Just pulled the trigger on a Crown XLS 2000!

[mowburger]

Man I'm so excited

MF price matched me one off Amazon for pennies under $412
to my door!

I recently blew my GK700RBmkII and needed a replacement,
I've been lurking on here not too long, but have learned a
bunch from all the others experiences, thank you all

I feel a pre-power-cab setup will be better for me as I have
insane volume needs for certain gigs. Also the clean headroom
ceiling of most amps I've played were disapointing. I thought
of alot of different options, and believe me the lt wt combo
clan was calling my name(or was that my back). But being
able to go modular {one cab for small dates/two or more for
big stuff} and stay lt wt <11lbs amp <7lb rack bag = <18lb
total, plus ability to use features like crossovers/hpf,lpf have
two channels, use it later for PA or whatever else tickles me.

I'm so excited!

I'll be using my GK 410 SBX+ to try out the new toy, I have
an 18" but I really don't think I'm going to need it
I will start out by using a standard SA BDDI v.2 and see how
that goes. I was thinking maybe a SA VT-DELUXE if the BDDI
doesn't make me smile.

I bought the 700RB used at GC and didn't get any insurance
so I guess I could call GK and ask for a est. or qoute on fixing
it. I opened her and she wasn't burnt, charred or anything
visible. It just makes a low loud hum at all times, whether
anything is plugged into the front end or not, thru all diff cabs
at different houses. So I have NO IDEA whats up with it.



I had it for a year and pushed it so hard,

Oh well, I'm looking forward to nice clean bass sounds and
will post my opinions on my new setup and the whole
Drivecore amp thang.

It will probably become very apparent that my cab is now the
weekest link, I got it with the head and have also pushed IT
very hard, so we'll see.

Anybody have any suggestions for cabs? in particular ones
that will go low cleanly? 4 ohm? I mostly like Reggae/Mowtown
ROCK/PUNK bass sounds so a cab needs to pull those, also
special note *I don't care for country music so much, but
dang are those some fat sounding country bass lines"

[Son of Bovril]

Congrats! I play the XLS1500 and so far have found it to be an excellent piece of gear and most important, my back is thanking me! I too have to cover quite a wide spectrum of cabs and volumes and so far this has done it all from running a single 210 (I was way overpowering it at 1500watts but it takes it like a champ as long as I am careful with the volume) to powering a schroeder 310212 which takes 2100watts and was competing with a 14kilowatt PA. I've also used it into a Markbass 410 and an eden 410, both of which sounded great and I always run the amp in bridge and bypass mode but with the limiter enabled.

I have used my VT bass straight into it several times now and always been happy with the tone and volume. Other pre's I have used with it include an EBS Microbass II, Eden Nav (which sounded amazing), Fender TBP-1, Avalon U5 and Hartke VXL

I'm sure you'll be happy with the XLS2000 for whatever your needs let us know how it works out for you...

[Munjibunga]

Way to go. That's a great price. I would remind everyone who wants to buy a Crown amp to give Northern Sound and Light a phone call, though.

[thudfromafar]

nice

[mowburger]

...nice THUD!
does the ART drive it good?




/thread
Man this is gonna be a long weekend! I can hardly wait, altho I have alot to do this weekend and work on monday so it should fly by.

Anyone else want to chime in on thier XLS DRIVCORE rigs/experiences?

[steveksux]

One thing i'd recommend is the LPF, cut the subsonics off with the DSP on the amp. I found a lot of the wild cone movements disappeared when I did that. No audible difference. I got some analog inline filters to pop into my effects loop, as I'm using an old K1 power amp, no fancy DSP available.

I think string handling on bass must generate a lot of subsonics, wasting power and over excurting cones.

Randy

[Ricnroll]

Great price, way to go! i was looking at Crowns and MSRPs were significantly higher.

And thanks for the tip Munjibunga, I've just sent Northern Sound and Light a request for a quote.

[xring]

The Crown was a good buy. I'm running the 1500 version. Maybe your needs are different, but I found that my RBI did not do "clean" very well. OK, there was no overdrive, but I couldn't get a real sweet clean tone. Just rather boring. Now I'm running the Art Pro Channel, or the Presonus Studio channel. The Art is a much better match for the Crown Drivercore. I can't seem to lay my bass down since hooking it up.

[thudfromafar]

Originally Posted by mowburger

...nice THUD!
does the ART drive it good?




/thread
Man this is gonna be a long weekend! I can hardly wait, altho I have alot to do this weekend and work on monday so it should fly by.

Anyone else want to chime in on thier XLS DRIVCORE rigs/experiences?

Haven't had a chance to play it loudly yet, it's just been sitting in my apartment playing mp3s. Tuesday is the next day I'm practicing with the band. Going to run it thru a fEarful 15/6/1 cabinet, bridged to 1,000 watts. It might get loud

[thudfromafar]

Originally Posted by steveksux

One thing i'd recommend is the LPF, cut the subsonics off with the DSP on the amp. I found a lot of the wild cone movements disappeared when I did that. No audible difference. I got some analog inline filters to pop into my effects loop, as I'm using an old K1 power amp, no fancy DSP available.

I think string handling on bass must generate a lot of subsonics, wasting power and over excurting cones.

Randy

Indeed but you mean HPF.

Originally Posted by xring

The Crown was a good buy. I'm running the 1500 version. Maybe your needs are different, but I found that my RBI did not do "clean" very well. OK, there was no overdrive, but I couldn't get a real sweet clean tone. Just rather boring. Now I'm running the Art Pro Channel, or the Presonus Studio channel. The Art is a much better match for the Crown Drivercore. I can't seem to lay my bass down since hooking it up.

