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Crown XLS 2002 with Cornwalls


tromprof

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A couple on months back I picked up an old set of Cornwalls which I have refreshed with the aid of Bob Crites. I am now using them as mains in my living room 7.1 system with a Forte as center, Tuba Table sub, Heresy sides, and a pair of KG4 in the back. My amp is a 7 channel Adcom. I have noticed that the bass out the Cornwalls, esp in action filled movie scenes, is flabby and not well defined. Granted I am used to Quarter Pie horn bass in my basement theater as well as Klipschorns, but I thought the Cornwalls could do better. Wondering if it was the Adcom just running out of steam, yesterday I pulled a "lowly" Crown XLS 2002 amp out of the basement to see if swapping in the Crown in place of the Adcom on the CWs would help any.

It did!

Super clean bass and quite a good sound top to bottom even on two channel stuff. An easy fix and a lesson relearned on my part, these Crown amps really do punch way above their modest cost (I paid around $450 for this amp new). Given some spare time it will be interesting to hook it up to the Klipschorns and give it a real test.

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  With high efficiency speakers the Crown XLS amps are noisy. At least with the RCA inputs. To deal with this many turn the input attenuators to 1 - 2 o’clock. This usually fixes the problem. 

  The other option is to use the balanced inputs. These are quiet with attenuators all the way open. 

  The noise levels are manageable. The performance is not top notch. The value and reliability are. Several feel the are as good as the have to be. Better measurements does not mean better sound. 

  My XLS-2000 is a brute. Do your Klipschorns need a brute?

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1 hour ago, Panelhead said:

  With high efficiency speakers the Crown XLS amps are noisy. At least with the RCA inputs. To deal with this many turn the input attenuators to 1 - 2 o’clock. This usually fixes the problem. 

  The other option is to use the balanced inputs. These are quiet with attenuators all the way open. 

  The noise levels are manageable. The performance is not top notch. The value and reliability are. Several feel the are as good as the have to be. Better measurements does not mean better sound. 

  My XLS-2000 is a brute. Do your Klipschorns need a brute?

 

No noise. I do have the XLS 2002 hooked to my pre/pro using balanced cables. Dead quiet with my ear right up against the speaker .

I only want to try it with the Klipschorns to compare it to my current Schiit Aegir, which is the best amp I have heard with them. I think it will give me a better idea of it's limitations.

It seems like Crown amps produce either love or loathing in the audio world. I have never tried the "Drive Core" amps full range before, instead I use them to power my 7 Quarter Pie bass bins where they have been excellent in that role.  At least with Cornwalls it does an excellent job.

I have used a Crown D75 for several years with the K-horn and it did a great job (also dead quiet).  I am always pleasantly surprised how good these Crown amps sound on my very revealing speakers. I really don't get the bad reviews, esp. given the meager price of these. I have rolled some expensive tube and SS amps through my systems over the years. They are mostly gone, but all my Crowns are still here.

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I tried the XLS 2002 with my modded Klipschorns this afternoon. Not as natural sounding or near the soundstage as the Schiit Aegir, which is no surprise, but the Crown really brings out bass detail.

Makes me want to retry using the Crown on the bass bins and have the Aegir for uppers. Always fun to play around with stuff.

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17 hours ago, tromprof said:

I tried the XLS 2002 with my modded Klipschorns this afternoon. Not as natural sounding or near the soundstage as the Schiit Aegir, which is no surprise, but the Crown really brings out bass detail.

Makes me want to retry using the Crown on the bass bins and have the Aegir for uppers. Always fun to play around with stuff.

Hi,

This is what I do with my Cornwall III, SS below MC2125 on K33 and Cary SLi50 valves on Horns: I love it.
Tell us if the test is successful with you

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On 12/12/2020 at 11:18 AM, tromprof said:

 I pulled a "lowly" Crown XLS 2002 amp out of the basement   -----Super clean bass

the Crown XLS 2002  Class D amplifier  has a  Damping Factor  of + 200 -----that can explain why it has plenty of tight /clean bass for a Cornwall 1 -

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/13/2020 at 12:24 AM, Panelhead said:

  The noise with RCA inputs seems to cause most of the bad press. It is a easily eliminated it you have a balanced source.

I use a Crown XLS 1002 all the time, I use it on 99 Db Eff single driver speakers and it is DEAD quiet with the attenuators at 80 to 95 % up (depends on the music) I do connect it through a Tubed Pre. I only use the single ended ( RCA ) inputs.

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I had a XLS-1502 for a while and sold it. It was a bit noisy on a 109 Db/watt CD, but I was able to turn the amp down and  the pre up and lower the noise to acceptable levels.

I sold it because I found it harsh in the treble. I was comparing it to tube and class A amps, so the comparison may not have been fair.

I was using titanium diaphragm drivers (HF200) at the time which may have made the speakers more sensitive to this than the Mylar ones I use now (4592-ND).

It would probably have been fine for woofer duty, but I have a QSC PLX-1804 which to my ears sounds much better.

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For sub duty Crown (and QSC, etc) are hard to beat.  I currently use a Crown K2 on my 15" subs and I love it!  I know some people like to turn up their noses at Crown amps, but I think a lot of them are just upset that a $350 used crown amp sounds as good if not better driving subs than their super pricey boutique amplifier that costs several mortgage payments.  I understand there are better amps for the rest of the frequency spectrum where the differences may be perceived as more audible, but along with that comes the price.

 

I say use whatever sounds good to you and fits your budget.

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41 minutes ago, DavidWebber72 said:

For sub duty Crown (and QSC, etc) are hard to beat.  I currently use a Crown K2 on my 15" subs and I love it!  I know some people like to turn up their noses at Crown amps,

Just to keep you updated , most big venues -large Stadiums--tours  ------NHL etc   use Crown Amps  , and that's only part of their installations  -the BIG BOY in that industry , is Crown -

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