My "unreliable" listening experience with the Crown pre-amp and the DC-300 was back in the late 70's when I owned both and my sole source of information from the audio press was your recently deceased idol ("everything sounds the same") Julian Hirsh.

As much as Julian tried to hoodwink us all into believing that any ole' mass-marketed Japanese inport would do just fine so long as it had enough bells, whistles and flashing lights and that all amps really did sound just the same, I simply couldn't stand the dry, brittle a-musical sound of the the Crown electronics over time and decided to search out for something that would create an enjoyable and "musical" listening experience.

I have no idea what replaced the Crowns, but even to this day I remember why I got rid of them. Fingernails on a chalkboard is a very apt description of what led me to unload them and to once and for all stop reading Julian Hirsch. Maybe the high-end press that I later began reading was full of junk science, but unlike Hirsch, it introduced me to gear that allowed me to achieve the listening enjoyment I was seeking but that remained elussive as long as I believed Hirsch was a good source of advice.

Actually, I should have learned my lesson about Hirsch when I bought a Tanberg tapedeck based on his conclusion that he could not distinguish a recording on that deck from the original. When I brought the deck home I was shocked at how much of a difference there was and how lacking the Tandberg was. Despite numerous experiements with different tapes and many trips back to the dealer, the stark difference between original and tape (which the esteemed Julian Hirsch couldn't detect) never did vanish.