Aguilar Tone Hammer/Crown XLS 1000 Rig!!!!

trjazzluva05 · #1 08-27-2010, 06:02 AM

hey everybody, i have my new Crown XLS 1000 poweramp coming in today and im super excited!!! cant wait to hook it up with my Tone Hammer and my 4 ohm GS212. i read the review for one guy that the new Crown XLS 1000 didnt have enough headroom for him and he kept hitting the limiter on it. But i have almost twice the power as my GS 212 can handle, and it handles quite a bit. i feel i should be more than fine. Ill defitely post my personal review after i use it.

CharlieC · #2 08-27-2010, 08:54 AM

Good for you, I also have the XLS 1000 and it's amazing + powerful enough for me

See my post about my experience with it here:

My Crown XLS 1000 is in!!

Cheers!

trjazzluva05 · #3 08-27-2010, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieC

Good for you, I also have the XLS 1000 and it's amazing + powerful enough for me

See my post about my experience with it here:

My Crown XLS 1000 is in!!

Cheers!

Yeah man I think its going to be a great setup!!!! Reading your review gave me confidence enough to trust that the XLS1000 would be sufficient enogh to drive my setup. How do you have yours set up? What kind of preamp are you using???

CharlieC · #4 08-27-2010, 02:49 PM

... and if it doesn't work out for you then send it back for a full refund!

Here's a link to how I'm using the XLS 1000 now:

Behringer Bass V-AMP Pro

trjazzluva05 · #5 08-27-2010, 09:20 PM

Hey CharlieC, just finished a gig tonight with the Crown and my Aguilar GS212 cab and Tone Hammer and it was great!!! I ran it for 2 hours straight and was cool...almost like it was never on!!! I'm only problem is I almost had to turn my gain in bridge mode almost to the max and it was loud, but just really contemplating if I should return the 1000 for the 1500 for more headroom, or maybe turn off the limiter. Here's a picture of my rig at tonight's gig:

CharlieC · #6 08-27-2010, 09:39 PM

Way to go! Don't know if you have the 8 or 4 ohm GS212, but the XLS 1000 can more than power 2 x 12" woofers in either case. Mine more than pushes 8 x 10" at 4 ohms and I never get close to clipping in fear that I'll blow speakers past excursion.

I run my XLS 1000 in bridge mode, with all other default protection on, with the Ch1 Gain Level knob all the way up like you have pictured. Your preamp's Master should then control the volume. The rest is up to you, but you can't go wrong with any of the new Crown XLS series.

trjazzluva05 · #7 08-27-2010, 11:41 PM

Hey man my GS212 is a 4 ohm cab so I can old run one. I was thinking of getting a 4x10 8 ohm cab for more speaker area. My amp gets to the clipping point when push it but the sound is soo clean it never breaks up or distorts. I just need less ohms and more speakers to give me more of a volume difference. My XLS was two notches away from maximum, and my TOne Hammer volume is where you see it the whole night. Love my tone, but think I can benefit from the extra headroom.

rpsands · #8 08-28-2010, 01:21 AM

If the Xls 1000 is clipping you don't have much headroom left before you're blowing speakers -- the 4x10 just can't take more power than that and continue to get louder. More speakers is the answer, or more efficient speakers.

trjazzluva05 · #9 08-29-2010, 05:38 AM

The speakers in My GS212 are very efficient. Always performs flawlessly and never breaks a sweat. The XLS is great don't get me wrong, but I just like having that extra headroom, just gives you a richer open tone without having to crank your amp so high. I so I'm sticking with the new XLS because they're so great, but just going to 1 up to the 1500. So if you guys haven't tried the new Crowns, give them a try, they're definitely worth it!!!!

CharlieC · #10 08-29-2010, 05:53 AM

That's good news! but just curious... Your cab is rated at 4 ohms and 600 watts, the XLS 1000 should have approached 1000 watts with that cab and not break a sweat. Did the amp's CLIP light ever come on? I think your cab would bottom-out way before the XLS would give up on you?

jnewmark · #11 08-29-2010, 08:36 AM

I'm interested in the Crown XLS 1000. Those of you who run it bridged into 4 ohms, do you use the crossover network, or low/high pass functions for any reason ? I would be using it in a 215/tweeter cab loaded with JBL K140's. Do you actually have to set the crossover/high/low pass function, or can it be bypassed altogether ? Also, I seem to remember some discussion about the amp needing alot of output from the preamp ?

CharlieC · #12 08-29-2010, 08:48 AM

I use my XLS 1000 in Bridge-Mono mode and leave everything else set as default (i.e. Peak-limiters enabled, with Crossover, HighPass, and LowPass functionality all disabled)

I would suggest test driving one! They are powerful, light, run cool + very quiet.

rpsands · #13 08-29-2010, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trjazzluva05

Hey man my GS212 is a 4 ohm cab so I can old run one. I was thinking of getting a 4x10 8 ohm cab for more speaker area. My amp gets to the clipping point when push it but the sound is soo clean it never breaks up or distorts. I just need less ohms and more speakers to give me more of a volume difference. My XLS was two notches away from maximum, and my TOne Hammer volume is where you see it the whole night. Love my tone, but think I can benefit from the extra headroom.

