Crimson Products Ltd.
Truth, not Character.
“Это наш девиз! Мы разрабатываем продукты для тех людей, которые в первую очередь любят слушать музыку, а не перебирают аппаратуру. Все, что мы делаем не имеет собственного звукового характера, а просто исчезает из цепочки воспроизведения. Наша цель - сделать так, чтобы музыка, которую вы слышите у себя дома, максимально соответствовала музыке в том виде, в котором она была изначально записана.”
Немного истории…
- 1976 - Brian Powell работает на Decca Records в отделе аудиопродукции, занимаясь разработкой предварительных усилителей и усилителей мощности, а также FM-тюнера и некоторых динамиков. Когда становится ясно, что Decca скоро свернется, Brian основывает Crimson Elektrik в Leicester. Первой продукцией компании являются полностью протестированные печатные платы усилителей мощности. Покупатель / сборщик обеспечивал их собственным источником питания и корпусом.
Платы усилителя мощности и пример сборки. Номинальная мощность рассчитана на 60 Вт на 8 Ом и 100 Вт на 4 Ом, выходная мощность в некоторой степени зависела от производительности источника питания
- 1979 - Начинают предлагаться полностью готовые усилители.
Ранний Crimson Pre and Power Amplifier
- 1980 - Выпуск предусилителя Crimson 510 и усилителя мощности 520/530.
Предварительный усилитель Crimson 510 с батарейным питанием и усилитель мощности Crimson 520
- 1982 - Представлены предварительный усилитель Crimson 610 и усилители мощности 620 и 630.
Предварительный усилитель Crimson 610 и усилитель мощности Crimson 620
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1995 - Представлена серия 600 с индексом «C».
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1996 - Право собственности на Crimson приобретается ее всемирным дистрибьютором, компанией Virtual Reality Audio Systems Ltd. и учреждается компания Crimson Products Ltd.
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1998 - Crimson публикует брошюру о предварительном усилителе и усилителе мощности серии 600. К предусилителю CS610C добавлен дополнительный линейный вход. Предварительный усилитель CS610C получает обновленную схему.
Предварительный усилитель Crimson CS610C и моноблоки CS630C
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2000 - Усилители мощности серии 600 получают совершенно новые печатные платы, новые задние панели и получают индекс “D”.
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2001 - Представлен моноблочный усилитель мощности CS640D. Он оснащен двумя сетевыми трансформаторами. Вооруженный мощностью в 175/250 W 8/4 Ohm.
Моноблоки Crimson CS640D
- 2005 - Представлен предварительный усилитель CS710 оснащенный ПДУ. Представлена серия усилителей мощности серии 600 с индексом «Е».
Crimson CS710C с моноблоками CS640E
- 2008 - Усилители мощности CS640E и CS620E получают совершенно новые печатные платы и становятся версией “E-II”. Выпуск Crimson RM Music Link Audio Cables.
"Лучшие аудиокабели - это те, которых вы не слышите!
Crimson Audio Cables - это кабели с самым прозрачным звуком, которые мы знаем".
Loudspeaker Cables
Interconnect Cables
Balanced Interconnect Cables
- 2011 - Усилители мощности CS640E-II и CS620E-II получают обновленные схемы и улучшенную внутреннюю проводку и становятся версией “E-III”.
B. Powell любезно ответил на некоторые вопросы
ТУТ
Hello Michael
It is nice to hear from friends in Russia. I would like to thank you for your kind comments on the amplifiers. I am happy to answer your questions.
Could you tell us what business you are currently doing at the company? What is happening with production now? Maybe some new models of devices are planned?
I am designing still for Crimson and under my own name, Brian Powell (Audio). I do PCB final assembly here after most components have been machine placed. I then test the PCBs. I do repair work here as well as upgrades to any Crimson product from 1976 to the present date. PCBs go to Scotland (Peter More) for some of the final assembly. My son who normally designs mass spectrometers, assembles the latest amplifiers type 880. So far these have only sold in the USA as they are expensive high end. The 880 stereo power amps utilize 4 boxes. Two house the linear PSUs and two house the power amp PCBs and control electronics.
