Crown XLS1000 Power Amplifier

Crown's XLS1000 power amp is an excellent, relatively inexpensive, high-power (215 watts/ch into 8 ohms', 350 watts/ch into 4 ohms and 550 watts/ch into 2 ohms) professional, stereo power amplifier. It is small and lightweight (8.6 lbs) and quiet and effortless driving even low-impedance speakers such as older Acoustic Research AR-3s, AR-3as and AR-LSTs -- speakers known for their very difficult low-impedance, capacitive-reactive and low-efficiency loads for an amplifier. However, many a lesser amp would suffer overheating or self-destruction driving many of these older speaker designs at high-output levels, but the new pro-level Crown drives them effortlessly, rarely activating its quiet fan. Nevertheless, as with any linear, low-distortion power amp, this amp has no "personality" of its own: it sounds neither better than nor worse than any other amp with this level of low distortion, and it is simply "clean." I know of a friend who uses a single XLS 1000 to drive two huge HSU subwoofers (set to below 20 Hz cutoff), and he reports that the amp (set in "Stereo Bypass" mode) can easily power them both in a large listening room without strain. There are many safety features built into this design, such as output current limiting, DC-offset protection, thermal protection and so forth. The amp's back panel is very flexible for inputs/outputs with 4-pole, Class II, Speakon-type connectors (pro-level speaker connection) in addition to the standard binding posts that will accept banana plugs or bare wire; input connection is made by balanced XLR, ¼-inch jack or the consumer-grade unbalanced RCA phono connectors. In my experience, these new pro amps offer an excellent alternative to consumer amps for driving any type of loudspeaker -- professional or consumer. I use QSC and Crown pro amps almost exclusively now for about everything, and the older consumer-type power amps can't easily compete with the reliable, efficient design of this professional-type amplifier. The Crown XLS 1000 amp is an advanced class-D design, and the result is a cool-running, reliable powerhouse that is unaffected by the usual problems associated with class A, A/B and class B power amps of the past. This is a highly recommended power amp!

Through the years I have purchased many items from Amazon...CDs, books, computers, tablets and various electronics. To my knowledge I have written only a few reviews. I am the type that expects the products I buy to match up to my expectations and feel no need to express my opinion unless some item is truly bad and I feel the need to warn others, and that has seldom happened. But now I have a product that so completely surprised me with its quality that I am compelled to write something in praise of it. I have been an audio nut for decades. I have owned many different pieces of gear in a never ending search for great musical sound. Now that i am retired and live on a reduced income I no longer can afford expensive gear and have to live within my means. I own a very excellent Peachtree Idecco which is a great DAC, headphone amp, preamp and amp in one box. I highly recommend this item. But it has only about 30 watts per channel into 8 ohms which is not truly sufficient to drive my 84db efficient speakers (Ellis Audio) to my satisfaction. So I have been looking for a good external amp to feed from the pre-amp outs on the Peachtree. I spent many months looking at reviews and blogs. A while back I started looking at the information about the Crown XLS series of amps which are made and marketed for professional DJs. My concern was would one of these amps work in my home audio system? I finally took the plunge and ordered the least powerful model as I figured it would still be enough to properly drive my speakers. If it did not sound good enough for my ears I would return it and continue my searching. Well I am surprised. This amp is excellent. I am very happy with its lack of sonic character. That is right...lack of character. It sends the signals from my pre-amp to my speakers without adding any sound of its own. It is not dry, not warm. It just does the job with no distortion. From six inches away from the speakers when no music is playing it is dead silent. The music comes through with grace and clarity and the bass is very strong while the treble has no grain in human voices which sometimes mars amps not properly made. My Peachtree has a tube in the signal path so I get a slightly warm sound sent to the Crown which is transfered to my speakers untouched. To demonstrate how accurate this amp is I played several old Cds from the 1980s which were poorly mastered and I knew in advance were harsh sounding. They sounded very harsh still. You can't really fix a poorly done recording. When I put on newer, well done recordings (such as Chantel Chamberlain and Madeleine Peyreaux) the results were stunning. This amp will not accept spade endings on speaker wire, but I purchased a cheap adapter to use the banana plugs and this works just fine. The only "negative" I can mention is that at low listening levels it does not resolve music quite as well as some more expensive amps designed solely for home use. Some details get lost, but it is still good. At moderate to loud volumes the amp shines. I consider my $291 to be well worth it.

After a frustrating buying a XLS-1000 to Kooldom store (who sent me a damaged themselves and placed on sale as a new device), opts to buy another amplifier XLS-1000, this time to the J Store & R Music and Computer World, which arrived in perfect condition and I am very grateful. Before giving details, I should clarify that the real power of the power is around 105 watts per channel, making it clear that while the manual specifies 215 watts at 8 ohms, this is based on a 1 Khz, so working in a range of frequency of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, the power is shared, resulting in an actual output of about 105 watts per channel about. Now, talking about the performance of the amplifier, I must say I've been impressed not by the power itself, rather it be enough for my purposes, but the sound quality; is very nice with very good image and dispersion can estarse hours listening to music at any volume level without exhausting hearing. Perceive that fits perfectly to my JBL-LSR32. Really not that great, surprising its taken away. Regarding the damaged Crown and after 7 months looking for parts, I could fix it and now it works perfectly, so I call to monitor these fraudulent store. Después de una compra frustrante de un XLS-1000 a la tienda Kooldom (quienes me enviaron un aparato dañado por ellos mismo y colocado en venta como nuevo), opte por comprar otro amplificador XLS-1000, esta vez a la tienda J&R Music and Computer World, el cual me llegó en perfecto estado y les estoy muy agradecido. Antes de dar detalles, debo aclarar que la potencia real del power ronda los 105 watts por canal, aclarando que si bien el manual especifica 215 watts a 8 ohm, esto es en base a 1 Khz, por lo que al trabajar en un rango de frecuencia de 20 Hz a 20.000 Hz, la potencia se reparte, resultando una salida real de unos 105 watts aproximadamente por canal. Ahora bien, hablando del comportamiento del amplificador, debo decir que he quedado gratamente impresionado, no por la potencia en sí, siendo ésta más bien suficiente para mis propósitos, sino por la calidad de sonido; es muy agradable, con muy buena imagen y dispersión, pudiendo estarse horas y horas escuchando música a cualquier nivel de volumen sin agotar la audición. Percibo que se acopla perfectamente a mis JBL-LSR32. De veras lo recomiendo ampliamente, se llevaran una grata sorpresa. Con respecto al Crown dañado y después de 7 meses buscando los repuestos, pude repararlo y actualmente funciona perfectamente, por lo que hago un llamado estar atentos a esta tienda fraudulenta.

