Shop: Crown XLi 1500 - amzn.to/2Hqqf2s Behringer EP4000 - amzn.to/3kPTQ32 Williston Audio Merch: teespring.com/stores/BigDWiz Playlist of Pro Audio Amps I've Tested: is.gd/WALproaudio --------- Test Bench Equipment ------- SMD / D'Amore Engineering Amp Dyno: goo.gl/sJTcf7 XS Power D1400 Batteries - amzn.to/2BPFCKW XS Power PSC60 Charger - amzn.to/2CHGcfs Fluke 1000A AC/DC Clamp Meter: amzn.to/2Rw5WDA Handheld Dyno: amzn.to/2u2EgKV My Favorite Screwdriver Kit: amzn.to/2x0VzcE DISCLAIMER: This video and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase from one of the product links, I may receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
But, Does It Bump Doe? I was waiting to see some 8s a slammin... nice work testing this mini beast, it might be the sub amp for my home theater, I've got (4) 15" old school MTX Thunder 8000 tuned to 32hz just waiting for me to build the proper room for them...
Very nice video , more of that , i would see the Lab Gruppen clone like sinbosen China market aliexpress. Or test the American Audio VLP 2500 this Amp is min rated load 4 ohms i drive this at 2 ohms per channel and it produce lots of Power!! Please test this Apps 😊👍
Most importantly, this type of amp is made for live music and the headroom is needed. Unlike car audio where the material being played is often quite compressed, live music is often way more dynamic and demanding. So the headroom is needed. You can also hear it when you listen to it at full volume, as it maintains a huge amount of headroom that car audio devices just don't have. Particularly noticeable on bass drum or floor tom drum, you will get a much deeper and rounder sound as the amp doesn't run out of current quicker than the sound itself dies.
@@OldManBadly and this is a super budget pa amp. Crown macrotech’s and amcrons have phenomenal headroom and a nice indicator letting you know where you are with thermal headroom.
@@hitmanhite no not just vintage first recent amps then go down in history newer Djs need guidelines for what to buy not everyone can afford these amazing crown amps.
I have one of these XLi1500 about 4 years now and it is still serving me well to this day. No reliability issues to mention and excellent audio quality on the output. Thanks for doing the dyno test on this amp, it felt good seeing those results!
Thnx 4 that, was looking at one of those to drive my 240TI jbls. Using Kenwood MB2A class A for now, but looking to bi-amp. External subs (2×15) from my playing rig to be added on, just move the Kenwood to them. Nothing worse than muddy bass on a pipe organ. I think...😂
I have that amp on a w3 15 that I rebuilt with w6 soft parts. I would of never thought that it put out that kind of power. I love the home audio/ dj tests. Great video Big D.
@@JoshuaGalerBluexElectronics where have you been. This amp is all chink. Go back to when they were made in Elkhart Indiana and then you had a quality uñit , especially the macro tech series
I own the XLi 2500 and its great. The XLi is AB that's why I got it instead of XLS. I just don't like class D for great sound, unless you spend thousands.
@@specialformula14 ya, understand. Just saying the XLi line are solid amps for the price. I've heard good things about the XLS, but I was afraid the sound would be bad. If it lacks power then it can't sound great.
When I was younger we setup a local club with a serious sound system. 3 crown macrotech 5000's on the low end and 2 racks of Ashley MFA 8000's amps powering the mid / high end. Iirc we had 16 Mfa 8000's We had 32 600w rms 18" drivers in one room. I could gather people's incredulity but this was the real deal. We had air conditioners in the amp room to deal with the incredible heat from the amps. To say the system we put together was over 100,000 watts was an understatement.
In Mexico my dad and his friends would do mods on those microtech to get more power out of them. I wish I could bring of his crest audio amps to the USA.
My XLI 1500 was new in 2015. Still sounds clear and loud with a great soundstage image. Nice to see the internals. Older Crown is a 602 from the '90s and pumps 600 W @ 8 Ohms! Pro Musician since the 80s.These are road-rugged and proven. Now my home HiFi rig!
Man you're bringing back memories! about 15 years ago I was totally into home audio and bmx tho I never spent more than 400 on any piece of equipment or 500 on a bike. Thanks for the dyno and that's one sweet bike!😎
I use the XLi 800 Bridged to power a 10w6 (in a sealed .8 cubic foot box stuffed with 1.25lbs of poly) for my 7.4.1 Atmos set up. Sounds amazing, plenty of power and I bought it new for $220
Wow, I bought this amp 3 years ago, simply because the price and the specs were at a nice sweet spot. Nice to know it's an overachiever, glad my PA speakers are rated for 400 watts with tweeter protection!
My XLI 1500 runs (2) wedge monitors with 12" woofer and radial horn. 400 W rated and they purr at 50% level on the amp. Living room rig with a powered sub.
I have the XLi 3500 and let me tell yea, one of the best amps for top end. Crystal clear with plenty of headroom. It's also worth noting this is an class A/B amp, so yea... it's HEAVY. Don't try putting this amp on an 4ohm load bridged, you will likely think your smelling your woofers cook but the amp will end up overheating shut off and not output any sound. (yes, i learned the hard way... twice). The fans are very quiet when idle and don't really ramp up until you really start pushing on it. LOVE these amps, and thank you for taking the time to review it. I use most of my PA amps for home theater.
That's when a respected company with a long history releases a quality product with REAL specs. YES! Which is why I love my GAS Ampzilla. First time I saw a Crown amp was at an Audio Show on Long Island (NY). They used them to drive Bose 901s (which were new at the time).
Man O man that Hard brought me back to the day! When this model hit the local bike shop I got first dibs on it. All my freestyle buddies envied me when I came pulling up with it and took it for a run on my half pipe in the backyard!
Crown pro amps are fantastic! I have a Macro Tech 1200 that I run two Cerwin Vega VS150s on and they love it. Clean, clear sound with no end of headroom. Would love to see you test one out.
I've been looking at getting one of these amps, I didn't have any doubt it'd at least make rated power with good sq, but I'm glad I can see its amp dyno results!!
I would love to see you do more reviews of this type of amplifier, particularly inexpensive alternatives Crown. In addition to the power tests, reviews of these amps need to include a review of fan noise and is there any noise level when no signal is going through the amp. The reason is some folks like myself would like to use such an amp for home use where things are much quieter than in a DJ setting and many such amp reviews talk about excessive fan noise and or slight hiss during music silence which is just as critical as the power tests. Anyway, that's my 2 cent. Thanks for the review.
My entire home theater sound system is powered by crown amps and love how much power they deliver and the quality of sound I get from my amps. I am not surprised that the crown amp belted out more power than what it is rated for. This is the second video I seen you put out on dyno'ing a crown amp. And like this video, the first crown amp you tested also put out more power than wat it is rated.
You should more test of different crowns and QSC pro amps. So many of us are using them for home theater and audio as well. I use to run full rigs with the old MacroTechs by crown. They where beasts in the day.
Many people say that the 2450 qsc and the ep4000 are the same amp and the the behringer is a copy.. there pretty much the same on the inside but which one has more power? We dont know
I'm thinking of a separate amp/amps when I build my house. Ill keep my Denon AVR-x3300 and run dedicated amps. Thinking of getting an Emotiva 7 channel amp and SVS prime pinnacle for the left and right and ultra series center and surrounds and the atmos for the ceiling.
