2. amps-preamps
  3. 126700-4635

Is my amp the problem?

I recently decided to bi-amp my speakers so I purchased a crown xls 1002. (225w 8 ohm). I am driving a 10 woofer. It sounds horrible. I can't seem to get it to put out much power despite its rating even when I make all the right adjustments. Its a class D amp. Is that my problem? It just doesn't seem to have any Ba**s. Lol. Advice is appreciated.
jimbones
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Wow, yeah the HCA1000 could be as old as 1999. Time for a re-cap job! I’ll hang on til the end, lol!

There’s a Emotiva XPA-200 on audiogon for $399. That’s $100 off retail, but amp is probably going to be 3-4 years old max. It has more power supply capacitor bank than the HCA 1000, but transformer is smaller. It’s not going to have the brute force of the larger monoblocks, but it’s definitely cheaper, and I’m sure it will be competitive with the HCA 1000.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,761 posts
 
Wow- that's a rather scathing indictment on a Crown class D amp. Can't even keep up with an aging and clearly limping conventional solid state amp. Sheesh.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

If you can swing a couple hundred bucks more, there's a pair of New-in-box Emotiva XPA-100 monoblocks over at the Emotiva lounge "Emporium" forum for $550 + shipping + paypal.  These would do better than the XPA-200.  The title is "XPA-100 GEN 2 PAIR BNIB".

Good luck on your amp hunt.

jimbones OP
229 posts
 
Thanks aux I'll check it out.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Looking at the specs, the gain on these Emotiva amps is 29db, where the gain on your modwright is 26db. If you don’t use an active crossover, you’ll probably want to use a speaker LPAD attenuator (parts express) on the woofers to bring down the level. Or spend more and use a passive preamp before the woofer amplifier.

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