Brace yourselves for the comment section 😂 Check out all the crown amplifiers: adorama.rfvk.net/D2dOb Check out the Crown XLS 2502: adorama.rfvk.net/r7NLD Disclaimer/ Personal interest in my reviews - nbtsmedia.com/about-us/
NBT Jay, have you heard this Korean band? My son introduced me to this band recently. I can't understand a word of Korean, but, my old ass throws this on repeat and busts a move. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4pizqstSCQA.html
You had the gain at max while testing? With that much power if you set the gain at 75% the hidden goes away, if you compare to a 200w amp set the gain to match so you compare hiss
I don't usually write responses to audio reviews but I feel compelled to do so in this case. I disagree with The Next Best Thing Studio review of the Crown amplifiers with Maggies (i.e., dry sounding) . First, I need to share a little of my background which is important when considering my opinion. For over 40 years I have been playing the trumpet. Playing in clubs helped put me through college. That background is important because it means for many, many hours I have listened to live music, and know what instruments are supposed to sound like. Secondly, I have owned and listened for many hours not only to the Crown amp, but have also owned the Wyred4sound, B&K ST 140, and previously drove my Maggies with an Emotiva A/B design amp. This is important because it means I have actually listened for many hours to both good A/B and D class design amplifiers. I drive the Maggies using 2 Crown amplifiers in bridged mode (and turn the gain switches to 2:00, not all the way up), using their 80 hz high pass filter. I use an Emotiva solid state (not tube) pre-amp. I also use in the system a Rythmik 15 inch subwoofer (using the Dayton Audio LF DSP). I gave my Emotiva A/B amp to my son. I did this because to my ears, the Crowns sounded cleaner, had better head-room, great sound stage, and played louder without distortion. With the Crowns in my system Instrument sound reproduction does not sound, "dry" or "lean." I want to also note that there is a video from a user on Steve Guttneberg's RU-vid channel (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jQyYxGORwW8.html ) that provides very similar feedback to my own. The reviewer also thought well of the Crown amplifiers driving his 1.7 Maggies, and like myself had worked for many years as a musician (knows what instruments are supposed to sound like), and is an audiophile. Reviewer background demographics (is a musician that knows what instruments are supposed to sound like, has owned both A/B and D class amps, as well as specifically the Crown amplifiers, and currently owns Maggies), are important variables to consider when deciding whether to trust the reviewers opinion. By profession, I am a medical researcher, and recognize the value of a double blind cross-over study design. Using this study design when evaluating audio products would eliminate reviewer subjective bias, and improve the value of their assessments.
Wow, what an excellent comment. I am not a musician but a retired electronics and audio engineer with some experience working in research at the CBS Technology Center doing many things and among them doing double blind testing. The lack of this in audio is the main reason for all the controversy and the proliferation of the purveyors of snake oil, which is great for the audio industry sales but bad for the consumers of audio equipment. The good news for the snake oil sellers is that is very unlikely to change.
cool. you can disagree. Judgement free zone here as long as you do it with respect, keeping in mind that what you hear is not be-all and end-all for everyone. I don't say "my assessment and finding are 100% for everyone" just because I have owned virtually almost every magnepan model, played sax, guitar, worked in a recording studio, built microphones and researched human hearing for 4 years. I respect and thank you for your input. rock on !
66dmax99 no I would not go that far, but I have a xls2502 , I like them . But on my mmgi , or my mg2 en for sure on my tympani I ?! They sound good but lacks the balance my ATI class a/b have. Its a world of difference in quality. Then I tested the crown on my hard to drive and well known infinity kappa 9. In extended mode (0.7ohm) it held up well to those dips. Most amps, will go into protection mode. It’s stable and it does deliver heaps of power. But on emits ?! It becomes really clear how the crown falls short. It sounds very bright on the highs, and lacks the depth my other amp does so well. There is a big price difference there msrp the ATI came in close to 4000usd at the time. Even today it’s well over 2000usd. In all fairness ?? The crown 2502 is a win for the price. I paid 400 for mine. My 2502 I love it for the application I use it now my passive jbl 18 inch subs. They drive them very well. Great control and tightness, the crossovers alone are well worth the money of the amp. Just my take on it
I have the XLS 1502 with the Emotiva pt-100 as a preamp and WOW!!!! I was blown away by this budget setup, i really coudn't believe it. Don't believe all those people who come up with numbers to justify their bad opinions on the Crown. I'm not saying it's as good as a $10000 amp but it surely can give a hard time to anything below let's say 3000$ to be conservative.
You cannot say "it's as good as a $10000 amp" nor "it's better than a 100$ , or a 200000$ amp" without doing an objective, well-planned double-blind test.
Hate to disagree with this but I wanted to like this amplifier especially for the price, so I replaced it with a sansui receiver from the 70s I realize why I wasn’t enjoying the music, that crown is flat unengaging and lifeless.
Great for bi amping home theater speakers. Also it should be mentioned that if you want to use your AVR as pre, the Crown has input sensitivity adjustment, which is super handy for coupling with different types of AVRs.