I have the same amp for my jbl passive tops. Ive seen some reviews on audiophiles using this amp for it's power and sound quality. I would like to know if the power rating is true for it's rated performance.
Been waiting and looking for a Dyno test of this as i just picked one up for home use and sounds great and now i know just what kind of a great deal i got ! i will be getting a 2nd . Great Video Thanks , keep em commin !
I've been waiting for a Crown video. I'm particularly interested in the newer version XLS series that is lightweight. If they perform like this xli does I'm getting one
I bought the Crown XLS 1002 to drive car subwoofers in the house. It has a built in crossover and is stable to 2 ohms stereo or 4 ohms mono. I want the XLi 800 as well! Great values and more power than you'll know what to do with.
I really enjoy these reviews. I know they deviate from your car audio tests/reviews, but it's interesting to see what professional sound and maybe some consumer home audio actually give you for your money. There are plenty of features reviews out there but very few provide true test results. Thank you man, job well done!
Big D try the Crown XLS 2502 it can handle 2 ohm loads no problem fans never even kick on. i have one that runs a pair 15”s in my home audio set up and the XLS is no joke.
Thank you so much for creating and posting this video. I’ve been contemplating a Crown or QSC amp to power a car audio Diamond Audio TDX15 I’ve been using in my home theater for a few years. 1200-1500 watts RMS at 1 or 4 ohms (2ohm DVC) is difficult to power on 110volt equipment. One of the Crown amps may be my best option (albeit not this one due to not being 4 ohm bridged stable). At least the best that will not lead to my wife slowly poisoning my morning coffee. Thanks again!
I'm not sure if you mentioned it recently because I do watch pretty much all of your videos out out in the last few months plus many many from the past, but I didn't know you were working on that bike... I'm diggin' it, if nothing else, because you enjoy it and it's just neato. Keep up the great work, sir! Not what I expected to see at the end of the video, but still brought a smile to my face. Hope you are doing well and everything! Much love and respect for ya!! ☺️
Brother I would love to come and hang out with you one day in the shop just to watch and see the shit that you do! You are so cool ! Godspeed brother !
And that little that you claim gives his audience exactly what we want. Personality honesty facts and entertainment. So he's doing his job perfectly. STOP HATING !!
It will do that all night long in 80 degree heat :-) I spent 5 years dragging xti's around the contry...all that hurt them was was the STUPID crimps on the front control boards :-( I even had 3 get soaked with rain and trip the power supply out and when it dried it worked fine...I almost got fired that evening:-(
he already had a test of the behrringer nu6000 and 1000 and its good numbers for them to but i dont wanna use them in profetion then i had my lab amps instead :D i have 3 of berhinger nu6000 and 1 nu3000 its for my uppcoming home teathre
I have an inuke3000 but for low bass they don't put out much power long term I feel. My only gripe with Dyno tests is it doesn't show long term output after the amp heats up and the effects of 20Hz on the power output. My sub will get smelly if I play 40v for a while. That's 300-400w on my 4ohm Ultimax 18... Either the 18 can't take much power, or the amp is weak.
@@JoshM7 i dont know how much 40 v is but this amp isnt so powerfull. you have maby 300watt at 0ohm and 550 in 4ohm did you bridge it in 4ohm is not a recomendation for this amp
@@thompi8 Not sure what you mean. It's (My inuke3000DSP) designed to be bridged. The nu6000 is basically using bridged 3000's for each of its channels. And yes I use it bridged. 40v into 4 ohm is around 400w. Though that's assuming the impedance is a static 4 ohm, I believe it's closer to 5 ohm so 300-400w is more likely what it's getting.
@@JoshM7 i know but still not in 4ohms is not the best choice of any amps stand between 8ohm bridged or 4ohms sterio thats is somthing cheeper amps can hold expensiver amps can handle 2ohm or 4ohms bridged
Crown goes under the radar ! There great amps at half the cost of other big nane amps . I bought the 2502 to expand my home theater channels from 9 to 11 channels. Used to to run my rear atmos speakers and its actually to much much power. But don't sleep on these there powerful , & clean ..
I got the xls1502 drivecore unit. Its amazing how clean it is. I drive a set of 287Audio Phobos. Its huge.... thats all you can say. I listen to everything from classical to mettalica. The bass is insane.
I wonder how much power that amp pulled from the wall during these tests and how efficiently it did so. One of those 120v power meters would be pretty handy in this situation. Great video btw
In my experience the Powersoft stuff absolutely smokes the Crown gear once it comes down to actually running a show with it The DSP is unrivalled, the power density is absolute insanity The iTech and the 12000i are nice, but not *that* nice
@@VeryMildNoodles The are all nice, the Dante software is nice on the Powersoft but no better than the Crowns Audio Architect software, (ive used both) but the power density thing is crazy on the Powersoft. I like the Lab Gruppens as well
@@MasterDJRenn don't quote me on this, but I'm fairly sure the main difference between Powersoft Armonia and Crown Audio Architect is that the Powersoft lets you drag and drop speaker models, which the amp sets physical limiters, filters and corrective EQ for. It's been a few years since iv used them side by side but the last time I did, the Powersoft took home a huge win in my book. That aside, Powersoft also have stuff like the X8, which I think is the most power dense amplifier I have ever seen, at 8 x 5200w at 2 ohm. Flexibility on that thing is through the roof, only issue is they recommend you run subs and tops together on one amp because the power supply can't keep up at peak if you're not running 440v AC. This is more of a personal preference thing, but I've had really, really good experience with Powersoft's support, not that I need them often since they're so reliable in my experience (I've had some dodgy experiences with Crown over the years) Either way, don't get me wrong, the higher end Crown gear is still really damn good, I just prefer Powersoft
@@VeryMildNoodles The Crown software has speaker tunings as well. But yea a friend of mine just bought two X8 and got rid of his 8 Crown 12000l. The X8 outperforms the Crown by a wide margin. We have tried it on a 440 volts line but we did power them on 240 volts 200 amp service and it was impressive. Crown or anyone else for that matter has nothing on that Powersoft X8.
Ive been looking for a test for this amp for the last 3 months, i have xli 800 and wanted to know it the series actually does rated power or not, big d coming in clutch
Great video, have watched all your videos. Crowns are great, I have their XLS2500 - Absolutely great amp. I would say it suits my listening taste. Please let more of the Pro Amp audio tests come in.
I have two Crown amps XLI 800 and XLI 3500, one for floor monitors and 3500 on subs and you're right power to spare. Also have two Crown XLS 2500 that perform great as well Class D a whole lot lighter. But I'm impressed with both. I appreciate the video.
It would be nice if you tested an old school Soundcraftsmen Pro-Power Ten. This is a Phase Control Regulated MOSFET amplifier from the early 1990's and is rated at 205 WPC x 4 at 8 ohms with less than 0.05% THD, all measurements were made running a full range signal 20-20 KHZ, it's 300 watts RMS per channel @ 4 ohms, 450 x 4 @ 2 ohms. The amplifier can run in four, three, or two channel mode. In two channel mode the amplifier is 600 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, and 900 watts RMS per channel at four ohms. Soundcraftsmen says it will put out 2,700 watts per channel for short term dynamic bursts, I ASSUME THAT'S IN BRIDGED MODE. If I lived a little closer I would lend you mine for testing. The amplifier has no current limiting and is supposedly stable down to 0.8 ohms. I believe the amplifier weighs 59 lb.
