Hmmm, which CROWN amp?

MEKer · #1 11-21-2011, 08:57 PM

Used to use Crown amps with GK folded horn bottoms back in the day and have a hankering to investigate getting a Crown again. Anyone here have first hand experience with the newer Crowns such as the ones below? They were suggested by Tom Lureman, Crown Field Support, to my query re what does he suggest for bass from among all their Crown heads.

XTi 2 series (liking the 4002 model)
XTi 2 Series

OR

XLS Drivecore series (liking the 2000)
XLS Drivecore™ Series

Brad Johnson · #2 11-21-2011, 09:10 PM

I have two Drivecores, and XLS1000 and an XLS2500. The bottom and top of that line. With discounts you can get the 1000 for well under $300. 8 to 10 lbs. and fit in a shallow rack. Sweet!

I mainly use the 1000 bridged at 4ohms for 1100 watts. That's plenty to push any combination of cabs I own in a 4 ohm load. The 2500 was an impulse buy, great deal that fell in my lap. I don't need it... but hey, I got it. I can turn the gains up more on the 1000 than the 2500 but that's to be expected.

The amps are quiet and run without drama. Very easy to configure through three buttons on the front panel, closest thing to an issue might be how close the banana plugs are to the back panel since they insert vertically. If I had to replace one it'd be a no brainer. I'd buy the same thing all over again.

So far I've run mine with a Yamaha PB1, Michael Pope Designs Mitre Box, BBE 383 and the Eden WTDI DI pedal even drove it fine after an instrument gain issue (the outputs on some of my basses were hotter than the WTDI preferred).

Actually I did run into an issue last week when I let a friend borrow the 2500. He was using an 8 ohm Bag End S-15D with a 4 ohm Schroeder 1510. The BE had 1/4" jack, the Schroeder had Speakons and 1/4". Because of the impedance we connected one cab to each side of the amp, using the banana out on one side of the Crown and speakon on the other. We got less volume than expected, only the channel two gain worked and it controlled both channels and the sound had some distortion to it if pushed. This was running in stereo bypass mode.

Turned out the problem was in using the different output type connectors. Switched over to a second speakon cable, this time with 1/4" on the other end and the gains worked normally, it was much louder and no distortion. Found a second banana cable, tried that and it worked fine too. Never seen that one before.

Hactar · #3 11-21-2011, 09:12 PM

Well, they are Crown power amps. They will probably work fine for many years.
May I inquire as to what cabs you are hoping to drive? That's a lot of power.

Oh, one more thing, they have a peculiar sound... they sound like a power amp.

I just realized: I answered your question and I have absolutely no first hand experience with these amps. Oh well.

walterw · #4 11-21-2011, 09:16 PM

just get one with volume controls on the front!

i have an old power base 3, which is strong as all getout, but has only tiny level knobs hidden on the back; it makes adjusting your stage volume from the amp a hassle. (you want to adjust from the amp so that you don't change the preamp level going into the house.)

Stinsok · #5 11-21-2011, 09:17 PM

drivecore is so very light.

Brad Johnson · #6 11-21-2011, 09:18 PM

Everything on the Drivecores control wise is on the front.

MEKer · #7 11-21-2011, 09:20 PM

Interesting replies so far. Oh, I was thinking of getting two 2x12's (easier to deal with than a 4x12) or maybe two 4x10's. Just not sure.

sad_katz · #8 11-22-2011, 12:50 AM

Drivecores are light, loud and relatively small and I would personally buy them for those reasons. Dunno about their tone though, sorry. At least the TB'ers here that do use them are satisfied with their tone.

Oobly · #9 11-22-2011, 01:53 AM

I have an XLS1500 Drivecore which I am very happy with. Light and powerful, simple controls.

The XTi range has a far more capable DSP section with EQ's for input and output, more flexible filters (which can go to lower frequencies), signal delay, subharmonic synth and 50 presets.

Would be fun to play around with and could be very useful to someone who really knows how to use it, but I am happy with the basics you get in the XLS.

The adjustable highpass filter on the XLS doesn't really go low enough to be truly useful in a bass context for cabinets that need it, so if you have a cabinet that needs an active highpass filter set below 50Hz, the XTi is the one to get.

From what I can tell, the tone is very clear and "uncoloured", but I haven't A/B'd it with other power amps, so it's hard to tell. A friend in the PA industry tells me he prefers the Crown power amps his company uses to the other brands they have. Was a good enough endorsement for me.

adamafurious · #10 11-23-2011, 03:36 PM

i have a xls1000 too. i love mine. i use it with a sansamp pre, and bridge into a 8ohm 600w M/B 410 diesel.

great tone...and a "cheap" way to get that kind of wattage into 8ohms

monkeyking · #11 11-24-2011, 03:04 AM

I've been using the xti 1000 for most of this year. Plenty of juice for anything you need, controls are convenient on the front. I haven't messed with the DSP much and just run it bridged.

Like any good power amp (Crown, QSC, etc), it does just what it's supposed to do. Delivers the power and replicates the tone from my pre-amp. It's light and has been trouble-free thus far.