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Crown XLS 1502.... real life test.

I was at guitar center yesterday cruseing the used pedal case and noticed they had the XLS1502 was on sale. With there 45 day return policy, that i have used with great success in the past, i bought the amp.

  With my Logan’s the crown was very clear and full. 525 watts at hand per channel brought the speakers to life. I adjusted the input to around 3 o’clock seemed to be a good match. I went thru a few cd’s and they all sounded great with Steely Dan winning the show...

  I put the Mac back in the loop and noticed the soundstage was a bit bigger and a good amount more subdude.

This was my first foray in the class D world and I was surprised at how good it sounded. At 329.00 its kinda hard to beat. I have no idea what the current measurements are but the XLS made the Logan’s sing. If i read the article correctly, doesnt the JBL Everest’s come with XLS amps? That’s the way it read... please correct me.

Anyway, it was a fun afternoon and the Crown is going back today. I haven’t bought the 10t’s yet... prob June is when I can pick them up... I will buy another crown then to use when I send the 7100 to a mac repair center to get a checkup... I have a gut feeling something is amiss with her. All in all I really enjoyed the XLS and in a blind test i feel it would hold up to many good amps that cost $$$$$.

  I want a 300 watt Mac but at 3-4 thousand dollars that is a big stretch for this retired chef... lol

BTW... the XLS was DEAD silent ... nothing!
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128x128captbeaver
erik_squires
15,688 posts
 
Does the Crown XLS  1502 sound the death knell for all the overpriced big buck amps? I am curious!

The death knell has been sounded every year for the past 30 years, so no.

However, the more inexpensive options audiophiles have, the better a system they can assemble for little cash, which is a great thing. My goal is to listen greatly, not to spend greatly.

Best,

E
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
For the money this thing is damn impressive! And only 8.6 lbs! 500 + watts at 4 ohms! Too bad that we'll never get John Atkinson to do a test against a big Krell or Levinson! The results would probably offend the advertisers!
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,675 posts
 
I think I'm gonna buy this damn thing and try it. What's to lose? I just bought a low efficiency 2nd set of speakers (Newtronics Temperance), and this kind of power might really do the trick better than my Mac 2105 does. If it doesn't, I'll just return it.
gregfisk
118 posts
 
I have 2 of the XLS1500s which are of course the model before these. I thought they sounded good when I first bought them. But after having them for awhile I started to notice how tipped up they are in all freq. If you listen to vocals that you are familiar with you can hear this fairly easily. I really got fatigued after awhile with them and just couldn't  listen any more. My biggest complaint was the high freq. because they would really start to bother me and I'd have to stop listening. I suppose if you have the right speakers or other gear that is on the warm side maybe they would balance everything out. They work great for subs thou or as part of a surround sound system.
captbeaver's avatar
captbeaver OP
167 posts
 
From what I understand with my research on the class D side is Crown made some elemental improvements on the new “1500” series. When I get my Aerials in June I will buy another 1502 and give it a good a-b test with the Mc7100 and my trusty 1967 DC-300 which seems to be immortal. The 300 is a fun piece. I really injoy the wisdom here... thank you
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