Is there now technical support for old devices, repairs and upgrades? And how does it happen? Do you provide amp circuits for self-repair? Do you accept devices from other countries, such as Russia? Do old devices need prevention, replacement of capacitors, if they work?
For any repairs or upgrades owners normally ship the amplifiers to me. However, we do have an agent in Germany who does service and upgrade work too. If the upgrade is simple and the customer states that he/she is able to work safely with high voltages, we do sometimes ship PCBs or other spare parts directly to them. Most amplifiers are still working even from 40 years ago. There is one exception. We fitted capacitors to the 630 power amplifiers that were of too low a voltage i.e., 50V. These need to be 63V. Please check yours. There are several upgrades for type 600 amplifiers: a) Fit gold plated switches to the 610 b) Replace the power PCBs for the PWR12 type c) Fit speaker protector PCBs to the power amps d) Remove the DNM ribbon cable from the 630 signal input. This cable is really an antenna cable and is wide open to magnetic field pickup. A twisted pair of standard 7/0.2 is far better in this respect. E) The 620/630/640 heatsinks can get too hot if driven hard. The original thermal coupler plate was incorrectly fitted. The thermal coupler plate works by shunting heat from the main black heatsink to the outer cover. The early ones were loose fitted and did not work properly. This aluminium plate needs replacing better fixings used and liberally coating with thermal l grease to be effective.
Has your vision changed to the sound philosophy of the company with the release of new models, or has it remained unchanged? And if there were changes, what did they mean in terms of sound?
The sound philosophy is the same. An amplifier should have no signature it should just be an open window to the world of music. Some audiophiles believe in the “magic” quality of cable or certain capacitors. This is largely delusional. There is nothing better than solid engineering; BUT the human ear is a lot better than many people believe. Amplifiers can have the same technical specifications and sound very different indeed.
What kind of acoustics do you think is most suitable for your devices in terms of ideology? In your devices, you used cables from DNM, and advised to use interblock and acoustic cables of the same company. Is this recommendation relevant now? Tell us about your attitude to this company, why did you choose them? You have started producing your own cables. Can you tell us what materials are used in them? Is it worth changing the DNM cables to your own now?
The Crimson amplifiers have a very high subjective speed. Speakers with simpler crossovers seem to work best. Speakers that are slow on transients will always be slow with any amplifier. The DNM cables were incorporated when I was not with Crimson for a few years. This was a retrograde step. The DNM speaker cable has too low a cross sectional area to match the amplifier damping factor. However, some loudspeakers will benefit from lower damping with the DNM as this will increase the bass end output. The DNM signal cable (the flat ribbon type) is just not an audio cable. The DNM slit foil capacitors have not shown any benefit in tests I have done. The better a power amp PCB becomes, the better it is at rejecting any signal on its own power supply. Peter More (Virtual Reality) was responsible for the Crimson cables. As I have said above, I have no belief in cables or connectors as long as they are solidly made for the job.
Are there any other audio manufacturers that you could single out? Naim, LFD…
The early Naim were rather simple but competent. I just cannot see how the Naim power supply upgrades can work. Either the original power supply is inadequate or the active PCBs are failing to reject power supply imperfections. I have a lot of admiration for the work of Bob Cordell. Douglas Self is an excellent designer but he sees technical specifications only. Changes in amplifier topology are often audible, even if they do not show up on conventional tests. The old Quad 303 was an inspiration to me in 1976. The output triple is a formidable output stage.
I have done a lot of listening test over the last few years. I have come to believe that there is such a thing as envelope distortion. The ear can detect the attack decay, sustain and release of notes. The latest PWR12 PCBs give a much better defined and deeper sound bass ends without losing any of the speed or control.
I am sure you will many more questions and that is fine with me. I look forward to your comments…
