CROWN AMPS - Anyone using them with the Ascends

Anyone using the Crown AMPs with any of their Ascends and what do you think.

they are on sale here at soundsfriend

I use an xls1500 for a set of towers, and an xls1000 as a sub amp. They sound great (though I am skeptical that there are sonic differences between amplifiers provided that they aren't overdriven and have identical measurements). At any rate, I looked at frequency response graphs for these before I bought them, they are very flat across the whole audible range. There are two Caveats for this. First, ome of the lower end amps have high noise floors, which could be problematic. For example the noise floor on the xls1000 differs from the xls1500 (the rest of the series is identical to the 1500 but with more output) even though they are in the same series. Second, some lines have fans that come on easily (the xls series never come on for me) these fans are way too loud for home use and will ruin the experience.

Here is the frequency response plot for the xls-2500 (though this should be the same for the 1500 and 2000 also, but not for the 1000) http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/artic...pr-1600/11870# ( you'll have to go to page two of the review to see it. For some reason I can't directly link to the second page) note that the first plot is the crown and the second is a competitor.

Here is a professional reviewer's experience with them for home use http://www.arccinema.com/crown-xls-d...lifier-review/. This one is a long read, essentially he says that the xls series are great, but DON'T get the xls1000.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JesseNims

I use an xls1500 for a set of towers, and an xls1000 as a sub amp. They sound great (though I am skeptical that there are sonic differences between amplifiers provided that they aren't overdriven and have identical measurements). At any rate, I looked at frequency response graphs for these before I bought them, they are very flat across the whole audible range. There are two Caveats for this. First, ome of the lower end amps have high noise floors, which could be problematic. For example the noise floor on the xls1000 differs from the xls1500 (the rest of the series is identical to the 1500 but with more output) even though they are in the same series. Second, some lines have fans that come on easily (the xls series never come on for me) these fans are way too loud for home use and will ruin the experience.

Here is the frequency response plot for the xls-2500 (though this should be the same for the 1500 and 2000 also, but not for the 1000) http://www.prosoundnetwork.com/artic...pr-1600/11870# ( you'll have to go to page two of the review to see it. For some reason I can't directly link to the second page) note that the first plot is the crown and the second is a competitor.

Here is a professional reviewer's experience with them for home use http://www.arccinema.com/crown-xls-d...lifier-review/. This one is a long read, essentially he says that the xls series are great, but DON'T get the xls1000.

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Thank you for the response. so the 2500 should be as good as the 1500 and there are no issues that you have noticed with it. That is what I was looking to hear. it is still a third the price of an EMO 3 channel

I have heard really mixed things about emotiva. It seems that they sound fine but are relatively cheaply made and tend to break frequently. Opinions on their customer service are quite polarized, it seems that for people in the states it is sort of a lottery for whether you get great service or terrible service and people outside the states get screwed (usually).
I wouldn't personally buy anything from emotiva.


Here's some examples to back this opinon up
Notice the dates, I couldn't find any positive threads about emotiva service more recent than 2012 nor any negative before 2011. This could be statistical effects from small sample size, my inability to use a search engine, or part of a trend.


negative experiences that seem credible:
http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php/t...tomer-service/
http://www.alienshore.com/another/20...va-usp-1-fail/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/emotiva-audio-corp-franklin
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...-horrible.html

Positive experiences that seem credible:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...ice-rocks.html
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums...r-service.html