Justin & Jerry's Hifi Blog

[synsei]

So Jerry, are you in6ending to purchase the rest of the USS Enterprise in instalments? An interesting choice of power amp sir...

[Ali Tait]

Had me worried for a minute there Jerry How on earth do you find these things . Did you have any information prior to buying this ? I usually read something on the forums about components which are well thought of , however I've certainly never heard of this . Kudos to you mate for bringing some exceptional , previously unheard of , gear to the masses

Dave (DSJR) has used Crown amps for years mate.

[brian2957]

Didn't know that Ali . I've heard of Crown amps before but they're usually from years ago . The one Jerry has looks quite modern .

[jandl100]

A guy who came to visit recommended the Crown - better than his Audio Research Reference 110, he said. A month or two later a pro dealer had a sale on with these at a knock down price, Justin let me know, and I couldn't resist having a go! I bought the last one.

[brian2957]

Is this the same amp Jerry : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CROWN-XLS-...item3397d0f192
If so I'd be interested in your final assessment of it .

[Tarzan]

A guy who came to visit recommended the Crown - better than his Audio Research Reference 110, he said. A month or two later a pro dealer had a sale on with these at a knock down price, Justin let me know, and I couldn't resist having a go! I bought the last one.

[jandl100]

Is this the same amp Jerry : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CROWN-XLS-...item3397d0f192
If so I'd be interested in your final assessment of it .

Yup, that's the one, Brian. I'll keep you posted - I'm sure Justin will also chime in in a few days time once he's heard it with his Apogees.

It's much more my sort of animal than the Virtue Audio Sensation that briefly made my acquaintance recently, that was a bit too smooth, comfortable and downright amiable for me. The Crown (and my NAD) have more of a 'tang' to them, a sense of presence, that keeps me interested in the musical proceedings.
But hey, we all have different tastes.

[jandl100]

It's interesting checking out the user reviews on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Crown-NXLS1500...crown+xls+1500

Mostly from DJs - but a few audiophiles in there as well.

I had a good skim through those before hitting the Buy Button!

[brian2957]

Thanks Jerry .

[jandl100]

Crown XLS 1500 update ....

Much more listening has ensued over the last few days, and (a bit to my surprise) I have not yet been tempted to re-install my lovely NAD 300 amp! The Crown is a fine and enjoyable amp to listen to.

Power delivery is not a problem with the Crown. It sounds simply immense on big music. 300wpc would seem to be adequate. It's also remarkably rhythmic - especially for a class D amp; a lot fall down a little on this aspect of the music ime. My toes were a-tapping with the rhythmic beat so ably supplied by The Buggles "Age of Plastic" album. Bass is seriously deep, fast, powerful and well controlled - I don't think I've heard James Blake's 'Limit to your love' sound more awesome - you can count the Hertz! Great fun.

Overall just a tad smooth in its delivery of rez, there is also a hint of sting in the higher frequencies. A lot of class D amps do this, ime.

I can't quite figure this out, but on some music rhythmic swagger is presented in huge swathes as mentioned, but on some tracks the magic is a bit reduced - I'm thinking particularly here of Dream Theatre's "Pull me under" where the raunchy left/right bass guitar riffs simply didn't sound as raucously driving laugh-out-loud fun as they do with my NAD amp.

Imaging is good, but my initial feeling that a bit of the NAD Magic is missing remains - I've never heard a better imaging amp than the NAD S300; it is 3D in spades, a step ahead of any other amp I have heard.

More listening to do, but I'm enjoying the Crown a lot. ... it's stupidly good for the money, as well.