Crown XLS1002 Pro Amplifier Review

[MediumRare]

One question: Does the XLS has an "Auto-Standby"?

As always, thanks to @amirm for the review!

It does not, per se. But I have three running 24/7 and they draw very very little energy while idle. You can also turn off the lights so they appear to be off.

 

[guenthi_r]

Thanks, lights are already off (my wife forced me..)
My Amplifiers etc. also always running 24/7.

 

[guenthi_r]

Measured the noise profile from the XLS 1002:

Calibrated Mic 5 cm far from my Air Motion Tweeter.
Green -> XLS powered OFF
Red -> XLS ON

Frequency Response:

Here we can see, there´s no 44.1khz resampling but 48khz similar to bigger XLS series.

 

[MediumRare]

Measured the noise profile from the XLS 1002:
View attachment 177734

Calibrated Mic 5 cm far from my Air Motion Tweeter.
Green -> XLS powered OFF
Red -> XLS ON

Frequency Response:
Here we can see, there´s no 44.1khz resampling but 48khz similar to bigger XLS series.

What are your spikes at 17k and 19.5k? Do you have a high pass profile on, otherwise, why the shelf at 3k?

 

[guenthi_r]

What are your spikes at 17k and 19.5k? Do you have a high pass profile on, otherwise, why the shelf at 3k?

That spikes comes from background noise, ignore it.
The "shelf" is the highpass-filter of my tweeter, again ignore it
It was just a simple quick&dirty measurement.

 

[guenthi_r]

The 1002 uses the AD/DA built into the LSI chip they had designed for their class D amps by TI. The 1502 uses a higher performance outboard converter the CS4272 per the Crown service manual. The CS4272 gives the 1502 and higher models 3-4db better noise level.

Is that true? The Mainboards does not shown any difference except Caps and Output-Transistors

 

[JeffGB]

Is that true? The Mainboards does not shown any difference except Caps and Output-Transistors

Here is a direct quote from the service manual:

U600-D acts as a unity gain inverter that creates a differential signal (+6dB gain) to feed the attenuator for either the TI DSP’s ADC (XLS1000) or Cirrus Codec (XLS1500, 2000, 2500). For the XLS1000, R618-619, R621-623 form a voltage divider and bias network into the TI DSP (CH2±_DSP_AD). In the case of the XLS1500 – 2500, R613-614, R617, R620 form the voltage divider and bias network into the Cirrus codec (CH2±_AD). As you can see, the major difference between the XLS1000 and XLS1500 – 2500 APM’s resides in the use of an external Cirrus Codec (U702) for the larger amplifiers. This results in ~4dB better S/N, but at an additional cost of $2.

 

[guenthi_r]

Thanks, but thats true for the older series e.g. XLS **00, not XLS **02?
The older one have completely different Mainoards.

Edit: Nonsense.

Where is the CS4272 located on the board?
The TAS3202 the datasheet shows a sharp lowpass at 19.8 khz, similar to @amirm ´s measurement.
But my 1002 goes up to 24 khz, whats going on here?

 

[wus]

In search of information about DSP functionality of DSP amplifiers I came here after selecting Speaker Amp (DSP) from the Review index.

But there is not much about the DSP in here, except the one or other mention that there is one.

I searched crownaudio.com for more information about it, but didn't find any. I also downloaded the manual, but it only briefly describes the "PureBand Crossover Filter System" and the "PeakxTM Limiter". Did I overlook something? Is there really no EQ? No delay? No adjustable limiters?

 

[hyfynut]

In search of information about DSP functionality of DSP amplifiers I came here after selecting Speaker Amp (DSP) from the Review index.

But there is not much about the DSP in here, except the one or other mention that there is one.

I searched crownaudio.com for more information about it, but didn't find any. I also downloaded the manual, but it only briefly describes the "PureBand Crossover Filter System" and the "PeakxTM Limiter". Did I overlook something? Is there really no EQ? No delay? No adjustable limiters?

Your not missing anything. In the XLS series is pretty basic DSP. No eq, delay etc.

 

[Dwander]

In search of information about DSP functionality of DSP amplifiers I came here after selecting Speaker Amp (DSP) from the Review index.

But there is not much about the DSP in here, except the one or other mention that there is one.

I searched crownaudio.com for more information about it, but didn't find any. I also downloaded the manual, but it only briefly describes the "PureBand Crossover Filter System" and the "PeakxTM Limiter". Did I overlook something? Is there really no EQ? No delay? No adjustable limiters?

You’ll need another device to do EQ and delay. I used a MiniDSP when I used XLS amps for subwoofers. The Behringer DSP amps do have those features built in if you haven’t considered those yet.

 

[wus]

One question: Does the XLS has an "Auto-Standby"?

