Crown XLS1000 - A budget amp for the house with one flaw... 

I was sick while making this video, so I kinda rushed it. Residential audio equipment tends to vary from .775v to 2v line level. So some home gear will be fine as is but a preamp, mixer, or DAC with volume level is recommended to control the amps volume since you'll want the gain knobs on the amp itself to be set at max. Another way to control these pro audio amps is with any old home theater receiver that has Pre-Outs on the back, MOST of them will put out 2v line level on the Pre-Out.

Thanks for your video. I purchased and use the XLS1502 DriveCore 2 preamped from my Denon receiver to drive my front stereo mains in my home stereo/theatre setup, with input sensitivity @.775 Vrms .... Unreal power and sound! The realism and soundstage it brings to my stereo music, I close my eyes and the artists are in the room with me! Clean, pure, neutral sounding power that simply allows your sources & speakers to determine your sound signature. Noise floor is dead, dead quiet. Never going back. :-) Thanks again.

The XLS drive core 2 amps have a selectable input gain now to address this when using home level stuff.

"Input Y" is exactly that. It isn't a crossover function. It is an internal function that feeds a single input signal to both amplifier channels. You use this function in place of a Y-adapter cable.

I’m using this amp to power up my Jl audio 13.5 W7. Main audio From Peavey mixer.2 DBX drive rack, split sound to EVENt Project powered studio speakers, crown for sub. This amp can do more at home if connected properly.

line is from 0,3V to 0,5V but full balanced signal is supposed to be 1,2V but can be even higher, most tests are made with 2V so that is a whopping 12 to 18 db more than full line level. To use rca equipment with a PA amp you need a preamp, with your real volume knob, (because the two knobs are not volume knobs but anti-explosion volume limiters) and you are good. Typically you use a usb to xlr audio interface and you get the full sound level. You will get the same power at 25% volume than the line level with amp at 100%. so clarity will be up, hum will be down etc.

Nice video but viewers should know this amp does not have 5-way binding posts, it has standard terminals and SpeakON jacks. The red/black terminals will not accept spades because they could lose contact with the metal post as the other contact areas in the screw-down gap are plastic only. For spades the terminal screw-downs need to have a fixed metal washer to securely hold the spade as it's tightened against the post's metal base to ensure connectivity. Such terminals are common on consumer grade home stereo amps but are seldom used on professional amps. 5-way posts will accept: 1. Banana plug in the hole, 2. Bare wire thru the post with the screw-down tightened on it, 3. Bare wire wrapped around post with the screw-down tightened on it, 4. spade on the post with the screw-down tightened on it, 5. Spade on the post with the screw-down tightened on it AND banana plug in the hole, same time same post (bi-wire).

Look for a used Preamplifier that will deliver the necessary voltage out that you require. Many older and well regarded preamplifiers put out at or above 2 volts before clipping. You can start on eBay and look up the specs outside of the listing, of any that appeals to you.

Thanks for your run down & tutelidge )on the crown amp XL.. Because of the difficult circimstances concering hooking it up to audio componets i I dont think id purchasde it.Ill just stick with the usual componets from harman kardon & Nackmichi knowing what to expect!!...Ps yours is the most through review ive seen of this crown amp.

Used a xls 1500 bridged to a 18" Stereo Integrity, never had a problem with the inputs but i used the 1/4" plugs with rca adapters. This amp wasn't big enough, it clipped out on a few songs driving that 18. I ended up using a Behringer 3000 for it, and that made it move some more. Still think that 18 could take more power.

The biggest benefit of using a gain matching/ line boosting device is not having the possible issues of max gain on the gain pots (floor noise, gain hiss). Crown designs them to be fairly clean even if max gain is set but at that point you're really trying to force the amp to reach a decibel level it can't create with the incorrect line level. I'm not trying to be rude or anything my friend and I can tell that you're really in to the gear and hobby. I enjoy seeing people like that. I'm also not claiming to be any sort of expert either, because I'm not. I have the exact same Crown XLR 1000 that I have daisy chained in "pre out and main in" set of rcas on my home receiver. I use the Crown to power two subwoofers that are paralleled together and use the Crown in mono lowpass mode. In between the two I use a Rolls MB15b Promatch as a gain matching device and use balanced XLR from Rolls to Crown. The balanced XLR signal (from the Rolls) and cables automatically give a +6db boost as compared to unbalanced RCA's. The Rolls can also be gain boosted beyond the 1.4 v standard via the potentiometer. It also has outputs for .775v RCA so I can send the correct home audio standard signal back to my Onkyo receiver and it will have signal to use its own amp to power the rest of the speakers. I didn't want to overdrive my receiver with the 1.4v load. Anyway, I ran the Crown on my subs for about a year without the Rolls MB15b and the difference in sound quality and richness was astounding after adding the Rolls and I no longer need to max out the Gain even when I feel like bassing out.

You were talking about line input on the amplifier not being enough. You totally need a pre amplifier. This is just a power amp. You can buy a pre amplifier with the proper voltage to drive this unit.

get an ART CleanBox Pro to increase your levels and you'll be set. I have the XLS 1500 and I had to do the same thing. Fixed all my issues

Denon Dnp-800ne got variable output of 4.5volt and can be used as volume control

A car radio with 2-3 or 4v preouts (most have 4v preouts) will do great.

