Crown 1947-2007
Sep 26, 2007 4:08 PM
At AES, Crown is celebrating its 60th anniversary. These days, the Crown name is synonymous with top-quality tools and products for professional audio users, but it wasn't always that way.
A mid-1950s photo of founder Clarence Moore (left) and his son, Clyde (also later a Crown president), with some of the company’s early tape recorders.
THE EARLY YEARS
The Crown story began in 1947 with the founding of IREC, the International Radio and Electronics Corporation by minister Clarence C. Moore (1904-1979). After spending years working in Quito, Ecuador for a non-profit Christian radio broadcasting and engineering group, Moore and his wife Ruby returned to their home in Elkhart, Indiana. Their business plan was to provide a source of quality electronic gear for other Christian broadcasters and they set up their first manufacturing facility in a former chicken coop.
In the post-war years, the first commercial tape recorders were beginning to create a revolution in the broadcast industry, and IREC's first products was a series of compact, yet roadworthy reel-to-reel decks that would operate reliably when used by missionaries in remote, often-primitive regions of the world. After modifying and distributing various existing models (Magnecord, Recordio, Pentron and Crestwood) for the first few years, Moore was granted a patent in 1949 for the world’s first tape recorder with a built-in 15-watt power amplifier.
With the growth of the company, Ruby Moore later suggested that "International Radio and Electronics Corporation" was too long, and in the 1960s, the name was changed to Crown International, based on the crown emblem used on the company's popular "Royal" and "Imperial" tape recorder models. Eventually, stockholders voted to change the corporation's name to Crown International, Inc. in 1975.
AMPS, AMPS, AMPS
Over the years, state-of-the-art innovations have made Crown the largest amplifier manufacturer in the world. In many ways, the 1967 introduction of the AB+B-class DC 300 ushered in the era of the modern, high power amplifier. Offering 340 watts/channel (at 4 ohms), this 4-rackspace, 40-pound beast came in at less than the "magic" $1/watt price point, based on its original $685 retail. And with its rock-solid construction, and internal thermal and V-I protection modes, the DC 300 was the ideal solution for high-end consumer listeners, high-SPL studio monitors and live sound systems coming into vogue with the summer of love. For a flashback to the past, check out this vintage DC 300 brochure at: http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/legacy/DC300-spec-sheet.pdf.
Years later, a DC 300 was immortalized in a magazine ad that showed the unit half-submerged in a muddy field, based on a real story:
"In the early evening of September 17, 1973, Jay Barth was at the wheel of a 22-foot utility truck that was loaded with sound equipment. Just north of Benton Harbor, Mich., an oncoming car crossed the center line; fortunately, Jay steered clear of the impending collision. Unfortunately, a soft shoulder caused the truck to roll two and one half times. Exit several DC 300As through the metal roof of the truck's cargo area. The airborne DC 300As finally came to rest—scattered about in a muddy field, where they remained partially submerged for four and a half hours. Jay miraculously, escaped injury; the amplifiers apparently had not. Unbelievably, after a short time under a blow dryer, all the amps worked perfectly and are still going strong. The rest—and the truck—is history."
Even today, some 40 years after their original introduction, many DC 300s are still used in professional audio applications, a testament to Crown reliability.
Crown's SASS microphone
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
Responding to market demand in the ’70s, Crown focused on professional—rather than consumer—audio. Pushing the envelope of computer technology, Crown launched the PSA-2 Power Amplifier in 1979 with a built-in computer that maximized performance of its output transistors. Also in 1979, the company diversified its product line again, with the introduction of the still-popular line of Pressure Zone Microphones (PZM).
In 1980, Crown popularized the PZM Pressure Zone Microphone®, which was licensed from Ed Long and Ron Wickersham by Ken Wahrenbrock. Radical new ideas in microphones don't come along very often, and over the next couple of years the engineering community became caught up in a frenzy, trying to use PZMs on everything. Eventually, the craze died down and PZMs took their place as part of a well-stocked mic locker, rather than being the mic locker.
The TEF System 10
Crown partnership with Richard C. Heyser, a research engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology, led to the to develop Heyser's Time Delay Spectrometry concepts into a system for acoustical measurements. The result was Crown's 1983 TEF System 10, the first portable TDS analyzer/acoustical measurement system. Encompassing the gamut of TDS measurements, TEF (Time-Energy-Frequency) included energy-time curves and the ability to show complex waterfall displays of audio spectra. The 40-pound suitcase unit included a custom computer with 96KB RAM, a 9-inch green-phosphor screen and cost $14,500. However, acoustical research would never be the same, as for the first time, complex on-site measurements of systems and spaces are possible from a commercially-available unit.
With the implementation of Grounded Bridge™ circuitry in the ’80s, Crown set new standards for amplifier innovation. Providing lower distortion, less thermal stress, higher acoustic output, greater reliability and excellent power density, Grounded Bridge circuitry was integral to the engineering of the power-packed Macro-Tech and Micro-Tech amplifier lines. Used by many of the world's largest touring companies, these acclaimed units spawned the Com-Tech amplifier series extensively used by sound contractors in some of the highest-profile installations around the globe.
Another Crown first was 1979's Stereo Ambient Sampling System™ (SASS) microphone. Placing a PZM mic element on either side of a unique boundary surface, this patented design uses accurate human-ear spacing between its capsules to produce a well-focused, natural stereo image without a "hole in the middle."
The ’90s found Crown innovations in the development of computer-controlled audio systems. Introduced in 1987, Crown’s patented IQ System, the world’s first significant computer-controlled audio system, had been , and, by 1990, was the most widely used system in the world.
In 1997, Crown added another audio milestone came with the introduction of the K2 amplifier featuring Balanced Current Amplifier™ circuitry offering innovative thermal and energy efficiencies.
THE FUTURE—AND BEYOND
With the company’s acquisition by Harman International in March of 2000, this millennium has already found Crown continuing to engineer forward-thinking solutions. As one example, the IQ-PIP-USP2/CN module that debuted a year later created the industry's first CobraNet compatible amplifiers when installed in Crown's Com-Tech 10 Series and Macro-Tech 02 Series.
Products such as Crown's flagship I-Tech amplifier line, XM Satellite Radio-equipped 180MAx, and cost-effective XTi, CDi and DSi product ranges embody the reliability and innovations that have long been the manufacturer’s hallmarks. As a testament to this, Crown has received an impressive string of 22 TEC nominations and six TEC Awards over the years.
Yet through it all, someone at Crown has always maintained a sense of humor. The original service manual for the DC-300 is entitled "300 Watts and a Cloud of Smoke" and among a thorough coverage of schematics and repair procedures, its introduction includes advice such as "try to avoid going to sleep while reading the rest of this manual." Years later, in 2002, Crown created the now-classic spoof datasheet for the imaginary BF-100 SUX Residential Zone Microphone (RZM), http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/mics/spoofmic.pdf which was "designed for many applications ranging from loans to jobs" and described as "a fully digital microphone, having an On-0ff switch." Sometimes you just gotta have some fun...
At AES, the legendary Crown DC 300 amplifier will be inducted into the TECnology Hall of Fame at a ceremony at the Javits Convention Center on Friday, October 5, 2007. For more info, go to mixfoundation.org/hof/techof.html. And 60 years after its humble beginnings, Crown continues to provide solid and dependable products for the needs of the most demanding users in studios, tours and installations worldwide. For more information, visit Crown at AES booth 408 or online at www.crownaudio.com.
