CRIMSON Amps

[ludovico]

Hi.

I guess some of you have heard or owned at least once some Crimson Amp & Preamps. I have a 610C preamp and a pair of 630C mono blocks. I must say that am impressed with this combo, especially the 630s which are by far the best amps I owned. They worked very very well with my ATC SCM11, which, as every ATC passives eat power like you wouldn't believe. I compared these with a big 80W class A amp (Jungson JA 99c), the 630c were far better, more expressive I would say. A Quad 606 was not bad at all, especially for the bass, but the Crimson were still way better in the midrange, and more detailed.

The Crimson Monoblocks are highly regarded in France and were reviewed by the NRDS in 1998, at the time they were praised by Jean Hiraga.

[Haselsh1]

Yes indeed, I remember Crimson amplifiers from around 1983 and their 200 Watt monoblocks and matching preamp. In fact, a friend of mine is still using those very amplifiers with his Mission Argonauts.

[DSJR]

They were huge fun and I remember them in the early days as kits (I think). Later production was more refined and rather good I recall.

[Haselsh1]

They were huge fun and I remember them in the early days as kits (I think). Later production was more refined and rather good I recall.

Indeed David they were available as kits. The 200 Watt mono's I was referring to were also available as kits. The friend I refer to though bought them ready made as he, like me, is simply no bloody good with a soldering iron.

[walpurgis]

I've also owned the 500 and 600 series Crimson amps. They were pretty good, nice punchy sound. I also had a set of Quantum amps at the time, pre and power, which I have to say I preferred though, they were a bit more refined. Can't recall the model numbers.

[ludovico]

Yes indeed, I remember Crimson amplifiers from around 1983 and their 200 Watt monoblocks and matching preamp. In fact, a friend of mine is still using those very amplifiers with his Mission Argonauts.

The 200W monos (Crimson 640 range) appeared later, in 2001 I think, and were only available as factory-built units. A friend who knows very well Crimson amps told me to stay away from the 640 which, according to him, are less musical than the 630 (100W monos).

[Haselsh1]

The 200W monos (Crimson 640 range) appeared later, in 2001 I think, and were only available as factory-built units. A friend who knows very well Crimson amps told me to stay away from the 640 which, according to him, are less musical than the 630 (100W monos).

Sorry old pal but my friend Darren bought his monoblocks back in the early 1980's and has used them ever since. They are much much older than I think you realise.

[hifi_dave]

Crimson and Quantum amps came from the same stable, back in the 80's. Both ranges were available ready built and as kits for a while.

[Arkless Electronics]

IIRC Crimson were first and Quantum was another company, formed by the designer with Crimson, which then made amps to basically the same design. The name Tim Nind comes to mind but I ain't googled it and could be out by a mile!

[hifi_dave]

Correct, it was Tim Nind. Quantum were very popular with our customers for a while, then they disappeared. Crimson continued in some sort of association with DNM.

[ludovico]

Sorry old pal but my friend Darren bought his monoblocks back in the early 1980's and has used them ever since. They are much much older than I think you realise.

The first 200W mono blocks (the 640D) were introduced in 2001 according to Brian Powell himself: http://www.crimsonelectronics.com/about_us.html

Before that, there was only the 50W amp (520 and 620) and the 100W monos (530 and 630).

Since 1998 with the "C" serie, all Crimson amps are fitted with DNM Solid Core cable, and Aerovox caps.

[Arkless Electronics]

I have in front of me "Wireless World" Jan 1984 and on page 87 there is an advert for Crimson. "First choice of the professionals!" it boasts in the headline. This ad covers only power amp modules I.E boards for you to build into your own case and supply your own power supply etc. The same range of boards were fitted to their ready made amps but I don't know if all the boards below were actually sold as finished amps... I do vaguely remember there being a 200W monoblock though...
The most powerful is the CE3004 @ 320W into 4 Ohm. Then there is the CE1708 rated @ 180W into 8 Ohms and the CE1704 @ 200W into 4 Ohm.
The 180W board is obviously the nearest so I wonder if that was the board used and actually these "mythical" monoblocks were 180W... it does say power rails are 60V (split rails of course so 2 X 60V) but max voltage is 63v. Using 63V that should just about do 200W into 8.

