Crown XLS 202 amps for Athena?

MSkeezer
MSkeezer Posts: 1,183
edited November 2005 in Electronics
I've been reading up on the Crown XLS's amps, and it seems no one has nothing but good things to say about them. I'm thinking about getting 3 of the 202's to power my Athena setup and was wondering: What can I expect of them? I'd be using my HK AVR 430 as my pre/pro. And I use my sysem for mostly movies. My listening room is about 15' x 15'. 145 watts per channel should be more than enough, right?
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  • ND13
    ND13 Posts: 7,601
    edited November 2005
    MSkeezer wrote:
    145 watts per channel should be more enough, right?


    Uhhh......yeah!!!!

    Crown used to make very solid amps, almost indestructible, but I'm not too sure about the newer ones since they were bought out. I do know that for movies they should be fine, but I wouldn't want one for an all music rig. :)
    "SOME PEOPLE CALL ME MAURICE,
    CAUSE I SPEAK OF THE POMPITIOUS OF LOVE"
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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    There are some happy guy's using Crown amps with their speakers. From what I hear a tube preamp works wonders with them. My next amp may very well be a K2 for the control they offer over the drivers.
    And there are some who say otherwise but I think it's system dependent.
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,779
    edited November 2005
    Pro amps are notoriously non-musical.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    I have never heard a pro amp before.....what do you mean by "non-musical"?

    ...........Thanks
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • MSkeezer
    MSkeezer Posts: 1,183
    edited November 2005
    Thanks for the tips. I'll be using them in a movie only system, so no worries there.
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,728
    edited November 2005
    I'm sure there are some good pro amps out there somewhere....somewhere....maybe...or not...

    If you've heard pro amps before and are satisfied with their sound, then go for it. I've never heard a pro amp that I could tolerate for music. You may only be watching movies, but movies have music as well, and sometime the soundtrack plays a huge role in the viewing experience (Gladiator comes to mind).
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,779
    edited November 2005
    .....what do you mean by "non-musical"?

    Flat, strident, lifeless, no air, no decay, no depth, no width and no feeling of being there.

    Rule of thumb about pro audio gear. There are reasons why it doesn't cost much.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • MSkeezer
    MSkeezer Posts: 1,183
    edited November 2005
    What do you mean by "flat, strident, lifeless, no air, no decay, no depth, no width, and no feeling of being there" ? :) jk
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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    I am aware of more than a couple guys who are happy with their Crown K and XLS series for speakers. Oh well, everybody is different. Slightly noisy fans seem to be an issue with some people and the more expensive ones are convection cooled.

    They seem to be a good bang for the buck amp and I plan on trying one sometime.
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited November 2005
    The last one should explain it all...They don't create an accurate musical representation of the real thing.
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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    All you guys that say it may not sound so well with full range speakers I have a little question for you......"have you ever heard them?"
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,779
    edited November 2005
    Yeah and they sound like crap.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    Do you remember which amp and speakers were set up at the time?
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • MSkeezer
    MSkeezer Posts: 1,183
    edited November 2005
    Looks like I just opened up a can of worms...
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 50,779
    edited November 2005
    Nope, why should I? Hell, I don't remember what half the gear at Polkfest was either.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • PolknPepsi
    PolknPepsi Posts: 781
    edited November 2005
    Geez,

    Go take a break.

    Forget I asked
    Denon #2900, Denon stereo receiver, Conrad Johnson Sonographe 120 amp, Blue Jeans cables, and Klipsch RF-7's
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited November 2005
    Sigh, this place has lots of those! :D

    The way I see it, is if said piece is not MADE for home audio, then WHY would I buy it to hook up to my home audio equipment?

    Just be patient, save your money and get the right gear that's been built for it.

    There is more to good audio,then just sounding loud! :)
    MSkeezer wrote:
    Looks like I just opened up a can of worms...
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • polksda
    polksda Posts: 716
    edited November 2005
    My experience from January of this year:
    Well, dip me in **** and call me stinky.

    On a whim, I figured I'd try swapping out the outboard 2-channel amp I had running the SRS, with some others I had lying around, to see if that made a difference.

    Originally:

    Crown XLS-402A (Pro Audio). 260WPC @ 8 Ohms, 400 WPC @ 4 Ohms.

    Swap #1:

    QSC RMX-2450 (Pro Audio). 500WPC @ 8 Ohms, 750 WPC @ 4 Ohms

    After I let it warm up for a while, there was a bit more punch to it, and the bottom end was a bit more solid. The soundstage was still lacking though, compared to what I wanted and expected, and the sound was "dry" like with the Crown.

    Swap #2:

    A beat-up old Carver M-1.0t I had in the closet. (200WPC @ 8 Ohms, ??? @ 4 Ohms).

    Yikes! Even without any warm-up, the soundstage is much more open, and the vocals have that lushness I was missing. MUCH better!

    Living proof that there are more to amps than just number of watts.

    Doing some reading online, it appears that this particular model gets regularly slammed as one of Carver's poorer efforts.

    What amplifiers would you recommend looking for to run the SRS, say in the under $500 (used) category?

    Thanks.
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