I just picked up a used 1502 to drive a set of Acoustat 2+2 electrostatics, and I'm pleasantly surprised as well. It really does make the high wattage power amplifier market have a massive law of diminishing returns -- especially for low sensitivity loudspeakers.
That grainy tinty kind of sound that you got with the Crown and the Heritage is exactly what I got with this Crown and the original LRS and the 1.7i so have the Crown for sale. I also had audible hiss with them on the maggies. One reviewer mentioned that the possible grainy tinty sound might be from the unit doing some internal processing over just amplification and others have mentioned that the Crown A/B amps sound better than these D amps because they don't have that DSP going on like with the 2505. I loved the clarity of the 2502 at first and the super tight punchy bass response and headroom from all that power, but after about a year of use they started to show their shortcomings and that digital graininess was not tolerable. Surprisingly, the cheap little Fosi ZA3 and the V3 Monos both beat out the Crown in refinement for half the price and no where near the same power, plus no hiss or graininess like on the Crown. But even the Fosi feels like a bit of a bottleneck in my rig so looking at upgrading soon.
@@michaelcampbell9459 thanks for sharing. I saw the Fosi and it sure seems like a bargain. The thing about the Crown for me is it sounds like silk with my LRS Plus and I absolutely love it. The Heritage are super sensitive and I’m comparing it to the ST70 which is mainly used with the Heresy and that’s already silky. Sorry to hear about the bottleneck issue.
This is a perfect video for me at the moment. I’m about to order the Nobsound volume control in lieu of a “real” preamp with a Pereaux power amp I got at a yard sale. So I’m gonna study your comments closely. 😊 Thx
When you are using the Crown, eliminate the Douk volume control altogether. The Crown has it's own controls conveniently on the front, unlike the Parasound, and you eliminate a pair of cables, a second attenuator and less hardware (jacks). Just from a " keep it simple" perspective. My best, always, MrD.
@@danshapiro1195 I asked this question to the seller and he says you’re not supposed to use the volume controls, which is kind of odd to me. The other thing is, I thought it might be convenient to just rotate one knob.
Those are gain controls not volume controls. Depending on the source voltage you can easily clip the signal which is why it’s not recommended to use them as attenuators
The forums are saying 80Hz or 100Hz cut offs. I believe that 100 would be better after looking at the speakers slope at the bottom end, but either will be better. Of course, you will need to change the subs crossover to blend it right. Try both, and let us know
@@mbunaa actually the Jeff Rolland’s all had serious heating issues driving Magnepan. We tried all of them even in mono and had issues. They were unable to drive them properly..
I just picked up a used 1502 to drive a set of Acoustat 2+2 electrostatics, and I'm pleasantly surprised as well.
It really does make the high wattage power amplifier market have a massive law of diminishing returns -- especially for low sensitivity loudspeakers.
@@drgjs I agree I’m amazed how good the 1502 is really a great tiny investment with huge outcome
Look forward to you trying the built in crossover and low level input with the Rel..
That grainy tinty kind of sound that you got with the Crown and the Heritage is exactly what I got with this Crown and the original LRS and the 1.7i so have the Crown for sale. I also had audible hiss with them on the maggies. One reviewer mentioned that the possible grainy tinty sound might be from the unit doing some internal processing over just amplification and others have mentioned that the Crown A/B amps sound better than these D amps because they don't have that DSP going on like with the 2505. I loved the clarity of the 2502 at first and the super tight punchy bass response and headroom from all that power, but after about a year of use they started to show their shortcomings and that digital graininess was not tolerable. Surprisingly, the cheap little Fosi ZA3 and the V3 Monos both beat out the Crown in refinement for half the price and no where near the same power, plus no hiss or graininess like on the Crown. But even the Fosi feels like a bit of a bottleneck in my rig so looking at upgrading soon.
@@michaelcampbell9459 thanks for sharing. I saw the Fosi and it sure seems like a bargain. The thing about the Crown for me is it sounds like silk with my LRS Plus and I absolutely love it. The Heritage are super sensitive and I’m comparing it to the ST70 which is mainly used with the Heresy and that’s already silky. Sorry to hear about the bottleneck issue.
This is a perfect video for me at the moment. I’m about to order the Nobsound volume control in lieu of a “real” preamp with a Pereaux power amp I got at a yard sale.
So I’m gonna study your comments closely. 😊
Thx
A tube preamplifier with the crown Works well,
When you are using the Crown, eliminate the Douk volume control altogether. The Crown has it's own controls conveniently on the front, unlike the Parasound, and you eliminate a pair of cables, a second attenuator and less hardware (jacks). Just from a " keep it simple" perspective. My best, always, MrD.
@@danshapiro1195 I asked this question to the seller and he says you’re not supposed to use the volume controls, which is kind of odd to me. The other thing is, I thought it might be convenient to just rotate one knob.
Thanks for doing this experiment. I love my LRS+, but I always wonder how they’ll sound with more power. 👍
Those are gain controls not volume controls. Depending on the source voltage you can easily clip the signal which is why it’s not recommended to use them as attenuators
@@drde4010that is correct. Those gain controls can clip the signal
@@MrBonger88 they don’t have much in the way of gain.
The forums are saying 80Hz or 100Hz cut offs. I believe that 100 would be better after looking at the speakers slope at the bottom end, but either will be better. Of course, you will need to change the subs crossover to blend it right. Try both, and let us know
Do you hear any hiss/noise from this amp? Why I'm asking, I have very sensitive speakers.
@@JezJerzy22 with my Klipsch heresy there’s a low but audible noise, but this is not conclusive because it could be something in my electrical system.
Has anyone tried these in mono configuration with the LrS +?
@@mbunaa I have not so I’m not sure how the sound signature would be, but this is plenty of power if that’s any concern
@@drde4010 Also may i ask, how does the Crown stack up against the Jeff Rowland on LRS+?
@@mbunaa actually the Jeff Rolland’s all had serious heating issues driving Magnepan. We tried all of them even in mono and had issues. They were unable to drive them properly..
@@drde4010 Wow, im surprised. Looks like i will be looking at Crown. Thank you for your thoughts.
I have a separate video that’s dedicated to the Nobsound
Yup. Saw it. This one demonstrates compatibility with amp/lrs/ options. Thx.