Crown Power Amp owners / Specially for integration in HT setup

[Abhishek_]

I am using the Crown XLS 1502 since 8 months now with Marantz 1509 AVR and ELAC BSU5 speakers, to me the vocals were not clear and found it a bit muddy / muffled, using the high pass filter on the Crown amplifier greatly reduced the problem.
Any other settings the forum members would recommend ?

 

[edjamesx]

Unfortunately in my City "Udaipur" there is no dedicated HiFi store, I rely on the actual experience of members from this forum. After this pandemic situation, its even more difficult now to travel for demo.

Did you try BasX series also? Its much more reasonable priced though its not modular.

I did not try BasX Series . Also not sure how much difference it can make from AVR since BasX series are rated 100 to 150 watts RMS.
There's group in facebook for emotiva Audio and there are bunch of Emotiva Basx users, You could post the questions there to get their views.
I also used this group to get their views & also get my questions/clarifications answered in the group. Quite useful.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/61682627832

 

[edjamesx]

I am using the Crown XLS 1502 since 8 months now with Marantz 1509 AVR and ELAC BSU5 speakers, to me the vocals were not clear and found it a bit muddy / muffled, using the high pass filter on the Crown amplifier greatly reduced the problem.
Any other settings the forum members would recommend ?

You could also play around with EQ curve and frequency response settings. Power Amps generally boost the mid bass from speakers , so without correct eq curve the speakers might sound muddy. Also i did not feel Audissy does the best correct calibration with Power Amps connected. Manual tuning only works better for me. Mainly from Graphics eq curve , Try decreasing 63Hz ,125 Hz ,250 Hz below -8 db, and increase other frequencies above 0 db as per your taste.

Also try with Try 60 hz or below cross over speaker settings.

 

[sgautam]

Friends, I too bought an XLS 2502 to experiment with the Magnepan CC3. Though it didn't drive the Maggie as well I as hoped, the amp itself is extremely good.

My AVR is quite powerful with 150 into 8 continous with low THD level. I firmly believe in burn in for amps also and even as new the Crown opened up the speakers quite a bit.


It's been 3 days now and the sound is much fuller and the instrument separation is quite good, I dare say much better than PM 6006 as direct comparison. I was pairing both with QDac and the results are very heartening. At this price I am tempted to go the separates way. Only worry is the insane price of processors now a days.

The Crown no doubt delivers at least for me. I am very eager to see someone comparing it with higher end amps with better ears and tech knowledge. That would help a lot of members.

Would be thankful if someone helps me with the gain settings, right now i am keeping at 12 o clock position. Increasing the gain is resulting in sharper sound, not necessarily shrill but less pleasant. Any pointers pl

Cheers

 

[ankitbhargava]

Friends, I too bought an XLS 2502 to experiment with the Magnepan CC3. Though it didn't drive the Maggie as well I as hoped, the amp itself is extremely good.

My AVR is quite powerful with 150 into 8 continous with low THD level. I firmly believe in burn in for amps also and even as new the Crown opened up the speakers quite a bit.


It's been 3 days now and the sound is much fuller and the instrument separation is quite good, I dare say much better than PM 6006 as direct comparison. I was pairing both with QDac and the results are very heartening. At this price I am tempted to go the separates way. Only worry is the insane price of processors now a days.

The Crown no doubt delivers at least for me. I am very eager to see someone comparing it with higher end amps with better ears and tech knowledge. That would help a lot of members.

Would be thankful if someone helps me with the gain settings, right now i am keeping at 12 o clock position. Increasing the gain is resulting in sharper sound, not necessarily shrill but less pleasant. Any pointers pl

Cheers

Very good to learn about your initial impression,
I have to dial my 1502 all the way up to 2 o clock to avoid Audyssey level match my other speakers driven by AVR to go in + range, I haven't paid attention to the distortion added while higher gain on Amp.

 

[sgautam]

It's surely not distortion but the higher frequencies are gaining momentum i think. On some tracks of music and in HT applications increasing gain is giving more slam and bang......

God only knows whats what but this amp is throwing more questions than answers.

 

[ankitbhargava]

Anyone else ventured in Crown Amps to be used in setup primarily for Movies?

 

[ssf]

right now i am keeping at 12 o clock position. Increasing the gain is resulting in sharper sound, not necessarily shrill but less pleasant. Any pointers pl

I have read that keeping the gain at 1 or 2 O'Clock position wakes up the amp. I keep mine at 2 O'Clock.

I was always thinking that level matched amps when played in it's range should not sound very different. But there is something that I read which made sense to me. Even when listening to music at normal levels, in music recorded with a good dynamic range, (More so with movies) peak levels could go to as much as 250 Watts. Most amps will clip here if it does not have sufficient headroom. Maybe that is why these amps with 300 - 400 watts sound better even when level matched.

http://www.cordellaudio.com/he2007/show_report.shtml

Look under paragraphs :

"Amplifier Listening Comparison"

"The Peak Power Demands of Well-recorded Music"

 

[pkhammu2005]

Anyone else ventured in Crown Amps to be used in setup primarily for Movies?

