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Crown XTI 2000 issue


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Crown XtI 2000 that's used to power two monitors per channel in a Classic Rock band. We normally run the attenuators on the amp at around 11 o'clock. While testing the other night, the channel 2 monitors got very loud, this continued even when the attenuator was turned all the way down! Both channels are sent the same signal....plug into 1 and link over to 2. We don't use any processing and the DSP is off. After several hours of testing in my garage the volume of channel 2 started to fluctuate a bit and then seemed to max out even when turned down. The sound quality seems fine although I have to drastically reduce the input to that channel. Note sure what's up but it seems a service is in order. I bought the amp used about 2 yrs ago and it been trouble free until now.

 

Thoughts?

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I contacted Crown and they said the minimum charge to service the amp would be $240 with a max charge of $350. I think I'd buy a new amp before I'd stick that much cash into an 8 year old amp. I did remove the cover and unplugged and reseated the ribbon cable. Ran the amp issue free for several hours but at far below gig levels. I have several weeks before our next show so I'll continue the testing and have a plan for new amp purchase. I'm thinking a GX3 or 5 would be perfect as we never used any of the processing in the XTI.

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I purchased a few of these amps when they first came out. If you search out old posts on audio forums you will find that Crown had a bit of trouble with the first release of the amp. Channels cutting in and out, intermittant distortion, and noise. It ended up being related to a bad batch of front display boards which has the gain encoders and a ribbon cable on them. When Crown finally replaced these boards my problems stoped and the amps continue to function properly - with the exception of a few bugs in the firmware that show up under some specific scenarios.

 

If you could get yer hands on a good front board, that MIGHT solve your issue without an expensive factory repair. It is an easy swap if that is indeed the culprit.

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Only 88? I long for such cool weather! Not sayin' I don't love summer and hate winters here. But we're in heat wave #5 of the summer. Whew!!!

 

Glad the amp seems to be okay. As mentioned prior, I get nervous about the possibility of it having a total meltdown, but since Crown is still willing to repair (more likely replace with reconditioned) for a fixed rate, and since that rate is worth more than the amp, there's little to lose at this point.

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I purchased a few of these amps when they first came out. If you search out old posts on audio forums you will find that Crown had a bit of trouble with the first release of the amp. Channels cutting in and out, intermittant distortion, and noise. It ended up being related to a bad batch of front display boards which has the gain encoders and a ribbon cable on them. When Crown finally replaced these boards my problems stoped and the amps continue to function properly - with the exception of a few bugs in the firmware that show up under some specific scenarios.

 

If you could get yer hands on a good front board, that MIGHT solve your issue without an expensive factory repair. It is an easy swap if that is indeed the culprit.

 

I own four XTI4000 amps that I use in amp racks. I purchased all of them as used and they are the first generation Crown xti amps. I have been using them for several years with no issues other than one unit's fan staying on all of the time but it's in my "long throw rack" thus the fan noise is not noticeable.

 

After I had purchased the amps all of the "ribbon cable issues" came out. I called Crown, gave them the serial #'s of the units, and Crown sent me four replacement LED display / ribbon cable assemblies at no cost to me. I popped them in and my amps have been bullet-proof to date.

 

Contact Crown and they will send you the same.

 

Mike M

 

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I own four XTI4000 amps that I use in amp racks. I purchased all of them as used and they are the first generation Crown xti amps. I have been using them for several years with no issues other than one unit's fan staying on all of the time but it's in my "long throw rack" thus the fan noise is not noticeable.

 

After I had purchased the amps all of the "ribbon cable issues" came out. I called Crown, gave them the serial #'s of the units, and Crown sent me four replacement LED display / ribbon cable assemblies at no cost to me. I popped them in and my amps have been bullet-proof to date.

 

Contact Crown and they will send you the same.

 

Mike M

 

Mike: from my post, "When Crown finally replaced these boards my problems stoped and the amps continue to function properly - with the exception of a few bugs in the firmware that show up under some specific scenarios."

 

The thing is that when these amps first came out a percentage of them started malfunctioning right away - in my case - Crown was reluctant to do much until it was abundantly clear to them that they had a defect batch on their hands. Shipping amps back and forth to diagnose/find intermittant problems gets old real quick. NOW, they will just send you a board, but not then.