Good review, Jay. Crown must be getting a chuckle out of all this audiophile buzz their amps are getting. Since the beginning of amplifier and speaker history, people have been pressing into home service, professional theater and PA equipment. The prime factor to keep in mind is: *It wasn't designed and built for this purpose.* PA amps are designed for useful, high power, low heat, stable, durable, stackable, rackable, low cube, low weight, line power tolerant, take-a-licking-and-keep-on-ticking applications. Picture a dozen of these in roadie cases being dragged off a tractor trailer. Then, plugged into a trailer-mounted engine generator at Burning Man or worse. I think it's a *tribute* to Crown that audiophiles, and even music lovers, are pressing their amps into service to provide relatively high power to home applications, especially with recommendations from RU-vid pundits. But, when throwing compliments or rotten tomatoes at Crown, remember: these amps weren't intended for your music room. And design choices matter to engineers. They were never intended for snob appeal, either. "But dad... I wanted a solid cherry wood top and whale foreskin front panel." ;)
I currently have this crown powering 2 large open baffle diy subs with custom 18 inch drivers (large room). It is a killer affordable hifi solution for such subwoofer applications. However, with my TADs, maggies, Adantes, etc, it sounds like a dumass amp. Either way, i'm glad i discovered this amp. The alternatives for powering my subs were getting expensive and questionable. I would highly recommend this amp for large custom subwoofers.
@@wa2368 hey man, so, your subwoofers are two separate subwoofers, both are passive and connected to each channel of the outputs right? I'm a bit confused as to connect this amp to my diy 8" subwoofer. I mean whether to bridge the output or just go for single output channel.
Crown works well for me. I have no noise and works very well. Wide dynamic sound stage and very good and deep sound. Front end is Valves, Evo 400 preamp. Running bridge mono with 2 XLS 2502 @ 2ohm 2.4 KW per channel. Hand Built Power Cables and high end inner connects. Great micro and macro detail. Also switch with Bob Carver Cherry 180 Power amps as well. Mostly use the Crowns on all music types. Sound stage is wide open, with massive dynamic slam. Brass footers on the amps and solid maple butcher blocks. These are smooth as butter. Speak on connecters and bananas on the other end.
I use Magnepan LRS + Crown XLS 1502 with absolutely fantastic results, I also have Parasound HCA2200 and Conrad Johnson Sonograph SA400 in my room, still prefer Crown XLS1502 over them.
I have a 19" rack with 7 Crowns from 2002s for subs down to 1002s for speakers. This is an outside sound system and it sounds INCREDIBLE! The sound that you hear when walking up to a big music festival. Each sub is a 15" square Kicker Marine for outdoor use. Downward firing in a custom concrete sealed box. It will rattle the windows two houses down if we turn it up.
thats pretty kick ass lol. id be interested to see the concrete boxes for sure. id love to rattle windows 2 houses down. i just picked up a crown ca4000 yesterday. i picked it up for 300 bucks which was a good deal. i picked up 2 dayton audio ultimax 18's in denovo cube 18 boxes the day before. got them both for 700. my goal is to never let my neighbor sleep again lol. wish me luck, my cables are supposed to come today so i can test it out. i cant wait
I've seen another review where someone ran the output through an analyzer and they figured out it has a brick wall at 20kHz. Turns out the internal ADC/DSP/DAC runs at 48kHz. I personally wouldn't be able to hear the difference. Neither my speakers and my hearing is that good. Audiophiles may have a different opinion. I really like this amp for a few specific reasons which have more to do with functionality than sound quality: 1) It's semi-passive. Allot of pro amps have loud cooling fans in them. If you need the amp inside your listening space, this could be a deal-breaker. This applies not just to home use but also to things like bars and restaurants. They may need the power at certain times, other times it just needs to do background music and you don't want hear a noisy fan. 2) The AUX connector which allows remote power trigger form an AV receiver. 3) You can kill the LED's on the amp from the menu. If your amp rack is inside a home theater, this could be a handy feature to avoid light spill. 4) 2ohm stable. I discovered that allot of amps run ridiculously hot when running at the minimum ohm rating. Because this thing is rated at 2ohms, it's very unlikely you will ever overheat this thing when running at 4ohms or higher. I really wish more companies would realize that these simple features open up allot more use cases for their products. The one thing still missing is a digital input option. It already has a DSP inside, might as well give me a AES input option on one of the XLR jacks and avoid the ADC completely.
The brick wall is at 24khz. Its well documented on Audio Science Review with all the measurements. It might not be as good for Hi Res music 96khz and above, but they work perfectly for lower resolution music and Home Theater which is generally at 48khz and fall off by 12khz anyway. So for a movie focused system, these would be perfect.
I honestly feel that if we blind folded many of these reviewers for AB testing all of them wouldn't be able to pick one amp from another so long as they are not clipping, hissing or faulty. If you can prove it you might be able to cash in on a big prize. I've heard other reviewers saying the crowns are really neutral and great with Maggies. I believe we are subject to a lot of bias and placebo when we know how expensive or aesthetic a peice of equipment is.
Ill leave a coomment here to guide future buyers. Have been using the 2502 for almost 3 years now with zero itch to upgrade. Powering the Focal Chora 826 and the power hungry demanding Aria 948. All I have it paired up to is a Topping D70S that is known for its wide soundstage and crytal clear sound. The thing I love about this amp is the power hammers out, making the already dynamic Focals even more so! Another feature I love is the high pass feature. Not many amps have it besides AVRs and trust me, it even makes a big difference when I high pass the 948s at 80hz. And since the 948s dips to mid 2 ohms, this is one amp that has the ability to handle that load with ease. Now lets get to the high floor noise subject that eveeyome is talking about. This can be reduced in a few ways. The first is to hook up via the balanced outputs. That is the first thing to do. The second thing is to lower the input sensitivity from 1.4v to .775v. The third and final thing that you could do is to reduce the gain volume. This all should get rid of the hiss. I do not have a hiss problem by running balanced, so I did not need to resort to the last 2 options. You want wake your speakers up for cheap? Look no further, the 2502 is it. Use your prefered pre to inject any sound signature you like, this is one neutral sounding amp which I love.
