Crown began over 70 years ago in Elkhart, Indiana (not far from where Sweetwater sits today), when Clarence C. Moore founded the International Radio and Electronics Corporation (IREC). The company began by making open-reel tape recorders for missionaries out of a converted chicken coop. In the 1960s, they expanded well beyond tape recorders and changed their name to Crown International.
Crown International soon became a household name, and before the end of the '70s, they'd completely shifted focus to making power amps. By the time Crown joined Harman International in 2000, they'd been a leading force in the PA market, supplying power amplifiers to commercial establishments, broadcast studios, and music venues of all kinds. With their continuous drive and innovation, Crown has flourished ever since.
On the subject of innovation, Crown has introduced some of the most remarkable technological breakthroughs in sound-reinforcement history. To put it into perspective, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Crown holds more patents than all the rest of the world's PA manufacturers combined. Their pioneer spirit led them to be the first amplifier company to adopt the CobraNet digital audio protocol, while additional technologies such as HiQnet Band Manager and System Architect control software make it easy to create comprehensive PA systems with monitoring control, integrating Crown amps and compatible JBL speakers.
Over the years, Crown has dramatically scaled down the size and weight of their amps, making them smaller, lighter, and more powerful than ever. For instance, many DriveCore amps contain a single chip that replaces 500 individual parts, not only reducing the mass of these amps, but also making them more rugged and reliable than any other power amplifiers built to do nearly as much.
Onboard DSP also makes Crown amps both super clean and extremely versatile. In addition to EQ and delay controls, Crown's DSP includes such utilities as fully adjusted Peak Plus Limiters, the system-tuning Enhanced Subharmonic Synth, and much more. Professional install techs particularly love these elements of Crown amps, because they make it easy to set up turnkey systems that rarely, if ever, need to be tweaked.
No matter how superior the tech may be, it means nothing if the amplifier itself can't survive the rigors of the road. Fortunately, Crown got into the amplifier business long before they'd pushed the envelope of amp technology, when building reliable hardware was the key to their success. That's when they originally established their build standards, and these standards are as high or higher than ever. For instance, during development, Crown amps have to survive drop tests, high vibration, and other abusive tests. What's more, during the manufacturing process, these amps are put through a series of quality control checks to catch any defects before they ever leave the shop.
In the end, it's all about customer satisfaction, and Crown totally knocks it out of the park. At Sweetwater, we haven't just used Crown amplifiers, we also hear from our customers all the time. The feedback is overwhelmingly positive, as live sound engineers rave about the ease of use, flexibility, and overall reliability of these products. Whether we're dealing with a theater system, an install for a church, a touring sound-reinforcement rig, or a simple mobile DJ setup, we're confident recommending Crown amplifiers.
