound better on subs? :-\  The subs are crossed at 95 hz.

If anyone has any opinion on which amp to use I sure could use some input.

Bill  8)
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Bill Schnake

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Scott Stephens

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2014, 07:36:18 PM »

Bill,
  We, too, are  a Crown shop. And yeah, you might be hearing voices in your head, but you, or they are right. At least in my opinion. We have old crown MA's, new crown MA's and a couple of I tech 6000's. I much prefer the sound of the MA's over the I techs on lows. I don't know if it's "color" or what. But it's there. I can hear it, feel it and love it, but I can't describe it.
  Just let somebody else move the damn heavy rack.
scott
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Scott Carneval

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2014, 09:55:16 PM »

We are a Crown amp shop.  Our main system is EAW KF850/SB850.  Last year I had an I-Tech 6000 go down on the last song of a show with Tracy Lawrence.  Of course this was the first of August during our busiest part of the year.  I rented a 5002VZ from Mason Sound, thank for saving my but yet again Mike, until the I-Tech 6000 came back from being repaired at Crown.  I really like the sound of the 5002VZ it just seemed to be much more punchy and full than the I-Tech 6000 is.  I was running the I-Tech 6000 on one set up SB850 subs and when I replaced it with the 5002VZ I could feel and hear the difference and it was good...very good. :D     So now I am starting to think that before we get to anything big this year, I should move to 5002vz for the subs and leave the I-Techs on the Low, Mid and Tops of the KF850 system.  We are also using a dbx DriveRack 480 on the system.  So am I hearing things...besides the voices in my head...or do the 5002vz sound better on subs? :-\  The subs are crossed at 95 hz.

If anyone has any opinion on which amp to use I sure could use some input.

Bill  8)

While I haven't had the opportunity to A/B the two amps, I'm not surprised at your findings.  I used to run a MA3600/MA5002 rig a few years back.  You're comparing a heavy toroidal transformer amp to a switch-mode amp.  I like to think of that as comparing a big block V8 to a turbo Honda.  Sure both motors can make 800HP, but only one is going to hang the front wheels in the air past the 330' mark.  There's no replacement for displacement (or in this case, weight).  Don't get me wrong, there are some VERY good switch-mode designs from Powersoft, Lab Gruppen, etc., but I don't think the I-Tech is there yet.  At lower frequencies the transistors are 'switched on' for a longer cycle, and they run out of gas quickly.  If you have the power and can handle the weight, I'd choose old iron amps all day long.
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Franz Francis

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #3 on: March 27, 2014, 10:29:55 AM »

Don't get me wrong, there are some VERY good switch-mode designs from Powersoft, Lab Gruppen, etc., but I don't think the I-Tech is there yet.

+1 about the I-Tech on subs, there is also this extended booom or low end extension they seem to colour the sub end with.

Franz
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Tim McCulloch

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #4 on: March 27, 2014, 01:00:10 PM »

+1 about the I-Tech on subs, there is also this extended booom or low end extension they seem to colour the sub end with.

Franz

Funny, but "colored" is exactly how I feel about the original MacroTechs on subs.  Some folks seem to like that, just like some like the sound of a Midas in soft clip.
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Bill Schnake

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2014, 01:53:04 PM »

Well, we decided to go to the back to the future and get some MA5002VZ for the subs we are going to be running two of them to start with across 3 SB850 boxes per side.  It is a little under powered, but I think for what we are doing it should work out great.  If not we add another amp.  So our county fair rig is a 6/6 850 system with the following:

Horns:    Itech 4000
Mids:      Itech 4000
Lows:     Itech 8000
Subs:     (2) MacroTech 5002VZ

Tim, looks like we are going with the QL5 when it is available in April.

Bill
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Bill Schnake

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Keith Broughton

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2014, 02:31:44 PM »

Well, we decided to go to the back to the future and get some MA5002VZ for the subs we are going to be running two of them to start with across 3 SB850 boxes per side.  It is a little under powered, but I think for what we are doing it should work out great.  If not we add another amp.  So our county fair rig is a 6/6 850 system with the following:

Horns:    Itech 4000
Mids:      Itech 4000
Lows:     Itech 8000
Subs:     (2) MacroTech 5002VZ

Tim, looks like we are going with the QL5 when it is available in April.

Bill
Been using 4 VZ5000s to power 16 Danley TH115s and couldn't be happier.
Those VZs will deliver full power all day long on any kind of low frequency content.
Heavy though..... :o
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Scott Carneval

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2014, 06:04:33 PM »

Heavy though..... :o

Before the 5002VZ I ran a Crest 10004.  I can't remember the exact spec but I believe it was somewhere around 147lbs.  Makes the Macrotech seem like a featherweight.
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Keith Broughton

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2014, 07:36:26 AM »

Before the 5002VZ I ran a Crest 10004.  I can't remember the exact spec but I believe it was somewhere around 147lbs.  Makes the Macrotech seem like a featherweight.
I remember those!
They were so heavy, they had their own gravitational field  ;D
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Josh Millward

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Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2014, 06:46:17 PM »

Before the 5002VZ I ran a Crest 10004.  I can't remember the exact spec but I believe it was somewhere around 147lbs.  Makes the Macrotech seem like a featherweight.

Yes, I have a 10004.

I've used a lot of MA5000's and MA5002VZ's.

There is a reason I opted to keep the 10004: While it may be heavy as all hell (especially when racked up with another 8001 and 4801), I think it sounds a LOT better than the MA5002VZ's. Also, it seems to be more robust, which is probably part of why it is so heavy.

However, if I were buying new today and I just needed a basic amplifier, I would be taking a long hard look at the Crest Audio Pro-LITE 7.5. Light weight and lots of power... Otherwise, it is obviously a Crest Audio Pro9200 for me.

Of course, I work at Peavey Commercial Audio, so some would say my opinion is more than a bit skewed...

I still think it would be worth your while to have a look at the other options.

Of course, if you need some DSP, but don't need networking and remote control and all that, the Pro-LITE DSP amplifiers have a DSP from the guys at Waves.
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Josh Millward
Danley Sound Labs

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Crown I-Tech 6000 or Crown Macro-Tech 5002vz
« Reply #9 on: April 01, 2014, 06:46:17 PM »


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