# Help W/Crown xls1500 Hook Up



## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

I just purchased a crown xls 1500 to push my Paradigm 100's v3. With that being said I'm needing help on the best way to hook this up and what mode to put it on. I need to know what cables do I need and what mode should I use for these 2 speakers and what default setting should i use for the dials on front of the amp? Do I need to set these speakers as SMALL at 80hz in the Denon configuration since I'll be using 2 subs?


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

The amp should be in stereo mode for your application. Not sure what the confusion is on connecting the amp to your receiver – the Crown has RCA inputs. You can let your receiver do the high pass filtering. As far as gain control settings, level-match the Crown to your receiver. You can find an explanation on how to do that in Part 8 of my gain structure article, which can be found in my signature.

Regards,
Wayne


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## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

Bare with me on this since this is my time trying to use an external amp. I get how it goes to the AVR with RCA cables. As far as the modes I'm referring to are Bridge or Crossover, High Pass or Low Pass. These speakers are 4 ohm and not sure what is the suggested way to set this amp up for these speakers. I've attached the manual. 

http://www.crownaudio.com/media/pdf/amps/142169-1_XLS3_MultilingualManual_032410.pdf


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## Insearchof (Oct 21, 2014)

At the top of page 4 in the manual: Stereo Bypass Mode (supposedly this is the default mode)

This bypasses the available built in crossover function. 
You most likely would only want to bridge the amp if you were running one amp per speaker.

I would try different crossover settings in your Denon and decide what sounds best to your ear. You may find 60hz suits your ear and speaker better. Or lower/higher. 
I personally have never liked an 80hz crossover for any speaker unless it was a smallish bookshelf or I didn't have enough power to truly drive larger speakers.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

As Insearchof indicated, there’s no good reason to use it in any mode but straight stereo. Your receiver can handle all the high- and low-pass filtering.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

Insearchof said:


> At the top of page 4 in the manual: Stereo Bypass Mode (supposedly this is the default mode)
> 
> This bypasses the available built in crossover function.
> You most likely would only want to bridge the amp if you were running one amp per speaker.
> ...


I currently did the Denon calibration now that my 2 subs are connected along with ext amp to my mains. What's your experience with some of the settings for the subwoofer? After the calibration it set my sub levels at - 8.0db which I changed it to - 3.0 which gave me more bass. Then in the LFE settings it has it set at 120hz. I know every room is different and other people's system sound different I just wanted to run this by someone who knows more about these settings to make sure I'm setup correctly.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

You'll want to leave the lfe setting at 120hz. This refers to what it allows from the LFE track of movies which has content from 0-120hz. This has no effect on music since there isn't an actual LFE track in the music which is recorded in 2.0 Not 5/7.1 This is different than than the crossover which redirects bass below the XO point from the other speakers to the sub.


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## Insearchof (Oct 21, 2014)

bernch5 said:


> I currently did the Denon calibration now that my 2 subs are connected along with ext amp to my mains. What's your experience with some of the settings for the subwoofer? After the calibration it set my sub levels at - 8.0db which I changed it to - 3.0 which gave me more bass. Then in the LFE settings it has it set at 120hz. I know every room is different and other people's system sound different I just wanted to run this by someone who knows more about these settings to make sure I'm setup correctly.


What model Denon are you using? What is the size of your room? What subs?
As far as sub levels:
You may want to lower the level on each sub's amp and rerun the calibration until you get closer to +/- 3db on the receiver. From there, you can adjust the sub level in the receiver to suit your ear. 
That being said, your sub levels have a lot to do with placement within the room, the size of the room and their overall capability.
Even 2 great subs in less than ideal locations within the room may need to be run hotter to suit your ear, music/movie type. 
If it's a huge space that makes placement even more crucial. 
And...sometimes, calibrations just don't sound right. YPAO has never produced the sound I'm looking for. I run it for a baseline and adjust accordingly to suit my needs.
With the speakers you have, I would leave the speakers set to small and try setting your crossover at 60hz as a starting point. I probably wouldn't want to run your Paradigms at 80hz.


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## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

Insearchof said:


> What model Denon are you using? What is the size of your room? What subs?
> As far as sub levels:
> You may want to lower the level on each sub's amp and rerun the calibration until you get closer to +/- 3db on the receiver. From there, you can adjust the sub level in the receiver to suit your ear.
> That being said, your sub levels have a lot to do with placement within the room, the size of the room and their overall capability.
> ...


Denon x4000, 8hx24.5wx29d wide open, Rythmik lv12f. Speakers are currently set to small with 80hz, I'll try 60hz.


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## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

Insearchof said:


> What model Denon are you using? What is the size of your room? What subs?
> As far as sub levels:
> You may want to lower the level on each sub's amp and rerun the calibration until you get closer to +/- 3db on the receiver. From there, you can adjust the sub level in the receiver to suit your ear.
> That being said, your sub levels have a lot to do with placement within the room, the size of the room and their overall capability.
> ...


When I start the calibration process it has me turning up the subs gain to about 1 o'clock to reach the - 75 dB it's asking for. So do I ignore that setting and turn the gain lower?


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## Insearchof (Oct 21, 2014)

bernch5 said:


> When I start the calibration process it has me turning up the subs gain to about 1 o'clock to reach the - 75 dB it's asking for. So do I ignore that setting and turn the gain lower?


When you set the gains on the subs at 1:00 to hit the 75db for calibrating, it sets them to -8db in the receiver upon calibration completion?
If so, I'm betting your going to have to adjust the subs manually after calibration like you did previously.
Something isn't adding up there.
I'd try a bunch of your favorite music and movie passages after calibration to find the best setting on the receiver for the sub levels. You mentioned - 3db earlier - That may be a good base line to test with.
I find that I generally turn my subs down in the receiver for movies and up a bit for music. -3db for movies is my usual and +1db for music. It varies based on the movie/music type for me and whether my wife is home or not.


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## willis7469 (Jan 31, 2014)

Fwiw, my LFE level ends up at -9 in the AVR. (IIRC) I set my first sub at 70, turn it off and set the second one for 70, turn it off and set the 3rd one at 70. This results in 78b collectively. (I've done it enough to know those are good baseline numbers. Yours may be slightly different). I wouldn't worry about being close to "0". I like it in the minus area so I can have some room to boost if I like. Once you get into the +, you can introduce distortion into the signal. (Sub manufacturer told me that). As far as calibration, I'd run it, and manually adjust later. Moving the level won't change the internal EQ done by the AVR. That's the important part. You can go back and trim the AVR up to -3 and turn the knob down to measure 75 if that makes you happier.


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## bernch5 (May 31, 2013)

Insearchof said:


> When you set the gains on the subs at 1:00 to hit the 75db for calibrating, it sets them to -8db in the receiver upon calibration completion?
> If so, I'm betting your going to have to adjust the subs manually after calibration like you did previously.
> Something isn't adding up there.
> I'd try a bunch of your favorite music and movie passages after calibration to find the best setting on the receiver for the sub levels. You mentioned - 3db earlier - That may be a good base line to test with.
> I find that I generally turn my subs down in the receiver for movies and up a bit for music. -3db for movies is my usual and +1db for music. It varies based on the movie/music type for me and whether my wife is home or not.


The - 8 is after the calibration is completed. I didn't know I could check the level they currently reading during this step.


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