Nice review, but you should not have set the gains on full..you should roll them back to the max volume you will ever want to hear through your speaker usually about 2 o clock. As the gain controls are supposed to be set to stop blowing speaker drivers.Then noise/ hiss also goes. But it was a good review..Sure they are not true hi-fi amps, but they sure can sing if set up properly with the right speakers and sources. Giant killers definitely not but they have a place for those who want to try ..plus there's little to lose as they are cheap as chips. My xls 1502 was a few hundred pounds new. But you are right valve pre-amps do add to the magic
Crown guys, take it easy! The 2502 is a good sounding amp, I'd say great for it's price. It simply doesn't have the finesse of a big Parasound Halo or a Bryston 4B3. I did A/B comparos with those amps and others for months and unless you have done this then don't 'disagree' simply because you own the 2502. The 2502 is AMAZING for $700 but it isn't on par with the upper mid-fi heavy weights. The 2502 will keep most listeners happy while saving for a better amp. If you have big speakers and listen to metal/hip hop/electronica loud or have big passive subs, this is the one. The Nord NC502 has big muscle and more of a hifi sound for about the same $$.
I used the 2502 to drive a pair of KEF LS50 speakers connected to my PC. It was a great combo for about 3 years until I switched to the LS50 wireless. The Crown held its value, too. Sold it for $575 on Audiogon.
I avoided this amp for a long time. Crown engineers advised me it has a subsonic filter and rolls off steeply below 20hz. They were mistaken. I tested one and found that it easily played 16hz test tones. I quickly acquired two of them. I use them to power 12" subwoofers. It has the best feature set of any pro amp I have found. RCA inputs. Built in crossovers. So far proven very reliable. And yes, get the rubber feet. Otherwise its a slider.
Good to know on the feet... And that has always been my issue with this amp, the rack mount tabs. I wish those could be removed without having to break out my grinder.
To those who are wondering if this is any good: yes, it is very good. I used it with focals 936 for some time, until I got a parasound A21, gave it a listen, and said "oh.. now I get it". Class D are great but they don't sound as A/B. Unfortunately vast price difference.
I am curious: what sort of music do you play on them? How large is your room? Is the room live or soft in acoustic character? Really, I'm interested in your answer, Bryan.
@@aceofspades6667 not exactly. Crown doesnt have a 2 ohm rating in bridged because most amps when bridges are less stable in lower impedences and has lower damping factor. It doesn't mean it can't drive the magnepans that go low as 2.8 ohms. If it was the apogees... Maybe it will have more trouble. I have not tried but according to this gentlemen (bryan), it seems it does drive the magnepan lrs. Whether its a good match? That depends on if you like what you are hearing, I personally wouldnt do this but if bryan is happy with the sound who am I to judge. Rock on bryan !
@@aceofspades6667 I am running 2 ohms for 2 years on the XLS 2502 Drive Core Amps, bridge Mono and very stable. Set your input gain correctly on the amps so you don't overdrive them. Most people don't know what they are doing with input gain controls on amplifiers.
@@jdiggadydog That is risky, but that is a test to their build quality, as long as you aren't playing them below clipping with very bass heavy content, they'll be fine. Each channel would be seeing 1 ohm which is nuts, though youd get a bit better performance running it at 4 ohms bridged instead of 2 as impedance does effect the way the lowpass filter chokes work which filter out the duty cycle pwm signal on the crowns output stage which can effect frequency response. in the system options menu, if you scroll down, you'll be able to see the temperatures for each channel to make sure things arnt getting to hot, you should see 40 to 50 degrees Celsius at idle, it shouldn't change more then 10 to 15 degrees of what you see at idle. Since you're kinda running kinda hard, i expect it to be a bit warmer.
Had the lower output model, the 1002, and it totally woke up my system which must have been starved for power with my Rotel integrated. Night and day improvement in sound. Took away the veil. But the high noise floor and looks bugged me a bit and I ended up with a XTZ EDGE A2-300 which is basically a little more refined version of the Crown both in looks and sound at 2X the price but still reasonable. Paired it with an inexpensive tube pre-amp (the $31 FX-Audio Tube-01 with some Russian tubes) and the sound is amazing. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Crown or the XTZ and Class D in general. Agree with others who say put it in a fancy case with a more esoteric brand name and you could sell it for thousands more. Andrew Robinson's review suggests that much of the tech in the Crown is shared with Mark Levinson amps (also owned by Harmon).
This amp woke up my BP30 speakers. Bass deep, highs silky smooth. I'd love to see a "blind" review of this amp. You know, where the reviewer doesn't know anything about the equipment they're listening to. Throw this amp in a 60 lbs aluminum box and I bet more people like it. Even I was skeptical until I actually heard it.
I bought one and tried it on 3 sets of speakers such as my Thiel cs2.4, Monitor Audio silver 8, Kef ls50. My Rotel out performed the Crown in almost every aspect including soundstage, smoother more realistic midrange, sweeter highs. I'm sure you can make it sound good. I still maintain it is not that great of a value when you consider having to "carefully" add a dac and preamp to get rid of that bad midrange. It is literally the worst stand alone power amp I have ever bought in terms of sound quality and I'm not saying that to be difficult, it is just the truth.
@@buttonman1831 Maybe you nailed it, I'm running a real good DAC. For pure affordable power, I love the Crown. It's a great option for someone who needs a ton of power but doesn't have a ton of money. I'm listening to Pink Floyd The Wall right now, it sounds brilliant.
I have thier "low end" AB amp, the XLI2500 to power my 15" Vegas. I love the thing. Lots of power and no audible noise. Great amp for what it is, especially at $500. I'm not making any HiFi claims, but it's petty neutral with a shit ton of power. I would recommend it for someone just getting a system together, has very demanding speakers, and is on a low budget. Can't comment on the Xls amps.
