Amplifier Recommendation for 2245H's?

[DerekTheGreat]

Hello everyone!

I've got a pair of B460 clones and am in need of an amplifier to drive them. I had two Crown K1's bridged, but they're both dead now. (The one started adding noise and the other still works, but at reduced output? ) I'm thinking I need at least 600 watts, but would love to find something in the 800 watt or better club. Also under advisement that the K1's weren't ideal, not actually high current. That a proper amp rated at 600 watts or so could do the same job if not better. I say that because I was thinking of having the K1's repaired or purchasing two K2's. I was very happy with the K series until they started to fail me, spectacular on sub duty and the system was producing the best and most enjoyable bass I've ever experienced.. I thought and was hoping I wouldn't need the power of a K1 bridged, but with the BX63A in place I occasionally saw clip lights on them. Looks like I'm a bit of an SPL junkie after all..

Anyway, what would you fine folks recommend I drive my 2245H's with? Even though I saw Amir's review on an Emotiva XPA-DR2 (here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...plifier.25067/) and it's distortion "spray" I'm still thinking it could be a viable solution? 550 watts a side and no fan.... What about the Crown XTI series? Thinking a 6002 looks good on paper. Came across a thread somewhere else where a fella used a 4002 bridged to run a single 2245H. Isn't bridging a bad idea in general though?

Thank you for your time,

Derek

[hjames]

I've been running my B460 with a HK Citation 22, bridged to Mono. I Think I figured that puts it somewhere near 600 watts.
Been using it for nearly 10 years overall, with full bass and no problems. (I had used it with a JBL 4641 18" sub previous to getting the B460 about 5 years ago)

Hello everyone!

I've got a pair of B460 clones and am in need of an amplifier to drive them. I had two Crown K1's bridged, but they're both dead now. (The one started adding noise and the other still works, but at reduced output? ) I'm thinking I need at least 600 watts, but would love to find something in the 800 watt or better club. Also under advisement that the K1's weren't ideal, not actually high current. That a proper amp rated at 600 watts or so could do the same job if not better. I say that because I was thinking of having the K1's repaired or purchasing two K2's. I was very happy with the K series until they started to fail me, spectacular on sub duty and the system was producing the best and most enjoyable bass I've ever experienced.. I thought and was hoping I wouldn't need the power of a K1 bridged, but with the BX63A in place I occasionally saw clip lights on them. Looks like I'm a bit of an SPL junkie after all..

Anyway, what would you fine folks recommend I drive my 2245H's with? Even though I saw Amir's review on an Emotiva XPA-DR2 (here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/f...plifier.25067/) and it's distortion "spray" I'm still thinking it could be a viable solution? 550 watts a side and no fan.... What about the Crown XTI series? Thinking a 6002 looks good on paper. Came across a thread somewhere else where a fella used a 4002 bridged to run a single 2245H. Isn't bridging a bad idea in general though?

Thank you for your time,

Derek

[rusty jefferson]

Hello everyone!
. ..That a proper amp rated at 600 watts or so could do the same job if not better...

That's gotta be 600 @ 8 ohms, not 4 ohms. Many amps (especially Class D) drop their impedance to 4 ohms if bridged. I have found, as a general rule, bridging amplifiers adds noise.

[christo]

What about the Crown XTI series? Thinking a 6002 looks good on paper. Came across a thread somewhere else where a fella used a 4002 bridged to run a single 2245H. Isn't bridging a bad idea in general though?

Thank you for your time,

Derek

I use a Crown XTi 4002 for my SUB18s and have used it for 2245s in my DIY 4345s works fine - more than loud enough!

Now if you could only find new Crown amps...

[rusty jefferson]

...What about the Crown XTI series? Thinking a 6002 looks good on paper. Came across a thread somewhere else where a fella used a 4002 bridged to run a single 2245H. Isn't bridging a bad idea in general though?

Thank you for your time,

Derek

https://www.audioheritage.org/vbulle...own-Xti-series

[DerekTheGreat]

Thank you for all the responses! I appreciate the input. Incase people don't want to read through my long winded reply, what about the Emotiva XPA-DR2? Tempting due me being able to purchase new and their lack of fans plus >500 watt output.

I use a Crown XTi 4002 for my SUB18s and have used it for 2245s in my DIY 4345s works fine - more than loud enough!

Now if you could only find new Crown amps...

https://www.audioheritage.org/vbulle...own-Xti-series

Hmm, mixed bag on the Xti series. Shacard wasn't happy with his Xti 1000, replaced it with a Crest 8001. Monster amp, claims to lay down 720 watts @ 8 ohms stereo. Now to find one for sale locally..

Seems Xti model numbers which don't end in "2" are made in the U.S. I'm tempted to try a Xti 4000, but those seem to have been for China only and the ones I've seen for sale aren't working correctly. So that puts me at the 6000. That thing is rated for 1200 watts into 8 ohms, but I can't find Crown's official literature for it or anything x000, only x002.. Also, how loud are the fans on the Xti series???

Looks like the x002 series are still being made, which makes the ones at the wattage point I'd need unaffordable for now. However, that Emotiva XPA-DR2 is affordable. More so to me because it's also new. I'm finally starting to get tired of buying old amps and then being disappointed by them. The only "old" amps I've purchased and owned long term and pushed to their clip limits without failure have been the Adcoms I bought. Those things have had to stand in for inferior products more than I thought they would've, despite all the hate/skepticism there is for them. (GFA-555II's)

That's gotta be 600 @ 8 ohms, not 4 ohms. Many amps (especially Class D) drop their impedance to 4 ohms if bridged. I have found, as a general rule, bridging amplifiers adds noise.

