The Crown XLS DriveCore Thread

[GranteedEV]

I found 1/3 octave granularity wasn't enough for deep bass, and used a 1/6 octave display worked better.

I think Toole suggests 1/12th

 

[ahblaza]

I plan on setting one of these up on a tripod,
Sound level meter and 1/3 octave band real-time analyzer NA-28 RION CO., LTD.

The plan then is to blast pink noise, monitor the 3rd octave levels, and adjust as needed. I think this will be more efficient than sending out individual tones and, in the end I should be able to dial everything in quite well.

But, if anyone has set up a system like mine differently, or has any tips, please pass them along!

Hey Cub, what's the cost of the NA28?

 

[Irvrobinson]

I think Toole suggests 1/12th

I've tried the 1/3, 1/6 and 1/12 displays on OmniMic, and the 1/6 seems to work well enough. The problem I have with the 1/12 display is that it makes me try to smooth little spikes with tools that are too crude (sub placement, equalization) and the process gets annoying and counter-productive. I have no doubt Floyd has better tools available to him than I do.

 

[cubazuelen]

I could get to 1/6th, not sure I have any sound level meters that can get me to 1/12th though.

I believe the NA28 sells for around 5-6k, I work in environmental acoustics/vibration so I have access to alot of toys.

 

[Matt34]

Wife messaged me and said my XLS 2500 arrived today to replace the Behringer 4000 that was powering my LMS-18".

 

[cubazuelen]

I have had my 2500 for about a month now and I am loving it. I never got into any filtering since after hooking it up I was measuring +-4 dBA from 100-25Hz with my sub kicking in at about 50Hz. I have the gain at about 75% and rarely run my volume on my pre beyond -20.

This amp has really tamed my highs, I used to get ear fatigue with trumpets, female voices and other high frequency sources, since hooking the crown up this has dissappeared!

Now a couple of pics!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Crown XLS is great. They need to make a 200wpc x 5ch amp for about $750 and weighs 20lbs.

 

[SubSolar]

I'm thinking about buying an xls 2500 to use with my denon 3313. Problem is that the crown says it wants 1.4v preout voltage and the 3313 only supplies 1.0v, will this be an issue?

 

[fuzz092888]

I'm thinking about buying an xls 2500 to use with my denon 3313. Problem is that the crown says it wants 1.4v preout voltage and the 3313 only supplies 1.0v, will this be an issue?

I haven't had any issues and I don't think ADTG has either. You should be fine.

 

[SubSolar]

Ok, do I just use regular RCA cables like this?

For only $3.02 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 6ft Premium 2 RCA Plug/2 RCA Plug M/M 22AWG Cable - Black

Anything else I would need? Sorry for the questions, I've never bought a separate amp before.

 

[fuzz092888]

Nope, that should be it. Is this for a subwoofer or speakers?

 

[SubSolar]

Main speakers. Any minimum awg for the rca's? And I supposed the shortest length I can get away with the better?

 

[fuzz092888]

Main speakers. Any minimum awg for the rca's? And I supposed the shortest length I can get away with the better?

No minimum AWG. Go with the shortest length that is convenient for you

 

[SubSolar]

Ok, just purchased a new 2500 for $440 shipped on eBay. Hopefully will arrive within a couple weeks.

 

[twylight]

So, guys, I've had my XLS 2000 for just under a week now.

Do I have anything conclusive to say about its sound? Of course not - I'm not so arrogant. But man, does my system sound good. The bass is effortless, any harsh sibilance seems to be completely gone, the speakers sound good whether at -40 or +3, and I hear layer upon layer of content in different recordings. Whether that's the amp or not, I can't say. But I honestly can't imagine a better amplifier being available in the whole world at any cost. I'd love for someone to reliably prove me wrong but as it is, I'm just happy.

I would recommend anyone with great speakers, whether you spent 2K, 5K, 20K, or 50K to give these amplifiers a shot. You might be really damn biased, but who knows, maybe this amp sounds better than the name-brand audiophile amp you're looking at. Or it sounds the same but weighs a fraction as much. Or it sounds the same but costs a fraction as much. Just clear your mind for a moment and buy one from a local store with a return policy. You can make any decisions after that yourself. You might find yourself with a few grand in your wallet and a better sounding system.

