2. amps-preamps
  3. 1436450913

Crown XLS 1500

For giggles I'm putting together a budget system. Starting with a pair of PSB Gold-i's and using an Audible Illusions M3a's secondary variable outputs. Anyway, I needed to come up with cheap power and current that could drive low impedance upper bass, e.g. dips at around 2.6 ohms. I didn't want to toast my Rogue M120's.
After researching I came across some good reports on the Crown XLS 1500 and decided to pull the trigger for a whopping $239, new! I was hoping to get it last Thursday but no such luck. The amp arrived the other day, or a day late for the Grateful Dead Chicago run. I had to use a self powered PA for my outside, projection, big screen system. A bit of a disappointment but in the end it worked out better as I didn't have to worry about the PSBs getting messed up.
Anyway, I plugged the unit in yesterday and gave it a quick listen and cold, out of the box I was not happy but figure it needed to burn in so I kept it playing for about 30 hours and then gave it a listen. I still was not happy, feeling that it sounded rolled off in the highs, a bit muffled in the lows and somewhat canny sounding in the mids. I was starting to feel that I wasted my money and that the saying that "there is no free lunch" was true. However, I was willing to let it burn some more.
So, while cooking the amp, and casual listening, I decided to make a new run of Canare 4s11 speaker cables, which I was planning on using for the new system but felt that ultimately this might be waste of my time because it was beginning to look like a failed system. 45 minutes later my cables were done and I put them in, replacing the temporary double run of Monster XP I made, which was left over from the outdoor deck system. After install I turned the amp back on and then turned up the wick. Holy cow!!!!! All of a sudden everything opened up and snapped into place. I now had extended highs, articulate bass and clean and sharp midrange. What a difference. This is what I was hoping for when this straw was pulled.
I won't give a full report until I get some more time in but for $239 new I can already say this is a great deal. This amp sounds good and delivers watts without strain. It out does the Adcom 555 I owned back in the day, which could poop out when pushed hard. As to some of the reported noise, yes, if I put my ear right up to the tweeter there is some low, low level buzzing. I can not hear it from a foot away, or needless to say, from my listening seat.
Lesson learned; don't judge a component until your rule out other variables. My guess is that the Monster is high capacitance and caused all kind or uglies with the system. Ridding myself of these cables brought me from Kansas to the land of OZ!
For those that care, I'll report back in a few to let you know how things develop.
raymonda

Showing 5 responses by dave_72

dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Well, I dunno about high-end gimmicks seeing that this praise is your opinion. Not everyone will agree that the sound is what you hear. Are there high end gimmicks? Yes. But, the really good stuff is not dirt cheap. I'm talking solid engineering based companies like Accuphase, McIntosh, Bryston, etc. Is it overpriced? I would guess so, but compared to the very esoteric stuff like Boulder and FM Acoustics (which do sound great buy the way, but just tremendously overpriced.) Anyway, my point is, you get what you pay for. That Crown merely punches above its weight.
Which is cool, but it doesn't make it automatically beat the snot out of the better high end amps.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Fanless Crown K2 can compete with audiophile units priced over $3k.

Has this particular statement of yours been proven? Can you prove such a bold claim? I know you're gonna say by any blind testing, but where and when was the testing, where is the proof and documentation? Thanks.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Yeah, right. I don't believe you, and that's *my* opinion.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
Just like with anything audio, it varies so much, that to make a blanket statements like that is absurd. You're writing off all of consumer audio? And you mean to tell me there's no duds in pro audio? Gimme a break! Your bias, and may I say ignorance, shines very brightly in this last post of yours!

I own a pro amp, well it's called one...the Bryston 4BSST PRO. I bought it 8 years ago before the price hikes. You probably don't consider it one, because it's not Crown, QSC, Crest, Behringer, etc. Not only that, you just bashed Bryston as a boutique brand. I dunno, have you heard a latest Bryston amp in an all Bryston system, including their speakers? It's pretty damn good, and it's still much less in cost than Krell, Levinson, McIntosh, let alone Accuphase, Soulution, and Vitus.
dave_72
1,399 posts
 
On the same token, die hard "boutique" fans don't consider Bryston true high end but consider it pro or semi-pro gear. I don't know anyone besides you Czarivey, that considers Bryston a boutique brand. Yes, they did jack up the prices to a lot of people's chagrin, but they're still the solid engineered units that they used to be, don't use ultra fancy metalwork on their amps, and sound better than they have in the past.
More to discover