Ya I was testing 27 hz at 99 db and I never got the fan to come on. I’m lucky all my amps pull from behind makes air management much easier when all the fans go the same way

Sold I would imagine is that correct

That is how the Crown is designed. Its a line/gain control, not a preamp control. You set the line level and then you pretty much never touch the amp again. You control the volume from another device, like a Pre amp. With a lineout if you start messing with the knobs you can blow you equipment. Its a pro amp not a home amp, yes it can be used at home, but its not a plug and play solution, like a AVR

I have a crown xls 1000 and Yes the fan turns on it’s VERY quiet

Needs a SE preamp that puts out at least 2v (or a balanced pre that puts out 4v) and set the amp to 1.4v to get full power from the amp.

could a car EQ be used to give the crown amp that extra boost since it has a higher line level output than the receiver?

buy a cheap car parametric eq, upto 2Vrms. these will run on 12v wifi adapter, class D amps are best for subs.

What is warmth to you?

Hi the amplifeer crown xsl 2500 is good? I want buy but i want now more. Thanks

I just got a qsc and I'm running rca to wire from my phone and the wires going to my input on the amp are very thin and it don't get as loud as I thought I'm waiting on a couple adapters so I can use my mixer that has bluetooth I'm hoping it get louder

i think that usually the best way to drive these pro amps is via the XLR inputs. A nice sounding little mixer is very cheap these days. I had a nice one by Peavey even with usb input ... it sounded very very clean and low noise. (images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/81CuEn205BL._SL1500_.jpg _ Even better should be a nice balanced line preamp that is what i would use for serious listening. What i mean is that if very good sound is the target a little investment on gear pays out.

Thank you 😊

That amp is part of a series of live sound amps not home stereo amps lol. I use an XTI 2002 and they are high current amp meant for pa speakers. You can damage speakers or the amp using the wrong type of speakers. You need to preamp your signal I run my sound from a Soundblaster Xfi hd Titanium Pro soundcard to an American DJ mixing board. I run to a DriveRack PA then to a BBE sound maximizer for imaging on my JBL JRX 125's and then two JBL EON 618S Active subs.

Dang! Love Paradigm's old monitor series! Dig your channel compared to those caviar audio reviewers.

That's made in 2011! You purchased it now? For what deal?

i just control my sources volume. never had a problem really. just the occasional laggy hiccup since most of the time im using my old phone which actually has a better headphone jack output level than my newer note 9... yikes. I should just purchase a yamaha mixer that has like maybe 4 or 6 channels and really get it crankin. Either way, I need to figure out some way to have a master volume remotely so i can like, step outside my house and still control it. maybe scare the shit outta my friends. Using the pc to have spotify on, then control spotify from my phone for volume and song switching isnt bad either just not 100% reliable for volume.

That's why the guy who sold it to you got rid of it, it wasn't loud enough. You could have used the Sony speaker output to feed it. In fact that way you could even have used the balanced inputs.

it is not a Integrated Amplifier you need a preamp and a Rolls MB15b converter for gain.

Sir i am buying crown cts 600 for home stereo may i used crown power amp with my av reciever i am using Pardigm studio 100v3 please help thanks

will this have an issue if i am planning to integrate this in my home theater for either sub or for front speakers? asking about input gain issue thanks

i run these amps for live sound, it obvious you really didn't do your research..... with that being said if you had, I sure you would have chose another amp. I have run my 2 2500 xls and 1500 xls for 9 years Live sound, they are azz kickin amps!! no hick up at all from these amps

Thay do need a preamp .

I use a all tube line driver.

Thanks for all the comments. Sorry about the poor video quality but I just use my phone and all my audio equipment is in the basement. In the future I should have better lighting and maybe a better camera. I only do this on the side to share my opinion or help out others that may have the same issues and questions like with this Crown amp. I was also sick when making this video so talking was tough.

Come on dude you need a pre amp you should know it a power amp and requires a pre amp

fyi those amps do not put out what they state. even if you have the correct input voltage it will clip way before the watts stated. i made this mistake buying two of them. sent them back same day u get what u pay for

drive 2 fixes this issue

just buy a good pre amp on amazon for 100 buck p1 pre amp very small one of the best pre amps hhok up your crown to it I have a crown xli2500 750 watts 4 ohms im running 15 ich Rockwell speakers using p1 also bluethoth has 1.4 mvoutput p1 preamp made by douk audio you hook up your cd player to pre amp also has tubes 6j% you will hear a huge diffents in sound class a which mine is class ab yours is class d

do u need the miniDPS too?

Those plugs were to stop people in Europe from plugging in any electronics in there

You set the line amp for desired gain , done ,set crown to 11 done , use your preamp for volume .the one flaw is you dont know wtf your talking about .

Splice some rca,s and plug them into your speaker outs on your stereo receiver. Problem solved 😌

You need to get the model 1002

It's Not the Amp that has a FLAW--it's Your Knowledge of Electronics. Hey, Plug yur Fone into it--Hahahaha

your crowm amp will sound 100 times better with preamp 100 dollars thar it you will thank me you will see your sony cant even come close preamp

You need a pre amp

It needs a preamp.

buy pre amp you will thank me

Get a PreAmp !!! 🤣🤣🤣!!!

use it for bass

You run into this problem with just about ANY power amp. You HAVE to have a mixer OR a preamp. PERIOD. That being said, you're better off with a QSC. There hasn't been a reliable Crown since Harmon bought Crown then Samsung bought Harman and really the LAST GOOD Crows went away when the company stopped making Microtech and Macrotech amps. Crown build "cheap" entry level amps that FAIL. REPEAT. THEY FAIL!. QSC very, rarely does.

Just get a preamp.

Crown DriveCore XLS 1002 PA are ugly pro amps. But they are crazy powerfull for the money 280euro. And with two amps in bridge (mono) mode they can power anything: crazy powerfull for the money. You can still color/colour the sound with preamps (tubes). I think the XLS1000 needs a preamp. Preamp with bluetooth and phono and multiple rca inputs.

A lot of I thinks in this video. Get it together.