Why Not Crown?

because you can buy this crown amp for less money and have the full 3 year manufaturer's warranty and still get roughly the same amount of power!!!

http://www.musiciansbuy.com/CROWN_XL...MP_XLS402.html

this thread goes into great detail on the crown XLS amps

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=418666

I'd recommend Crest instead.

There're always new XLS 402's on ebay for $260.

Shrubman,

The other thread about the "new amp is making me grin from ear to ear..." is really, really long. I posted there quite a few times.

here's the jist from me. I had the halo amp (the big one) and sold it when I got a blue Ice amp from ebay. They are very similar to the crown amps.

Once I auditioned the blue ice compared to my Halo ($4k) amp (blue ice was $340), I couldn't believe it. This blue ice "pro" amp was as good in home theater on my setup using martin logan's all around as the halo.

So, I bought 3 Crown amps. 2 x 602 and 1 x 402. They sound as good if not better than the blue Ice, BUT, they have VERY LOUD FANS running all the time. If you can keep the amps in a closet or somewhere where you can't hear them, no problem - they are excellent. However, if you have your amps in a rack 15 ft away or closer to you, you WILL hear them, there's no way around it.

Great amps. They simply don't look very good, and they are loud. But in my case, i can hide them. You would NEVER KNOW the difference between them and the $4K amp in the Halo by Parasound. That, is the bottom line.

I sold the Halo, bought 4 amps, have over 3000watts, and couldn't be happier!

Stieger

That thread also details fan mods to quiet them down. I bought a used 402 with the mod and I can only hear the fabs from a couple of feet away.

And they DO look good..LOL

brickie

But the Blue Ice look cooooooler .

I bought two of the crown 402bs and modded the fans. They run very quiet. I want to sell one of them because I am going to smaller speakers for my rather small HT room. If anyone is interested I can sell a XLS-402b with modded fan for $250 shipped. Comes with the original box, manual, power cable and other paperwork. Both of them work with no problem. I will even include a RCA to XLR cable.

Are the Crown CE line their best amplifier product?

Not even close..They've got some amps in the $4K range,INSANE ouput!!!!!!!!!!!!

brickie

So then are the XLS's "the" amp for home theater or are there other slightly better choices while remaining in the same $300-$600 price range?

There are MANy pro amps out there in that price range..I first chose Crown because of price.They were the best in that regard.I don't regret that decision at all!!!!!QSC is another one that early on many tried and liked as well..Both are good names.Even lately Blue Ice amps have recieved good reviews from some of the members here..

What amp is "the" amp? Just don't think you can really answer that.Also they have their pros and cons,each of em..I would most definitely buy my XLS's all over again.The bang for the buck is the best iv'e seen!!Really think you might want to read that LONG thread..I'm sure you'll have an opinion as to what you think you should do by time you finish it.

brickie

I have a 402 hooked up to my computer also and while it plays very clean and loud, the sound card voltage out appears to be lower than my HT receivers pre-outs.
I dont know if its just my card (envy chip) or not, but keep in mind that if your speakers are low sensitivity you may have trouble getting high spls.

Tack I assume you mean from the sound card right..Becaise I can drive my Crowns to some insane levels if I want from my Pioneer.

brickie

I'd probably recomend the crowns over the Blue Ice if space is of a concern and if you can modify the fans or put them out of hearing. The Blue Ice are great, but they are too big sometimes.

Brickie- yes, from the cards outs.

Its fine on the receiver pre-outs.

http://www.crownaudio.com/pdf/34free-lowz.pdf <---Crown has a new deal on extended warranties, 3 extra years for free (XS and XLS series).

I think Crown's current most powerful is the I-tech series. 8000 watts bridged into 8 ohms anyone?

Their "best" is the Studio Reference series, very powerful and very good, not cheap though.

Tack, the DSPs aren't the output stage of a sound card. op-amps are usually used.

These pro-amp threads definitely have me thinking in a new light with regards to power. Is anyone using QSC...and how do they compare to Crown? Having never used a pro-amp, am I correct to assume that most are buying multiple, 2-channel versions and simply stacking them...and is this a safe configuration? It looks like you can pick up four of these puppies and still be well under the price of a moderate HT/Multichannel amp. Thanks.

Yes, stack them. As long as they have at least some room to breathe between each other.

Are these two company names & logos just a coincidence?

http://www.gemstoneaudio.com/flashin...toneaudio.com/
http://www.123dj.com/amps/gemsound/index.html

Okaygotcha..Yeah don't know too many people hooking it up like that..

brickie

you can stack them fine, they were built for that...you dont need space above/below as there actively cooled from front to back

I bought a used 402; does the warranty transfer?

"you can stack them fine, they were built for that...you dont need space above/below as there actively cooled from front to back"

In fact Crown points out that a vertical space can resuce cooling effectiveness by "short-circuiting" the airflow path.

warrantty transfers.

brickie