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Crown used to make real amps back in the days, this is just a very cheap Chinese amp... try to test a Macro-Tech 5000VZ, there you will see power. Try to hold it at 0dB and you will see how fast the power starts to be limited...(XLS) Also on the interior the quality is horrible, just look at the small capacitors not being fully pushed against the pcb...
Nice bike, I never thought about blue green and white. I did have a green and white Haro knock off back in the mid 80's with the cheap as crap plastic mag wheels. Always some nostalgia hanging out in your shop.
If you demo any more pro audio amps, try the Crown XLS series. They are highly regarded by audiophiles as being a great, powerful, neutral sounding amplifier. They are class D, about 10 pounds, and are 2 ohm stereo stable, bridgeable, and have RCA inputs, and built in crossover.
Nice video big d. I have the 3500i. Excellent power and good sound quality. These are a great value and will make any speakers wake up and are leagues ahead for power compared to just receiver power. I have this running my 2 Rockford Fosgate power t1 12s in my bedroom. It rocks the house
We had over 10k in our club system with zero issues..well if you put them in closed spaces a big ol box fan will keep them from limiting .DnB,Trance,House..they do the job when bass is the need
I usually follow your channel pretty close. I cant believe I just now stumbled on this video. And so coincidental that I had just picked one of these amps up on the used market! At least now I know i got a good deal and then some.
I tested this one a while back and had issues with bridging, then I recently tried it again and found out using only 1 input is required when bridging. Using 2 doesn’t work
Brought me way back with the bicycle!! I had an 86 Schwinn Quarterflash, wish I still had all of the manufacturer catalogs from when my pops let me choose a bike!! ;)
Anyone who has played around with DJing or custom HT subs knows full well that Crown don't play! Anything with a toroidal transformer means serious bidness. Nice to see more varied audio gear being tested BigD!
I'm lucky enough to be a sound tech at our church and have slowly changed to these amplifiers. I could not be happier. They have brought our 20 year old speakers to life and have zero issues driving our 4 18" subs. I knew these amps were way underrated but I also had no idea how clean they sounded crown for the win
I've used similar crown gear in professional installs [Masquerade- Atlanta] , they absolutely kicked butt cleanly, and we usually ran about 103 to 107DB with a packed house. Yes, many crowns. Powered many huge driver horns, many many 2x15 cabs, stacked to the 24ft ceilngs at least 24' across (each), JBL'S, and 4 3x18' EVs under the stage. Amps to subs one fat amp each, rest were assigned to specific cabs. Trouble shooting (minimal with this monster) a cinch. Well laid out. Plus on stage monitors w feed from house source, separately powered. I worked there 9 mos before even with earplugs I could hear thru, it was affecting my hearing. 'The Furnace' was stageright behind ceiling stacks, and I kept 3 19" fans going under the stagemix mixer where I worked, and wore short cutoffs all year! Can't remember amp count right off, but the rack was about as big a me. We called her Lotta Heat. System name affectionately called 'Gorilla" Might just as soon been called 'Godzilla'! Went into landscaping after this. Allowed my hearing time to recoup. So when I went back to playing my own music, I could hear the detail. Several moon ago...🙄😂 Just found your channel & subbed of course, can tell it's going to be a lovely ride. Nice test gear! Musician and audiophile ... lifelong. Never could afford McIntosh. I heard this undertaker's system in the basement of funeral home😳 who had full accompanyment of Big Macs & 4 Voice of the Theatres.... Sweet... Buxtehude will never be the same after hearing it on that rig.🙏 And yes, he did raise the dead... He always did a walkthru upstairs after he shut everything down, just as a precaution.
Just had one shipped to me from Harmons $429. This mod will make a beautiful sounding amp which will become a shelf or rack mount only with only gentle moving around. One improvement for the amp is replacing the crumby coupling caps in the circuit at the output of the small signal section of the amp board for each channel. The electrolytic caps are replaced with 12ufd 250v polypropylene caps. These caps are huge by comparison and their leads are too thick for the holes in the PCB. Do not drill to enlarge as these holes are thru plated to connect the 2 sides of the circuit. Hole size is for 22ga wire which I used to support these large caps. Heat shrink all leads to also improve lead stiffness. By getting rid of the electrolytic coupling caps a layer of openness has been introduced to the amp which it did not have before. If you wish to keep the robust throw around ruggedness of the amp replace the coupling caps with 10ufd 50v Nichicon Muse electrolytics for a sound improvement. In my mind electrolytics have no place in the signal path. End result is an amp with dead silent noise floor and the benefits of class AB amplification. The XLi also has a substantial linear power supply which is superior to the class D switching supply. My usual components are PrimaLuna Dialog Premium preamp and power amp HP. The power amp has 8) EL34 vacuum tubes which are extremely musical. Shortfall of that amp is low damping factor with woofer control. The Crown immediately exhibited superior resolution in the bass. The coupling cap mod made the Crown nearly as musical as the tube based amp. I am using a Schiit Audio Lokius 6 band EQ to soften the 6k audio region which all Crowns are guilty of being too prominent. Hope this helps anyone looking at one of these amps. It is truly a good sounding piece of gear.
To locate caps to replace go to "Look Inside" and when blue line appears "Input Section", you will see a large multi pin connector in the center of the board and one at the bottom. On the left side below the mid multi pin is a row of 6 small electrolytic caps , top one appearing greenish-that is cap1, 4th one down just above a pair of test points is the coupling cap to be replaced on Channel1. Just above the lower multi pin next to the blue line is the channel2 coupling cap. You can use 10ufd 50v Nichicon Muse from Mouser Electronics or Dayton Audio 12ufd 250v from Parts Express. Best deal from parts express is bag of 6 Dayton Audio polyproplene caps for about $26. Good Luck
These were tested on AudioScienceReview. Excellent for power output, but not for fidelity scoring a low SINAD score down in the 60s. Great for pro audio and just cranking out lots of volume. Or power a sub if you run a filter or dsp before the Crown.
They tested the XLi800 (not XLi1500) at 5 Watts. This beast should be used at 50W minimum... Then, they drew the conclusion that THD is high (0.16%). Below 1%, it is not audible... Those guys make verdicts only by specifications. They never listened to the amplifier in real life. If you have an amp with huge feedback, you may have better THD, IMD and SINAD, but it can easily sound worse in real life. Don't trust such reviews when people test devices by their specs only. I have an XLi1500 at home. It sounds much better than the most hifi amplifier (having better specs on paper).
@@barnaczukor4235 Well many people may use these in their home and may never even use 50w, maybe when its cranked at most. THD cascades together from each device including speakers. Starting at 1% then add in everything else it goes up quick. I know realistically when all is considered most people would have no issue with the crown xli line and couldn't distinguish it from a amp with a 80db SINAD. Amir has mentioned this many times that really over 70db SINAD most people will never hear the difference. You must have missed the few times hes mentioned this. You know his work has been checked by other electrical engineers and hes spot on so doubt your credentials stack up to his so until then I'm gonna stick with Amir. Lets see should I trust a subjective review from some guy that really has no idea what he's talking about probably read a bunch of nonsenese on a forum or an objective review from a professional 30 years in audio and engineering 🤔
@@iowaudioreviews Amir has an accepted measurement methodology that allows us to objectively compare one amp to another. I found his measurements interesting and useful. However, I tend to disagree that these measurements clearly shows the sound quality of each amplifier. There are tons of other aspects on top of THD, SINAD, etc. For instance, the depth of sound stage, sound coloring, vibration of instruments, bass depth, bass speed, etc. These aspects have nothing to do with electric measurements. So by electric measurement, you cannot draw the conclusion that this amp sounds good or bad. That is why I disagree with Amir's recommendation (sub duty only) or and his conclusions. If you enjoy the dynamics, the power, the neutral representation, this amp is for you. It provides great sound quality that makes 99% of people happy. Neither have I a noise suppressed listening room, nor have I absolute hearing; therefore, the SQ of XLi amps is more than enough for me. If you long for the cleanest highs with all the fine micro details as you are an audiophile, you would be better off with a dedicated hifi amp. These guys always look for the best stage, representation and they are not really interested in power or bass punch. As for me, they do not listen to music to enjoy this, but constantly check their system and search the ultimate solution (that never arrives).
