Replacing crown xli, power amp brand/watts recommendation.

[Concreteears]

I have crown xli800 amp, Elac dbr62, old svs 25-31 pci sub crossed at 100 hz. wiim ultra dac/streamer, denon dcd 900e cd. For now amazon unlimited music. Budget 300$ usd lower the better.

Love the power the crown has but it is definitely not a clean amp. Looking for a cleaner sound without sacrificing to much loudness. Can be used but not too old. Pro amp, class ab, class d. No matter. Guess just about anything would b better.

My bright untreated room, does not bother me. Listening spot is 15'x 9' ceiling 8'. Sitting 7' from speakers 1' out from wall. Total room is 25'x9' x 8'.

Most extreme case spl was 96db with spikes to 109db at sitting spot. All I could stand, Normal for me is 80 to 85db spikes to 96. With wife is around 75db. Using cellphone measuring is all I have.

Sound calculator I used to find the wattage to get the spl. This is for the highest peak/headroom spl, not average listening level. https://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

SPL CALCULATOR
Speaker Sensitivity: 86	dB SPL (1 W/1 M)
Amplifier Power: 90	Watts
Distance: 7	feet
No. of Speakers: 3	usually 2, more for multi-channel
Speaker Placement (Choose 1):	Away from walls (or do not consider placement)
	Near a wall (within 2 to 4 feet)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx	In a corner (within 18 to 24 inches)
RESULTS
dB Gain from amplifier	19.5
dB Loss due to dispersion (distance)	-6.6
dB Gain from sonic reinforcement (multi speakers)	4.8
db Gain from placement (reinforcement from reflected sound)	6
dB SPL at listening postion	109.7

 

[kemmler3D]

Your speakers max out at 120w, so a couple of these bad boys will keep you in business, under your budget, and they are very clean.

Fosi Audio V3 Mono Amplifier Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Fosi Audio V3 Mono class D amplifier. It was sent to me by the company. The price with the power supply I tested is US $139.99. I must say the concept of a "monoblock" amplifier in such a small size runs foul of any expectation a longtime...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[DVDdoug]

Love the power the crown has but it is definitely not a clean amp.

What does THAT mean? I can't believe it has audible distortion, unless overdriven. Are you getting noise? If so, are you sure the noise is generated in the amp? (People sometimes complain about the acoustic noise from the cooling fan.)

 

[kyuu]

Agree with DVDoug above, unless you actually have an audible problem I wouldn't replace the Crown amp just because. So are you having an issue that you a certain is due to the amp? A noise problem would manifest as an audible hiss during quiet passages. If you can't hear it at normal listening distance it's not a problem.

 

[Chrispy]

Also wondering if you mean noise from the amp. Not sure how you're correlating the amp issue to spl particularly either. Your amp is likely fine, but....

 

[DWPress]

I had a xli800 and got rid of it for because the fans came on too often. I think Amir actually measured it here, best for subwoofer duty (and only if placed where you can't hear it).

 

[Chrispy]

Fan noise or inherent noise in the amp is one thing, affecting general sound quality is another....

 

[DWPress]

Fan noise or inherent noise in the amp is one thing, affecting general sound quality is another....

I'll let Amir's review speak for itself then. Almost the bottom of the list at 57 SINAD. As I said, and Amir said - good for subs.

 

[Chrispy]

I'll let Amir's review speak for itself then. Almost the bottom of the list at 57 SINAD. As I said, and Amir said - good for subs.

So you have used this amp and have experienced such poor peformance or is it just a sinad number?

 

[DWPress]

As I said a few posts above, yes, I have used this amp. I used it for a subwoofer, not a full range 2ch system. I will not engage in a "but can you hear it 57 SINAD vs 90 debate" in a full range system. In my experience, given the proximity of the amp to my listening position, the fan was loud and came on too often. That's all.

@kemmler3D already answered the OP's post with a great suggestion in the requested price range and though it may not be objectively or measurably better in the OP's less than ideal listening space and preferences, it will be a decent upgrade fully dependent on the quality of the speakers they are using of course.

 

[Concreteears]

Not really any problems per say. I am so happy with the upgrade to the wiim ultra that my system might improve even more with a better amp.

I don't hear the fans at all. They may not even run at all because I may not even drive the crown hard enough normally. Plus it sits below ac vents.

This is my 1st real amp, had a HK avr before this. Seems to me they have about the same tone or sound. Know they are a related company. Kind of looking to try something else.

Current speakers Elac DBR62. Previous speakers were energy connoisseur c1 c3 and they had that same tone or sound with them.

Thank y'all very much for the replies.