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  • 5 months later...
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Follow up......after re-seating the ribbon cable my Crown XTI2000 worked fine for about 6-8 more shows and then wham......full volume from channel 2 that was uncontrollable by the attenuator. Of course this happened 2 songs into our first set of the night....arrrg! Called Crown service again and inquired about a new front board and cable. The tech said it did sound like a problem that a new board and cable might solve ($68 + $18 s/h). I pressed as to whether this was a recall situation and asked about getting sent a free board and cable and the response was that the original problem was only in a few early production models and that mine came out later in the affected year.....hmmmm? Seems like a simple DIY swap and $86 is more up my ally then sending it in and getting charged $300. They did mention that there's no warranty on the replacement board. Do I spend the cash and see what happens, use the amp around the house, or find an application where I need just the one channel? I have been using the amp in my jam room for several weeks and haven't been able to get it to fail. It's more amp than I really need (which I like) but I wonder about throwing good money after bad. That same $86 gets me a third of the way to a new GX3 which would probably be perfect for our situation. Mind you its heavier and can only handle 2 monitors (4 ohms) per channel. Thoughts?

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Once a bad amp always a bad amp. Let me ask you this....do you want the slightest chance of another arggggghh moment? or when there's a super oops and it toasts a couple drivers? I had an XTI once, worst amplifier experience I ever had. If you knew that was the proper fix, it would be a good investment but it sounds like your just throwing parts at a problem your not quite sure it will fix. Don't forget the time you are putting into this either. Time is money!

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If you decide you're going to replace the board..................at least reflow the top-side solder joints for the affect channel's pot (R73 or R74).

 

I'm not sure, since I can't actually FIND the pots on the schematic (only the wipers) ...... but I think the pots are set up as voltage dividers, with the wiper setting the ratio. If either pin 1 or pin 3 of the pot is not connected properly, you will get a barely-attenuated signal into the first op-amp (U5-B) ... and this signal might be out of phase with the other channel!!

 

This circuit is not all that complex, but servicing it without tools for working with SMT is probably a non-starter.

 

Another option you might have is to just verify that the two channels are in phase and run channel 1 wide open also.

 

Caveat: I am neither experienced, nor a tech. If you're not comfortable potentially ruining your hardware, don't listen to me.

 

Wes

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I for one tend to repair older gear if it still has some "wear" left in it, however, in your case it would be a toss-up.

If it were me I'd call Crown and pressure them again about the ribbon cable issue...

Did you give crown your serial # and have them look it up?

 

(I had emailed Crown the serial #'s of my 4 units [yes, I have four of these] and Crown sent the ribbon cable / front panels no questions asked.)

 

Since the ribbon cable issue came out a few years ago crown may feel that if there was (or IS) a production issue it should have become evident a while ago.

 

If you want, PM me and I'll send you the serial # of one of my units (that crown said was one of the affected units)...... now if crown says that unit was manufactured after the defect was discovered.....well then there is an issue with service......

 

The above would be a good experiment in human nature.....

 

 

FWIW There seems to be quite a few Crown XTI amps available on the used market in your state http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/search/msa?query=crown. I have a couple of them. They are light (11lbs.) and do the job for me. I have not heard any complaints about them.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
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Have used the amp in my jam room (not close to gig levels) for a month since the last issue and haven't been able to get it to fail in a similar manner. (or at all) Can I circumvent the problem with the Channel 2 attenuator passing a full level signal inadvertently by using the DSP and routing the input through the Y setting thus only using the input and attenuator from channel 1 but still getting output from both channels?

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  • 2 years later...
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Has it really been 2.5 years? So, one of my "works fine ever since" XTi 2000 amps developed a funny little thing yesterday.

 

After booting up, the input display thinks it has an input even though it does not. Front panel LED tree flickers like a low/moderate level input.

 

Nothing even plugged into the amp at all. Shows up in System Architect display as well. Other than that the amp functions normal.

 

Anyone else see this on their old XTi amps?

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After booting up, the input display thinks it has an input even though it does not. Front panel LED tree flickers like a low/moderate level input.

 

Possibly a dirty contact on the input switch / sensor? That's the first thing I'd check. Try cleaning the input jacks with some DeOxit and see if that fixes it.

 

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