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Crown XLS 1502.... real life test.

I was at guitar center yesterday cruseing the used pedal case and noticed they had the XLS1502 was on sale. With there 45 day return policy, that i have used with great success in the past, i bought the amp.

  With my Logan’s the crown was very clear and full. 525 watts at hand per channel brought the speakers to life. I adjusted the input to around 3 o’clock seemed to be a good match. I went thru a few cd’s and they all sounded great with Steely Dan winning the show...

  I put the Mac back in the loop and noticed the soundstage was a bit bigger and a good amount more subdude.

This was my first foray in the class D world and I was surprised at how good it sounded. At 329.00 its kinda hard to beat. I have no idea what the current measurements are but the XLS made the Logan’s sing. If i read the article correctly, doesnt the JBL Everest’s come with XLS amps? That’s the way it read... please correct me.

Anyway, it was a fun afternoon and the Crown is going back today. I haven’t bought the 10t’s yet... prob June is when I can pick them up... I will buy another crown then to use when I send the 7100 to a mac repair center to get a checkup... I have a gut feeling something is amiss with her. All in all I really enjoyed the XLS and in a blind test i feel it would hold up to many good amps that cost $$$$$.

  I want a 300 watt Mac but at 3-4 thousand dollars that is a big stretch for this retired chef... lol

BTW... the XLS was DEAD silent ... nothing!
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captbeaver
tutetibiimperes
202 posts
 
@erik_squires 

The big thing with Drivecore is that it integrates almost the entire amp onto one chip.  You need a power supply and an input stage, everything else is on the chip including waveform generator, clock, drive stage, feedback, output stage, etc.  Harman says one Drivecore chip can replace 500 parts on a traditional Class D design.  

Apparently having everything run on one chip also allows tighter tolerances with the clock and waveform generator, allowing for better sound quality.  
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
The big thing with Drivecore is that it integrates almost the entire amp onto one chip.

Very interesting! :) This is along the lines of Ice Edge. I think TI Has also done a lot of work besides what they do for Crown/Harman. I mean, don't they have a whole line of Class D controller chips?
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
2,651 posts
 
Interesting reading on the white paper and here. Thanks to all erik and all for the enlightenment.
tutetibiimperes
202 posts
 
@erik_squires 

I believe the Ice Edge still uses multiple chips for control and driving while the Drivecore integrates it all into one, both seem to have had the goal or reducing component count on the board through.

To my understanding TI's role in the Drivecore chips was primarily in the manufacturing stage.  Harman designed the technology but didn't have the experience in manufacturing ICs so they turned to TI to handle that part.  
erik_squires
5,268 posts
 
I believe the Ice Edge still uses multiple chips for control and driving while the Drivecore integrates it all into one, both seem to have had the goal or reducing component count on the board through.
You are right, but I don't think the count matters quite as much. In a stereo setup the difference is ICEedge needs 1 more IC. 

It will be interesting to see how these markets develop. Will Harman keep DriveCore proprietary? Maybe they won't even market it and put it into HT receivers. 

There's so much more to this besides sound quality, but I am happy to report I am confident the future for most audiophiles is high-efficiency, small and less expensive amplifiers and that's a good thing.

Best,

E

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