[Haselsh1]

I only know that this guy Darren Gibson who I don't think is here on AOS has been using his monoblocks and dedicated preamp since 1983 when he bought them from 'Sound Perfection' in Grimsby. He uses them in conjunction with a pair of Mission Argonauts from the same year and has an early Mission turntable as well along with a 774 tonearm. Damn fine sound the last time I sat in and heard them.

[StuN]

Can't speak for Crimson, but I still use a pair of Quantum mono blocks (205s) and I also have the matching preamp/power supply combo. The pre is pleasant enough though not up to today's standards, but the 205s are really good with my Ls3/5As.

[Paul Hynes]

The CE3004 was a heavy-duty module with 4 output devices. The lower power modules used 2 output devices. We used to sell these modules, and the earlier fully built amplifiers and preamps, from premises in Lytham St Annes in the 1980s. I cannot remember which year the CE3004 was introduced but I did build a power amp with them as soon as they were available. They were good amplifiers at the time and virtually indestructible. Probably still are, but I have not used them since the 1980s and Brian and Co. continued to develop the circuitry further, but I have no experience of later designs.

[ff1d1l]

I built up a pre and power kit in about 1981 or 1982, it was the 1704 as I wished to use them with electrostatics. I can't remember the exact model of preamp, but it was very ok. Something about making something yourself and then getting pleasure from listening to it is extremely satisfying.

I remember them fondly and wish I still had them - they were very capable.

[ludovico]

It seems we are a few ones to have experience with their later design (since 1998 with the 600C range). Here you can find lots of reviews of these amps, mostly in german: http://www.audio-stereo.de/crimson/presse.html
They use more or less the same design as early models, with better components. The 710 preamp is another story though...

[Audio Advent]

Whatever happend to Crimson and the 710? Not heard of it for a good few years now.. EDIT: still going it seems! http://www.crimsonelectronics.com

I think people are talking about different amps in this thread. There were all the 80s ones and then there were the C and D models which seem to be late 90s onwards commercial products, not kits.

I had a pair of something with the 610, I think 630Cs. One big problem I had with the 630s was that they became unstable and went into oscillation if you switched the pre on after the amps. A friend had a similar problem too and the designer from Crimson seemed to imply that was just a character of the design and so not to do it...

But I then tried a DNM PA1 and found for me it was much better than the 630s - faster and more detail, despite only being 30W. This at low listening levels though..

[Martyn Miles]

A friend, who is a sound engineer, has a pair of Crimson amps. in a 19" case for rack mounting.
He loves them.

We ran them recently into a pair of Tannoy DC2000s, after using a Quad 405.
I did prefer the Crimsons on those particular speakers.

Martyn.

[Scooby]

Never had Crimson amps, but I did have a 3 box Quantum setup. It was very good but I didn't really give it the credit it deserved because I bought it cheap.

Wrong, I know, but it's very easy to let monetary value cloud judgement when it comes to performance.

[YNWaN]

I owned Crimson 610 pre and 620 power many years ago. They weren't kits though did look a bit home made in places. I remember the pre was battery powered.

[Virtual-Symmetry]

I've also owned the 500 and 600 series Crimson amps. They were pretty good, nice punchy sound. I also had a set of Quantum amps at the time, pre and power, which I have to say I preferred though, they were a bit more refined. Can't recall the model numbers.

I had a Quantum set '102' Pre/ '207DA' Power/'402' Power supply. Later upgraded the '207DA' to a pair of '205' Mono blocks..

[Brian Powell]

My website "Brian Powell Audio" has a lot of details which may be of use.