I bought 3 of these for my HT bypassing the class G amps in my Arcam AVR 850. I ended up going back to the Class G amps in my AVR 850. They just sounded better to me more warm and natural The crown sounded a bit harsh to me. I will use these to power some non-powered subs.
Honestly, that is where they really excell, thanks to the smps which is an incredibly fast power supply, these babies are great on subs, even dispite their 1khz power ratings.
As an electrical engineer who has a lot of experience and no psychological problems using graphic equalizers to get whatever sound I want I cannot find any flaw in this amplifier. A graphic equalizer is the most powerful an reliable tool for adjusting the frequency response of a sound system. Other methods don't begin to compare. They are more expensive, unpredictable, not adjustable. Even the least expensive equalizers introduce no audible noise or distortion. That makes this model a winner for me if i needed this much power. A great bargain compared to audiophile amplifiers to boot.
Exactly!! This is why every sound engineer uses equalizers. Go to any concert or venue where there is a PA, and there will be al least one EQ in the chain, if not more.
@klubstomper It takes an acquired skill and a knowledgeable critical ear to get the benefit out of this tool. In my experience almost all audiophiles I've met have neither. Used ineptly it can create a sonic disaster. That's a good reason for audiophiles to stay away from them.
FYI: I’ve been running my Crown DC300A into a pair of Infinity QLS-1’s since 1978 and the definition of detail, transient response, Image has impressed me EVERY DAY SINCE THEN !!! The Pre-amp is the Crown IC150A 👍
That crown is a DC-direct amp, not the same (at all) as the class D 2502. Crown has made some great amps. The 2502 is pretty good, but it's no macro reference.
Value for money this is hard to beat... but you are correct about pairing it correctly... I use them to drive Dali Rubicon 2s and it works very well... but I tried them with B&W 604S2 and did not like it quite as much... sounded a bit etched... but the difference was subtle... I compared it to a Trio L-07M monoblock amp and pre was a Yamaha CX A5100... I liked the XLS better than the Trios with the Dali Rubicons and less than the Trios with B&W 604S2. You comments seem pretty spot on. I ended up keeping the XLS and Dalis...
Hifi people are some of the most delusional people. If you do a double blind test with a crown amp and a much more expensive high end amp at the same volume nobody will be able to pick the better one because they will sound exactly the same. There was a guy in the car audio world a while back that did this with all kinds of car amps and even offered money i think if someone was able to choose the more expensive amp a few times in a row. High end amps, dacs, and any kind of high end cables are a scam.
After the Fiio K5 Pro review I never thought that I will watch another review by yours. Wow, that is a proper review! Only the essential information served in a very intelligent way. Didn't realize when these 11 minute slipped away. The most comprehensive review i have found yet. Thank you!
Well if it is good for LIVE VENUES why would not be good for home? Isn't that what AUDIOPHILE want to be able to recreate a live performance at home? SO why not use a pro amp? If you do not like these amps most likely your current home amps are coloring the sound and you are just accustomed of the colored sound your "HIFI" amps are adding to the sound.
different strokes for different blokes bro. when i was a frat boy in college i had 5 crown amps powering an excessive sound system which had the cops outside our door every night thurs-sat. had a few stolen and loved em all but that's not me anymore. now i make money and want something different. and both are beautiful
I'm using this Crown to drive Altec 416-b 150w version woofers and it's a blast ! Tried it in the studio with Yamaha NS10-m studio and it didn't make it...I'm using PS audio model 2 for the Yamaha, they got perfect mid tone for thoses but when it come to drive big 15 inch Alnico bass driver rated at 150w Crown is Crown !
Crown amplifiers that are much better for home audio are the D-75A and D-150A, built for studio control environments. Crown stopped making these models in 2016, but here are usually plenty available on auction sites.
Setting gains properly is important, it looks like you just turned them all the way up. I think a lot of people don’t take the time to learn a little about gain structure to maximize the performance of these pro amps. It makes a difference. Good objective review though, I agree they have their pros and cons. I own three of them.
I'm using the XLS1502 in my home office - 9ft x 13ft. room - Kef Q1 speakers bi-wired with Canare 4S8 speaker cable. Base and mid-range are excellent, good detail and weight to the presentation. Highs just sound good to me - If they are rolled off, well, that may be why I like them. These Crown amps are great for a second system. Good Review, Thank you
I have a 2502. The issue with noise floor I fixed by hooking up a transparent DAC via XLR (SMSL M500) and now the background is black. That said, it's very true about the dry mid range and narrow sound stage. But, for me, the trade off was getting great dynamics from my music without spending over $1000.
The Crowns are perfect for subwoofers and they include low-pass filters for a 1-box solution. My top end is tube-driven. A nice combination of technologies working at their best.
Good amp for the $. Crown has some design, manufacturing and marketing savvy, they are making dumb money, so wtf is the problem with people getting all worked up about it? Crown amps are not for me and they may not be for you, but they sure as f- are for a lot of people. Wish I were as smart as Crown!
Reviewed the wrong Crown amp for home audio. Should go with the Crown 2500 XLI NOT the XLS series. That way you get A/B amplification and will sound much better at home. Doing a pro audio class D is a waste of time. Oh well.
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 I am changing my mind. Either one is fine They are very good amps and perform like amps that are four times as much money. Best amp deals out there! Just be sure to buy a big enough one. If you have 4 ohm 84db sensitive speakers, you want to go big. Like 750 watts per channel at 4 ohms. For amplification, Crown is excellant!
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 That is not true. They are fantastic amps. Anyone who says that doesn't know how products are made. Crown is very good. Just remember almost all products in the world are made in China. The company sets the “parts quality” then the Chinese make the product.