 

[Chrispy]

Not really any problems per say. I am so happy with the upgrade to the wiim ultra that my system might improve even more with a better amp.

I don't hear the fans at all. They may not even run at all because I may not even drive the crown hard enough normally. Plus it sits below ac vents.

This is my 1st real amp, had a HK avr before this. Seems to me they have about the same tone or sound. Know they are a related company. Kind of looking to try something else.

Current speakers Elac DBR62. Previous speakers were energy connoisseur c1 c3 and they had that same tone or sound with them.

Thank y'all very much for the replies.

Generally these days would look at Buckeye or similar amps using Hypex or Purifi modules. I use Crown XLS (class D) amps without any issues myself, never tried an XLi. Amps are often overrated by users as to how important they are or how much they affect sound vs speakers....

 

[Chrispy]

Not really any problems per say. I am so happy with the upgrade to the wiim ultra that my system might improve even more with a better amp.

I don't hear the fans at all. They may not even run at all because I may not even drive the crown hard enough normally. Plus it sits below ac vents.

This is my 1st real amp, had a HK avr before this. Seems to me they have about the same tone or sound. Know they are a related company. Kind of looking to try something else.

Current speakers Elac DBR62. Previous speakers were energy connoisseur c1 c3 and they had that same tone or sound with them.

Thank y'all very much for the replies.

No inherent amp hiss/noise (aside from fan noise)?

 

[Concreteears]

No inherent amp hiss/noise (aside from fan noise)?

No sir, none at all.

 

[Chrispy]

No sir, none at all.

Then I wouldn't worry about it much. Doubtful the possibility of lower spec on distortion is going to change things much. Good luck!

 

[Concreteears]

1 problem I found and fixed that helped sound wise. Was using optical out from the denon dcd900ne to the wiim ultra.

To me the optical just took out all the euphonic/stereo sound out. Just was too sterile. Switched to the RCA out Denon to RCA in on wiim is so much better sounding.

I know it using both dacs and reconverting in the wiim ultra.

Then checked the sample rate it is now 24/192 for at least 2 disc. The original release of Power Windows by Rush, and a Alanis Morissette.

Forgot to add using seismic rca to xlr cable from wiim to crown xli. I do have another good rca to rca cable can swap out.

Still working with EQ on the streaming side of the ultra.

 

[DVDdoug]

Seems to me they have about the same tone or sound.

Good! Amps (most electronics,) don't usually have "tone" except for tone controls (bass & treble) or EQ, which your Crown doesn't have.

With electronics, there are only 3 characteristics of "sound quality"... Noise (sometimes audible), frequency response (usually flat throughout the audio range), and distortion (almost always better than human hearing unless you over-drive and amp, or something, into clipping/distortion).

Audiophoolery discusses these characteristics, plus the effects of room acoustics. With speakers in a room, it's mostly about on-axis and off-axis frequency response or you can also over-drive a speaker into distortion, but at that point you might be getting close to burning-out the speaker.

 

[Concreteears]

Found possibly the problem with streaming sound with amazon unlimited.

Did not realise the wifi reception was bad where I placed the wiim ultra streamer in a all wood console the tv sits on.

It cut the wifi reception almost in half so most music is in 16/44. Instead of the higher sample rates as advertised that amazon supposedly sends out.

Dang I'm getting old, can't keep up with tech like used to. LOL

 

[Concreteears]

Just a follow up, thought was having kind of off sound from right speaker mostly with voices. Why I was considering another amp.

Pulled speaker wires out of amp and speakers, reinserted and tightened nuts, helped clear them up some.

Then I have VU meter screen set on the wiim ultra. Noticed the brightness was fluctuating. Thought that was weird. The power plug was never really a tight fit into the wiim.

So looked at the plug itself, took jewelers screwdriver closed down the fingers in the plug. Lightly repositioned the male connectors on wiim. Now it has a tight solid connection. Totally fine now, crazy.

I also switched from amazon unlimited to qobuz. Qobuz seems better quality of sound even before fixing the problems.

 

[Concreteears]

Another change. I have Elac unifi 2.0 I broke the tweeter trying to take the protector off.

I just got a new mid/tweeter in and fixed it. Took the DBR 6.2 out, put the unifi in now it sounds even better. To me. Every little step has been an improvement.

I did not have the wiim ultra or my old sub hooked up to the unifi. I was using the DBR 6.2 in this set up. The DBR sounded good, just little to vailed/polite.

Low volume was a disaster with the DBR 6.2, just seemed to suck the life out of the music to me. The highs and voices sound better all around with the unifi.

My old svs pci 2531 works great with either set.