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A power amplifier is the hire for when the speakers are fine but nothing is driving them. The Crown XLi 1500 is a two-channel amp that takes a line feed from your mixer on XLR or phono and puts 330 watts a channel into 8 ohm passive boxes, one box per side. Switched to bridge mode it puts 900 watts into a single passive sub. It hires at £20 per day, dry or with a technician.
Most calls for a power amp start the same way: the speakers are fine, the amp is not. A village hall with a decent pair of installed boxes and a dead amplifier in the cupboard. A school with passive wedges and nothing to drive them. A band with a passive sub and a blown channel. The XLi 1500 is the straightforward answer, a two-channel Crown amplifier that takes the line output from your mixer and puts real power into passive speakers.
The figures, in plain terms. Into ordinary 8 ohm boxes it delivers 330 watts a channel with both channels driven, so one amp drives two speakers, a pair of mains or a pair of wedges. Put two 8 ohm boxes on each channel and the load becomes 4 ohms a side, which the amp is rated for at 450 watts a channel, shared between the pair, so four boxes across a wide stage is fine at a lower level per box. Below 4 ohms a side is not. In bridge mode the whole amp becomes a single channel at 900 watts into 8 ohms, which is the proper way to drive one passive sub. If you want mains and monitors driven separately, ask for a second amp when you book rather than stretching one.
Connections are simple. Inputs are electronically balanced XLR and phono, so any mixer will feed it, with switchable sensitivity to suit pro and consumer kit. Outputs are speakON sockets and binding posts, which means jack-wired speakers are no problem: tell us what is on your end of the leads and we will send cables made up to match. Speaker cable itself is on our cable page and worth taking seriously, because a long thin run wastes the power you are hiring. On the front there are level controls and signal and clip lights for each channel, and behind them protection against shorts, open loads and switch-on thumps.
Practically, it is a 2U rack unit weighing 12.7kg, fan cooled, running from a standard 13A socket on UK mains. Sit it on a table beside the mixer or ask for it in a rack case. The fans are modest but real, so keep it out of the quietest corner of an acoustic show.
One honest caveat. If the whole PA is missing rather than just the amp, building up from an amplifier and hired passive boxes is rarely the simplest route. Our powered speakers and PA packages carry their amplification inside, with less wiring and no matching to get wrong. This page is for when good passive speakers are already in the room and just need driving.
See whether this is free for your dates. This is an indication from our current bookings, not a reservation.
Alto powered speakers — powered tops that skip the amplifier entirely — simpler when the whole PA is missing.
| Manufacturer and model | Crown XLi 1500 |
|---|---|
| Type | Two-channel power amplifier |
| Power at 8 ohms | 330W per channel, both channels driven |
| Power at 4 ohms | 450W per channel, both channels driven |
| Bridged mono | 900W into 8 ohms |
| Inputs | Electronically balanced XLR and phono (RCA), switchable 0.775V or 1.4V sensitivity |
| Outputs | speakON and binding posts |
| Frequency response | 20Hz to 20kHz, +0/-1dB at 1 watt |
| Signal to noise | Better than 100dB, A-weighted |
| Cooling | Forced air |
| Mains | 230-240V 50/60Hz, IEC inlet, standard UK 13A socket |
| Rack size | 2U |
| Dimensions | 483 x 89 x 315 (W x H x D) |
| Weight | 12.7 |
Almost certainly, if they are passive. Most installed and portable passive boxes are 8 ohms and rated somewhere between 150 and 500 watts, and 330 watts a channel sits comfortably in that range. Send us the make and model printed on the back of your speakers and we will say straight away whether this amp suits them, and at what settings.
One box per channel is the clean answer, so a pair. You can put two 8 ohm boxes on each channel, making four in all, and the amp is rated for the 4 ohm load that creates, though each box gets a smaller share of the power. Do not go below 4 ohms a side, and in bridge mode drive a single 8 ohm load only. If you are not sure what your boxes are, tell us and we will do the sums.
No. The amp's outputs are speakON sockets and binding posts, and we will make up leads to match whatever is on your speakers: speakON, jack or bare ends. Say what you have when you book. One caution: a jack speaker lead looks identical to a guitar lead but is built differently, and a guitar lead is not made to carry this much power. Use the leads we send, or check yours are genuine speaker cable.
Look at the back of your boxes. If each speaker has its own mains lead and volume control, it is powered and does not need this amplifier. If it only has a speaker connector, it is passive and this is the right hire. And if there are no speakers at all, start from our powered speakers or PA packages rather than building up from an amp: fewer boxes, less wiring, easier matching.
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£350 / day
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Tops, subs, stands and cabling — a complete PA for bigger halls.
£70 / day
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Two speakers, stands and a mixer for classrooms and small halls.
£25 / day
View & check datesSee the rest of our pa system hire stock, or browse everything available to hire.
Tell us the venue, the dates and what the show needs, and we will confirm availability.
Call 0333 404 0621, email sales@1stintheatre.co.uk, or send us the details of your production.
Related: Theatre production · Dance shows · Live events · Venue support · Production toolkit