Awesome! I just ordered the Crown XLI 2500 for my home theater system to replace my two Class D Behringer A800 amps (both bridged). Finding the Class D sound reproduction from them for my MAINS (four JBL 12" monitors) is kinda shallow and cold. Gonna have more power with the Crown and old school Class AB quality. That's the goal.
Entering my 6th decade in audio, as well as an O.G. 70's BMX'r ... when it all began. Yep, raced with all the greats... best ever, likely Stompin' Stu, but there's so many. I've got pics, film, everything... so much fun. Big picture... I wasn't nearly as good as the big Pro riders... but damn it was so much fun.
I use a bunch of old Crown K2 amps for my home theater. Tons of power, high damping factor, and no fans. But they can be a pain in the ass to fix when they break, and Crown no longer has parts for them.
Yes please test more of these pro series standalones. I use them for my subs underneath home vented up through an hvac register. Also I wanna see some mini dsp mastery so I have a set-up protocol on call for when I dive into it. Wish I could have gotten you my old home and car audio magazine collection before letting go of my prior home. Ended up giving over 1500 mags through the 90's early 2000's away. I was a box builder of higher end car stereos and have a mastery in it. Love watching an if your ever in the Charlotte area let me know
no surprise the amp produced more that rated power, you were testing at a higher THD spec. than Crown uses in their specs, I would be interested to see the power output at the Crown spec of 0.5%THD.
Crown and QSC Amps are some of the best amps. I've installed plenty of them and NO problems... some times I try other brands trying to save $$$, don't do it...
I have that XLi1500 x1 the XLi 2500 x1 and the XLi 800 x2. Those amps are really bulletproof. I was waiting to see the test to see if they were really legit on their numbers. Thanks for doing that particular model Williston Audio Labs. Nice Freestyle bike ,Reminds me of when I used to have a 20" Redline frame (chrome) back in the early 90's with a 5 piece Shimano crank, Shimano Araya wheels (both Araya blue), and a gt dyno seat and clamp(white). Man i loved bikes when i was a teen.
![Pro Audio Amp on the Cheap? Technical Pro AX2000 2000W of Unicorns [4K]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/3oTIirnlNuk/mqdefault.jpg)
Shop:
Crown XLi 1500 - amzn.to/2Hqqf2s
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Williston Audio Merch: teespring.com/stores/BigDWiz
Playlist of Pro Audio Amps I've Tested:
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--------- Test Bench Equipment -------
SMD / D'Amore Engineering Amp Dyno: goo.gl/sJTcf7
XS Power D1400 Batteries - amzn.to/2BPFCKW
XS Power PSC60 Charger - amzn.to/2CHGcfs
Fluke 1000A AC/DC Clamp Meter: amzn.to/2Rw5WDA
Handheld Dyno: amzn.to/2u2EgKV
My Favorite Screwdriver Kit: amzn.to/2x0VzcE
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But, Does It Bump Doe? I was waiting to see some 8s a slammin... nice work testing this mini beast, it might be the sub amp for my home theater, I've got (4) 15" old school MTX Thunder 8000 tuned to 32hz just waiting for me to build the proper room for them...
Thank you!!!! More home audio, this rules
@Regular Guy Audio what's 140 like in the house? The wife ready to kick your ass if you break the China in the cabinet?
I'm about the same age issue I remember those rims when I was a kid that's so cool brings back so many memories
Very nice video , more of that , i would see the Lab Gruppen clone like sinbosen China market aliexpress. Or test the American Audio VLP 2500 this Amp is min rated load 4 ohms i drive this at 2 ohms per channel and it produce lots of Power!! Please test this Apps 😊👍
Most importantly, this type of amp is made for live music and the headroom is needed. Unlike car audio where the material being played is often quite compressed, live music is often way more dynamic and demanding. So the headroom is needed. You can also hear it when you listen to it at full volume, as it maintains a huge amount of headroom that car audio devices just don't have. Particularly noticeable on bass drum or floor tom drum, you will get a much deeper and rounder sound as the amp doesn't run out of current quicker than the sound itself dies.
@@OldManBadly and this is a super budget pa amp. Crown macrotech’s and amcrons have phenomenal headroom and a nice indicator letting you know where you are with thermal headroom.
I really want to see more pro audio stuff in your channel.
Love your content!
Thanks for watching and commenting! I use feedback as well as the interest in each video to determine future content
Yes, VINTAGE please!!!!!!!
@@hitmanhite no not just vintage first recent amps then go down in history newer Djs need guidelines for what to buy not everyone can afford these amazing crown amps.
Yeah more pro audio dyno tests. Great content.
How about a beast old amp everybody knows? The cast iron front Peavey CS-800...
I have one of these XLi1500 about 4 years now and it is still serving me well to this day. No reliability issues to mention and excellent audio quality on the output. Thanks for doing the dyno test on this amp, it felt good seeing those results!
Thnx 4 that, was looking at one of those to drive my 240TI jbls.
Using Kenwood MB2A class A for now, but looking to bi-amp. External subs (2×15) from my playing rig to be added on, just move the Kenwood to them. Nothing worse than muddy bass on a pipe organ.
I think...😂
Thank you as well, for your feedback on reliability....Ordering two this week!!!
I have that amp on a w3 15 that I rebuilt with w6 soft parts. I would of never thought that it put out that kind of power. I love the home audio/ dj tests. Great video Big D.
W3? Jl audio? I have somthing similar but w7 13.5. With crown xls 2500
I love the pro audio stuff. Crown is definite quality! I own a few of the XLi 800, and they never disappointed me. Thanks for the video.
Should I get xli800 for 2 18in subs or should I get a bigger crown amp? Thanks
Crown has always made insanely overbuilt incredible stuff. Nice to see they still are.
@@JoshuaGalerBluexElectronics where have you been. This amp is all chink. Go back to when they were made in Elkhart Indiana and then you had a quality uñit , especially the macro tech series
Would love to see the xls series tested. Sweet bike too! Didnt know you were into bmx also. Its like were brothas from anotha motha.
The xls is a beast for the price!
Yes, or the good old xti- Series.
The xti 4000 ......
wish u would dyno more of the crown line.. i have a xls and it definitely does not put out the power it says...
I use feedback from the views and comments to help determine what content I make in the future so thanks
@@wal i really like the PA amplifier test keep up the good work Big D the man with the amp's o-boy
I own the XLi 2500 and its great. The XLi is AB that's why I got it instead of XLS. I just don't like class D for great sound, unless you spend thousands.
eric nortan what’s the point of amp dyno. To see if it actually puts out the rated power
@@specialformula14 ya, understand. Just saying the XLi line are solid amps for the price. I've heard good things about the XLS, but I was afraid the sound would be bad. If it lacks power then it can't sound great.
