Power Amp for Focal Aria 926 Home Theatre Setup?

[fLUX]

What specification of the amp should i look at when comparing amplifiers in terms of sound and resolution? I have seen the frequency response measurement of the XLS 2502 by ASR and it shows that the amp is absolutely linear with a 0.5db dip at around 10k-20k hz which should not be audible.I'm getting the crown XLS2502 for around 35-40k and the O&B should be 2x of that.
My concerns about the Crown XLS 2502 were the hissing and the lack of high end speakers being driven by Crowns on forums. The hissing can be taken care of by lowering the gain but point number 2 still remains. For now, I'm sticking to the O&B as it seems more like the premium choice but I'm just trying to learn gear comparison for educational purposesolution cannot be compared

I am not in the ASR camp so I don't believe in identifying differences in between amps purely basis of specs. It's a good precursor to shortlist in absence of a demo , but then you need to try it on your own or rely on online user feedback. There are so many options across each price range & each of them do presentation differently , some focusing on warm sound, others on clean precise and some being very lively, for me Crown was not an expert in any of the areas but for it's price just about did the job of providing absolute power reserve and more bass in case of Dynaudio( not as much a difference in Focal). Focus on usage of quality components along with a good implementation makes a big difference in resolution, cleaner background etc and don't necessarily always translate to a difference in specs being measured today

 

[ssf]

I have two Crown XLS 2502 amps. When my Marantz SR 7010 had gone for repairs, I had used one to power my Quad S2 speakers doing front LR duties and the other to power my 15" Velodyne sub whose native plate amp was broken.

The chain was:

USB out from my computer to my iFi Zen Dac to the two Crown XLS 2502s for front LR and sub via a splitter. I had the gain low on the Crown so there was no noise heard. The sound was ok. A bit on the forward side and a bit fatiguing on some songs. I was reaching most times to lower the volume rather than to increase it. Power wise, absolutely no complaints.

I recently got my Marantz SR 7010 back after repairs. My connection for music is now is as under:

USB out from computer, iFi Zen DAC to analogue in of Marantz SR 7010. Pure direct with the Quads playing full range and the sub (connected to the Crown too) playing everything below 80 Hz.

I much prefer the tonality of the Marantz over the crown over the same source and DAC. The Marantz sound is more laid back and fatigue free for long listening periods. I do prefer a laid back sound over a forward sound.

As of now, even though I have a Crown XLS 2502 laying around, I am not using it to power the Quad S2 doing front LR duties. I don't feel the need for it.

 

[tpoddar]

I have two Crown XLS 2502 amps. When my Marantz SR 7010 had gone for repairs, I had used one to power my Quad S2 speakers doing front LR duties and the other to power my 15" Velodyne sub whose native plate amp was broken.

The chain was:

USB out from my computer to my iFi Zen Dac to the two Crown XLS 2502s for front LR and sub via a splitter. I had the gain low on the Crown so there was no noise heard. The sound was ok. A bit on the forward side and a bit fatiguing on some songs. I was reaching most times to lower the volume rather than to increase it. Power wise, absolutely no complaints.

I recently got my Marantz SR 7010 back after repairs. My connection for music is now is as under:

USB out from computer, iFi Zen DAC to analogue in of Marantz SR 7010. Pure direct with the Quads playing full range and the sub (connected to the Crown too) playing everything below 80 Hz.

I much prefer the tonality of the Marantz over the crown over the same source and DAC. The Marantz sound is more laid back and fatigue free for long listening periods. I do prefer a laid back sound over a forward sound.

As of now, even though I have a Crown XLS 2502 laying around, I am not using it to power the Quad S2 doing front LR duties. I don't feel the need for it.

Thanks for the feedback! I will steer clear of the Crown XLS 2502 unless the O&B amp does not live up to my expectations in that case. Maybe ill look around for a 2502 and do a side by side comparison. I am eagerly waiting to hear back from the O&B team and hopefully I'll have their amp by this weekend.

 

[cinemaengineering]

Thanks for the feedback! I will steer clear of the Crown XLS 2502 unless the O&B amp does not live up to my expectations in that case. Maybe ill look around for a 2502 and do a side by side comparison. I am eagerly waiting to hear back from the O&B team and hopefully I'll have their amp by this weekend.

crown x2502 is very good and you can solve any grounding noise (if any) with help of gain switch and grounding wire. good amplifiers does not color the sound unless it does not clip or very high noise floor. with proper gain matching in a double blind test, many people can't say the difference in sound signature. crown xls technology is used in many high end theater systems all over the world. room correction software , calibration, house curve, acoustics etc have more impact in sound quality than an amplifier sound difference.