Class D monoblocks, which one?

[birkbott]

Well since the wife and kids were out of the house today I ran down to Guitar Center and picked up a Crown XLS 1502. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleased to find upon plugging it in that there was no discernible difference to my ears between it and the Vidar.

I set the highpass filter at 80hz and my subs at the same lowpass and it sounded great. Did some measurements with REW and after some tweaking with the subs was able to match measurements I took earlier in the week with the Vidar so I’m happy with it.

I’m gonna roll with it for a while and see how it does in daily use but right now I’m pleasantly surprised. Call me a bad audiophile.

 

[q3cpma]

Well since the wife and kids were out of the house today I ran down to Guitar Center and picked up a Crown XLS 1502. I didn’t really know what to expect but I was pleased to find upon plugging it in that there was no discernible difference to my ears between it and the Vidar.

I set the highpass filter at 80hz and my subs at the same lowpass and it sounded great. Did some measurements with REW and after some tweaking with the subs was able to match measurements I took earlier in the week with the Vidar so I’m happy with it.

I’m gonna roll with it for a while and see how it does in daily use but right now I’m pleasantly surprised. Call me a bad audiophile.

Nah, you're good for this place. There's no real audible difference between the best Hypex/Purifi/Benchmark stuff and these cheap Crown/Behringer amps as long as both the noise and the distorsion are low enough.
I mean, even the cream of the cream like Genelec of Neumann use Ti LM3886 or STMicro TDA7293/2 chipamps in their speakers. I doubt they would if this meant a significant impact on the final sound.

 

[A800]

If you're using an exciter and subharmonic synthesizer for all the music in your system, it can be quite enjoyable, but you're kind of disqualified from being able to offer reliable evaluations to others about how clean your amplification is.

Sure, but only if I have them in the chain which is not always.
Normally I even use just a passive volume control.

 

[birkbott]

Sure, but only if I have them in the chain which is not always.
Normally I even use just a passive volume control.

I’ve never heard of either of those things. What do they do?

 

[A800]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subharmonic_synthesizer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciter_(effect)

 

[birkbott]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subharmonic_synthesizer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exciter_(effect)

Interesting thanks

 

[birkbott]

So I’ve now lived with the Crown XLS 1502 for a while. I can’t tell if it’s just psychological or what but it doesn’t sound as crystal clear as my memory of the Vidar is. If I put my ear up to the speaker there is a slight hiss/hum which is reduced by lowering the gain. It is nearly eliminated by changing the input sensitivity to 1.4 and putting the gain at 12 o’clock. However if I do this I can turn my pream(Schiit Saga S) all the way up and barely hit 80db.

I have read that using the balanced inputs eliminates any hiss or hum. I have also heard that a high gain preamp is needed to provide enough headroom to keep the noise floor low.

So the question is now: what preamps pair best with an amp like this? Are there cheap, high gain, balanced preamps out there? I haven’t been able to find much.

 

[birkbott]

Oh and I plan to try an a/b comparison to the Vidar this weekend since I haven’t sold it yet.

 

[wje]

So I’ve now lived with the Crown XLS 1502 for a while. I can’t tell if it’s just psychological or what but it doesn’t sound as crystal clear as my memory of the Vidar is. If I put my ear up to the speaker there is a slight hiss/hum which is reduced by lowering the gain. It is nearly eliminated by changing the input sensitivity to 1.4 and putting the gain at 12 o’clock. However if I do this I can turn my pream(Schiit Saga S) all the way up and barely hit 80db.

I have read that using the balanced inputs eliminates any hiss or hum. I have also heard that a high gain preamp is needed to provide enough headroom to keep the noise floor low.

So the question is now: what preamps pair best with an amp like this? Are there cheap, high gain, balanced preamps out there? I haven’t been able to find much.

I'll find out tomorrow when my RCA to XLR cable arrives tomorrow for my Behringer A800 if the slight hiss is eliminated, or if that's only possible with a fully balanced system (pre-amp -> power amp) via balanced connectors. By high gain, are you referring to the voltage via the pre-outs? I'm running a MiniDSP 2x4 HD between my Pioneer Elite and my Behringer A800. It was configured with 2V pre-outs, but is adjustable to 4V if I take off the cover and change the jumper settings. The non-HD 2x4 features lower voltage pre-outs.

 

[birkbott]

I'll find out tomorrow when my RCA to XLR cable arrives tomorrow for my Behringer A800 if the slight hiss is eliminated, or if that's only possible with a fully balanced system (pre-amp -> power amp) via balanced connectors. By high gain, are you referring to the voltage via the pre-outs? I'm running a MiniDSP 2x4 HD between my Pioneer Elite and my Behringer A800. It was configured with 2V pre-outs, but is adjustable to 4V if I take off the cover and change the jumper settings. The non-HD 2x4 features lower voltage pre-outs.

I think I mean gain added to the signal. A lot of audiophile preamps like to boast that they add no gain to the signal but I think the crown would benefit from it. I’m not sure how gain and output voltage relate.

 

[Xyrium]

Those Crowns are fine for PA systems, and live venues, not for critical listening, IME. You'd be better served by any of the Hypex options mentioned.

 

[birkbott]

Those Crowns are fine for PA systems, and live venues, not for critical listening, IME. You'd be better served by any of the Hypex options mentioned.

At this point I agree but don’t want to spend that much, I might try the Emotiva PA-1 which uses an IcePower module but it’s hard to find critical reviews of it.

 

[Puska]

I'm an ex Ps audio Stellar m700 owner. I'm super happy I got rid of tham. Proud Hypex NC 400 owner.

 

[Puska]

Audiophonix nc400 mono blocks.

 

[Puska]

They are very transparent, detailed, and in combo with my Goldenear Triton Reference super match.

 

[Puska]

Running Audirvana with premium qobuz on nuc7i3bnh, network connected sotm sms200 Ultra Neo to Topping d90.

 

[HamNRye]

I'm an ex Ps audio Stellar m700 owner. I'm super happy I got rid of tham. Proud Hypex NC 400 owner.

Interesting. As an Emotiva PA-1 owner, would you provide a comparison between the m700 and the NC 400? I believe the m700 use the Icepower 700ASC module, which I think is the bigger brother to the module in the PA1.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-stellar-m700-monoblock-power-amplifier

It's interesting that the American based companies seem to be choosing Icepower while the HypeX modules seem to be used more in Europe (besides Nad?).

 

[Xyrium]

At this point I agree but don’t want to spend that much, I might try the Emotiva PA-1 which uses an IcePower module but it’s hard to find critical reviews of it.

Just so you get an idea of what they can do. I had the 125asx modules in a pair of small 8" woofer enclosures and they were fantastic.

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...power-125asx2-class-d-amplifier-review.10442/

 

[wje]

Interesting. As an Emotiva PA-1 owner, would you provide a comparison between the m700 and the NC 400? I believe the m700 use the Icepower 700ASC module, which I think is the bigger brother to the module in the PA1.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/ps-audio-stellar-m700-monoblock-power-amplifier

It's interesting that the American based companies seem to be choosing Icepower while the HypeX modules seem to be used more in Europe (besides Nad?).

I think he mentioned he was an ex-PS Audio amplifier owner. Granted, PS Audio has some nice gear. The prices are a bit up there though.

 

[wje]

At this point I agree but don’t want to spend that much, I might try the Emotiva PA-1 which uses an IcePower module but it’s hard to find critical reviews of it.

There's been a new pair in my area for sale for the past 2+ months without any bites. Currently, they're asking $475 for the pair. Most likely, would go lower. Though, like you, some real-world reviews on them wouldn't hurt to reinforce your interest before committing to a pair.