When I was younger we setup a local club with a serious sound system.
3 crown macrotech 5000's on the low end and 2 racks of Ashley MFA 8000's amps powering the mid / high end. Iirc we had 16 Mfa 8000's
We had 32 600w rms 18" drivers in one room.
I could gather people's incredulity but this was the real deal. We had air conditioners in the amp room to deal with the incredible heat from the amps.
To say the system we put together was over 100,000 watts was an understatement.
And then...
@@sarahconner9433 "No and then!"
@@randomsomeone1617 hahahaha!!!...... a n d ....t. ...h...e....n....
In Mexico my dad and his friends would do mods on those microtech to get more power out of them. I wish I could bring of his crest audio amps to the USA.
My XLI 1500 was new in 2015. Still sounds clear and loud with a great soundstage image. Nice to see the internals. Older Crown is a 602 from the '90s and pumps 600 W @ 8 Ohms! Pro Musician since the 80s.These are road-rugged and proven. Now my home HiFi rig!
Man you're bringing back memories! about 15 years ago I was totally into home audio and bmx tho I never spent more than 400 on any piece of equipment or 500 on a bike. Thanks for the dyno and that's one sweet bike!😎
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I use the XLi 800 Bridged to power a 10w6 (in a sealed .8 cubic foot box stuffed with 1.25lbs of poly) for my 7.4.1 Atmos set up. Sounds amazing, plenty of power and I bought it new for $220
Wow, I bought this amp 3 years ago, simply because the price and the specs were at a nice sweet spot. Nice to know it's an overachiever, glad my PA speakers are rated for 400 watts with tweeter protection!
My XLI 1500 runs (2) wedge monitors with 12" woofer and radial horn. 400 W rated and they purr at 50% level on the amp. Living room rig with a powered sub.
I have the XLi 3500 and let me tell yea, one of the best amps for top end. Crystal clear with plenty of headroom. It's also worth noting this is an class A/B amp, so yea... it's HEAVY.
Don't try putting this amp on an 4ohm load bridged, you will likely think your smelling your woofers cook but the amp will end up overheating shut off and not output any sound. (yes, i learned the hard way... twice). The fans are very quiet when idle and don't really ramp up until you really start pushing on it. LOVE these amps, and thank you for taking the time to review it. I use most of my PA amps for home theater.
Crown never disappoint. I could imagine what the crown macro tech series would put out
Pure gravity.
Yep that's too of the line
I run those... they are monsters
The Macro Tech 9000i would be an interesting dyno test.
Might blow up the dyno with that amp.
I just bought xli 3500. Super Powerful and Great Audio.
Thank you big d been waiting for pa amps
👌😬👍
Been running 2 of these for almost 3 years now. Stellar performance and silent fans.
Bringing back the memories with the Haro! Its looking good! Don't forget the chain !
Peace!
Yeah boi!
I had a PK Ripper back in the 80's. Baddest bike ever.
That's when a respected company with a long history releases a quality product with REAL specs. YES! Which is why I love my GAS Ampzilla. First time I saw a Crown amp was at an Audio Show on Long Island (NY). They used them to drive Bose 901s (which were new at the time).
Always enjoyed crown amplifiers 😉 I own a few of them xls1200, crown power base 3, just to name is couple
👌😬👍
I own a the xls1200 drive core and love it
Man O man that Hard brought me back to the day! When this model hit the local bike shop I got first dibs on it. All my freestyle buddies envied me when I came pulling up with it and took it for a run on my half pipe in the backyard!
Crown pro amps are fantastic! I have a Macro Tech 1200 that I run two Cerwin Vega VS150s on and they love it. Clean, clear sound with no end of headroom. Would love to see you test one out.
I've been looking at getting one of these amps, I didn't have any doubt it'd at least make rated power with good sq, but I'm glad I can see its amp dyno results!!
I would love to see you do more reviews of this type of amplifier, particularly inexpensive alternatives Crown. In addition to the power tests, reviews of these amps need to include a review of fan noise and is there any noise level when no signal is going through the amp. The reason is some folks like myself would like to use such an amp for home use where things are much quieter than in a DJ setting and many such amp reviews talk about excessive fan noise and or slight hiss during music silence which is just as critical as the power tests. Anyway, that's my 2 cent. Thanks for the review.
If I'm not mistaken the fans on some rack mount amps can be run lower speed if they aren't sandwiched in between other amps in a rack mount.
My entire home theater sound system is powered by crown amps and love how much power they deliver and the quality of sound I get from my amps. I am not surprised that the crown amp belted out more power than what it is rated for. This is the second video I seen you put out on dyno'ing a crown amp. And like this video, the first crown amp you tested also put out more power than wat it is rated.
@williston audio labs you should definitely do more pro amp testing. Love to see more.
Thanks for the feedback 👌
And it's still only $385 on Amazon today!!! I'm ordering two this coming week! Thank You So Much Big "D"!!!!
Awesome 👏
I've always leaned towards QSC myself but a Crown won't let you down!
That should be there motto. It's perfect. ✌️
Thats a pretty badass amp for the price. Makes me wanna get my Cerwin Vega cv-1800 hooked up. Rated 1800 watts at 4 ohms mono (bridged) 🙆♂️
Yes I look forward to blasting my VS-150's with this. I am so glad that he also tests home amps. Now i really get to see what these Cerwins could do
@@danielknepper6884 I just listed mine on ebay brand new if interested. 👍
Thank you for doing pro audio!! There is a lacking of pro audio reviews in this medium.
This video hasn’t gained the interest of my normal vids, but I’ll keep testing them 👍
You should more test of different crowns and QSC pro amps. So many of us are using them for home theater and audio as well. I use to run full rigs with the old MacroTechs by crown. They where beasts in the day.
Throw some of the Powersoft amps in there too. Talk about power density.
Yes the qsc 5050, 2450 behringer ep4000
Many people say that the 2450 qsc and the ep4000 are the same amp and the the behringer is a copy.. there pretty much the same on the inside but which one has more power? We dont know
I'm thinking of a separate amp/amps when I build my house. Ill keep my Denon AVR-x3300 and run dedicated amps. Thinking of getting an Emotiva 7 channel amp and SVS prime pinnacle for the left and right and ultra series center and surrounds and the atmos for the ceiling.
@@krishanmendez9119 the pl380 smashes the rmx5050
I just bought one for my Gemini gsm 3500 1200 watt max speakers. It drives them incredibly well.
As soon as you took that cover off I yelled “OH SWEET JESUS” and scared the pets lol.
That's nothing compared to the original crown company amps
Awesome. Now I’m glad I have two of these. Thanks for proving that they were worth every penny paid!
Can you try a Crown XLS 2502 next?
Thats the daily driver for my home sub. Great content as usual good sir
Not next but I can put it on the list
Sweet!
I have the same amp for my jbl passive tops. Ive seen some reviews on audiophiles using this amp for it's power and sound quality. I would like to know if the power rating is true for it's rated performance.
@@EJHilt if its a crown, it delivers. would be neat to see how much power though.
@@wal that's awesome. Lots of us excited to see a 2502 :-)
I found your channel when you last dynoed the behringer nu3000 and still here! that nu3000 is still kicking.
