OSD XMP300 vs Monoprice Unity 450 amplifier

[exm]

Hi, I am looking to drive 2 outdoor passive subwoofers, rated at 300W@4Ohms. Both these class D amps seem to be a good match, and since I'll be connecting the amp to a Sonos Amp Sub output the auto-sensing feature is important. I don't think Amir tested either one of these (for the record, I'll gladly send whatever unit I get to him for testing). Any thoughts?

 

[EdTice]

Hi, I am looking to drive 2 outdoor passive subwoofers, rated at 300W@4Ohms. Both these class D amps seem to be a good match, and since I'll be connecting the amp to a Sonos Amp Sub output the auto-sensing feature is important. I don't think Amir tested either one of these (for the record, I'll gladly send whatever unit I get to him for testing). Any thoughts?

Can you find a full spec sheet for the OSD? I couldn't come up with one any. Power rating is at <1% THD. I mean they are outdoor subwoofers so I'm not sure you need an incredibly high-fidelity amplifier. Neither is rated to drive 4ohms in bridged mode (although it will work at tolerable volumes). Why is auto-sensing important? The amps don't draw that much power at idle. For the same price you can get a Behringer A800 and just use one channel. That would be rated for 400w into 4 ohms and it's been measured. And if you ever want to repurpose it for something else you have that option. Do you need that much wattage? The lower-wattage monoprice amplifiers do have full spec sheets and look pretty good.

 

[exm]

Thanks for your reply. Initially I was looking at the Crown XLS1002. The problem is that the Sonos Amp does not have a trigger mechanism, or even an output to use 3rd party triggers. So if I don't use auto-sense, I either need to use a smart-plug and some sort of a timer OR I need to find an amp that auto-senses. For driving subwoofers, I believe that there's no such thing as too much power. The Behringer A800 looks like a nice unit, but just like the Crown, it will be on 24/7 unless I use a smart plug timer. Unfortunately I can't find the idle power usage of any pro-amp. Do you know where to find this?

 

[EdTice]

Thanks for your reply. Initially I was looking at the Crown XLS1002. The problem is that the Sonos Amp does not have a trigger mechanism, or even an output to use 3rd party triggers. So if I don't use auto-sense, I either need to use a smart-plug and some sort of a timer OR I need to find an amp that auto-senses. For driving subwoofers, I believe that there's no such thing as too much power. The Behringer A800 looks like a nice unit, but just like the Crown, it will be on 24/7 unless I use a smart plug timer. Unfortunately I can't find the idle power usage of any pro-amp. Do you know where to find this?

I don't know where to find it in specs (unless the manufacturer decides to list it). But since it was my lunch time and you asked so nicely, I went and measured mine. 29.5 watts is what I measured and that's independent of the gain settings. Others here have measured it at 20W so I can't explain that discrepancy

That's not enough to worry about in terms of money but if you want to be environmentally friendly that's a different story. I would actually suggest the smart plug/timer route. Auto-sensing is notoriously bad to the point that many manufacturers are dropping it (and more likely why you won't ever see it on pro-audio equipment where reliability is king). The theoretically usable range of an amplifier starts at 0.25watt. It's very hard to have auto-sense work reliably when talking about microvolts of input.

It looks like you can get smart plugs that will automatically shut off at a certain time of night for like $9.99 US. So you can just say "Alexa, turn on the amplifier" and then it will automatically shut off at midnight or something

 

[exm]

I certainly appreciate your effort and reply. Thank you! I might go with such a plug and simply have it shutoff for 12 hours a day or.

 

[EdTice]

I certainly appreciate your effort and reply. Thank you! I might go with such a plug and simply have it shutoff for 12 hours a day or.

FYI, I just happened to have come across this review here of the Crown XLS 1502. It was $349 when reviewed ( https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-and-measurements-of-crown-xls-1502-amp.6062/ ) but it's $499 now. Everything is getting expensive. But it has a sleep mode although you'll have to be good with Google and a soldering iron to get it to work. Tons of power though and ideally suited as a subwoofer amp

 

[exm]

FYI, I just happened to have come across this review here of the Crown XLS 1502. It was $349 when reviewed ( https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-and-measurements-of-crown-xls-1502-amp.6062/ ) but it's $499 now. Everything is getting expensive. But it has a sleep mode although you'll have to be good with Google and a soldering iron to get it to work. Tons of power though and ideally suited as a subwoofer amp

Unfortunately the sleep mode works when using a trigger, and the Sonos Amp doesn't have a trigger mechanism. Appreciate the follow-up!

I'm still torn between the XLS 1002 and the A800. I have the XLS 2502 to drive another pair of subwoofers, and I love the unit. Additional bonus is EQ (which might not be necessary in my setup). However, the A800 is slightly more powerful and $80 cheaper. Both amps were tested by Amir and came out recommended.

 

[EdTice]

Unfortunately the sleep mode works when using a trigger, and the Sonos Amp doesn't have a trigger mechanism. Appreciate the follow-up!

I'm still torn between the XLS 1002 and the A800. I have the XLS 2502 to drive another pair of subwoofers, and I love the unit. Additional bonus is EQ (which might not be necessary in my setup). However, the A800 is slightly more powerful and $80 cheaper. Both amps were tested by Amir and came out recommended.

The XLS 1001 is also a great amp. And Crown actually publishes the idle power consumption of their amps! Have you checked the idle power of the Sonos? How are you controlling it? You've made me feel environmentally guilty so I'm now looking to power down my 2xBehringer A800 when not in use.

I believe that this might be the best solution for me and maybe it will help you.

TS0006 - 4 Outlet Tier 1 Advanced PowerTap

Ideal for small TV or PC set-ups, the Tier 1 Advanced PowerTap reduces the standby power use of electronics.

tricklestar.com

 

[exm]

I am not sure about the Sonos idle power. Probably don't want to know since I have 10 or so Sonos devices!

The Crown amp I'm looking at is the XLS1002 by the way. I found idle information about the XLS1000. I'm guessing it's similar.

As far as controlling it, I like the switch you mentioned. I'm using somewhere very similar in my Den where I have the XLS2502. Works great! For my solution I simply will use an Amazon Smart Plug, I'll setup a routine to power on at 12:30PM and power off at 11:30PM daily. I don't think I'll be using the outdoor sub outside of those hours, and they'll only be on for 11 hours (instead of 24 hours) a day. Worse case if I need them longer is me saying "Alexa, turn outdoor sub on"!

Thanks for all your help so far. Very insightful.