Crown SX824

[El Monte Slim]

I recently acquired some additional vintage Crown literature in mint condition! I will be scanning some of it and sharing here in this forum.

Here's a scan of a catalog sheet for the Crown SX824 from 1970.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crown%20album/CrownSX824brochure.jpg?t=1288209271

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crown%20album/CrownSX824brochurerear.jpg?t=1288209308


And here's the real thing, but it is a 1976 model. Same configuration with the exception of my unit does not have a D-40 Amplifier installed in the rack, but instead has a splicing block. Also, my unit has the later model NAB hubs.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crown%20album/MVC-002F-3.jpg?t=1288209467

[westgate]

amazing 'amenities' for 1970. 'computer controlled logic', etc. wow!

[TheCityBeef]

She Sure Looks Purty... Wish i could track down an original rack for mine *hope*

[El Monte Slim]

She Sure Looks Purty... Wish i could track down an original rack for mine *hope*

Here's how to get a pretty nice looking rack without spending a lot of $$.

Figure out how many "spaces" you need and order the appropriate one from here : http://www.cheapstudioracks.com/BASICSERIES.html

You may have to order one for more spaces than you need and then "cut it down to the appropriate size. For example, if you need a 10-space rack, you'll have to buy a 12-space and shorten it. They are 15 inches deep, so you will need to cut the pieces to your desired "depth".

I have a friend that has a nice woodshop and a top-notch table saw that makes very smooth and accurate cuts, so my cuts looked great.

This is how I made the case for the SX824 in the attached photo, as it came mounted only on 2 pieces of rackrail when I acquired it.

[Mark J]

Well that explains the black cabinet unit but the walnut cabinet unit...what cabinet is that? It is not an original from the era if it is in fact a Crown cabinet because the older cabinets have the black plastic wraps on the end pieces as your IMA cabinet has. If it is a later Crown by JELN cabinet, interesting that the bottom piece is much thicker than on the other Jeln cabinets.

Now we need to know.

[El Monte Slim]

Well that explains the black cabinet unit but the walnut cabinet unit...what cabinet is that? It is not an original from the era if it is in fact a Crown cabinet because the older cabinets have the black plastic wraps on the end pieces as your IMA cabinet has. If it is a later Crown by JELN cabinet, interesting that the bottom piece is much thicker than on the other Jeln cabinets.

Now we need to know.

The walnut enclosure for the other deck is a Crown original. Earlier Crown cabinets featured the black edging, whereas the later cabinets featured walnut. You will notice in this picture from a Crown brochure (undated, but probably from 1974 or 1975) that the edges are walnut and not black.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crownsmallbrochuretapedeckpage.jpg?t=1290042945


You probably can't see it very well in the above pictures, but the cabinet has a slight "slant" to it. That is, the deck leans back slightly for two reasons. One, to provide better visibility and access to the controls and such, and two, to bring the center of gravity towards the center of the unit and make it more stabile, less inclined to fall forward.

You can see the slight slant better in this picture of my SX824 that was taken from a side angle.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/MVC-004F.jpg?t=1290044196


The thicker bottom piece was required to accommodate the mounting of the deck at a reclining angle. The rear of the deck is close to the bottom of the cabinet at the rear but slightly higher at the front.

The two SX824 RTRs that you have seen are very late units, manufactured in 1976, the last year that Crown produced these marvelous machines. The serial numbers on these two are only 41 numbers apart. The tipoff to the very late production is the head cover graphics.

Here you see the earlier design that was used up until late 74 or early 75, and the later design that was used until the end of production. The top cover is the later version.


http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crown%20album/MVC-007F.jpg?t=1290045502


You will also notice that my two SX824 units have the later design upper head cover that I showed in the comparison photo as well as the later design lower head cover with the 800 in a block logo as compared to the slanted 800 logo of the earlier design.

Crown RTR design was evolutionary, not revolutionary. Design features changed as the years went on. Rather than introduce a new model that incorporated a new or improved feature, Crown continued to refine the existing models and stuck with the same numbers. Teac did something simular with the progression of their models with the same root model number, but different prefixes or suffixes.

You might notice that my hub adapters are different than shown in the brochure. I'll post later about the difference between the earlier production NAB hub adapters and the later units.

[Mark J]

Thanks for clearing up the cabinet differences. I know that Crown changed from the black vinyl wraps to the walnut sometime in 1974. My DC-300a was purchased in November 1974 (almost exactly on the FTC power amp description legislation day) and since it was a demo unit it had the older vinyl wrap cabinet where as the catalog in the OM had the newer walnut cabinets mentioned.

[El Monte Slim]

Thanks for clearing up the cabinet differences. I know that Crown changed from the black vinyl wraps to the walnut sometime in 1974. My DC-300a was purchased in November 1974 (almost exactly on the FTC power amp description legislation day) and since it was a demo unit it had the older vinyl wrap cabinet where as the catalog in the OM had the newer walnut cabinets mentioned.

My Techron (Crown) IMA has the older style case with the black vinyl wraps.

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd167/winnabowflash/Crown%20album/MVC-002F-4.jpg?t=1290051359


I have one of the older style DC300A cabinets with the black vinyl wraps. I probably ought to list it for sale in the appropriate forum.

[TheCityBeef]

Cool, thanks for the tips for the Rack and all the Eyecandy*Hi5*