2. amps-preamps
  3. 135700-110055

Crown XLS 1502.... real life test.

I was at guitar center yesterday cruseing the used pedal case and noticed they had the XLS1502 was on sale. With there 45 day return policy, that i have used with great success in the past, i bought the amp.

  With my Logan’s the crown was very clear and full. 525 watts at hand per channel brought the speakers to life. I adjusted the input to around 3 o’clock seemed to be a good match. I went thru a few cd’s and they all sounded great with Steely Dan winning the show...

  I put the Mac back in the loop and noticed the soundstage was a bit bigger and a good amount more subdude.

This was my first foray in the class D world and I was surprised at how good it sounded. At 329.00 its kinda hard to beat. I have no idea what the current measurements are but the XLS made the Logan’s sing. If i read the article correctly, doesnt the JBL Everest’s come with XLS amps? That’s the way it read... please correct me.

Anyway, it was a fun afternoon and the Crown is going back today. I haven’t bought the 10t’s yet... prob June is when I can pick them up... I will buy another crown then to use when I send the 7100 to a mac repair center to get a checkup... I have a gut feeling something is amiss with her. All in all I really enjoyed the XLS and in a blind test i feel it would hold up to many good amps that cost $$$$$.

  I want a 300 watt Mac but at 3-4 thousand dollars that is a big stretch for this retired chef... lol

BTW... the XLS was DEAD silent ... nothing!
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Showing 1 response by rcbashaw52

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rcbashaw52
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I purchased a Crown XLS 2000 from a college student who seemed puzzled why he had bought it in the first place. For $100. I thought I’d get to hear a Class D (Crown Class I) amp. Somewhere I read that using the quarter inch line outputs as inputs would give a higher 20k ohm input imp. and be an easier load for some preamps. (The line level inputs are specified at 10 k ohms.)  That proved to be the case.
The sound is very smooth, a bit soft in the highs (mosfet outputs). This suits my taste as an ex tube guy. The Crown sounds almost identical to an aging Hafler D-120 while lacking the vice like grip in the bass of my Bryston 4B NRB (no surprise there)! It’s dead silent with the gain pots set to 12 o’clock and has become my preferred amp. Recommended!
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