@@arkadiuszmikina4563 you cago with either amp. They are both grest. You want to make sure you get the power you want and the features you want. You cant go wrong with these Crown amps and in the USA, they are coming with a 6 year warranty if bought in 2021.
I have the XLS-2002. After a week of experiment, I found the 1.4 volt setting combined with the 11 o'clock position on the output controls is perfect for my set-up. With no signal I have to put my ear to within 6 inches of the midrange driver to hear a low-level buzz. I'm using a McCormack MAP-1 preamp and Legacy Focus speakers which have a very efficient 96db sensitivity rating.
I have had Crown 1502 for a few year. Did not like. My system is Prima Luna vacuum tube. Adding the Schiit Audio Lokius 6 band EQ has changed everything. I find a significant cut at 6k brings this amp back in line. My 8) EL34 power tubes are missed but the Crown now sounds musical. Speakers are JBL 4425 studio monitors.
Like all subjective gear, it is a matter of personal preference and application. I have two that replaced A/B monoblocks . . . the Crown 150's2 were grand improvements and have worked well with my system. I am planning on adding two more to make my system active in the crossovers with even more control. Personally, it is not possible to consider those outrageously priced amps; therefore, others have a right to their opinions, some of whom I respect . . . but ultimately, it is my ears, my finances, and my criteria of performance that matters.
The rec to use a tube preamp for an amp you perceive to have rolled off highs seems bizarre to me. Sounds like you prefer distortion to an accurate response, which is fine of course but shouldn't be a criticism of the amp. Its crossover function and gain control are worth mentioning when comparing to other class d amps in its price range.
I live in Brazil.. have pre Advance acoustic mpp-206 and may power is a emotiva XPA-2 gen 1... I testing the cronw 1502 and i was very impressed... the sound sounded more natural, accurate and real... the massive damping factor treats the weight of the speaker cones as if it were headphones... let it be just the shock of the difference because then you get used to it.... alternating my hearing with my emotiva I perceive a much more veiled sound..nd
My Crown XLS 2502 does not have this noice floor or passive noice. It's dead silent. I think this is due to other faulty gear or dirty power in your setup.
I purchased The Crown XLS 2500 Core 2 a year ago to manage my subwoofers and sold it already and Then I bought a class A-AB amplifier for my subwoofers now I listen the high end lower frequencies. Crown are good amplifier for what they are designed PA-DJ speakers, not for high end house sounds.
I own a Crown XLI2500. It's an AB, similar power ratings to the 2502. Dead quiet in idle, sounds really good to me on any speaker, and it can drive my 15' Vegas no problem. I have never heard any audible noise or distortion, very neutral, may be a little heavy on the low end at high volume. Built like a tank. Pretty great amp for $500 bucks. It will do the job until you can afford to go to the next level. Excellent for Surround systems not dedicated for music.
These are generally made for PA systems. BUT, I have a freind that uses the crown amp with a pair of Klipsh LaScallas, and wala you get a pretty good sounding live stereo sound. He's been using it this way for 45 years. He uses the crown amp for his DJ system as well.
they will probably say the same bs audiofools the crown amps are professional amps so more than likely they have a dead flat response un like the "hifi" bs amps that have a smiley face eq built in.
I have a Crown XLS 1502 Amplifier in my garage. Plenty of headroom. Best feature is XLR connections for PA and RCA inputs for home audio. At first I thought that the fan did not function. After a few Led Zeppelin tunes, I checked with a flashlight, and the fan is ON. One more point: After being in the garage for several years, I am surprised how little dust is inside.
"This being a class D amplifier, it has a lighter-weight, as well as better heat management than a class AB, for example" - Jay's iyagi This is something I never really gave any serious consideration to when designing my portable rack. I was seriously considering purchasing two of the XLi amps (the 2500, and the 1500). My only thoughts were "I don't need a crossover, which is the only real addition to the XLS". The 8U rack (with receiver, extended range Bluetooth, two amps, a cooler plate, and the case) would have came out to 99.8 lbs. Whaaat!?! I don't want to lug a 100 lb box around if I don't have to. With the lighter amps, and the omission of the cooler plate, I can shave off a ton of weight (like, what, 40 lbs??). Definitely worth it, if you're going to move it around periodically. Thanks Jay.
The glue isn't elegantly applied?. Seriously?. Lol 😂. Nobody is even going to see inside the Amplifier anyway. The way the components are setup is irrelevant. It's purchased for sound quality. Not looks of the internals.
Crowns are great for Professional PA usage as Jay mentioned. The other use case is HT Sub Amps and very little use cases for 2 Channel HiFi. If your on a budget and need an amp for less than
Looking good, Jay! Like your presentation and delivery in this video...I think some folks do find a lot of value in this amp for the money, though it's definitely not for everyone.