@drkrack is using in his HT

 

[ankitbhargava]

Today I hooked in my Center Channel in bridge mode via Crown and shifted back FL to the AVR. In the Movies, its very difficult to notice a HUGE difference.

 

[ankitbhargava]

I have read that keeping the gain at 1 or 2 O'Clock position wakes up the amp. I keep mine at 2 O'Clock.

I was always thinking that level matched amps when played in it's range should not sound very different. But there is something that I read which made sense to me. Even when listening to music at normal levels, in music recorded with a good dynamic range, (More so with movies) peak levels could go to as much as 250 Watts. Most amps will clip here if it does not have sufficient headroom. Maybe that is why these amps with 300 - 400 watts sound better even when level matched.

http://www.cordellaudio.com/he2007/show_report.shtml

Look under paragraphs :

"Amplifier Listening Comparison"

"The Peak Power Demands of Well-recorded Music"

Not sure how to technically relate it with my experience but those sudden thrust of levels make or break the movie experience. If those thrusts in action scenes doesn't give you chills, the system still needs to be improvised.

 

[ssf]

Not sure how to technically relate it with my experience but those sudden thrust of levels make or break the movie experience. If those thrusts in action scenes doesn't give you chills, the system still needs to be improvised.

Your 7012 is a very capable receiver. I had the 7010. Now its under repair. With the bass management sending most difficult loads to the sub, the improvements you see by adding a power amp like you correctly stated should be minimal unless you have a big room and you are listening at reference levels.

But for two channel stereo with a tube pre, I did notice a different sound from the crowns as compared to the Marantz in pure direct and I have to say that I like the crown-tube combination.

 

[ankitbhargava]

Your 7012 is a very capable receiver. I had the 7010. Now its under repair. With the bass management sending most difficult loads to the sub, the improvements you see by adding a power amp like you correctly stated should be minimal unless you have a big room and you are listening at reference levels.

But for two channel stereo with a tube pre, I did notice a different sound from the crowns as compared to the Marantz in pure direct and I have to say that I like the crown-tube combination.

My Room is about 20 feet X 18 feet X 9.5 feet and on an average I crank upto 80db
I am still struggling for a much cleaner and fuller sound.

@edjamesx mentioned that he found 80% improvement in sound after adding Emotiva.

 

[ssf]

I am still struggling for a much cleaner and fuller sound.

You have pretty decent equipment. You might need to play around with it to get the sound that you seek. Your room also probably need to be made sound friendly. My personal opinion, you are not going to see a huge improvement by changing your power amp.

 

[drkrack]

I am still struggling for a much cleaner and fuller sound.

Can you be more specific? Less Fuller or Less Cleaner Sound with What Source?
If all Sources have the Same issue ( Mainly Physical Media like CD/ BD disks vs Streaming Sources) , Its likely a Power Related issue, Electronics Come later in the picture ( Assuming speakers positioning aka Speaker-Room interactions are adequately optimized).

Solution 1. Get a dedicated 4sqmm mm line to your HT Sockets along with at least 5kva Servo Stabilizer

 

[sgautam]

Hi, can you pl recommend any brand for the servo stabilizer. I was looking to buy one.

 

[jsmithe]

Hi, can you pl recommend any brand for the servo stabilizer. I was looking to buy one.

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[ankitbhargava]

Can you be more specific? Less Fuller or Less Cleaner Sound with What Source?
If all Sources have the Same issue ( Mainly Physical Media like CD/ BD disks vs Streaming Sources) , Its likely a Power Related issue, Electronics Come later in the picture ( Assuming speakers positioning aka Speaker-Room interactions are adequately optimized).

Solution 1. Get a dedicated 4sqmm mm line to your HT Sockets along with at least 5kva Servo Stabilizer

The source is almost 100% OTT (mostly netflix and prime via Xbox One S), I have always been doubtful how butchered the SQ could be in online streaming but having compared with some decent quality Blu Ray (lossless) downloads with the streaming, I think the sound quality comes 80% closer and thats not really bad. However this gap could be the emptiness that I am trying to cover.

Yes I have worked and experimented a lot with speaker placements and also did some acoustic treatment which gave great results.

 

[ankitbhargava]

Power Control Systems - Electric Power Control Systems, Power Distribution Systems Manufacturer & Exporter

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www.vertexpower.in

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Servo Controller Stabilizer​

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Line Frequency	50 Hz

 

[ankitbhargava]

Can you be more specific? Less Fuller or Less Cleaner Sound with What Source?
If all Sources have the Same issue ( Mainly Physical Media like CD/ BD disks vs Streaming Sources) , Its likely a Power Related issue, Electronics Come later in the picture ( Assuming speakers positioning aka Speaker-Room interactions are adequately optimized).

Solution 1. Get a dedicated 4sqmm mm line to your HT Sockets along with at least 5kva Servo Stabilizer

On the Stabilizer front,
I am completely novice and non technical on this one.
I use a smart socket from Wipro to plug the Amp to, it gives me live power specs on the app. Could such reading be any help to know if Power could be an issue?