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Review and Measurements of Crown XLS 1502 Amp

GabrielPhoto said:
@Clmrt @Jonas_h @staticV3
But we want to maybe measure with a scope to make sure we don't clip the signal we are sending to the preamp in the quest to not run the amp at max gain?
Hope that made sense


Also, for example, if I set my AVR LFE to -10 then my MinIDSP channel connected to a crown 1002 or NX6000 is set to say -6. I am better off maxim out the MiniDSP to 12 then lowering the amp for a better noise signal ratio?
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Yes, gain structure is about optimizing the entire chain. My original post was a simplification of all this, but a good starting point.

The goal is that everything is aligned and clips at the exact same time. This gives you maximum headroom and minimum noise.
 
amirm said:
To perform the DSP function which they assume is common in the PA application. They could have put in an analog bypass but have chosen not to.
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Shouldn’t it be possible to add this ourselves as a modification?
 
Shrek6 said:
Shouldn’t it be possible to add this ourselves as a modification?
Click to expand...
Anything is possible depending on your skills.... but these devices are highly integrated, so it wouldn't be a simple thing.
 
Or you can look at the xlc serie which is basically the XLS serie without any DSP. That means is fully analogic.
 
Rahan said:
Or you can look at the xlc serie which is basically the XLS serie without any DSP. That means is fully analogic.
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Do you have that verified by Harman/Crown? My guess would be that it's there but without the ability to adjust.
 
Does anyone have an opinion as to whether I would hear any kind of sonic improvement by replacing my current amplifier, a Crown XLS 1502, with an amp that uses this same module, the Hypex NCore NC252MP?

The amp in question is the IOM Ultra, and I use the WiiM Ultra as my source/preamp. https://internetofmusic.nl/product/iom-ultra/

1736724529924.png


Aside from it looking cool, I was hoping for a sound improvement. My speakers are the Soundfield Audio M1V2, which use the Tang Band W6-2313 6" coaxial driver for the mids and highs (and an active 8" subwoofer on the bottom). The Tang Bands have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms.
 
Neekomax said:
Does anyone have an opinion as to whether I would hear any kind of sonic improvement by replacing my current amplifier, a Crown XLS 1502, with an amp that uses this same module, the Hypex NCore NC252MP?

The amp in question is the IOM Ultra, and I use the WiiM Ultra as my source/preamp. https://internetofmusic.nl/product/iom-ultra/

View attachment 420649

Aside from it looking cool, I was hoping for a sound improvement. My speakers are the Soundfield Audio M1V2, which use the Tang Band W6-2313 6" coaxial driver for the mids and highs (and an active 8" subwoofer on the bottom). The Tang Bands have a nominal impedance of 4 ohms.
Click to expand...
I can’t speak to whether it would be an improvement or not since I don’t know anything about your current amp, but I can say that I absolutely love my IOM Ultra! I got them to do one for me with both, XLR and RCA inputs.

IMG_5410.jpeg

IMG_5409.jpeg


-Ed
 
Yes they did : "The XLC2500 has our Drivecore front end section with ADC/DAC similar to that of the XLS series of amplifiers but without the access to the DSP through the front panel. ". You were right. !!
 
Rahan said:
Yes they did : "The XLC2500 has our Drivecore front end section with ADC/DAC similar to that of the XLS series of amplifiers but without the access to the DSP through the front panel. ". You were right. !!
Click to expand...
Bummer. I was actually hoping I was wrong. Thanks for investigating!
 
If this amplifier has a bandwidth of up to 48Khz I see no reason why it should not be used for hifi. Considering that there are no frequencies above 18Khz in music and another thing is that an adult can only hear up to 17Khz, it is all just marketing to fool people. It would be good if you stated more precisely how the frequencies drop from 20Hz to 20Khz for example at 0.5db. Frequencies above 20Khz are total nonsense. Another important thing is whether the frequency range from 20hz to 20khz is completely flat and how is the attenuation other things are just a waste of time.
 
Q1 Does anyone know the dB increments on the front gain dials? Ie does one increment increase the volume by 1, 2, 3, 4 or more dB?
Thankyou for any replies.

Q2 I now have aTopping PRE90 (reviewed on this board) and am wondering is there an optimum gain setting for use with the topping PRE90? I currently have the sensitivity of the amps sets at the normal 1.4V and have the gain controls set at 12 O’Clock - whereby i can get the Topping PRE90 to a totally deafening 0dB - it goes up to +16dB.
 
RETSELDRIB said:
Q1 Does anyone know the dB increments on the front gain dials? Ie does one increment increase the volume by 1, 2, 3, 4 or more dB?
Thankyou for any replies.

Q2 I now have aTopping PRE90 (reviewed on this board) and am wondering is there an optimum gain setting for use with the topping PRE90? I currently have the sensitivity of the amps sets at the normal 1.4V and have the gain controls set at 12 O’Clock - whereby i can get the Topping PRE90 to a totally deafening 0dB - it goes up to +16dB.
Click to expand...
I set my dials at around 75%... and then adjust via the preamp... running with the dials at over 90% is where some have found the Crowns to have some "noise" (slight hiss) - but that is highly dependent on your preamp as well...
 
dlaloum said:
I set my dials at around 75%... and then adjust via the preamp... running with the dials at over 90% is where some have found the Crowns to have some "noise" (slight hiss) - but that is highly dependent on your preamp as well...
Click to expand...
I set my preamp, (Schiit Kara), at around 75%, then set the Crown to whatever level is max listening volume. For me that means the Crown 1502 is at around 15%.

Signal high, noise low.
 
Depends on preamp voltage output. Most consumer preamps have low voltage with exceptions. Determing output voltage is often elusive.
 
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