These are great amps, but are limited to 48khz 24 bit audio as per the internal dac. with that said, their specs arnt true hifi, from its thd specs being at 0.5% thd, to the inter modulation distortion specs "audio science review has detaild measurements of the 2502 on their site" to the 1khz slightly inflated power ratings. With all that said, they aren't bad amplifiers, they are worth having a look, they sound good in their own way especially with the right speakers, power efficient, run cool and are light which matters especially if you have health issues and can't lift heavy things, or you have 20 of them in a rack that gets moved around a lot, they have many up sides. But they certainly wouldn't compare to something like a bryston with a 20 year warranty for critical listening, these crowns are designed to be beat up in a club night after night making money reliably, being pushed to the brink at 2 ohms per channel or even 4 ohms bridged driving a sub. They make a fun little system if you accept their limitations, the dsp features and build quality/price make for a fun amp. But i wouldn't say they're reference quality. Using a amp with better specs for your high end and mid range monitors being crossed with a dbx active crossover and a xls2502 driving a sub is great. For sub duty, these amps are especially nice. I have a 1002 for a bedroom system in input y mode, one channel is doing the mids and highs the other is driving 2 12" subs with a summond mono signal, everything is being crossed at 75hz using the crowns internal high pass and low pass filters, it sounds great for what it is and it is very quiet "unless you use very efficient speakers 95 - 97db 1w1m and up" the hiss of its quiescent current nouse at idle or at low volumes would be noticable, otherwise it'll be fine, the fan also is quiet, it is on a timer that kicks it on every few minutes even at idle, but even when it does, its very quiet. Never had the fan have to kick on fast or much longer then any other time even when playing very bass heavy content just below clipping @4 ohms per channel "think rebassed rap songs in the 20hz - 25 to 35hz range for hours on end which are very taxing" The xls line is a beautiful amplifier series for the money, a very solid choice and one that would be good for most people in most situations even at home "thx to the rca inputs and adjustible input sensitivity" or in a club, to even a stadium! "they have the xti and macrotech series for big things like that with hi q net however" But still, anyone who says the xls line are terrible and sound terrible and puts their nose up on it because of the name don't know what they are doing and are missing out on a fun time. Ive run my crown xls for 8 months straight without ever turning it off and it never had an issue during that entire time. Good video though.
Most people are ignorant on the subject, but still, they are worth it even dispite their limitations, they're especially good for driving subs. The sampling rate of 48 24 is a professional standard "most of the time anyway" If the sampling rate issue is that big of a problem, use them for subs like i am.
What ??????.. I wouldn't buy a "subwoofer" that was only capable of going down to 48hz.... that to me is a midrange speaker.... Subs typically like these amps should go and do go down to 20hz or 10hz.... This amp can only go down to 48hz because it is using 24 bit dac sampaling technology from the 1980's....... Also the THD is 0.5% wheres todays equipment is typically 0.005% or better... The gain structure is all messed up, no sonic sepperation or stage as some call it, the sound is tonally flat.... Go look at a strip down video of this where its output is measured a xli 1501 i think?..... see the contents and the cheep parts used...... Really awfull 🤮💩🤮💩🤮💩🤮💩 Thanks but no thanks, im not paying for 1980's parts at todays prices at 1960's audio spec..... THD 0.5% 🤪 48 HZ sub sound 24 bit dacs..... a to d and d to a dacs for a useless crossover nobody will use, as speakers today all have some sort of crossovers in them, and no dac crossovers for speaker subs and tops only cost £35 for each pair A complete rip off..... Boycott crown amps feeding off the deaf rich elderly who believed in a products name that was good in yesteryear but today is a P.O.S. GO RESEARCH FOR YOUR SELVES, USE MAIL ORDER, AND THEN SEND IT BACK...... AMAZON AND OTHERS WILL STOP SELLING THEM EVENTUALLY...... ANOTHER "DUAL PASSPORT" BRAND THAT STEALS FROM THE ELDERLY AND HARD WORKING CITIZENS WORLD WIDE......
Excellent evaluation and advice. You provide a great service. Please keep posting. How about the Martin Logans which have a better sensitivity than the Magnepans? Does the Crown do better with them?
I have been running a Crown XLS for 3 year's, was only meant to be a stop gap, but I haven't found anything up to £3000 that really makes me feel the need to spend the money and part with the Crown. Admittedly my ears may be a bit wooden, but I just absolutely love it's sound. Curious as to the high end seeming rolled off, although you are a lot younger so I guess it's something I would not notice as hearing beyond 16khz is extremely limited.
The noise is not from the Crown itself. Look at the numbers, it amplifies the noise floor from your pre amplifier by 30dB. So that's the hiss you're hearing. Just unplug the input and the noise is gone...
I use a Crown XLI 1500 class AB amplifier to drive a set of Jamo C95 II loudspeakers (sensitivity 89 dB) and they are dead silent with no audio signal applied. If you know how to correctly set your signal gain structure to achieve the maximum system dynamic range and the optimum signal to noise ratio, you will never experience that background noise that you are talking about. The Crown XLI 1500 input attenuation controls are set to -18 dB and I can drive the Jamo C95 II loudspeakers to their maximum rated power output, controling the audio level from the Allen Heath mixing console. The cooling fans on Crown XLI 1500 amplifier are dead silent, even when the Jamo C95 II loudspeakers are playing at their maximum rated power output.
@@ericnortan9012 That amp measures horribly, even worse then the xls line, crown really let their quality slip in their class ab amps compared to what they used to be, their class d amps are just as good as their ab stuff used to be "for the most part" The only pro ab/h amps that are actually decent today would be qsc's rmxa or rmx line, once you hear them side by side, there is no going back...
@@analogaudiorules1724 I'm not saying the thing is high end HiFi, but it has great power and has very neutral sound. For someone who has a big pair of 15" 3-ways and wants to crank it up this amp does the job. Metal, electronic, rock, blues all sound great. I run my dac as a pre-amp ,it's an RME and has a very neutral clean sound. Paired with the Crown you get a clinical studio type sound. It may test like shit but I've never heard any audible distortion or hiss, very quiet and clean with no added color. That's what I want in an amp. If you want lots of power and don't have a lot of cash to spend, I would recomend it.
I bet a speaker with a titanium tweeter would sound pretty nice powered by the Crown amp. The mentioned rolloff might help offset the natural harshness of metallic tweets.