According to the feature list on the website, it should have one... however, searching the manual left some doubts: it only mentions "Display Sleep".

 

[wus]

they draw very very little energy while idle.

How much, in numbers, is "very very little"?

 

[Jdunk54nl]

According to the feature list on the website, it should have one... however, searching the manual left some doubts: it only mentions "Display Sleep".

It does, it has a 3 pin phoenix connector that you can purchase a 12v micro relay and wire it to go into standby.

I use this one
HiLetgo 12V 1 Channel Relay Module With Optocoupler Isolation Support High or Low Level Trigger https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00LW15...t_i_9KF0RY5BE0W9HDDEWZ2H?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Jdunk54nl]

In search of information about DSP functionality of DSP amplifiers I came here after selecting Speaker Amp (DSP) from the Review index.

But there is not much about the DSP in here, except the one or other mention that there is one.

I searched crownaudio.com for more information about it, but didn't find any. I also downloaded the manual, but it only briefly describes the "PureBand Crossover Filter System" and the "PeakxTM Limiter". Did I overlook something? Is there really no EQ? No delay? No adjustable limiters?

You get basic high or low pass filters that you can adjust frequency for. But that is about it.

 

[MediumRare]

How much, in numbers, is "very very little"?

Crown has published this. It varies by power source, but let's say it's 0.54A (59W/hr) or less. At my electricity cost that's $.16/day. I tend to doubt it's really that high because my entire house uses about 300W/hr late at night. https://www.crownaudio.com/zh/site_elements/xls-drivecore-power-draw-thermal

 

[Chrise36]

Got an brand new XLS 1002 for 200 bucks.
Connected to my hard to drive 2 Ohm speakers (92dB sensitiv) direct from my SMSL SU-9n i got very few hiss, i must put my ear very close to the AMT tweeter to hear it.
Good!
Soundwise, i am not sure if the XLS sounds "better" ore not compared to my previous amp (Yamaha A-S 700)...
So far so good!
One question: Does the XLS has an "Auto-Standby"?

As always, thanks to @amirm for the review!

Did you have hiss with the Yamaha?

 

[guenthi_r]

Did you have hiss with the Yamaha?

No.

 

[Pulkass]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Crown XLS 1002 rack mounted pro amplifier. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. The 1002 costs US $339 including Prime shipping from Amazon.

Note: our company, Madrona Digital, is a dealer for Harman and hence Crown products. We use fair bit of Crown amps in custom installs usually to power in-ceiling speakers and such. Member wanted to buy it through us but the margin on it was no more than a cup of coffee (relative to online sites) so I suggested he buy it elsewhere which he did.

Not sure what to say about the look other than it is made to have some style while being rugged:

View attachment 84694

The LCD with bluish backlight reminds me of displays on electronics back in 1980s. I guess at this price they had to cut every penny.

I was relieved to see binding posts besides speakon connectors:

View attachment 84695

Now don't laugh but I could not figure out how to pull out the safety plugs they put in the darn binding posts! There is no way to grab then and I did not want to put a mark on them by using a sharp tool. The manual says only European units have it but clearly that is not correct. Anyway, I resorted to using the SpeakOn connectors for my testing. For input I focused on XLR inputs.

I set the gain to max to get the nominal 29 dB I have standardized on for testing amplifiers.

There is a fan in the back and some inside. But none came on that I could hear above the sound of my PC during testing. Nothing shut down even when the amp was pushed into clipping. Some kind of limiter would kick in after short period to keep the power level at max. Temperature of the case didn't even rise above room temp.

Amplifier Audio Measurements
Performance was stable during a 5 minute warm up time so I ran with them:

View attachment 84696

Strange to see higher order harmonics dominating the distortion profile (FFT to the right). Ratio of noise+distortion to signal as expressed in SINAD is what I expect decent pro amps to produce:
View attachment 84697

Slightly below the average of all amps tested.

Signal to noise ratio is in the same range:
View attachment 84698

Crosstalk is reasonable:
View attachment 84699

Frequency response test shows that everything is digitized due to inclusion of DSP functionality in this amp:

View attachment 84700

Power into 4 ohm is healthy as is the case with most pro amps:
View attachment 84701

I was disappointed to see one channel be much worse than the other though.

Letting distortion go higher we get higher power output:

View attachment 84702

The burst/peak power is not higher because of the limiter I mentioned in the intro.

Using 8 ohm load gives a more behaved response than 4:
View attachment 84703

This indicates the one channel is starving for current than the other (likely longer path to the power supply).

I was unhappy to see distortion shoot up at higher frequencies:
View attachment 84704

Fortunately in practice there is not much energy up there so you will be operating in low wattage area where distortion is quite a bit lower.

Finally, I removed my AES filter to get the spectrum:

View attachment 84705

Switching frequency is around 380 kHz and decently attenuated.