The only complaint I'd make about this amp is that the blue LEDs are pretty obnoxious. I had to hide the amp behind an external hard drive and a gamecube.

I can back up the positive comments here on the crown XLS (1500 for me)

Proserfect sound
cost
balanced + rca

cons:
grounded line
eye burning led

I tried 5 amps back to back...level matched with my meter...Crown xls 1500, parasound 1206, emo xpa3, emo upa2, denon 4311

Spend your money on speakers...

Mine are philharmonic 2s

PS I fought the toughest ground loop...it was with my projector!...took me days to track it down

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Ground loop is a beotch for external amps.

 

[KEW]

Spend your money on speakers...

Words of wisdom.

 

[jcunwired]

The need for high output voltages (>2v) is to drive high-power amps to full output. Many high-end amps provide 26db of gain, so to drive a high power amp to full output may take between three and five volts, since gain is fixed and output power can vary. Lower power amps can often be driven to full output by less than two volts. Since many receivers have weak pre-amp stages (to save power and avoid heat) you now see a lot of high-power amps sporting very high gain, like 32db.

I've been following Crown pro amp posts for awhile now, and an email sale announcement from Musician's Friend and the heat of summer forced me to make a decision. After some finagling I got Guitar Center down to $288.20 for an XLS1500. Out goes the very nice heater/amp Anthem MCA 20. The Crown will power a pair of Ascend CMT-340SE that are going in my living room (just ordered), the preamp will be a Denon 2113CI that serves both my desktop speakers and the main part of the house (zone 2).

Then I had an "oh snap" moment and realized there was one other thing I needed to check on, and fortunately found this thread again relatively quickly. Forgive my ignorance, but will the voltage difference between the Denon (I have no idea what its preamp voltage output is) and the Crown be cause for concern? Is there a specific point on the gain knob that I should set the Crown to? Or should I just set it at 12 o'clock like the big boys do and stop over-thinking it?

Based on EV's review and others, I'm seriously considering an XLS2500 for my own Philharmonic 2's, but that bright LED is definitely a deterrent. They have no problems in front of the Denon 4311 but jeez the dude paints a good picture. Will have to think about this one.

I thank you in advance for your wisdom.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I've been following Crown pro amp posts for awhile now, and an email sale announcement from Musician's Friend and the heat of summer forced me to make a decision. After some finagling I got Guitar Center down to $288.20 for an XLS1500. Out goes the very nice heater/amp Anthem MCA 20. The Crown will power a pair of Ascend CMT-340SE that are going in my living room (just ordered), the preamp will be a Denon 2113CI that serves both my desktop speakers and the main part of the house (zone 2).

Then I had an "oh snap" moment and realized there was one other thing I needed to check on, and fortunately found this thread again relatively quickly. Forgive my ignorance, but will the voltage difference between the Denon (I have no idea what its preamp voltage output is) and the Crown be cause for concern? Is there a specific point on the gain knob that I should set the Crown to? Or should I just set it at 12 o'clock like the big boys do and stop over-thinking it?

Based on EV's review and others, I'm seriously considering an XLS2500 for my own Philharmonic 2's, but that bright LED is definitely a deterrent. They have no problems in front of the Denon 4311 but jeez the dude paints a good picture. Will have to think about this one.

I thank you in advance for your wisdom.

Does the Denon have pre-outs? I just looked, and there aren't Zone 1 pre-outs, only Zone 2, with a bunch of source limitations. There are no specs for the Zone 2 outputs. Are you sure the Denon will work for your intended use?

 

[ahblaza]

To my knowledge the Denon 2131CI has no pre-outs, I don't think the zone 2 will work, could be wrong. I ran my 1500 at about 75-80% on the gain control and adjusted levels in the AVR. Those 340's don't need much power to reach max output. The specs section of the receiver manual will usually state pre-out voltage min to max output. But like I said that 2131 may not work.