Review and Measurements of Crown XLS 1502 Amp

[rwortman]

I would look inside to see if there is a tapped line transformer.

 

[grobalt]

Anyone checked what is the difference internal from 1502/2002/2502? On some internet pictures they look having same board.. Are they DIY upgradeable?

 

[grobalt]

Shipments arrived ... 18x 1502 and 3x 2502 for my home cinema opened both ... no, not the same pcb, even the chassis is a bit deeper etc

 

[yodog]

Thanks for posting the pictures. I guess I’ll be going with the 2002 then instead of the 1502...

 

[yodog]

Shipments arrived ... 18x 1502 and 3x 2502 for my home cinema opened both ... no, not the same pcb, even the chassis is a bit deeper etc

can you tell a difference in the sound quality between the 1502 and 2502?

 

[tktran303]

Shipments arrived ... 18x 1502 and 3x 2502 for my home cinema opened both ... no, not the same pcb, even the chassis is a bit deeper etc

What can you see of the white peg notifying voltage input? What is it connected to?

 

[grobalt]

Can check at the weekend, on business trip during the week. Soundcheck has to wait several weeks... Building cinema from scratch

 

[cistercian]

can you tell a difference in the sound quality between the 1502 and 2502?

I can't hear the difference between the 1002 and the 2502. Both are spectacular and the 2502 may be too much.
I say this because I have some great room gain at LF and at higher levels it gets a bit much...I fear structural damage to the house.
With the old Bose 301 speakers no hiss at all on standby. The JBL SRX 835 passives have a very sensitive horn for HF and
hiss is audible @ 1 meter. The speakers have a sensitivity rating of 95db. The HF horn is 108 DB/meter but in the cab
I trust JBL and the crossover for 95db/meter.
Bass is absolutely incredible with the 2502. Buy the most powerful amp you can afford...trust me on this. If you
don't have enough power you have to get another amp. Having too much means it loafs along and when big bass
extension is required it will not limit or clip. @8 ohms my system has completely invisible distortion below 400 watts/channel.
And is beyond reasonable listening levels as well.

 

[rwortman]

Shipments arrived ... 18x 1502 and 3x 2502 for my home cinema opened both ... no, not the same pcb, even the chassis is a bit deeper etc

What kind of home theater requires 21 amplifiers?

 

[yodog]

I can't hear the difference between the 1002 and the 2502. Both are spectacular and the 2502 may be too much.
I say this because I have some great room gain at LF and at higher levels it gets a bit much...I fear structural damage to the house.
With the old Bose 301 speakers no hiss at all on standby. The JBL SRX 835 passives have a very sensitive horn for HF and
hiss is audible @ 1 meter. The speakers have a sensitivity rating of 95db. The HF horn is 108 DB/meter but in the cab
I trust JBL and the crossover for 95db/meter.
Bass is absolutely incredible with the 2502. Buy the most powerful amp you can afford...trust me on this. If you
don't have enough power you have to get another amp. Having too much means it loafs along and when big bass
extension is required it will not limit or clip. @8 ohms my system has completely invisible distortion below 400 watts/channel.
And is beyond reasonable listening levels as well.

thanks for this report. I will probably go ahead and buy the xls 2002 to power my Dynaudio Special fortys

 

[Wombat]

What kind of home theater requires 21 amplifiers?

One where you can critically listen to 21 amps at the same time. I would concentrate on the mains.

 

[grobalt]

What kind of home theater requires 21 amplifiers?

Building a DBA (double bass array) with 6 Subwoofer front + 6 back -> and i decided to put just one on each channel -> already 6 Amps.

And then 15 active speakers consuming each 2 channel behind a Trinnov.

 

[Jstodda]

After exhaustive reading I'm going to just ask for help lol.

I have a set of Klipsch RF 7 III. Receiver is a Yamaha 3070. Wired preout to a Crown 1502 currently.

The rest (a 7.2.4) is all Klipsch running off the receiver. Sub is a new Klipsch SPL 150.

I love my music loud, lots of Rock usually so strong punchy midbass is preferred. I do love how clear they can be with other genres tho.

The RF7IIIs are efficient, but I just feel like they need more. 250 RMS with a Max of 1000 and the 1502 is pushing 300 to each (theoretically).

I just don't know how much is too much.

I bought another 1502 on a big sale yesterday so Do I:

1. Bridge each and push a theoretical 1040 watts to each (seems dangerous).

2. Bridge each and bi amp pushing 300 to HF and 300 LF (either vertically or horiz).

Open to any feedback. Really just want the headroom for when these things open up and looking for punchier dynamics.