Very nice Class D amp. I believe Class D amps are the future of amplifiers (IMHO). Very nice build quality through and through. Great binding posts, quality buttons and case. The sound is incredible with a big punch for bass all the way through detailed highs. The price is a steal for the performance. The reason for 4 stars is only because it wasn't totally clear that the line voltage for "pre out" has to be much higher than consumer equipment typically puts out. I was planning on running my Sonus Faber fronts through the Crown, fed by my Denon surround processor. Apparently the voltage was too low and no sound came out of the speakers at normal levels. I don't recall the line voltage-in the Crown requires (2-3v?) and I didn't measure mine. So how do I know this was such a great sounding amp? My lowly MP3 player had plenty of line voltage. If the MP3 player was to be my use case, I'd still own that wonderful, clear, simple, powerful, cool-running little amp (returned for a full refund -- great service Amazon!) My new rule of thumb is not to mix consumer and pro electronics.

Like some other reviewers here, I am also using this amp in a 5.2 home theater setup. I am driving a DIY car subwoofer (Pioneer TS-W2502D4 800 watts nominal and 3000 watts peak) slapped in an L-shaped box with slot port. Um running the crown from Onkyo 809 receiver in bridged mono mode crossed at 90hz on the receiver and with high pass filter engaged at 50hz on crown. Um running Klipsch SUB-12 also, which is low-passed at 50hz. My room is 14'x18'. Crown hurls out some serious sonic impact at reference volume (75dB) on avr without the clipping LEDs turning on. Also, it is super quiet. In fact, the fan does not even kick in even at reference levels. It is feather light but with monsterous sonic signature with bags of on-demand current to drive difficult loads without breaking a sweat. Overall, I am very happy and plan on buying XLS-2500 to run two DIY subs in HT setup to literally lift the roof. Steller performance ..... Crown rocks!!! Note: Crown accepts 1.4 volts input, which Onkyo 809 receiver was unable to provide. Onkyo could only pump out 0.2 volts, which is a shame. So, later I had to buy ART CleanBox Pro to bump up the output level of Onkyo 809. So, anyone interested in running this amp in HT setup must also buy ART CleanBox Pro, otherwise you won't be able to drive it adequately. Edit: 18 June 2013 ------------------ Art CleanBox Pro is not required for this amp. I was setting up gain structure incorrectly at the time of writing the review, that's why I suggested using ART CLeanBox Pro. I think any modern AVR can push Crown XLS1000 adequately in order for it to perform at its optimum, if the gain structure is set up properly. I am not using signal booster anyomre.

This amplifier produces copious amounts of broadband noise through the speakers. Even with the volume at zero and no input signal (even with no connection plugged into the input), the hiss coming from this amp makes it unusable. Even when used as a subwoofer amp with a 15" speaker, the audible hiss is ridiculous. The only way to circumvent it is to use it only as a subwoofer amp and employ the lowpass filter below 200 Hz. Perhaps this is a defective unit. If so, Crown's quality control leaves much to be desired. But I have my doubts, as the audio fidelity seems fine beneath the noise. I've also found several instances online where other users are experiencing the same problem. Some have posted in forums about this noise issue, others have posted videos on Youtube. In any case, I have to box it up and send it back at my expense. PITA that should not be necessary. That's what happens when Harman takes over a company. They've destroyed Lexicon, Digitech, and many others. Now Crown. I'd advise choosing another brand/model of power amplifier. What I received is a sad joke.

I'm using this unit to power a pair of 4 ohm Dayton 18's in home built boxes for my living room home stereo. Using a Pioneer VSX-1123K for a source, and driving this Crown off the subwoofer outs. The Pioneer actually puts out sufficient voltage on the RCA's to drive this unit fully, so I did not have to use a line driver to level match. Most Home audio units only drive about 1vrms on the RCA's, the VSX puts out 1.4vrms no problem (1.4 is what you need to drive this amp to full power). I've been using it a while, the amp stays on pretty much 24-7 since it has no 12v trigger, and we forget to turn it off when the source is off. It runs very cool (Class D, duh lol) and puts out a little more than what it's rated at. Measured into Dale 4 ohm dummy load resistors I came up with 385W RMS per channel clean sine wave @60hz using a Tek 465B oscilloscope and a Fluke 85 to take measurements. I've run the unit at fairly high volumes for several hours at a time, both movie and music content, fairly bass heavy stuff like Techmaster, and some classical and country, and it's worked flawlessly. Great amp.

For a digital amplifier it is amazingly sweet. I use it on my Yamaha RX A6A to handle my RP 8000f front channel speakers. I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t justify spending another 2500 for a Yamaha preamp. When this amplifier works wonderfully. You can even use it for your Stratocaster.

The initial reviews i read weren't lying. Offers amazing sound for smaller applications. It can get very loud though. Perfect for a folk/acoustic gigging musician.