8
Micro-T
ech
Jim and Clay used to shar
e ideas over lunch, wher
e Jim told Clay
about the concept. Clay came up with the name “Micr
o-T
ech”
because the goal was to put high technology into a micr
o-sized
amp. It was a new packaging paradigm as well as a new market.
In the early 1980s, Jim W
o
rdinger went to Showco, one of the
major touring sound companies. At that time they wer
e doing
sound for David Bowie using PSA power amps. Accor
ding to
Jim, “W
e asked them what they would like to see in an amplifi
er
.”
“They said, ‘W
e’d like them smaller and lower
-cost.’ I couldn’
t
say anything about what we wer
e working on, but their comment
cer
tainly vindicated our design goals. Showco was one of
our fi
rst customers; they used a lot of Micr
o-T
echs. W
e
had a
relationship with them. They would fi
nd any pr
oblems fi
rst and
then we’d fi
x them.”
Eventually Clair Br
others bought Showco. Now they ar
e using
over 2000 MA-3600VZs.
The MT
-700 (never r
eleased) was the fi
rst Micr
o-T
ech amp. Then
came the MT
-1000 which pr
ovided 1000 watts into 2 ohms. Next
was the MT
-1200 which pr
oduced 1200 watts, thanks to bigger
power transfor
mers.
The technology in Micr
o-T
ech pr
oducts helped Cr
own develop
amps for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). General Electric
asked Cr
own to make amplifi
ers with mor
e voltage and curr
ent
than what was available. W
e
cr
eated bigger amps for GE, such as
the 7780, using JTS and Gr
ounded Bridge.
An ear
ly sk
etch b
y
Jim
W
o
rdinger
sho
wing a proposed chassis la
y
o
ut
of a pre-Micro-T
ech po
w
e
r amplifi
er
.
