[marauder1999]

I own a HK avr525 receiver,,rated in stereo mode at 80wpc.

I wanted more power and muscle so I purchased the crown xls402 amplifier to run out of my pre out jacks of my Hk.

I ran the wire from the pre outs of the reciever to the Crown amplifier in, ran my speaker wire out of my newly acquired Crown amp and turned it up.


Too my surprise it is actually quiter than when I just ran my speakers out of my 80wpc reciever.

Can this be right? I mean this amplifier is pushing 400wpc compared to the 80wpc and they sound the same?

please,anyone have any thoughts?

I dont want to return it if its a goof on set-up on my part or maybe a receiver problem,,maybe its not bypassing the internal amp in the reciever and not allowing the amp in the crown,,is that possible?

The Crown amp knobs are turned completely up and then i turn the receiver up but its still not as much as if i just unhooked the crown amp and just ran my speakers through the receiver.


Please,any help would be greatly appreciated. Im ready to take the thing back. All these great comments about them but no ones ever had this prob before?


Thanks.

 

[Oliver Deplace]

Did you rerun EzSet after connecting the new amp?

If not, give that a try.

 

[marauder1999]

yep-,reran ezset. Any other ideas? Do u have to bypass the internal amps on the receiver when u hook up an external amp or does it do it automatically? maybe that why? Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[drguayo]

it's the signal levels.


check manuals for both.


input levels for crown - should say something like


1.2 Volts for Max Output at 8 ohms



output level of Receiver Pre - should say something like max output 1 V.


I believe the input levels for Crown can be set inside the cabinet somehow.

Yours is probably set at 2V and the Receiver is putting out only 1V or something.


good luck.

craig.


ps. this is a problem I'm having also by mixing home audio and pro audio gear.

 

[VisionxOrb]

have you turned the gains on the amp all the way up

 

[Oliver Deplace]

Your Crown has an input sensitivity of 1.025v @ 4ohms (fairly sensitive) with an unbalanced input impedance of 10Kohms (nothing strange).

The data sheet has no indication of any other input sensitivity settings.

Have you actually measured the SPL with a meter?

Check the actual SPL during calibration.

Are the speaker level settings (in the menu) different for the Crown and HK?

That Crown looks to be a simple install, not a whole lot you can do to mess it up. It's pretty much a plug n' play.


Mazeroth has a XLS402a and AVR230. Maybe he'll pop in and shed some light or you could send him a PM.

 

[drguayo]

I have a Crown PSA-2 with input voltage of 2.1V - so I need to boost the line level out of my Lexicon DC-1 so I can maximize output from the amp.


I found this: an ART ( Applied Research and Technology )

CleanBox 1 .

http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/....cfm?pid=3301#

 

[DXL]

I had the same problem with my Creek pre-outs. I took care of it by running the SACD player directly into the XLS 402 and using the gains knobs as volume control. It's a temporary solution for me until I have enough money to upgrade to a Rotel.

 

[marauder1999]

I have increased the gain knobs completely up on the crown amp and it still isnt producing any better as if I just played the speakers through the receiver. Thanks for all the comments, but still nothing. Do you think maybe its because I have to convert the xlr inputs from the crown amp into a regular output jack on the back of the HK? Im thinking maybe its losing its power that way? maybe? Thanks.

 

[DrSpike69]

Try a line level shifter. You can find them at any pro audio shop and Radio Shack. Ebetch and many others make them.

 

[brickie]

Wow, very strange problem indeed.From what I read in various forums, I though the Crowns were the easiest of the pro amps too drive with consumer gear.Half way on the gains should be MORE than enough.And at all the way up, you should most definitely be running for cover.I'd try to boost signal as others suggested,or even anothe reciver.I use a Pioneer 810s by the way.If those two things don't work,take it back and possibly try another..Just got to due some deduction here.


brickie

 

[Mazeroth]

Hmmm, wish I could help but I'm not quite sure how. As mentioned above, I have the HK AVR230 with the same amp you have and if my knobs were at full on the Crown I could barely get into the -30db area on the HK before blowing my eardrums, mind you, on very difficult speakers to drive. Maybe check the output levels on the HK? Wish I could be of more assistance

 

[VisionxOrb]

does the amp have the 1/4 phono plug inputs or just the XLR. I found on my bgw amp from using an xlr adapter to make it balance i lost consideralbe volume as the xlr is balanced with a sensitiviy of 2.1 while the TRS 1/4" phono plug with rca input made it un balanced with a senisitvity of 1v giving back all my volume


used to of these
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=274%2D320

 

[catapult]

Quote:

I ran the wire from the pre outs of the reciever to the Crown amplifier in

What kind of cables did you use? Did you buy pre-made RCA to XLR cables? There are different ways to wire them up and maybe yours was done wrong. The manual should show the correct unbalanced wiring and you can check it with an ohm meter.


RCA center pin to XLR pin 2

RCA outer ring to XLR pins 1 and 3

 

[Llamas]

Just to provide another data point, from my new Newcastle P-965, I have my 402b turned up all the way to match my Parasound 855 amp (drive center and surrounds). The level adjustments in the pre-pro setup are all with +/- 2 or 3 dB.


I am using the RCA -> XLR adapter that Brickie referred me to.


I'm getting loud listening levels at -20 dB on the pre-pro display.


--Mike

 

[mysphyt]

Making an balanced to balanced cable is a bit different than an unbalanced to balanced cable. As others have said, a proper unbalanced to balanced cable has the center pin of the RCA connected to the tip (TRS) or pin 2 (XLR) of the balanced connector with the shell of the RCA tied to ring and shield (TRS) or 1 and 3 (XLR). A balanced to unbalanced cable connects pin 2 to the center RCA pin and pin 1 to the shell of the RCA, with Pin 3 (ring on TRS, -) left open.


Using the second case, above, results in a 6dB loss in signal strength, could this be your situation?

 

[marauder1999]

All very good suggestions and from reading them I think the problem has to be the wiring.

Let me explain thouroughly. I went to radio shack and bought 2 xlr outputs and then inserted an adaptor to the end of each one and from there inserted regular rca cables to the HK. Im thinking I need to have a disctinct cable made for this process instead of me piecing together in order for it to work properly. Some of you have HK receivers,,what cables and where did you get them did you use? Obviously you must have used an adaptor of some sort to get into the HK because the HK pre outs arent xlr,,they are regular rca outputs. Any ideas on how you have all wired your crowns? Thanks.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

There's a difference between power output and gain/sensitivity. The Crown may have lower gain than the receiver's amp while still having much greater power output capability. That only means that you have to drive it harder to take advantage of that capability. If the receiver cannot do it, you need to get something that will.


Kal

 

[marauder1999]

My problem though with everyone saying that it may be the receiver is that these people are using lower wattage HK recievers than the one I am using and their crown amps are working fine. I am leaning towards the wiring,,if any one has ever went from xlr inputs from the crown amp to regular rca output jacks in the receiver please explain where you have gotten them. thanks.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Quote:

Originally posted by marauder1999 My problem though with everyone saying that it may be the receiver is that these people are using lower wattage HK recievers than the one I am using and their crown amps are working fine.

Because it has nothing to do with the wattage of the receiver but with the voltage of the preamp output and the gain/sensitivity of the Crown relative to the gain/sensitivity of the built-in amps.

Quote:

I am leaning towards the wiring,,if any one has ever went from xlr inputs from the crown amp to regular rca output jacks in the receiver please explain where you have gotten them. thanks.

XLR input will give about 6dB more signal that the RCAs in general.


Kal