Conclusions
Competent pro amplifiers target for good enough noise and distortion. The Crown XLS 1002 falls in that category so if you were expecting to have anything better for so little money and so much power, you would be disappointed. But otherwise the amp does what it targets to do.

I am going to put the Crown XLS1002 on my recommended list for non-critical applications or for driving subwoofers and such.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

The job last night after helping my wife can more tomatoes was to dehydrate these beauties:

View attachment 84706

They are called "blush" tomatoes and were invented in San Francisco in 2011! They are oval with the most beautiful coloration as if they are peaches. Once ripe, they have an incredible sweet and slightly sour taste. Once dried, they become like slightly sour and sweet candy. The rains are attacking them right now aiming to kill what is left of the plants but I picked another 10 pounds or so today.

You came here to learn about audio but you are also learning about gardening and preserving food as well. Surely that deservers a raise for me in the form of additional donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

And in mono at 8 ohms ? How much power ?

 

[Pulkass]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Crown XLS 1002 rack mounted pro amplifier. It was kindly purchased new by a member and drop shipped to me. The 1002 costs US $339 including Prime shipping from Amazon.

Note: our company, Madrona Digital, is a dealer for Harman and hence Crown products. We use fair bit of Crown amps in custom installs usually to power in-ceiling speakers and such. Member wanted to buy it through us but the margin on it was no more than a cup of coffee (relative to online sites) so I suggested he buy it elsewhere which he did.

Not sure what to say about the look other than it is made to have some style while being rugged:

View attachment 84694

The LCD with bluish backlight reminds me of displays on electronics back in 1980s. I guess at this price they had to cut every penny.

I was relieved to see binding posts besides speakon connectors:

View attachment 84695

Now don't laugh but I could not figure out how to pull out the safety plugs they put in the darn binding posts! There is no way to grab then and I did not want to put a mark on them by using a sharp tool. The manual says only European units have it but clearly that is not correct. Anyway, I resorted to using the SpeakOn connectors for my testing. For input I focused on XLR inputs.

I set the gain to max to get the nominal 29 dB I have standardized on for testing amplifiers.

There is a fan in the back and some inside. But none came on that I could hear above the sound of my PC during testing. Nothing shut down even when the amp was pushed into clipping. Some kind of limiter would kick in after short period to keep the power level at max. Temperature of the case didn't even rise above room temp.

Amplifier Audio Measurements
Performance was stable during a 5 minute warm up time so I ran with them:

View attachment 84696

Strange to see higher order harmonics dominating the distortion profile (FFT to the right). Ratio of noise+distortion to signal as expressed in SINAD is what I expect decent pro amps to produce:
View attachment 84697

Slightly below the average of all amps tested.

Signal to noise ratio is in the same range:
View attachment 84698

Crosstalk is reasonable:
View attachment 84699

Frequency response test shows that everything is digitized due to inclusion of DSP functionality in this amp:

View attachment 84700

Power into 4 ohm is healthy as is the case with most pro amps:
View attachment 84701

I was disappointed to see one channel be much worse than the other though.

Letting distortion go higher we get higher power output:

View attachment 84702

The burst/peak power is not higher because of the limiter I mentioned in the intro.

Using 8 ohm load gives a more behaved response than 4:
View attachment 84703

This indicates the one channel is starving for current than the other (likely longer path to the power supply).

I was unhappy to see distortion shoot up at higher frequencies:
View attachment 84704

Fortunately in practice there is not much energy up there so you will be operating in low wattage area where distortion is quite a bit lower.

Finally, I removed my AES filter to get the spectrum:

View attachment 84705

Switching frequency is around 380 kHz and decently attenuated.

Conclusions
Competent pro amplifiers target for good enough noise and distortion. The Crown XLS 1002 falls in that category so if you were expecting to have anything better for so little money and so much power, you would be disappointed. But otherwise the amp does what it targets to do.

I am going to put the Crown XLS1002 on my recommended list for non-critical applications or for driving subwoofers and such.

------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

The job last night after helping my wife can more tomatoes was to dehydrate these beauties:

View attachment 84706

They are called "blush" tomatoes and were invented in San Francisco in 2011! They are oval with the most beautiful coloration as if they are peaches. Once ripe, they have an incredible sweet and slightly sour taste. Once dried, they become like slightly sour and sweet candy. The rains are attacking them right now aiming to kill what is left of the plants but I picked another 10 pounds or so today.

You came here to learn about audio but you are also learning about gardening and preserving food as well. Surely that deservers a raise for me in the form of additional donations using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

Bought it to be used as a power force to my 18 inch subwoofer, arrived yesterday, a darn hell to remove the plugs in the binding posts, drill and little pliers. I took them out.!!! For my banana terminated Nordost Flatline of yore.