Many people use that brand for subwoofers in their home theater systems
Dint want to use crown for home theater running the inuk6k
@@djkeys415s what?
I have 2 crown amps on my home system. And it is very loud. I actually have close to 10,000 watts total. I blow the breaker if I turn it up
I run my home subs on this one, four 12" Orion XTRs! Pound!
Been waiting and looking for a Dyno test of this as i just picked one up for home use and sounds great and now i know just what kind of a great deal i got ! i will be getting a 2nd . Great Video Thanks , keep em commin !
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I've been waiting for a Crown video. I'm particularly interested in the newer version XLS series that is lightweight. If they perform like this xli does I'm getting one
Thanks for watching and commenting!
I bought the Crown XLS 1002 to drive car subwoofers in the house. It has a built in crossover and is stable to 2 ohms stereo or 4 ohms mono. I want the XLi 800 as well! Great values and more power than you'll know what to do with.
Well pick one up they have built in cross overs as well and they wieght8lbs and work at 2ohm loads easy.
I really enjoy these reviews. I know they deviate from your car audio tests/reviews, but it's interesting to see what professional sound and maybe some consumer home audio actually give you for your money. There are plenty of features reviews out there but very few provide true test results. Thank you man, job well done!
Big D try the Crown XLS 2502 it can handle 2 ohm loads no problem fans never even kick on. i have one that runs a pair 15”s in my home audio set up and the XLS is no joke.
Yessir the XLi series doesn’t like 2 ohms though
i got a xls402 as my subwoofer amp powering 4 CELESTION FTR18 in b52 folded horn boxs . ive got a ce1000 and 4 ce4000 just in case
The fans do kick on but they’re very quiet and turn off relatively quickly but yes,please test the XLS2502 to see if it lives up to its claims.
@@wal XLS series Big D not XLi ......the XLS is a class D amp
Yeah would be very interesting how the digital XLS compares to the class AB heavyweight
Thank you so much for creating and posting this video. I’ve been contemplating a Crown or QSC amp to power a car audio Diamond Audio TDX15 I’ve been using in my home theater for a few years. 1200-1500 watts RMS at 1 or 4 ohms (2ohm DVC) is difficult to power on 110volt equipment. One of the Crown amps may be my best option (albeit not this one due to not being 4 ohm bridged stable). At least the best that will not lead to my wife slowly poisoning my morning coffee.
Thanks again!
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Would love to see you test any of the XLS range from Crown. See how the D class hold up.
Yes indeed I have that series amp, and would love to see its numbers
I'm not sure if you mentioned it recently because I do watch pretty much all of your videos out out in the last few months plus many many from the past, but I didn't know you were working on that bike... I'm diggin' it, if nothing else, because you enjoy it and it's just neato. Keep up the great work, sir! Not what I expected to see at the end of the video, but still brought a smile to my face. Hope you are doing well and everything! Much love and respect for ya!! ☺️
That Haro is fresh! I'd love to see more BMX content :D
Fo sho!
@@wal I'd love to see what skills a big man is working with riding the Haro!
Been following you for years, love the content. Thank you for the unbiased results.
Brother I would love to come and hang out with you one day in the shop just to watch and see the shit that you do! You are so cool ! Godspeed brother !
you arent alone but for me its alot harder when i live in sweden
And that little that you claim gives his audience exactly what we want. Personality honesty facts and entertainment. So he's doing his job perfectly. STOP HATING !!
It will do that all night long in 80 degree heat :-) I spent 5 years dragging xti's around the contry...all that hurt them was was the STUPID crimps on the front control boards :-( I even had 3 get soaked with rain and trip the power supply out and when it dried it worked fine...I almost got fired that evening:-(
Thank you for testing Pro-Amps, if you can do Behringers class D amps, very affordable amps for the power they pack.
he already had a test of the behrringer nu6000 and 1000 and its good numbers for them to but i dont wanna use them in profetion then i had my lab amps instead :D i have 3 of berhinger nu6000 and 1 nu3000 its for my uppcoming home teathre
I have an inuke3000 but for low bass they don't put out much power long term I feel.
My only gripe with Dyno tests is it doesn't show long term output after the amp heats up and the effects of 20Hz on the power output.
My sub will get smelly if I play 40v for a while. That's 300-400w on my 4ohm Ultimax 18... Either the 18 can't take much power, or the amp is weak.
@@JoshM7 i dont know how much 40 v is but this amp isnt so powerfull. you have maby 300watt at 0ohm and 550 in 4ohm did you bridge it in 4ohm is not a recomendation for this amp
@@thompi8 Not sure what you mean. It's (My inuke3000DSP) designed to be bridged. The nu6000 is basically using bridged 3000's for each of its channels.
And yes I use it bridged. 40v into 4 ohm is around 400w. Though that's assuming the impedance is a static 4 ohm, I believe it's closer to 5 ohm so 300-400w is more likely what it's getting.
@@JoshM7 i know but still not in 4ohms is not the best choice of any amps stand between 8ohm bridged or 4ohms sterio thats is somthing cheeper amps can hold expensiver amps can handle 2ohm or 4ohms bridged
Crown goes under the radar ! There great amps at half the cost of other big nane amps . I bought the 2502 to expand my home theater channels from 9 to 11 channels. Used to to run my rear atmos speakers and its actually to much much power. But don't sleep on these there powerful , & clean ..
But it don't go to 11! :D Love the bike, brings back memories!
Nope, Kicker goes to 11 doe!
I got the xls1502 drivecore unit. Its amazing how clean it is. I drive a set of 287Audio Phobos. Its huge.... thats all you can say. I listen to everything from classical to mettalica. The bass is insane.
I wonder how much power that amp pulled from the wall during these tests and how efficiently it did so. One of those 120v power meters would be pretty handy in this situation. Great video btw
I had the same question. How do you get all that power from a 110V 15A circuit. Conservation of energy.
FINALLY!!! Some pro audio amps. Can’t imagine what the iTech and Macrotech 12000i or some Powersoft K20’s would do.
In my experience the Powersoft stuff absolutely smokes the Crown gear once it comes down to actually running a show with it
The DSP is unrivalled, the power density is absolute insanity
The iTech and the 12000i are nice, but not *that* nice
@@VeryMildNoodles The are all nice, the Dante software is nice on the Powersoft but no better than the Crowns Audio Architect software, (ive used both) but the power density thing is crazy on the Powersoft. I like the Lab Gruppens as well
@@MasterDJRenn don't quote me on this, but I'm fairly sure the main difference between Powersoft Armonia and Crown Audio Architect is that the Powersoft lets you drag and drop speaker models, which the amp sets physical limiters, filters and corrective EQ for. It's been a few years since iv used them side by side but the last time I did, the Powersoft took home a huge win in my book.
That aside, Powersoft also have stuff like the X8, which I think is the most power dense amplifier I have ever seen, at 8 x 5200w at 2 ohm. Flexibility on that thing is through the roof, only issue is they recommend you run subs and tops together on one amp because the power supply can't keep up at peak if you're not running 440v AC.
This is more of a personal preference thing, but I've had really, really good experience with Powersoft's support, not that I need them often since they're so reliable in my experience (I've had some dodgy experiences with Crown over the years)
Either way, don't get me wrong, the higher end Crown gear is still really damn good, I just prefer Powersoft
@@VeryMildNoodles The Crown software has speaker tunings as well. But yea a friend of mine just bought two X8 and got rid of his 8 Crown 12000l. The X8 outperforms the Crown by a wide margin. We have tried it on a 440 volts line but we did power them on 240 volts 200 amp service and it was impressive. Crown or anyone else for that matter has nothing on that Powersoft X8.