Those are the 2 preamps I have too. But my presonus is out for repair so I can't compare them for a few weeks. It's a good bet from what I've read and experienced that the ART will have a lot more headroom and possibly just a better sound overall.

[xring]

Originally Posted by thudfromafar

Indeed but you mean HPF.



Those are the 2 preamps I have too. But my presonus is out for repair so I can't compare them for a few weeks. It's a good bet from what I've read and experienced that the ART will have a lot more headroom and possibly just a better sound overall.

The Art is sweet for sure. It sounds better than the Presonus; I think due to the headroom. I'm going to pickup the new Peavey 1600 lightweight due to the much lower sensitivity. I think the Presonus will come alive. For now, it's in storage. I thought you'd have gotten your's back by now?

[thudfromafar]

No I'm a lazy boy and have a hard time when it comes to packing things up and shipping them. Broken units tend to sit around for a long time.

[mowburger]

Yeah Go Packers! playoff time!

lazy Sunday has me antsy for my new muscle!

[ErnieD]

For sure some very good, even great football happening these few weekends. Prolly why most end up so disappointed in the actual Super Bowl. I'm loving it. I aint really got a horse in this race, but I'm pushing for the Jets to go all the way. But man, gotta get past the Pats today.

Anywho, I use my Crown amp with either Alembic F-1X or BBE Bmax (non-T) pre. I'm really getting more use outta my BBE pre so far, its just more versatile for the different types of music I do in a couple bands. The F-1X does it quite right with the blues band for sure + Am St P5 w/flats. I too tried the Crown with my VT pedal when I first got it, works real nice with that pedal as well.

For OP and other new owners, if you've not checked out the Crown Amps website, do so soon. The manual that comes in the box is way too simplified. There's even a Forum on the site to ask questions and get replies like here on Talkbass. I see a few TBers there often. I run the rig so far into a single 8 ohm Epifani UL410-II, 8 ohm cab; will add the second UL410 for outdoor gigs this summer. That can be a potential 1050-1500 watts. So careful with that volume knob y'all. This amp just makes that cab sound so nice. Gonna try it with two GB NeoX 212T cabs at a large gig in February in a variety band.

I only use 5 string active/passive basses. I found on my 1500 lowest setting is 50Hz. I tried the HPF set there when I used a second cab, GB NeoX 112T, just to have a cab up by my ears above the 410. It seemed to just attenuate the lows some. I made a quick switch mid-gig to just the 410 bridged @ 8 ohms, worked real nice. Didn't really need that 112 on top afterall. A few who own these amps told me leave the HPF/LPF alone but be sure to have both limiters on.

Well, I do leave the built in limiters on to be safe. I've had no issues at all. This rig can really push some lows into my cab, esp with the F-1X but the BBE has been sounding real nice, loud n low as well. I need to sit and run some various settings on it to get more used to all the features the Crown offers. Enjoy it, I sure am.

[mowburger]

WOW lots of great info, thanx for posting!

a question I couldn't find an answer to:
Is it ok to just run signal thru just one side of the Drivecore?
Do I have to have a load on each side when running the amp stereo?
I want to run one cab at 8 ohms, and it's rated at 600w,
if I bridge the amp at 8ohms it is capable of 1300w.
Is this dangerous? Should I just turn the level off the amp down?
Or should I run the amp stereo and just use one "side" putting no signal or speaker load into the other channel?

[thudfromafar]

You don't need to have a speaker load for each channel, so yeah you could run signal thru just one side. What cab are you using? You could use the bridged mode into it, but be very careful. I would keep the power amp knobs no more than 75% probably. But it depends on your gain coming out of the preamp. For example you could still clip the power amp, and that would be real bad and your speakers would be toasted by then.

[steveksux]

Originally Posted by thudfromafar

Indeed but you mean HPF.

Yes, my mistake, definitely. Unfortunately as someone else pointed out, it only goes down to 50Hz, not sure that's very useful for even a 4 string, let alone a 5. There's not much fundamental going on anyway, but still, I'd rather have a steep cut at 30 or 40. I'm sure 50 would have an audible effect on the sound. Maybe for the best, maybe not, but I'd like the option of actual SUB sonic filter.

Randy

[jamzcl]

I haven't played my XLS2000 live yet, but am more than happy with it in my practice sessions. I'll be using mine mostly to run stereo with my SVT-610HLF & SVT-808HE cabs.

btw, I haggled a store on eBay down to $399 shipped since they had a "Make an Offer" option.....they took it

[ErnieD]

jamzcl: btw, I haggled a store on eBay down to $399 shipped since they had a "Make an Offer" option.....they took it

If you look into online stores or call certain shops, there are some good deals on these. I got mine by asking Zzounds to match a GC $50 online coupon + they threw in a added 10% off, four no-interest payments and a extra year warranty.

You're getting alot power with these amps, be smart with them. I need to as this is my first pre/power amp rig ever. But I'm loving the light weight and trying out different preez. And I still get alota use outta my MB/GB micro-heads for certain rooms. Read the manual and check out the Crown website to get to know the amp's features. Peace, ernie.

[thudfromafar]

Originally Posted by steveksux

Yes, my mistake, definitely. Unfortunately as someone else pointed out, it only goes down to 50Hz, not sure that's very useful for even a 4 string, let alone a 5. There's not much fundamental going on anyway, but still, I'd rather have a steep cut at 30 or 40. I'm sure 50 would have an audible effect on the sound. Maybe for the best, maybe not, but I'd like the option of actual SUB sonic filter.

Randy

Yeah it's not optimal, it does indeed cut off some of the low low end, noticeably. I find that I'm perfectly fine with it though. After experimentation I learned that I still get plenty of lows for my taste with the 50hz filter. Some may miss those deep lows and some won't, hard to know without trying it yourself! But you can always EQ some of the bass back in, too.