Crown XLS2502 Stereo Amplifier Review

[Frank207be]

Wow, that’s an alarming number of high-performance subs in one room!

Do you live in a steel-reinforced bunker by any chance?

Here; I found your house curve:
View attachment 412021

/friendly banter

LOL!

It's just a brick house but as said I try to avoid excessive SPL. I just want clean undistorted bass with decent headroom and extension, so:

• My subs are all sealed to avoid port issues.
• These PA woofers have decent X-Max with a lot of cone area so they can do 10Hz with some boost.
• The Crown all have a 106Hz LPF to tame the midbass. I still have to experiment with a lower LPF and see how Dirac copes with that.
• My AVC-A1H is calibrated with Dirac Live Bass control without bass boost but with useful extension to about 13Hz and it still feels overpowering at times so I hope to have access to Dirac ART sooner than later to reduce RT60.
• I also have a 2 dB boost Harman curve in Dirac slot 3 but that is WAY too loud.

 

[dlaloum]

LOL!

It's just a brick house but as said I try to avoid excessive SPL. I just want clean undistorted bass with decent headroom and extension, so:

• My subs are all sealed to avoid port issues.
• These PA woofers have decent X-Max with a lot of cone area so they can do 10Hz with some boost.
• The Crown all have a 106Hz LPF to tame the midbass. I still have to experiment with a lower LPF and see how Dirac copes with that.
• My AVC-A1H is calibrated with Dirac Live Bass control without bass boost but with useful extension to about 13Hz and it still feels overpowering at times so I hope to have access to Dirac ART sooner than later to reduce RT60.
• I also have a 2 dB boost Harman curve in Dirac slot 3 but that is WAY too loud.

I too am a fan of sealed woofer / subwoofer designs... I believe they are as a general rule lower distortion, and have deceptive low extension due to the more gradual roll off - meaning the typically have a more extended low end frequency response....
But they trade these advantages off for typically lower efficiency.... so higher power needs for equal SPL.

Seems like a valid tradeoff to me!

 

[Frank207be]

I too am a fan of sealed woofer / subwoofer designs... I believe they are as a general rule lower distortion, and have deceptive low extension due to the more gradual roll off - meaning the typically have a more extended low end frequency response....
But they trade these advantages off for typically lower efficiency.... so higher power needs for equal SPL.

Seems like a valid tradeoff to me!

Yes agreed on all the above! I've been collecting information from every interesting large DIY subwoofer build from various internet sources for quite a long time.

Next job is moving most of the subwoofer output to the front of the room with Dirac ART in mind.

 

[Frank207be]

After reading a lot of posts regarding Crown XLS amps and their infamous built-in subsonic filter that would make them not really recommended for HT subwoofer amplification, I decided to measure the XLS1002 against a Hypex NC400. The XLS2502 have the same DSP module so it's applicable for this model too.

See https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...s1002-pro-amplifier-review.16211/post-2179737

 

[Old_School_Brad]

After reading a lot of posts regarding Crown XLS amps and their infamous built-in subsonic filter that would make them not really recommended for HT subwoofer amplification, I decided to measure the XLS1002 against a Hypex NC400. The XLS2502 have the same DSP module so it's applicable for this model too.

See https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...s1002-pro-amplifier-review.16211/post-2179737

Thanks. Seems like it performs just perfectly in low frequencies.

 

[Frank207be]

Thanks. Seems like it performs just perfectly in low frequencies.

View attachment 417232

Yes indeed this measurement has taken away all my concerns. The Crown only loses a little bit under 4 to 7Hz and 10 to 20Hz remains fairly intact. I'll probably experiment with a MiniDSP to boost the 10-15Hz region as my system should be capable of reproducing it without breaking a sweat.

 

[mrick39]

Yes indeed this measurement has taken away all my concerns. The Crown only loses a little bit under 4 to 7Hz and 10 to 20Hz remains fairly intact. I'll probably experiment with a MiniDSP to boost the 10-15Hz region as my system should be capable of reproducing it without breaking a sweat.

Hi Frank...I'm looking to build two sealed 18" subs mainly for home audio purposes (classical, pipe organ stuff mainly). I currently have two 12" DIY sealed subs using Stereo Integrity drivers powered by two bridged Crown XLS-2502's. Any recommendations on 18" sealed for 6-8 cu ft. enclosures? The Stereo Integrity HST-18 is high on my list but I'm also interested in other options. I have a miniDSP Flex HT with Dirac but haven't done anything with it yet...don't really know what I'm doing.

 

[Frank207be]

Hi Frank...I'm looking to build two sealed 18" subs mainly for home audio purposes (classical, pipe organ stuff mainly). I currently have two 12" DIY sealed subs using Stereo Integrity drivers powered by two bridged Crown XLS-2502's. Any recommendations on 18" sealed for 6-8 cu ft. enclosures? The Stereo Integrity HST-18 is high on my list but I'm also interested in other options. I have a miniDSP Flex HT with Dirac but haven't done anything with it yet...don't really know what I'm doing.

I'm afraid that I can't really help you on this matter as I don't have access to these woofers in Europe. But IMHO you can't go wrong with these awesome SI woofers in sealed enclosures of that size. Simulations in WinISD should give you a better idea regarding power handling vs xmax vs box size.

 

[mrick39]

Ok thanks. I’ve tried WinISD and though it appears to be simple I just feel like I’m doing something wrong. I will try again.

Also, SI does ship to Europe though the shipping cost may be prohibitive.