In this day and age, we all want more for less. Whether it's your car, phone, computer, TV, or even a Smart Amplifier. We all want it to do more, weigh less, and have the cost cut in half. I say good luck. Every time something new comes out, it cost more for that one feature that I can't live without. But, dammit, I'm not going to sleep tonight until I've stood in a line that nearly traverses the earth and purchased my new whatchamacallit.
Now over the last few years, we've all seen the rise in smart amplifiers. These are the ones that have all the DSP built in so that we don't have to buy super expensive drive systems and we no longer have to lug that pesky drive rack around with us. I'm a huge supporter of these. Bottom line is, they make my job easier. As I've stated before, anything that saves me a little work is all right by me.
Herein lies the problem: With all that special stuff in the amp, the price has driven up right along with all those awesome new features. And in some instances, you have to be some sort of an IT genius to talk to all these amps at the same time. These things have made it harder for the little guy, or the band that owns their own PA, to jump on this bandwagon.
In steps our good friends over at Crown. They have very successfully made smart amps that have just enough DSP to get the job and remain mostly affordable. Big thumbs up to these guys. Even still, some of this DSP still requires a computer to use, and the price, while significantly cheaper than most, is still kinda pricey to the smaller people. So Crown has decided to one-up themselves and make the XLS DriveCore series of amps. For this particular review, I got to look at the 2500 series. This happens to be the biggest one of the bunch.
The Gear
I usually like to start out by looking at the back of the box and seeing what key features the manufacturer is trying to sell me. On the back, I found the power rating, which at 775w at 4 ohms, is fairly respectable. Especially for the price. Also, the addition of their patented PureBand crossover and Peakx limiters were the key points on the cardboard.
Crack the box open, and you are greeted by a rather sexy-looking 2-space amplifier. Now when I was a kid, my dad worked at a large chain auto repair shop. In the front office, we had these display car batteries that were missing the guts. If you didn't know they were empty, you were liable to throw it through the ceiling when you picked it up. I tell this story because that exactly what happened to me when I picked the XLS 2500 up. I nearly threw it in the air, because for all the power that it packs, it weighs in at a meager 10.75lbs. Yes, most of us have done something in the toilet that weighed more than that. Holy smokes, in bridge mono at 4 ohms, this guy delivers me 2400W of power for 10.75lbs.
A few other things before we get into the gigs. All of the DSP is accessed through the front panel of the amp with ease. I find this to be key when it is being used by a possibly lesser-qualified person. A simple scroll of the menu will allow you to engage the Peakx limiter. Now this limiter is on or off, and it is a clip limiter. Not the most intuitive limiter ever, but it provides great protection to the device and the speakers that is extremely easy to use. Keep scrolling through the menu and you will find four different PureBand crossovers. You have crossover mode that gives you one low channel and one high channel. The filter is selectable in 1/12th octave increments, all the way up to 3KHz. The next mode would give both channels a LPF. Next is both channels a HPF. And last is bridge mode, with either LPF or HPF.
Again, all these functions are very user-friendly and accessed via the front panel. While I wouldn't try to use this amp on a rig that was in an arena, I believe that it would find a very good home in either a house of worship or with a small soundco. I want to lean on the H.O.W. area for a minute. Most of us know that a lot of smaller churches have small budgets, and the PA is, more often than not, run by a volunteer. All that said, the church wants to embrace the new technology and have the ease and reliability of newer equipment, BUT it has to be easy to use and cost-effective at the same time.
The Gigs
I know this is getting a little long, so we have to throw in the Gig. Due to the fact that I think this amp is very well-suited to H.O.W., that is exactly where I used it. Over the course of a month, I used and abused it in various ways around the church. I started by using it on the wedges that are by my podium. I already use an XTi amp on them, so I'm well-aware of my crossover points and such. I very easily laid them in, turned on the limiters and turned ‘em up. I used them there for a whole Sunday with no noticeable difference. Granted, I had no EQ built into the amp, so I had to do a little work on the graph, but that was an easy-enough hurdle. So after test one, I made it through a Sunday on an amp that was half the price of the one that I normally use and no one was aware that I made a change.
I will admit that my Pastor's wedge isn't usually very loud, so I didn't exercise the amp that hard. My next test was to put it on subs in the room that our youth meet in. To me, this was the real test – amp in bridge mono at 4 ohms, being driven by a bunch of teenagers that just want it loud. Again, through the front panel, I engage the LPFs to crossover the subs, engaged the limiter, and let her rip. I will start by saying that at the end of a week, the amp and all my speakers are still alive. But it didn't quite have the output that I was looking for. I don't say this in a bad way – the room is fair-sized, and I knew going in that the amp would be at a disadvantage. All this considered, the only one who noticed the difference was me, and this is pretty common in the church realm. So after using it for a variety of functions and letting teenagers try to destroy it, the amp survived. For the price, I have no complaints.
I do not believe that every soundco should run out and by a pallet of XLS amps. But if you are a House of Worship or a band that is looking for an amp that has onboard DSP, respectable power, and a competitive price tag, then this is your amp. Big ups to Crown for going above to give us bang for the buck in this day and age.
Crown XLS DriveCore 2500
What It Is: Lightweight power amp with built-in DSP
Who It's For: Soundco's and venues that need a lot of bang for the buck
Pros: Super light weight. All DSP parameters accessible from front panel. Respectable power output. Volunteer-friendly for the H.O.W. market.
Cons: None.
How Much: MSRP: XLS1000, $499; XLS1500, $699; XLS2000, $899; XLS2500, $1,099.