I recall our conversation on this, but I'm still struggling with it because how does the amplifier drop it's impedance? Isn't impedance dictated by the load (speaker) placed in the electrical path? That's the way I was taught to understand it, anyway. And of all the amplifiers I've looked at, I go straight for the 8 ohm ratings, bridged or stereo. When I was running my XPL's, those were 6 ohm nominal, so I just made some approximation between the 4 & 8 ohm rating of the amplifiers I was running with them.

[rusty jefferson]

...I recall our conversation on this, but I'm still struggling with it because how does the amplifier drop it's impedance? Isn't impedance dictated by the load (speaker) placed in the electrical path?...

Poor wording on my part. The amplifier impedance doesn't drop, but the impedance the amplifier needs to see to give its maximum rated output may drop when bridged. The Crown K-1 amplifiers were a good example. 350 watts per channel @ 8 ohms, 1500 watts bridged @ 4 ohms. No rating for bridged @ 8 ohms. They don't say because it may still only be 350 watts @ 8 ohms, or maybe 450. That's not going to help sell amplifiers. The K-1 also list those power numbers @ 1khz, not 20hz or 20hz-20khz.

The Emotiva doesn't look like a good full range amplifier but would probably do sub duty fine and avoid the fan....if you think it's enough power and you can run it balanced. The S/N ratio is awful running single ended. If you were clipping the K-1 @ 350 watts per, you need twice the power (700 watts) to get just 3db more SPL all things being equal, but a stouter (than the K-1) 700 watt per channel amp will likely give you more than 3db of headroom over the K-1.

[BMWCCA]

You all must play your music really loud!!

While I don't use 2245H as a sub, I do run them properly crossed-over in my 4345 clones. As I was told by my speaker's original owner, the motor for the 2245 is the same as that in the 2235 and doesn't take a lot of power to drive it. Mine are in a bi-amp system crossed at 290Hz and powered by a Crown PL-400 rated at 190 WPC at 8-ohms in stereo mode. I also have a Crown Studio Reference-II but I've never felt compelled to use it in this system because I've never seen the IOC lamps of the PS-400 ever even flicker. The Studio Reference shows a rated output of 355 watts-per-channel in stereo mode at 8-ohms.

[Ian Mackenzie]

You all must play your music really loud!!

While I don't use 2245H as a sub, I do run them properly crossed-over in my 4345 clones. As I was told by my speaker's original owner, the motor for the 2245 is the same as that in the 2235 and doesn't take a lot of power to drive it. Mine are in a bi-amp system crossed at 290Hz and powered by a Crown PL-400 rated at 190 WPC at 8-ohms in stereo mode. I also have a Crown Studio Reference-II but I've never felt compelled to use it in this system because I've never seen the IOC lamps of the PS-400 ever even flicker. The Studio Reference shows a rated output of 355 watts-per-channel in stereo mode at 8-ohms.

Hi Phil,

In your situation l am sure you have more than enough power. I rarely use more than 25% of my amps output for most of my listening. Those Crown amps are great btw. A love the older Crown amps.

In the case of the B460 subwoofer the bass response is boosted by 6 db (4x the power) at 26 hertz when used with the Jbl BX63 crossover it comes with to produce a flat output at full power down to 25 hertz. That needs real horsepower. I have seen a 300 watt amp shut down running a B460. It overheated. The whole room was pressurised and my jeans were resonating along with my balls …Lol.

As the crossover for the B460 is below 80 hertz all the power is focused on bass transients like bass guitar, drums, synthesiser and the like and for low frequency effects in Home Theatre use. So it’s very intense on a power amp particularly if the user likes loud bass.

From my point of view that would account for the higher amplifier power rating above.

Horses for courses.

[short_circutz2]

Hmm, mixed bag on the Xti series. Shacard wasn't happy with his Xti 1000, replaced it with a Crest 8001. Monster amp, claims to lay down 720 watts @ 8 ohms stereo. Now to find one for sale locally..Seems Xti model numbers which don't end in "2" are made in the U.S. I'm tempted to try a Xti 4000, but those seem to have been for China only and the ones I've seen for sale aren't working correctly. So that puts me at the 6000. That thing is rated for 1200 watts into 8 ohms, but I can't find Crown's official literature for it or anything x000, only x002.. Also, how loud are the fans on the Xti series???Looks like the x002 series are still being made, which makes the ones at the wattage point I'd need unaffordable for now. However, that Emotiva XPA-DR2 is affordable. More so to me because it's also new. I'm finally starting to get tired of buying old amps and then being disappointed by them. The only "old" amps I've purchased and owned long term and pushed to their clip limits without failure have been the Adcoms I bought. Those things have had to stand in for inferior products more than I thought they would've, despite all the hate/skepticism there is for them. (GFA-555II's)

XTI x000 series, specifically the XTI 4000 you mention were the first series of XTI amps and WERE available in Canada and the US. I live in Canada and have an XTI 4000. We sold it new to a friend to power the subs he was using in his pa at the time when his CE2000 died. (my late father was the Soundcraft Canada dealer here for over 20 years until his passing 4 years ago), then I purchased it off the friend when he switched over to his PRX system. It has low hours on it.