I have couple of the Crown 2502's. I can max the volume without pushing a signal to the amp... I only hear a slight hiss with my ear almost against the tweeter. Not enough that you could even hear in a dead silent room. I have had vintage audio equipment of pristine status that was on par with the Crowns. My speakers sensitivity are 98db SPL too. I have owned quite a bit of high end gear. The Crown's can hold their own. For the money, they can't be beat for power, efficiency and features. Not yet... The Crowns match very well with the Emotiva PT-100 (which has a decent DAC built in, or use of a different good DAC (Aune X8 Magic DAC, JDS Labs EL DAC II, The ES9038Q2M SABRE32 Reference DAC, AK4490 - AK4499 etc.) and also using tubes as a buffer, if you want a fuller bodied richer sound. I would use good quality JBL or Klipsch speakers at least. People can get Audiophile grade gear on the cheap these days!!! What can be had for $5,000 today, would have cost you $50,000 or more 20yrs ago. Think about it...
I use the 2500 depending on what fronts I use. I have an outlaw audio 770 and I can tell you its just as good. The noise floor is higher but even under quiet listening you cant hear it. If you're having to crank the gain on these in your rig you need a voltage gain. The noise floor gets higher the more you turn up those knobs. Obviously. The 1500 and up has 103db signal to noise which is not terrible. The 1000 is 97db which is a noticeable difference. I did have to get an arts clean box to boost the voltage. Sometimes I run it on some yamaha sv115s and my legacy audio classics and it sounds great and can give them power like no other amp I've had. I use a onkyo txsr876 as my preamp. I've never heard my fan kick on either. I've never even gotten the clip meters to come close to clipping because by then it's already super loud. I run 4 subs so I dont rely on it for anything below 40hz at most but sometimes I'll run it 2 channel with no subs running and it's nice and full to me and my reference and favorite amps I have is ATI and Outlaw audio. I mean at 5 to 600 bucks for a 2 channel amp it's not a cheap amp ar all. And the tech that comes built in is super handy. If you wanted 7 channels, referencing my outlaw 770, of amperage from 2500s you would be dropping a good 3 grand or so and man you would have some crazy headroom.
That's true. Only way I'd ever part with my XLS is if I decided to jump on the streaming bandwagon. Very unlikely though, part of the fun of Hi-fi is the interaction, changing a record or CD, admiring the album art etc. For CD and vinyl though, really is a force to be reckoned with. I demoed 10 different amps over the last few years, up to £3000. Two of those did something better that was noticeable, but £3000 noticeable, nope, not a chance. The XLS will remain in my system forever, and the beauty of that is I have an amp that can literally drive any speaker I choose and gives me more cash to play with various other things in the chain. I'd recommend anyone to try one of these, one of the all time greats in my mind, and accessible to so many, and that's what really makes me so respecting of this amplifier, love the fact there's no pretentiousness.
@DJkwaz Do you see all the replies you got, politely countering your comment???? Who wants a sub thay can only go down to 48k because of an amps dsp restriction.....NOT ME 😡👎🏻.... Choose class A/B all the time with NO DSP..... this can be done between the pre amp and the amp, or by a hardwired internal speaker crossover....
The noise demo was with the gain knobs maxed out, if they're at noon to 2 o'clock it's quiet. Also, you say it's bass performance is great but then hedged it by adding 'for 11 pound amp'. The rear 1/4 inch jacks are outputs not inputs.
Hi peoples. I bought a Crown XLS2502 about 6 months ago, simply because it was too cheap to pass up. It's been in a box doing nothing for most of the time I've owned it, but after hearing that Jay recommended the SoundArtist Pre-1 as a great partner for the Crown, I ended up buying one. It just arrived today, so I dusted the Crown off in preparation for some heavy listening after the Pre-1 has had time to "burn in". My other equipment is a Rega P6 T/T, Nagaoka MP500 cartridge, Schiit Mani phono amp, Cambridge Audio CXU, Naim amplification and Q Acoustics Concept 500 Floorstanders, so not too shabby. Actually, I love the Naim sound and the Concept 500's are just amazing. Anyway, my question: The SoundArtist Pre-1 has a single VU meter. What it is for? BTW, I haven't played any music through the Pre-1 yet, but will probably start listening tomorrow
if you connect them with xlr the noise floor could drop dramatically.. i have behringers a500 and i run them as monoblocks and with xlr the noise floor dropped closed to zero! give it a try!
I love these amps because they enabled me to start my audiophile journey. I pair them with KEF LS50’s + REL subs in two separate rooms and then slowly upgraded my dacs and preamps within my budget. Now I am planning to upgrade amplification in one of the two rooms but I don’t feel like I need to rush in the other room. I think the key with the Crown amps is they need to be paired with the right speakers and other electronics to get great sound. Some of the combinations that I tried sounded like maggot ridden crap. Thanks for the great video Jay!
Really interested in the amp. Your comment on this being dry on Magnepan is compared to? Hegel high end Amps costing USD 2-3k? How dry is it on a Maggie? Is it really subtle dry or dry there is something wrong I may have broken something? Watched many of your reviews and Audio Excellence and sometimes heard the exact system and the comments were on things that are really hard to hear unless your on critical listening mode not just to enjoy the music. I'm looking at this because it's cheap and hoping an equalizer will smoothen some if it's issues together with a preamp. I think scale is important on some things for us to have a reference. Plus it's a classic Class D amp that really begs for tubes and a budget one at that. And yes I'll probably get a Hegel too for Magnepan with the budget Just trying to enjoy the Music, Happy listening. Planning to get a Triangle Br02 and a pre owned Magnepan LRS. Cheers.
Had exactly this issue in my living room setup (60% HT, 40% music). What solved it for me was a used Vincent SP331. It is powerful and because it is hybrid, it brought warmth and a fuller body to the thin sound I had with a solid state AB class amp.
