[werd]

The cedar rings first made a difference under the Crown amp. The increase in depth was the first thing I noticed, probably because the sound got clearer. Then I played some of my bad recordings and they were more listenable than without the rings.

Darren is one of those that is as honest as the day is long. He also does not believe in the very expensive power conditioners that is on the market. For 20 rings at 7 bucks, this tweek is worth trying. If they don't work for your system, use them in your closet.

The trick being to hear whether a signal is effected by resonating chassis and/or pub board. It's all in the source. But if you are power amp is pushing .5 distortion in class D this is pretty much going to put a halt in anything you do to the source. Your amp is going to play boss and that will be end of any tweaks you do to the source. Won't mean anything because the amp's resolution is will shut it down..... Sorry

[bladesmith]

Cedar rings...

[OzarkTom]

The trick being to hear whether a signal is effected by resonating chassis and/or pub board. It's all in the source. But if you are power amp is pushing .5 distortion in class D this is pretty much going to put a halt in anything you do to the source. Your amp is going to play boss and that will be end of any tweaks you do to the source. Won't mean anything because the amp's resolution is will shut it down..... Sorry

Ah yes, I remember when I too fell for the low distortion hype back in the very early 70's My amp was the best because it had the lowest distortion of them all. No one could tell me anything different. I didn't have to listen to any other amps. I passed over all of those high distortion tube products because I knew better.

Today, all of those high distortion tube products are selling 10x on Ebay on what they sold back then. The amps I bought are all sitting in the land fills, maybe a few at the garage sales for 5 bucks. Marantz 8B and Marantz 7C is selling in the $5-6K plus figures . One 7C is now listed for 8k. Even the Dynaco ST70, which sounded better than any amp I owned in the 70's, is fetching the 10x price. Would somebody here kick me in the rear? Where is the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine?

In 1979 I walked in an Audio Salon in New Orleans and heard a comparison between a McIntosh C22 preamp and a new ultra-low distortion Kenwood preamp. The C22 smoked the Kenwood, not even close. And the audio dealer was trying to convince the C22 owner that the Pioneer was better. That audio dealer was a jerk. The other customer was very happy when I agreed with him, C22 was better. From that day on I never looked at the specs, I only listened with my ears.

Werd, your speakers puts out at least 10-20% distortion, so why are you complaining about a .5 figure that Crown quotes on these Drivecores?

[a.wayne]

Well nothing like a good shoot out , you and werd should get together and have the Crown go head  to head  with his Bryston ....

 

[guest61169]

Well nothing like a good shoot out , you and werd should get together and have the Crown go head  to head  with his Bryston ....

 

I owned both the Bryston 3B-ST and the Crown XLS 2500 at the same time.  Speakers were Klipsch Forte II.   I kept the Crown.  Sonically both were good but the Crown seemed a bit softer in the highs, something you might notice after listening to Klipsch with Bryston.  The Crown also uses much less power at idle, important because it's on 24/7.   My favorite amp with the Klipschs was a 5 wpc Class A tube amp which I still own even though the Klipsch have been sold.  But the differences were like discussing flavours of a beer or wine.  Some may prefer one while others like something else, depending on what else is going with it...like food, women, music, cars, movies...there is enough variety for all tastes.    Someone with speakers that needed a bit of sparkle might have preferred the Bryston.  Before the Crown, I used the Bryston with several other speakers so I have a pretty good handle on it's sound.   Of course, the latest version of the Bryston, the 3BSST², is almost 10x the price of the Crown, if you want to compare apples with apples.  The Yamaha P5000S and the P7000S (Class H) I owned at the same time sounded more like the Bryston, but were also a bit too sharp with the Klipschs.   I also preferred the Crown over the P5000S on the Maggies, after having sold the Bryston.  It is all about synergy and preferences, not specifications.  I'm glad I didn't choose my wife based on her specifications!

...

...Previously used the amp with Magnepan 1.7s and before that Klipsch Forte II.   After having bought it and used it,  sold some of my other amps such as Bryston 3B-ST, Yamaha P5000s and Audio Refinement Multi-2.   I like something that runs cool that I can keep on 24/7 and I found it a good match with my other speakers, past/present/future.

[OzarkTom]

Another forum had an audiophile say the Devialet was better than his Crown 2500, but it was 10x the price. At my $200 find, the Devialet is 32x the price. I wonder if he ever tried the $7 cedar rings with his Crown?

And yes, I sold Bryston back in the 80's, early 90's.

[OzarkTom]

I have almost forgotten, Dave said there are no fuses in the Crown, only a circuit breaker. So no need to worry about spending 100 bucks on a Hifi Tuning fuse.

[Tomy2Tone]

Loving this thread!

I have another crown xls 1500 coming today to run as a mono pair, and cedar rings coming tomorrow. For $7 I figured why not, if anything it'll smell nice!

I have a used crown xls 1500 I purchased from B&H that I was going to keep as a backup but I'm willing to ship it to anyone who wants to try it out in their system and be willing to give honest feedback here on this thread. Remember it only takes banana or bare connections unless you have adapters.

Jackman, if you haven't bought one yet I can send it to you. I would love your opinion on how it compares to your Ncore.

