Crown Poweramps - Overrated?

[bellis1]

I've been looking for a LIGHTWEIGHT poweramp (1k watts+) to power my SWR Marcus Miller Preamp. I know with many products in the music industry - "you get what you pay for" this makes total sense until I looked at Crown Poweramps. You can get a new one for $300!! However, a buddy of mine told me they're over rated, and his crapped out on him.

1. Are they really over rated?
2. What are some good lightweight power amps? (1k watts +)

[RickenBoogie]

Not over-rated, but most all commercially available poweramps will provide similar results.

[markkoelsch]

Crown is not overrated. They are one of the best sounding, most durable, and reliable amplifiers around. They have been for decades. I have one in my rack, and I have been using it for about 12 years without a single hiccup.

This is not meant to say any other amp is less than a crown. I know folks with QSC, Carver, and a few others that are also great amps.

[Munjibunga]

I've owned a lot of QSC PLX amps and have been very happy with them. Crown has a good reputation. Every manufacturer will have an occasional product failure.

[HATe410]

the new Crown XLS DriveCore series in made in USA and has a 3 year no fault/no questions warranty....they are sent to Indiana for repair....otherwise yea a power amp is a power amp most are the same....the Crowns biggest "complaint" is youll need a strong input signal...Balanced XLR....

good luck

[rpsands]

Your buddy is full of crap. Every brand has failures. Crown's one of the industry standards in sound reinforcement for very good reason.

[v-grooves]

Take a close look at some of the older lead sleds.....I ran a MacroTech 1200 for quite a while and at the time, there was no louder amp with all kinds of headroom and defined sound. They weigh a freakin ton, but those huge transformers in the old Crowns make it all happen.

I am now running a QSC 1804 which is so much lighter. It has close to the same amount of sound producing capabilities as the MacroTech. However, IMO, the QSC and other lightweight amps just dont have the punch and headroom like the Crowns.

I dont think you can compare the new Crown stuff to their older product lines. The older amps weigh a ton for a reason.

Best of luck on your search.

V

[MarTONEbass]

I had an issue with a Crown XTi2000 that crapped out on me, but I seem to be in the minority on that one, although the earlier ones had more failures from what I have read. I now have a QSC PLX1804 and I'm loving it, and not missing any grunt IME.

[rmkesler]

There was a problem with the ribbon cable that ran to the front panel on the XTI models. It happened on one that we were running for subs. Took it in to get repaired and that's when we found out that it was somewhat of a frequent issue with that model.

Good thing we had a Powerbase 1 as a spare. It actually pushed 4 18" subs surprisingly well.

[flight120]

I have an XTI1000 powering a small PA (couple of tops and couple of subs) and it's been great! I'd love to have one of the bigger ones, but this little guy makes power all night and has never had an issue.

[::::BASSIST::::]

Carvin makes great lightweight, powerful poweramps that are reasonably priced. Might want to check those out.

[svtb15]

+1 and i agree completely..

no matter what anyone says about gain matching etc.. the crowns have a balls factor for their class that none of the others can match.. except maybe a Crest 8001 or 7001 series...
I used that same MA1200 for years.. before that i ran an old PSA2 crown.... from Showco.. it was the best power amp that i ever heard... HUGE and massive sounding...
Before that a crown DC300a back in the 70s... so far im not a fan of the newer crowns... but i have not played the newer $$$$ ones i forgot the model .. think they are about 6k for one... not going there.

And Plus 1 to a carvin amp.. Its not a crown... but they do sound good and they are not too much money. I used a DCM 1500 for a few years.. never a glitch at all...

Originally Posted by v-grooves

Take a close look at some of the older lead sleds.....I ran a MacroTech 1200 for quite a while and at the time, there was no louder amp with all kinds of headroom and defined sound. They weigh a freakin ton, but those huge transformers in the old Crowns make it all happen.

I am now running a QSC 1804 which is so much lighter. It has close to the same amount of sound producing capabilities as the MacroTech. However, IMO, the QSC and other lightweight amps just dont have the punch and headroom like the Crowns.

I dont think you can compare the new Crown stuff to their older product lines. The older amps weigh a ton for a reason.

Best of luck on your search.

V

[funkometer]

Cant go wrong with Crown.

[fleabee]

Knock on wood, never had any problems with Crown Poweramps

[jnewmark]

Originally Posted by HATe410

the new Crown XLS DriveCore series in made in USA and has a 3 year no fault/no questions warranty....they are sent to Indiana for repair....otherwise yea a power amp is a power amp most are the same....the Crowns biggest "complaint" is youll need a strong input signal...Balanced XLR....

good luck

Anybody else have a problem with not enough input to drive the XLS series? I have an old BBE 383 preamp that I was going to drive a new XLS 1000 with. I can't seem to find out what the output is or what the Crown would need. I usually have PA support and go out from my XLR to the board, and use the 1/4 output to drive a power amp from my BBE. The XLR is a DI so, no eq from that output. I used to use QSC power amps and never had the " not enough preamp signal " problem.

[johnk_10]

i have 5 crown xti power amps (two xti1000's and three xti2000's) and all of them have performed perfectly without a single problem, and i push all of them hard.

[doc540]

QSC for 20+ years

[Uncle Snake]

Crowns for 23 years and NEVER been let down. EVER!

[CharlieC]

Crown or nothing!

[mcapote]

no problems with mt XTI2000 and I play outdoors in Miami Summer heat