Crown XLS

[jbybj]

After reading about power amps on this forum for over a year, I started to investigate on my own. For my particular needs I considered power (not much needed), fidelity (I'm an audio professional damnit!), price (had to be low), and weight (had to be light) as all equally important. As you might expect my search quickly narrowed to QSC and Crown. What I found is that the RMX series is quite a bit heavier than the PLX, and that you pay extra for the luxury of the lighter PLX. I decided on the Crown XLS 202. Very reasonable, very lightweight, and at 200 watts/ch into 8 ohms, plenty of power for my needs. Only after playing through it did I come to understand the fidelity that has eluded me to this point. I love my vintage tube Traynors, but you've got to be in a grungy mood, and not so hungry for the ultra lows. The Dean Markley preamp through the Crown XLS is pretty spiffy. So what's my point? If you share my priorities, I HIGHLY recommend the XLS series of amplification. Peace, JBY

[David Houck]

Thanks for the review!

[jazzyvee]

I'm currently thinking of changing my QSCPLX2402 for a crown XLS1502 Crown XLS2002. Nothing wrong with the QSC except the weight and because of that I rarely use my rack bass as with that amp DS-5, F1-x and SF-2 it's pretty heavy to lug around. If it was lighter i'm sure it would get more use. Any comments on the Crown Class D as I've not had any experience with them.

[edwardofhuncote]

Well hey there jbybj... I see you found my other internet hangout. Welcome! 

I use one of the older Crown XLS "DriveCore" series amps with my F-1X... love it.

*actually, I see you were here well before me! 

[lembic76450]

I used a Crown 402 for a couple of years with my F-2B,  a little hefty weight wise, but, it sounded really nice. 
With a great price from an ebay store, and with a mail in rebate, it only cost me $150 in the end.
400 watts a side and 1100 watts bridged at 4 ohm it had plenty of omph. 

[dead_head]

I have a Crown XLS 402D in the box, if anyone is interested. I was building a rackmount  component system to cover many styles of music,
when a series of serious health issues cancelled my gigging plans for good. It's never been used at all, except that I had it briefly mounted in
the roadcase with plastic washers so as not to scratch anything. It's in the original packing, with all the paperwork...

[keith_h]

I hear you on the weight. Just a thought even with a class D amp. I split my rack some years back into a 4 space for DS-5, preamp and Bag End processor and a two space for my PLX3002. While it is a bit more to load in/out and set up the reduction in rack sizes makes them much easier to move around.

[StephenR]

I also have my gear split into two racks to make it easier to move. One rack holds my Eden Navigator, SF-2 and a plug-strip, the second rack has a Crest ProLite 3.0 power amp and my F2-B plus another plug strip. I like bringing two preamps to gigs so I have a back-up in case of emergencies. The rack with the Crest and F2-B makes for a nice lightweight one rack solution for rehearsals, jams or hit and run gigs.

The Crest ProLite is fairly new to me. I still love my Crest CA6 but losing 35 lbs of weight from one rack is quite nice. The ProLite has worked well so far and a lot of bass players swear by them. Despite my reluctance to invest in digital equipment this has seemed like a good move.

[cozmik_cowboy]

OK, I've said this about as often as I've disparaged gigbags, but as long as there are infidels I'll keep preaching; the only power amp I'd spent my money on (or yours if you'll listen to me) is Yamaha.
Yeah, it falls kind of short (or would that be long?) in the weight category, but (while I love a good tube combo for guitar) for PA or bass I don't want to hear the amp - and I want to be good & sure sure I will hear what it's louding, every time, all the time. 
In my experience, put them all together and they spell "Yamaha"; purest sound of any amp (of many) I've worked with, and the only brand that's never crapped out on me mid-gig.

This has been a recorded message.

Peter

[hammer]

Hear, hear. If you want ultra clean sound, it's Yamaha for power (and Phil Jones foe cabs).
Yes, a little heavier, but I became sold on them when I dropped one down a stair case (yep I was trying to carry way to much) and did no damage other than a couple of dings.