I am not trying to be mean or anything but the Aguilar GS-12's are not terribly efficient for bass drivers and not capable of that much excursion either.

It is physically impossible for them to take 500 watts per driver without bottoming out. Their displacement limitation is going to be something closer to 150-ish watts apiece.

Hitting a single 2x12 with more than 1000 watts is foolishness. 1000 watts is TONS of headroom with a 2x12.

Munjibunga · #14 08-29-2010, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trjazzluva05

Hey CharlieC, just finished a gig tonight with the Crown and my Aguilar GS212 cab and Tone Hammer and it was great!!! I ran it for 2 hours straight and was cool...almost like it was never on!!! I'm only problem is I almost had to turn my gain in bridge mode almost to the max and it was loud, but just really contemplating if I should return the 1000 for the 1500 for more headroom, or maybe turn off the limiter. Here's a picture of my rig at tonight's gig:

The "gain" control on the power amp actually controls the level of the input signal it requires to drive the amp to full power. In other words, the amp can go to full power at any setting of the "gain" knob, it just takes a higher input voltage when it's set at lower levels.

So it may be that you're not driving the input with enough signal from the TH. Where do you have the Gain and Master set on the TH? Maybe turn the Master up.

Also, be careful how far you crank that amp. It has plenty of power to blow your drivers to smithereens.

trjazzluva05 · #15 08-29-2010, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpsands

I am not trying to be mean or anything but the Aguilar GS-12's are not terribly efficient for bass drivers and not capable of that much excursion either.

It is physically impossible for them to take 500 watts per driver without bottoming out. Their displacement limitation is going to be something closer to 150-ish watts apiece.

Hitting a single 2x12 with more than 1000 watts is foolishness. 1000 watts is TONS of headroom with a 2x12.

No problem man....you have your own opinion and that's cool. I haven't had a problem with pushing my XLS in bridge mode. My speakers barely move when I used it at a recent gig. Also I'm not an aggressive player nor do I use excessive amounts of EQ like some players. So I have no fear of blowing my my Aggie cab. I use my Marcus Miller Jazz bass primarily and it sounds great. I know it may sound physically impossible, but it works out great for me.

trjazzluva05 · #16 08-30-2010, 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Munjibunga

The "gain" control on the power amp actually controls the level of the input signal it requires to drive the amp to full power. In other words, the amp can go to full power at any setting of the "gain" knob, it just takes a higher input voltage when it's set at lower levels.

So it may be that you're not driving the input with enough signal from the TH. Where do you have the Gain and Master set on the TH? Maybe turn the Master up.

Also, be careful how far you crank that amp. It has plenty of power to blow your drivers to smithereens.

Hey man...i have my gain and volume on my Tone Hammer set a little past half with my power amp gain 2 to 3 clicks from max. i hardly ever hit the clip section unless i thump my E string. Instead of using the XLR on my TH to go to poweramp, i use the 1/4" out on the TH. i hear thats supposedly gives you less volume using it this way. i also use the 1/4" input on the XLS as well. So with those gain and master settings on my TH, and the XLS almost max, it perfectly drives my TH and GS212 with no problem. My speakers barely seem to break a sweat. But i definitely keep any eye out on my LED meter and speakers when i play through it.

bassplayer7770 · #17 08-31-2010, 10:49 AM

While we're posting XLS rigs, below is mine. Bass -> BBE BMAX -> Crown XLS 1500 -> LDS 15/6.5 cab. I have a High Pass Filter set at 50Hz on the Crown.

trjazzluva05 · #18 08-31-2010, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bassplayer7770

While we're posting XLS rigs, below is mine. Bass -> BBE BMAX -> Crown XLS 1500 -> LDS 15/6.5 cab. I have a High Pass Filter set at 50Hz on the Crown.

Hey man nice setup... So does you high pass filter exaggerate your highs??? I have even tried to use the filters and crossover yet. But I do have a problem: I don't hear much of a volume difference switching from Bridge to Stereo on my XLS1000. It still sounds about the same. Both are enough volume but in stereo its only 350 watts and mono its 1100 watts!!! Maybe its just my ears.

rpsands · #19 08-31-2010, 12:38 PM

Are you using a bridge cable? Pretty sure the XLS1000 requires a 1+/2+ to 1+/1- cable for bridging. Check the manual.

Also, like I told you before, those speakers just won't get much louder after about 150-200 watts apiece.

rpsands · #20 08-31-2010, 12:47 PM

Yeah according to the manual you need to use a bridge speakon cable to bridge.

"b. If using a Speakon® connector, connect the positive terminal of the speaker to 1+ and the negative terminal to 2+.
Plug the connector into the Channel 1 output only."