I'm not trying to start a tour but if it turns into one, that's cool!

-Tom

[OzarkTom]

Loving this thread!

I have another crown xls 1500 coming today to run as a mono pair, and cedar rings coming tomorrow. For $7 I figured why not, if anything it'll smell nice!

-Tom

Some here wants to know how they sound as monos, Tom, if you get a chance to listen before you ship that one amp out. Actually me too.

[rodge827]

I have a used crown xls 1500 I purchased from B&H that I was going to keep as a backup but I'm willing to ship it to anyone who wants to try it out in their system and be willing to give honest feedback here on this thread.

-Tom

Tom,

So cool of you   

If you do this, please count me in, I'd love to check out a 1500 at Casa De Rodge 

Chris

[Tomy2Tone]

Some here wants to know how they sound as monos, Tom, if you get a chance to listen before you ship that one amp out. Actually me too.

When the 1500 that arrives today I'll have three in house. Two new that'll run as monos and a used one I originally bought will go out to somebody if they're interested in hearing one.

I'll pay shipping going out with the understanding whoever receives it will pay shipping back to me or to whoever else wants to get it. 

I took off the cover on the used one and disconnected the fan and noticed it does get a little warm. So the fan does kick in when driving my system but it's very quiet. Also looked for a fuse but couldn't find one.

[Jon L]

My favorite amp with the Klipschs was a 5 wpc Class A tube amp

EL84?

[a.wayne]

A tour would be great, i missed the Ncore tour and could never find anyone who had one to listen to , my last class-D foray , 4-5 yrs ago with Rotels and Bel canto left me cold,  interesting to hear how these compare to the ncore...,

[werd]

Well nothing like a good shoot out , you and werd should get together and have the Crown go head  to head  with his Bryston ....

 

Now that would be entertaining.

[werd]

When the 1500 that arrives today I'll have three in house. Two new that'll run as monos and a used one I originally bought will go out to somebody if they're interested in hearing one.

I'll pay shipping going out with the understanding whoever receives it will pay shipping back to me or to whoever else wants to get it. 

I took off the cover on the used one and disconnected the fan and noticed it does get a little warm. So the fan does kick in when driving my system but it's very quiet. Also looked for a fuse but couldn't find one.

It's got a circuit breaker. Send it to me if you don't mind sending one into Canada.

[werd]

Ah yes, I remember when I too fell for the low distortion hype back in the very early 70's My amp was the best because it had the lowest distortion of them all. No one could tell me anything different. I didn't have to listen to any other amps. I passed over all of those high distortion tube products because I knew better.

Today, all of those high distortion tube products are selling 10x on Ebay on what they sold back then. The amps I bought are all sitting in the land fills, maybe a few at the garage sales for 5 bucks. Marantz 8B and Marantz 7C is selling in the $5-6K plus figures . One 7C is now listed for 8k. Even the Dynaco ST70, which sounded better than any amp I owned in the 70's, is fetching the 10x price. Would somebody here kick me in the rear? Where is the Back to the Future DeLorean time machine?

In 1979 I walked in an Audio Salon in New Orleans and heard a comparison between a McIntosh C22 preamp and a new ultra-low distortion Kenwood preamp. The C22 smoked the Kenwood, not even close. And the audio dealer was trying to convince the C22 owner that the Pioneer was better. That audio dealer was a jerk. The other customer was very happy when I agreed with him, C22 was better. From that day on I never looked at the specs, I only listened with my ears.

Werd, your speakers puts out at least 10-20% distortion, so why are you complaining about a .5 figure that Crown quotes on these Drivecores?

I am not going to look at distortion on a tube amp. But I will on Class D.

[guest61169]

EL84?

Yup.  Dennis Had (founder of Cary Audio) Inspire amplifier.

[OzarkTom]

I am not going to look at distortion on a tube amp. But I will on Class D.

 

According to this Crown video, the distortion spec is .001 on these Crown drivecore amps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoGvOhGQX5M#t=33

And if you scroll down below the video, one person writes that he retired his Threshold Class A amp after buying a 1500.

[OzarkTom]

I have made arrangements to ship my 1500 off next week to get it Cryo'd. I should have the 2500 by Wednesday. If that improves it as much as  it did the itube, that should be very interesting.

[Tomy2Tone]

I have made arrangements to ship my 1500 off next week to get it Cryo'd. I should have the 2500 by Wednesday. If that improves it as much as  it did the itube, that should be very interesting.

Now that's hard core! 

Are you willing to share the estimated cost for getting the 1500 cryo'd? You can pm me if you'd rather.

Got the next 1500 delivered today and is in mono duty as I type. Still playing around with the gain setting but right now have it at about one o'clock on the dial. When running just one amp in stereo I had it about two or three notches from full throttle. If I put the gain that high in mono mode the noise floor is definitely higher but once music starts all you hear is superb dynamics!

Right out of the box these amps really sound great. It's hard not to want to crank it up with some good rock music! For around $650 you get over 1500 watts per channel into 4 ohm speakers and it really delivers.

I received some speaker cables from Zenwave Audio the other day and now that everything is hooked up as monoblocks it puts out a pretty impressive sound. Thanks Dave!

These probably won't be the last amps I own but I like having options.