Pro amps officially better than consumer amps!

[v_squared123]

http://www.hometheaterequipment.com/...l-thread-1319/

Editor over at hometheaterequipment.com decided to try out some crown audio pro amplifiers and very impressed with it that he decided to replace his own consumer level amps! He his review was very positive! He is now in talks with the company to send more pro amps for review!

[v_squared123]

The reviewer did another review on pro amps. Here is what he said " I found it to be extremely neutral in that I had a difficult time describing its actual sound. The sonic signature, to my ears, is neither here nor there, it just is, which is the highest praise I can heap upon any product for when you’re mastering the only sound you wish to impart upon the signal and thus the audience is your own. The XLS 2000s are extremely fast, articulate and refined -again, something I wasn’t expecting from such a low cost product "

[v_squared123]

A forum member on the reviewers website bought a pro series amp and made a comparison to his emotiva mono blocks powering his revels - " I went to Guitar Center yesterday and picked up an XLS 2500 to power my Revel Salon 2's. I had been running a pair of Emotiva XPA 1 monos. All I can say is wow. The Crown to my ears is soooo much better. Its like the low end of the Revels suddenly came alive. The sense of spacial correctness is undeniable. Timbre is right on. It is hard to describe without coming off like a dork. After all, amps aren't supposed to sound like anything, right? Btm line, the XPA's are now on the chopping block. Unbelievable. Thanks for helping me think outside the box Andrew."

[v_squared123]

Another owner of crown pro amps had this to say:

"Just thought I would post a few photos of the crown's for any one that might think pro gear has to be ugly and utilitarian. I now have a 2000 for the tweeter and mid, and a 2500 controling the bottom end. I have owned a LOT of amps in my days, many very high end ones as well. I find it hard to admit, but I gotta say....these are the BEST sounding amps I have ever come across...AT ANY PRICE!
The top end is clean and clear, without being fatiguing, the power they put out command and control the bottom end like nothing I have ever come accross. There is a crisp "snap" to the drum beats that I have never noticed before, and everything is just so, well...as my friend puts it, "clean and tight" The remarks about the sound being un-colored are very true though, if it's a crappy recording, you will know after about 1 second.

Before the Crown's I could never really tell a diffrence between digital recordings of LP's that I saved to my computer and played through the DAC or the real LP...now I can. Yes, it's that detailed...almost too much so. Having said that, the warmth of a LP sounds much better with the crowns, and I'm going to bet with a tube pre-amp, this set up would rival some real high end stuff! Hats off to crown, this is great stuff!
Now if I can just get the idea that some 90 year old woman at my local K-mart is probably using the same amp to announce the lasted "blue light special" out of my head.... "

Link is here for those who want to see pics his setup. It is post number 56?
http://www.hometheaterequipment.com/....html#post9010

[Nick The Slick]

Owning a Crown XLS 1500 myself to power my Monitor 70 fronts I must agree with everything said here. What really blows my mind with these XLS series amps is the class D design, leaving them weighting in at a whopping 11lbs! Absolutely amazing all that power and features (love the built in 4th order x-over), RCA inputs as well as XLR. Definitely picking up a 1000 in the future for my surrounds. Would recommend this line all day any day.

[Big Daddy]

Movie theaters, concert organizers, and professional auditoriums do not use Emotiva or other home theater amplifiers. Once you use a pro amplifier, you realize how overpriced home theater amplifiers are.

A major reason why home theater amplifiers are heavier is because of their massive heat sinks. Heat sinks do not play an important role in sound quality. They are used to dissipate heat. Pro amplifiers use one or two fans. Some of these fans can be noisy.

If you plan to use a pro amp, it may be a good idea to check its fan noise. You can also replace the fan with a low noise fan for less than $15 as I did with my Behringer EP4000 pro amp. You can read about it in The Behringer and Other Pro Amps thread.

Another disadvantage of pro amps is that they are not very attractive. They increase the likelihood of your spouse kicking you out of the house.

[Spicoli]

Originally Posted by v_squared123

http://www.hometheaterequipment.com/...l-thread-1319/

Editor over at hometheaterequipment.com decided to try out some crown audio pro amplifiers and very impressed with it that he decided to replace his own consumer level amps! He his review was very positive! He is now in talks with the company to send more pro amps for review!

A Samsung is better than a Westinghouse. Whats your point?

[Race Bannon]

Much obliged. That's the kind of insight i need.

