Driving Surround Speakers with Crown XLS 1502

[rgbbhat72]

Hello Gurus
Connected as below to Yamaha A 870 Currently
L& R - B&W 603s thru Crown XLS 1502 2 Channel Power Amp thru RCA
Centre B&W HTM 6 , Surround ( Bose 301 series V) and Front Heights ( Polk OWM3s) connected directly to Yamaha A 870
No Sub.

Can you pls advise whether
a. If i drive the Surround speakers ( Bose )thru Crown XLS 1502 , the Front speakers will sound much better , clear n louder

Asking since I was informed that if you take away the processing of the Surrounds and FH, the Front & Centre Speakers will get more power from the Amp.
Also changing the connections is a pain in my current set up so checking whether it will be worth doing the operation.

Thanks

Rajesh

 

[KEW]

The A860 that Audioholics tested/reviewed (and, presumably the A870 that came after it) was recognized as having a comparatively anemic amp section!
Accordingly, I would keep the 1502 for your R&L mains where it will do the most good!
One caveat is that the pre-amp outs are a little on the weak side if your amp does not have enough gain. I am not sure how the 1502 fares on this count, but hopefully someone else can address this.
See first paragraph here:

Yamaha RX-A860 AVENTAGE 7.2 Atmos/DTS:X A/V Receiver Review

The Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A860 7.2CH Atmos/DTS:X AV receiver is packed with excellent networking features but it does fall short on power delivery making our recommendation conditional based on usage.

www.audioholics.com

 

[KEW]

... I was informed that if you take away the processing of the Surrounds and FH, the Front & Centre Speakers will get more power from the Amp.
Also changing the connections is a pain in my current set up so checking whether it will be worth doing the operation.

This is wrong! Moving your surrounds to the 1502 will not take away the processing of the Surrounds. That will still be done before you output the signal to the 1502.

 

[rgbbhat72]

The A860 that Audioholics tested/reviewed (and, presumably the A870 that came after it) was recognized as having a comparatively anemic amp section!
Accordingly, I would keep the 1502 for your R&L mains where it will do the most good!
One caveat is that the pre-amp outs are a little on the weak side if your amp does not have enough gain. I am not sure how the 1502 fares on this count, but hopefully someone else can address this.
See first paragraph here:

Yamaha RX-A860 AVENTAGE 7.2 Atmos/DTS:X A/V Receiver Review

The Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A860 7.2CH Atmos/DTS:X AV receiver is packed with excellent networking features but it does fall short on power delivery making our recommendation conditional based on usage.

www.audioholics.com

Thankew Sorry couldnt resist the word play.
I read the article and see what u mean. Let me read the manual and see Is there a way to know the pre amp output
and if there is a way to beef it up.
Also I stand corrected on the processing - what i meant was that If the amp is powering 7 channels earlier But because of the Power Amp It has now 7 Channels of power to be distributed among 5 then would it make the 5 speakers sound better. Apologies

 

[rgbbhat72]

The A860 that Audioholics tested/reviewed (and, presumably the A870 that came after it) was recognized as having a comparatively anemic amp section!
Accordingly, I would keep the 1502 for your R&L mains where it will do the most good!
One caveat is that the pre-amp outs are a little on the weak side if your amp does not have enough gain. I am not sure how the 1502 fares on this count, but hopefully someone else can address this.
See first paragraph here:

Yamaha RX-A860 AVENTAGE 7.2 Atmos/DTS:X A/V Receiver Review

The Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A860 7.2CH Atmos/DTS:X AV receiver is packed with excellent networking features but it does fall short on power delivery making our recommendation conditional based on usage.

www.audioholics.com

PRE OUT for A 870 as per the manual. I am not technical so dont know what the below mean
"Give us a clean 2Vrms output from the pre-outs of ALL your AV receivers!" is what the article said
so assuming that I am at half of it
Front L/R.............................................................................1V/2.7kΩ
Center .................................................................................1V/1.7kΩ
Surround L/R ......................................................................1V/1.7kΩ
Surround Back L/R.............................................................1V/1.6kΩ

 

[lovinthehd]

The Yamaha spec is just a nominal spec rather than some sort of maximum, so best if you could find an independent test.

However, you have an adjustable sensitivity on the Crown amp to account for different pre-out levels, either .775 V or 1.4 V. I'd start with the 1.4 V and then go to the .775 setting if you can't get full power out of the amp. I'd also put the 1502 on the mains as it is a more powerful amp than your Yamaha so put it where it counts the most....and don't be afraid to use all of the gain/attenuator settings, even max.

 

[rgbbhat72]

The Yamaha spec is just a nominal spec rather than some sort of maximum, so best if you could find an independent test.

However, you have an adjustable sensitivity on the Crown amp to account for different pre-out levels, either .775 V or 1.4 V. I'd start with the 1.4 V and then go to the .775 setting if you can't get full power out of the amp. I'd also put the 1502 on the mains as it is a more powerful amp than your Yamaha so put it where it counts the most....and don't be afraid to use all of the gain/attenuator settings, even max.

Thank you. I tried with 1.4 V and the Hum increased so much. So I guess I am good to be where I am. powering the LRs.
Thank you all and Happy Halloween

 

[lovinthehd]

Thank you. I tried with 1.4 V and the Hum increased so much. So I guess I am good to be where I am. powering the LRs.
Thank you all and Happy Halloween

You might want to explain what you mean by the 1.4V setting increasing hum....were you using the .775 setting before or ?

So you have a ground loop hum? That happened to me with my Crown XLS 1500s in my old house (turned out to be improperly grounded cable service)....have you tried a cheater plug to see if that's what it is?

 

[rgbbhat72]

You might want to explain what you mean by the 1.4V setting increasing hum....were you using the .775 setting before or ?

So you have a ground loop hum? That happened to me with my Crown XLS 1500s in my old house (turned out to be improperly grounded cable service)....have you tried a cheater plug to see if that's what it is?

Hi - Yes I tried with with .775 High and the Hum was quite loud. So changed to 1.4 Normal and it has reduced significantly. The electrician did check the wiring and the plugs but he cautioned against removing the earthing as it will pass current thru the amp. Being in India , didnt want to risk Rebirth

 

[lovinthehd]

Yes, makes more sense that at 1.4V you'd get less noise, that's why I'd start with that. Ground loop hum would drive me crazy, tho. There are devices you can safely use to alleviate that altho not sure of availability in India....something like this https://www.amazon.com/Ebtech-Hum-Ground-Voltage-Filter/dp/B0002E4YI8