XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

[Grant Conklin]

Other than the faceplate and marketing, does anyone know if there are quality differences in the actual amplifier sections of these amps? Many of the specs are identical.



http://www.crownaudio.com/amps.htm

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

I believe they're all the same.



One of them is for theater installs with THX certification and JBL cinema tunings built in, another has 70 volt outputs so presumably there is a transformer in there, and the last is the barebones XTi.

 

[Ivan Beaver]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

I believe they're all the same.



One of them is for theater installs with THX certification and JBL cinema tunings built in, another has 70 volt outputs so presumably there is a transformer in there, and the last is the barebones XTi.

That is my understanding as well, just different connectors and so forth. They all run the same software so the DSP should be the same.



The different models address different market segments.

 

[Grant Conklin]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

Thanks Ivan and Silas. You helped to confirm that I'm not crazy. Not about this anyway.

 

[Mike Caldwell]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The CDi has a 70 volt option via the software that applies a 70hz high pass filter using the crossovers. I never opened one up to see if there were any physical internal differences.

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The CDi has a 70 volt option via the software that applies a 70hz high pass filter using the crossovers. I never opened one up to see if there were any physical internal differences.

All the weights are exactly the same, so there is no way there are any transformers in there.



The DSi does have some fancy 15-pin thing for theater management, but that's all I can see.

 

[David Sturzenbecher]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The cdi and dci software is set up to deal with PEQs in a slightly nicer fashion...at least it was on the firmwares about a year ago when i looked at them.



If i remember right the xti does not have type-able q or bw...you had to use the cursor... Were as the dci and cdi you could type in the parameters.

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The cdi and dci software is set up to deal with PEQs in a slightly nicer fashion...at least it was on the firmwares about a year ago when i looked at them.



If i remember right the xti does not have type-able q or bw...you had to use the cursor... Were as the dci and cdi you could type in the parameters.

The default control panels in System Architect are a bit different by default, but if you make a custom control panel all the same settings are there, and even more than they show by default.



There are 8 PEQs per channel with numerically-inputtable Q on the newer XTi control panels, but there are another 8 filters that can be further accessed if needed.

 

[Ryan Lantzy]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The CDi has a 70 volt option via the software that applies a 70hz high pass filter using the crossovers. I never opened one up to see if there were any physical internal differences.

All the weights are exactly the same, so there is no way there are any transformers in there.



The DSi does have some fancy 15-pin thing for theater management, but that's all I can see.

Silas,



The spec sheet on Crown's site does indicate that the CDi has 70V operation.



Edit, and the CDi is half a pound heavier.

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

The CDi has a 70 volt option via the software that applies a 70hz high pass filter using the crossovers. I never opened one up to see if there were any physical internal differences.

All the weights are exactly the same, so there is no way there are any transformers in there.



The DSi does have some fancy 15-pin thing for theater management, but that's all I can see.

Silas,



The spec sheet on Crown's site does indicate that the CDi has 70V operation.



Edit, and the CDi is half a pound heavier.

I think the half a pound is due to rounding, but maybe not.



And yes, the CDi has 70 volt operation, but it must do it without a transformer.

 

[David Sturzenbecher]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

I would guess this is done by simply adjusting the amplifier voltage rails to 70V... a method employed by the CTs series as well?

 

[Silas Pradetto]

Re: XTi, CDi, and DSi differences

I would guess this is done by simply adjusting the amplifier voltage rails to 70V... a method employed by the CTs series as well?

I don't know how it works, but 500W at 70V ends up being like 9 ohms, so with almost double the 8 ohm power available, something fancy is clearly going on. Perhaps with the rails decreased current increases, thereby bumping the power up to 500W?



I'm sure JR knows.