[Nick The Slick]

Always glad to help. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm very far from the most knowledgeable here but I do my best.

[Billy13]

Originally Posted by Nick The Slick

Nothing wrong with this at all. A lot of people run their setups like this (beefy 2 channel amp to power their mains which usually require the most juice other than the sub and can be useful for 2 channel music playback).*



Always glad to help. Let me know if you need anything else. I'm very far from the most knowledgeable here but I do my best.

Sounds good to me. ↑

Albeit I I am not running a 3ch amp, I am running a 2ch with my Wharfedale's in my bedroom. I listen to a lot of music in there, and it's nice to have that extra power, not to mention, it just sounds better.

[Race Bannon]

I've had about a week to test my system, and it sounds fantastic.

Any theories or guidance on where to set the gain on the Crown's? I set it on about 8.5 out of 10 on all three. Then let the pre-pro auto adjust the balance on all the speakers. Seems to work pretty well.

Just wonder if I should try all different settings. Kind of a pain to run through the adjustment just to try different levels.

[Nick The Slick]

Originally Posted by Race Bannon

I've had about a week to test my system, and it sounds fantastic.

Any theories or guidance on where to set the gain on the Crown's? I set it on about 8.5 out of 10 on all three. Then let the pre-pro auto adjust the balance on all the speakers. Seems to work pretty well.

Just wonder if I should try all different settings. Kind of a pain to run through the adjustment just to try different levels.

That's about where mine ended up. I adjusted mine until I was able to get Audyssey to set it's trim to 0 (or as close as possible. I got lucky and found spots to get it 0 exactly) for both channels .

[pearsall001]

After all the talk about pro-amps compared to the usual class A/B which are the most common I decided to give one a try. I picked up a Crown XLS Drive Core 1002. At 215w/8ohm I am now a convert. The amp runs dead silent, was a breeze to set up, has many features that you can customize to your system needs. If that wasn't enough the amp is outstanding in it's performance. Now don't get me wrong, I've had my share of class A/B amps but now after experiencing what the Crown brings to the table the money class A/B amps sell for has me scratching my head. Come on over to the dark side...give one a try! You won't be disappointed.

[drmar]

Originally Posted by pearsall001

After all the talk about pro-amps compared to the usual class A/B which are the most common I decided to give one a try. I picked up a Crown XLS Drive Core 1002. At 215w/8ohm I am now a convert. The amp runs dead silent, was a breeze to set up, has many features that you can customize to your system needs. If that wasn't enough the amp is outstanding in it's performance. Now don't get me wrong, I've had my share of class A/B amps but now after experiencing what the Crown brings to the table the money class A/B amps sell for has me scratching my head. Come on over to the dark side...give one a try! You won't be disappointed.

I've had its precursor, the XLS 1000, for six years now and to be honest, it's as good or better than any traditional power amp I've owned (Hafler, Sanyo, NAD, Rotel). Clean, neutral sound and power galore for any normal domestic listening room. A bonus is that's it's a featherweight at 9 or 10 pounds. I can carry it in one hand.

[whitey019]

Originally Posted by drmar

I've had its precursor, the XLS 1000, for six years now and to be honest, it's as good or better than any traditional power amp I've owned (Hafler, Sanyo, NAD, Rotel). Clean, neutral sound and power galore for any normal domestic listening room. A bonus is that's it's a featherweight at 9 or 10 pounds. I can carry it in one hand.

I have a XLS-1000 that I use for a subwoofer amplifier and also for parties/events outside and it performs admirably. To me though, the noise floor is not good enough to be used in a serious high fidelity audio listening environment.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by whitey019

I have a XLS-1000 that I use for a subwoofer amplifier and also for parties/events outside and it performs admirably. To me though, the noise floor is not good enough to be used in a serious high fidelity audio listening environment.

You have to go up to the 2500 to have a decent noise floor for two channel use.

[drmar]

Originally Posted by whitey019

I have a XLS-1000 that I use for a subwoofer amplifier and also for parties/events outside and it performs admirably. To me though, the noise floor is not good enough to be used in a serious high fidelity audio listening environment.

Well then, I guess I'm not a serious listener. But I like it just fine.

[Dwayne]

Originally Posted by drmar

Well then, I guess I'm not a serious listener. But I like it just fine.

Yes you are a serious listener, or you would have never purchased amp's like NAD, Rotel as you stated earlier . These are considered to be top shelf companies that does not build junk .