Amp for HE15, Crown K2, CE 4000, CE 2000. (1 Viewer)

[Ken Lopata]

For $1,300 I can get a K2, CE4000, or 2 CE 2000's.
Here are the specs of each.
Amp Watts @ 4 Ohms stereo Mono bridged
K2 800W
CE4000 1200W
CE2000 660W 1,950W
It seems the best bank for the buck is buying 2 CE 2000's bridging them to mono. This would send 1,950 watts to each coil. This would be awesome. Why are alot of people using the K2. It seems to give the least watts for the dollar. Any other suggestions. Thanks.

 

[Dylan SJ]

I think the K series are so popular because they are fanless, so no fan noise.
I have a CE2000 driving a pair of JBL2245 based subs, but the amp is in a seperate room. If the amp was in the HT I think the fan noise would drive me mad. Otherwise I think it's a fine amp. Are you sure it can be bridged though?
Dylan

 

[Jacob_N]

I would have to go with the K2, 2500 watts and no fan.
The CE series is ok but no match for the sound quality and control that the k series brings. The K2 is just awesome in the low end providing real power that the CE series can't match. The power supplies are very different and the parts are better for the k series.
I've had both of these amps and the k series is the one I picked.

 

[Chris Hoppe]

You've just got the power spec for the Crown K2 wrong. It puts out 2500W bridged into 4 ohms.
http://www.crownaudio.com/amp_htm/kspecs.htm
One thing to keep in mind. There is no 4 ohm way of hooking up a single HE driver. You can do either 2 or 8 ohms. In reality, the impedance curve is not quite that bad at 2 ohms. It's more like a 3 ohm load, but there are also hellacious backcurrents to deal with. I know from personal experience that the K2 can drive both coils of an HE without breaking a sweat! I don't know about the other amps you listed. They may not tolerate it and you would be forced to run the HE at 8 ohms, which would be a serious penalty in power output from the amp.
Get the K2! But be careful... it is actually capable of bottoming the driver! Absolutely brutal amp! Run a subsonic filter whatever you do.

 

[Jeff Rosz]

i have drooled many times over the page which chris provided the link to and am running out of tissue to clean up the mess. look at this, pulled directly from that page:
K series
Damping Factor: >3,000 from 10 to 400 Hz
CE 4000
Damping Factor: Greater than 700 from 10 Hz to 400 Hz.
CE 2000
Damping Factor: Greater than 400 from 10 Hz to 400 Hz.
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*why build one when you can build two for twice the price*
jeff

 

[Chris Hoppe]

Hehe... well you can get them used on Ebay for about $800-$900!

 

[Pawel B]

Well another consideration is a CREST VS1500, which I will be using to power my HE15. Here are some specs for it
stereo power 8 ohms
400W
stereo power 4 ohms
750W
stereo power 2 ohms
1000W
bridged mono power 8 ohms
1500W
bridged mono power 4 ohms
2000W
Damping factor 1000:1, 10-400Hz @ 8 ohms

 

[Ken Lopata]

I can get a new K2 for 1,200. Is this a good deal. Whats the price of a Crest VS1500. Thanks.

 

[Tony Genovese]

If it's latest production, it is an excellent price. In September 2000 Crown changed the auto sleep function from 6 seconds to approximately 60 seconds for the K series. Auto sleep is not an issue in live sound applications but it is in the home. In fact, since many folks were using the K's in home theater applications, Crown decided to change this feature. In a home theater, if there is no signal or the signal is low, the amp will seemingly turn off. Once it gets sufficient signal, turn on is instantaneous. In a bass only application, a six second turn off could be a problem. If you decide to go with the K2, just make sure the dealer took delivery after about October and you should be pretty sure it is the latest production.
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[Jacob_N]

Actually you can have the sleep feature turned off all together. I know my local dealer said that he would turn the feature off for free.
The Crown also has the best warranty in the biz, three year no fault. I've never had any problems with them though so I've never had to test it. A friend had a problem and it was fixed for free and fast.

 

[Chris Hoppe]

I have bypassed my standby feature. If you want to know how, do a search for a post I made earlier anout how to do it...
It does cause the amp to run pretty hot, as if you were cranking it for a while. However, it doesn't get any hotter than that even if you do crank it. It just gets hot and stays that way.

 

[Ken Lopata]

I just bought a brand new K2 for $1,200. I think it's a great price. If anyone else wants one let me know. Thanks for all your help. Ken