In my setup, the background is silent/black when using the 2502. That said, I only listen to digital music files (Tidal > Audirvana) and I use a clean DAC (SMSL M500 via XLR). The speakers are the Focal Aria 906 in a loft type room/space. FYI
Hi Jay. Great review. This Crown amp has 2 selectable input sensitivities. The higher 1.4 volt setting may provide less speaker noise and may sound better. Also did you try any tweaks? Like a nice aftermarket power cord or anti resonance feet with the amplifier? Thanks
1:12 The posted outputs of these amps have been debunked on RU-vid; a guy with a pro-test bench had a Crown on there and while powerful, they don't ever quite live up to their posted results.
@@AudioGuyBrian Well, no. 0.5 % is the THD when it reaches the claimed power, which is measured above the clipping point. At the clipping point, those Crowns have a THD below 0.01%, but will only deliver around 70 % of the power the brand claims.
@@AudioGuyBrian Besides, there is a thing way more important, regarding THD, and that´s the THD of the speakers. Any decent amp, even a cheap one, as long as it´s not driven above it´s limits, will have a THD low enough to not bother the listener, almost always bellow 0.1 %. Speakers, on the other hand, even the good ones, can have a THD above 1%, even at moderate levels. The only reason people are so obssessed with the THD from amps and not speakers, is that amp brands usually give out THD figures as a selling point (as if an amp with THD 0.0000001% was automatically better than one with 0.01%...). Speakers brands almost always do not give you those figures, because they are more dificult to measure with accuracy, and also because those numbers being way worse , will make them look bad.
I use 2 of them in bridge mono mode with my maggie mmg's and i enjoy them, i'm on a budget and this is great for me. I would love to afford higher end equipment but this will have to due for now
I also use six of them " Model 1502's" for my Maggies with an active crossover plus two SVS subs, that way I can tailor the sound the way sounds best to my ears. Because just one amp does not do the trick period.
I think the reason it is liked is the low cost in the US c.f other brands. Most individuals will not be able to pick one amp from another in a comparative field. Where there may be important differences though, are things like current reserve for low freq dynamics and such. I think aspects like this can qualitatively make a difference that may not be picked in a curated listening comparison. Of course, the inherent biases of psychoacoustics and knowing the product mean that our assertions about such things long term are not easily presented. You just know that you do or don't like some aspect of it.
Hi Jay. I have a pair of beyerdynamic DT 1990 headphones and love them out all of my other headphones. What bookshelf speakers would you say would match this sound signature?
Crowns are a great cost effective choice for regular people like me who don't have super picky hearing. Comparing a crown to high end audio is like me Comparing a chevy with a Rolls-Royce.
Well done Sir. Pretty much you get what you pay for as was indicated in short display of the inside of this little box at only 13 lb. I do like the Hz adjustment.
That's what I did with my QSC. Put some rubber feet on it to sit on and cut the rack wings off to where they now just look like a brushed aluminum accent pieces. With the wings off it's actually smaller then my 5 disc CD player. I just want the power. I'll fix any issues with it with my EQ.
Honestlly, i believe that background noise may be coming from preamps. Remove the inputs , then turn up the volume and listen again. Also to much gain without signal input can generate high level of noise...it would interesting to see if this does the trick...
WTF! Thank you. After hearing it I paused and rewound and played again. Then paused and went to the comments...after reading a few I was beginning to think I was the only one who caught that.... OMFG Bridged having two! 🤣 Normal his vids and review are decent...but really.....
The reviewers comment still stands.... The left channel is 1 independant amplifier, that is capable of putting out different sound then the right channel, which also is a sepperate amplifier as there are no "crosstalk" figures given.... Each amplifier is independant of the other..... HENCE, THERE ARE 2 INDEPENDANT AMPLIFIERS AMALGAMATED INTO 1 AMPLIFIER. WHEN USING "BRIDGED MODE" YOU "BRIDGE" OR JOIN THE 2 SEPERATE AMPS TOGETHER INTO 1 AMPLIFIER......... DERRRRRR😳👎🏻
The Home Theater community has been using Pro-Audio amps for at least 10 years now. I find it interesting how audiophiles are suddenly discovering Pro-Audio gear. You guys missed the Yamaha P-Series amps of a couple years ago, now phased out. I have four P-3500S's driving a 5.1 and these amps not only sound good with impeccable specs but were well regarded in the industry. You cannot beat the brute force of a Pro-Audio amplifier. They are perfect for brands such as JBL, Klipsch and Cerwin Vega. The JBL Studio 590 powered by a 350wpc Yamaha sounds insane! Class D is just now maturing. Give it another five years...
@@carlosoliveira-rc2xt first of all, i was referring to the audiophiles that represents this RU-vid video and others who have channels on RU-vid. I also have been in the hobby a very long time, 35 years to be exact. You only have five years on me. I was also an installer before the industry changed the name to "integrator". So, what's your point? My point is very clear.
I'm a huge fan of the old crown macros there old but still work great All these companies have been bought out by crappy companies who put out garbage so I don't trust many amps anymore
Hello, good work sir , I do appreciate the review as I've considered strongly some of the xls amps namely 2 of the smaller models due to decent reviews. Thank you for the honest and neutral outlook and the tips you've given on using the right preamps to wring a bit better performance out of amp, that's important because listeners sometimes may not realize importance of the preamp going into amp! Once again 👍🏾👍🏾🙏🏾good work and good reviews sir!!
I bought the 2502 running my Martin Logan ELS front and an Pioneer Elite SC-77 driving my center and rear B&W and it sounds great no hiss I like loud music and fan has never turned on I almost bought the Emotiva 3 channel for 1k I plan on buying a Schiit Freya plus !