Ive been looking for a test for this amp for the last 3 months, i have xli 800 and wanted to know it the series actually does rated power or not, big d coming in clutch
Those old school bicycle designs reign supreme. My favorite all time are the 80-90s GT Performer.
Those were sweet too!
I, also, would love to see one of Crown's Drivecore series (class d) tested. I run the XlS 1502 at home.
Class d sucks
Great video, have watched all your videos. Crowns are great, I have their XLS2500 - Absolutely great amp. I would say it suits my listening taste. Please let more of the Pro Amp audio tests come in.
Crown rule i have 2X Crown Micro-tech 1200's in my home system. :)
I have two Crown amps XLI 800 and XLI 3500, one for floor monitors and 3500 on subs and you're right power to spare. Also have two Crown XLS 2500 that perform great as well Class D a whole lot lighter. But I'm impressed with both. I appreciate the video.
Since you own both xli and xls series,which one do you recomend for my home application?
I own a crown that's older than me, I love it
It would be nice if you tested an old school Soundcraftsmen Pro-Power Ten. This is a Phase Control Regulated MOSFET amplifier from the early 1990's and is rated at 205 WPC x 4 at 8 ohms with less than 0.05% THD, all measurements were made running a full range signal 20-20 KHZ, it's 300 watts RMS per channel @ 4 ohms, 450 x 4 @ 2 ohms. The amplifier can run in four, three, or two channel mode. In two channel mode the amplifier is 600 watts per channel RMS into 8 ohms, and 900 watts RMS per channel at four ohms. Soundcraftsmen says it will put out 2,700 watts per channel for short term dynamic bursts, I ASSUME THAT'S IN BRIDGED MODE. If I lived a little closer I would lend you mine for testing. The amplifier has no current limiting and is supposedly stable down to 0.8 ohms. I believe the amplifier weighs 59 lb.
Nice video if I was into home audio... 🥕
Gotta mix it up sometimes 😬
Love the Haro! I used to race BMX when I was young (I'm 49), riding a Supergoose and a Redline. I'd definitely watch more bike stuff:)
Sweet!
❌Was it you who stole my supergoose 🤔with skyway mags you lil stinka now just kidding but did you❓🥺 give it back ( I’m an X-genre so you no I have skills and I will find you 🤣🤣 I’m gonna do my school Day again at (48) yah Boi ‼️
Crown used to make real amps back in the days, this is just a very cheap Chinese amp... try to test a Macro-Tech 5000VZ, there you will see power. Try to hold it at 0dB and you will see how fast the power starts to be limited...(XLS) Also on the interior the quality is horrible, just look at the small capacitors not being fully pushed against the pcb...
Crown isn’t the same since Harman took over the brand, however the higher tiered amplifiers are still legit.
@@broosky333 not as reliable as the old ones.
Awesome!!! Iv been waiting for Pro amp tests for a long time.
Nice bike, I never thought about blue green and white. I did have a green and white Haro knock off back in the mid 80's with the cheap as crap plastic mag wheels. Always some nostalgia hanging out in your shop.
I’m a huge Haro fan boi and when they introduced the retro bikes I was hooked!
If you demo any more pro audio amps, try the Crown XLS series. They are highly regarded by audiophiles as being a great, powerful, neutral sounding amplifier. They are class D, about 10 pounds, and are 2 ohm stereo stable, bridgeable, and have RCA inputs, and built in crossover.
Thanks for the feedback
Nice video big d. I have the 3500i. Excellent power and good sound quality. These are a great value and will make any speakers wake up and are leagues ahead for power compared to just receiver power. I have this running my 2 Rockford Fosgate power t1 12s in my bedroom. It rocks the house
Crown makes the best pro amps.
Before I started going to active speakers I always had crown amps.
Definitely king!
Just ordered one of these based on your video! It'll be pushing two 10" old school fosgate hx2s connected to my home theatre
We had over 10k in our club system with zero issues..well if you put them in closed spaces a big ol box fan will keep them from limiting .DnB,Trance,House..they do the job when bass is the need
I usually follow your channel pretty close. I cant believe I just now stumbled on this video. And so coincidental that I had just picked one of these amps up on the used market! At least now I know i got a good deal and then some.
I absolutely love that you made this video!!! Thanks for doing it Big D! Had one a couple years ago and never even plugged it in. 🤦♂️
I tested this one a while back and had issues with bridging, then I recently tried it again and found out using only 1 input is required when bridging. Using 2 doesn’t work
Glad you figured it out. Does seem a little weird it works like that. But seems to be a pretty awesome amp.
Brought me way back with the bicycle!! I had an 86 Schwinn Quarterflash, wish I still had all of the manufacturer catalogs from when my pops let me choose a bike!! ;)
Anyone who has played around with DJing or custom HT subs knows full well that Crown don't play! Anything with a toroidal transformer means serious bidness. Nice to see more varied audio gear being tested BigD!
I'm lucky enough to be a sound tech at our church and have slowly changed to these amplifiers. I could not be happier. They have brought our 20 year old speakers to life and have zero issues driving our 4 18" subs. I knew these amps were way underrated but I also had no idea how clean they sounded crown for the win
I've used similar crown gear in professional installs [Masquerade- Atlanta] , they absolutely kicked butt cleanly, and we usually ran about 103 to 107DB with a packed house. Yes, many crowns. Powered many huge driver horns, many many 2x15 cabs, stacked to the 24ft ceilngs at least 24' across (each), JBL'S, and 4 3x18' EVs under the stage. Amps to subs one fat amp each, rest were assigned to specific cabs.
Trouble shooting (minimal with this monster) a cinch. Well laid out.
Plus on stage monitors w feed from house source, separately powered.
I worked there 9 mos before even with earplugs I could hear thru, it was affecting my hearing. 'The Furnace' was stageright behind ceiling stacks, and I kept 3 19" fans going under the stagemix mixer where I worked, and wore short cutoffs all year! Can't remember amp count right off, but the rack was about as big a me.
We called her Lotta Heat.
System name affectionately called 'Gorilla" Might just as soon been called 'Godzilla'!
Went into landscaping after this. Allowed my hearing time to recoup. So when I went back to playing my own music, I could hear the detail.
Several moon ago...🙄😂
Just found your channel & subbed of course, can tell it's going to be a lovely ride. Nice test gear!
Musician and audiophile ... lifelong.
Never could afford McIntosh.
I heard this undertaker's system in the basement of funeral home😳 who had full accompanyment of Big Macs & 4 Voice of the Theatres....
Sweet... Buxtehude will never be the same after hearing it on that rig.🙏
And yes, he did raise the dead...
He always did a walkthru upstairs after he shut everything down, just as a precaution.
👌😬👍
This is going to be the heart of my next bass guitar amp rig.
Just had one shipped to me from Harmons $429. This mod will make a beautiful sounding amp which will become a shelf or rack mount only with only gentle moving around. One improvement for the amp is replacing the crumby coupling caps in the circuit at the output of the small signal section of the amp board for each channel. The electrolytic caps are replaced with 12ufd 250v polypropylene caps. These caps are huge by comparison and their leads are too thick for the holes in the PCB. Do not drill to enlarge as these holes are thru plated to connect the 2 sides of the circuit. Hole size is for 22ga wire which I used to support these large caps. Heat shrink all leads to also improve lead stiffness. By getting rid of the electrolytic coupling caps a layer of openness has been introduced to the amp which it did not have before.
