Crown has announced two additions to its line of Commercial Audio products: the 135MA and 160MA mixer/amplifiers. These little guys are designed to be the core component for a wide array of audio systems, including background music, paging and security systems, evacuation announcement systems and, well, any situation wherein the public needs to be addressed. Hell, you can even redress them, lord knows some of you "public" needs it.

The two amps share a variety of features that make them convenient and reliable for paging and announcement applications: both feature priority muting -- a feature which can be either voice activated or switch activated [helpful for when the seniors make their AM announcements on the last day of school . . . they think it's all a big joke, don't they] -- convection cooling, current limiting, over-temperature thermal cutout, and DC-fault load protection. The units are also protected against turn-on / turn-off "thumps," embarrassing in any situation.

The front panels feature a rotary input volume knob and green signal/clip LED for every channel, rotary output volume knob with signal and clip LEDs, recessed pots for bass and treble adjustment, and a power switch with accompanying blue LED. The back panel includes a balanced Phoenix-type mic/line input with threshold control, line-level RCA inputs a telephone/MOH output with level control [for your favorite on-hold jam], a preamp output, screw-terminal speaker outputs, and a detachable IEC power cord.

The 135MA features 35 watts output and three input channels, and the 160MA delivers 60 watts and offers four channels of input. When determining which model will best suit your needs, consider the context: are you a second hand book shop? Go for the 135MA. Public High School? Get five 160MA's. Public Middle School? Only God can help you.