BTW. Fascinating reads for the last 4 hours all over this website. You guys are a wealth of knowledge. Already learned alot.

 

[SIY]

@Jstodda Sounds to me like you may get results more to your liking with some EQ experimentation. Those speakers are something like 100dB/2.83V/1M, you can push a few hundred watts into them already, so your SPLs are likely to already be capable of hitting 140dB or more. If you want to keep your hearing, you won't do that.

 

[Jstodda]

@Jstodda Sounds to me like you may get results more to your liking with some EQ experimentation. Those speakers are something like 100dB/2.83V/1M, you can push a few hundred watts into them already, so your SPLs are likely to already be capable of hitting 140dB or more. If you want to keep your hearing, you won't do that.

Totally fair point. Just wondering if the extra power would give a but more kick at medium volume. The woofers on the speakers hardly move and I can't help to think extra available power might help.

As for EQ. You're spot on and that's what this weekend will be. Thanks for reply

 

[mitchco]

I run an XLS 1502 on these double 15" cabs: https://www.jblpro.com/ProductAttachments/SS4722_0509.pdf More than enough headroom at 4 ohms. But I do run themvcas a biamped system so that I can time align the drivers, plus some eq and excess phase correction: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/ca-a...nd-room-correction-software-walkthrough-r682/

I agree with @SIY try some eq to smooth out the low end in your room. Also, I do see that even though the speakers are rated at: 100 dB @ 2.83V / 1M sensitivity, at the same time, recommended power handling is 250W / 1000W peak (at 8 ohms): https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3f...roduct-specsheets/RF-7-III_Spec-Sheet-v02.pdf

The issue with biamping with another XLS 1502 is that you will definitely hear the hiss on the horns and going to have to "pad" the sensitivity down to match the woofers. Given the power handling rating, I would bridge the amps as you will have oodles of headroom and spend the time playing with eq to smooth out the bass response to give you more kick with the extra watts in bridged mode.

Let's hear how it sounds

 

[Jstodda]

Thanks for the ideas! I think a combo of both gets me there. So bridging won't push TOO MANY watts to the speaker? If anything I can have lower gain settings.

As of now if I shove my face into the horn I can hear a slight hiss if the room is quiet, otherwise there is no feedback at all.

Thanks for the info

 

[cistercian]

I run an XLS 1502 on these double 15" cabs: https://www.jblpro.com/ProductAttachments/SS4722_0509.pdf More than enough headroom at 4 ohms. But I do run themvcas a biamped system so that I can time align the drivers, plus some eq and excess phase correction: https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/ca-a...nd-room-correction-software-walkthrough-r682/

I agree with @SIY try some eq to smooth out the low end in your room. Also, I do see that even though the speakers are rated at: 100 dB @ 2.83V / 1M sensitivity, at the same time, recommended power handling is 250W / 1000W peak (at 8 ohms): https://f072605def1c9a5ef179-a0bc3f...roduct-specsheets/RF-7-III_Spec-Sheet-v02.pdf

The issue with biamping with another XLS 1502 is that you will definitely hear the hiss on the horns and going to have to "pad" the sensitivity down to match the woofers. Given the power handling rating, I would bridge the amps as you will have oodles of headroom and spend the time playing with eq to smooth out the bass response to give you more kick with the extra watts in bridged mode.

Let's hear how it sounds

I like your speaker choice. I use 3 ways JBL SRX835 passives and use a single XLS2502
to drive them in stereo. For music listening I am very happy. Room gain helps at LF and my setup is ridiculous for bass...
but the real story is MF-HF...detail and articulation is just incredible. I think our speakers have the same HF driver, if not the same horn.
I could be wrong...Having a mid range driver is just fantastic though!

 

[RayDunzl]

So bridging won't push TOO MANY watts to the speaker?

Simple Analysis:

The voltage supplied to the speaker for a given volume setting and input level will double with bridging.

The difference in SPL at the speaker should be a 6dB increase.

Doubling the voltage applied will cause the speaker to dissipate 4 times the power, as the current flow doubles.

Reduce the input level (or volume control) by 6db and you're back where you started, from the viewpoint of the speaker.

 

[Jstodda]

Simple Analysis:

The voltage supplied to the speaker for a given volume setting and input level will double with bridging.

The difference in SPL at the speaker should be a 6dB increase.

Doubling the voltage applied will cause the speaker to dissipate 4 times the power, as the current flow doubles.

Reduce the input level (or volume control) by 6db and you're back where you started, from the viewpoint of the speaker.

This is exactly what I was looking for. So essentially the watts available are still there but the speakers will be "pushed" with less effort from the amp. Thanks for the data approach