If you wish to keep the robust throw around ruggedness of the amp replace the coupling caps with 10ufd 50v Nichicon Muse electrolytics for a sound improvement. In my mind electrolytics have no place in the signal path.
End result is an amp with dead silent noise floor and the benefits of class AB amplification. The XLi also has a substantial linear power supply which is superior to the class D switching supply. My usual components are PrimaLuna Dialog Premium preamp and power amp HP. The power amp has 8) EL34 vacuum tubes which are extremely musical. Shortfall of that amp is low damping factor with woofer control. The Crown immediately exhibited superior resolution in the bass. The coupling cap mod made the Crown nearly as musical as the tube based amp. I am using a Schiit Audio Lokius 6 band EQ to soften the 6k audio region which all Crowns are guilty of being too prominent.
Hope this helps anyone looking at one of these amps. It is truly a good sounding piece of gear.
I was planning on listing this one for sale
To locate caps to replace go to "Look Inside" and when blue line appears "Input Section", you will see a large multi pin connector in the center of the board and one at the bottom. On the left side below the mid multi pin is a row of 6 small electrolytic caps , top one appearing greenish-that is cap1, 4th one down just above a pair of test points is the coupling cap to be replaced on Channel1. Just above the lower multi pin next to the blue line is the channel2 coupling cap. You can use 10ufd 50v Nichicon Muse from Mouser Electronics or Dayton Audio 12ufd 250v from Parts Express. Best deal from parts express is bag of 6 Dayton Audio polyproplene caps for about $26. Good Luck
When I was 15 its was mini trucks with a booming system and bmx/freestyle love them 90s
These were tested on AudioScienceReview. Excellent for power output, but not for fidelity scoring a low SINAD score down in the 60s. Great for pro audio and just cranking out lots of volume. Or power a sub if you run a filter or dsp before the Crown.
They tested the XLi800 (not XLi1500) at 5 Watts. This beast should be used at 50W minimum...
Then, they drew the conclusion that THD is high (0.16%). Below 1%, it is not audible...
Those guys make verdicts only by specifications. They never listened to the amplifier in real life.
If you have an amp with huge feedback, you may have better THD, IMD and SINAD, but it can easily sound worse in real life.
Don't trust such reviews when people test devices by their specs only.
I have an XLi1500 at home. It sounds much better than the most hifi amplifier (having better specs on paper).
@@barnaczukor4235 Well many people may use these in their home and may never even use 50w, maybe when its cranked at most. THD cascades together from each device including speakers. Starting at 1% then add in everything else it goes up quick. I know realistically when all is considered most people would have no issue with the crown xli line and couldn't distinguish it from a amp with a 80db SINAD. Amir has mentioned this many times that really over 70db SINAD most people will never hear the difference. You must have missed the few times hes mentioned this. You know his work has been checked by other electrical engineers and hes spot on so doubt your credentials stack up to his so until then I'm gonna stick with Amir. Lets see should I trust a subjective review from some guy that really has no idea what he's talking about probably read a bunch of nonsenese on a forum or an objective review from a professional 30 years in audio and engineering 🤔
@@iowaudioreviews Amir has an accepted measurement methodology that allows us to objectively compare one amp to another. I found his measurements interesting and useful.
However, I tend to disagree that these measurements clearly shows the sound quality of each amplifier. There are tons of other aspects on top of THD, SINAD, etc. For instance, the depth of sound stage, sound coloring, vibration of instruments, bass depth, bass speed, etc. These aspects have nothing to do with electric measurements. So by electric measurement, you cannot draw the conclusion that this amp sounds good or bad. That is why I disagree with Amir's recommendation (sub duty only) or and his conclusions.
If you enjoy the dynamics, the power, the neutral representation, this amp is for you. It provides great sound quality that makes 99% of people happy. Neither have I a noise suppressed listening room, nor have I absolute hearing; therefore, the SQ of XLi amps is more than enough for me.
If you long for the cleanest highs with all the fine micro details as you are an audiophile, you would be better off with a dedicated hifi amp. These guys always look for the best stage, representation and they are not really interested in power or bass punch. As for me, they do not listen to music to enjoy this, but constantly check their system and search the ultimate solution (that never arrives).
I love that you shared the BMX project, brings back memory of my Haro which DID have the rear frame stands. I had blue anodized shimano pedals.
Been waiting to see some pro audio content. Good shit man
Good stuff Big D always love tuning in. Crown home audio massive power. Hope all is well brother keep safe.
Thanks brother 👍
Wow that Bike brings back some memories! I used to ride Diamond back and Mongoose in the early 90's.
Love old school BMX!
Awesome! I just ordered the Crown XLI 2500 for my home theater system to replace my two Class D Behringer A800 amps (both bridged). Finding the Class D sound reproduction from them for my MAINS (four JBL 12" monitors) is kinda shallow and cold. Gonna have more power with the Crown and old school Class AB quality. That's the goal.
Entering my 6th decade in audio, as well as an O.G. 70's BMX'r ... when it all began.
Yep, raced with all the greats... best ever, likely Stompin' Stu, but there's so many.
I've got pics, film, everything... so much fun. Big picture... I wasn't nearly as good as the big Pro riders... but damn it was so much fun.
Nice!! Thanks for shaking things up and doing this!
I use a bunch of old Crown K2 amps for my home theater. Tons of power, high damping factor, and no fans. But they can be a pain in the ass to fix when they break, and Crown no longer has parts for them.
Bummer! Haven’t seen a vid from you lately. Hope you have some time to let us know what’s up
Always wanted 2 see a pro amp got tested!!
This is the 3rd I’ve tested, check video description for the playlist
Yes please test more of these pro series standalones. I use them for my subs underneath home vented up through an hvac register. Also I wanna see some mini dsp mastery so I have a set-up protocol on call for when I dive into it. Wish I could have gotten you my old home and car audio magazine collection before letting go of my prior home. Ended up giving over 1500 mags through the 90's early 2000's away. I was a box builder of higher end car stereos and have a mastery in it. Love watching an if your ever in the Charlotte area let me know
no surprise the amp produced more that rated power, you were testing at a higher THD spec. than Crown uses in their specs, I would be interested to see the power output at the Crown spec of 0.5%THD.
thank you man! i was telling myself the same thing!
I would like to see the dyno of crown xls1502 😁
Crown and QSC Amps are some of the best amps. I've installed plenty of them and NO problems... some times I try other brands trying to save $$$, don't do it...
Yessss, please make more pro audio amp videos
Damn! Didn't wait till the end and almost missed the classic Haro! Sweet set of wheels there BigD! I'm jelly.
I have that XLi1500 x1 the XLi 2500 x1 and the XLi 800 x2. Those amps are really bulletproof. I was waiting to see the test to see if they were really legit on their numbers. Thanks for doing that particular model Williston Audio Labs. Nice Freestyle bike ,Reminds me of when I used to have a 20" Redline frame (chrome) back in the early 90's with a 5 piece Shimano crank, Shimano Araya wheels (both Araya blue), and a gt dyno seat and clamp(white). Man i loved bikes when i was a teen.