Emotiva XPR-5 & XPR-2 or Mcintosh MC8207 for my Martin Logan setup?

Hello, can't decide on which amps to get. I have Martin Logan Ethos, Stage X and 4 Motion 15's as my rears and a descent i as my sub. I have a Marantz AV8801 as my pre pro and an oppo 103. Can't decide between an Emotiva XPR-2 to drive my Ethos and an XPR-5 to drive my Stage X and the 4 motion 15's or go with the Mcintosh MC8207 to drive all the speakers. Any input would be much appreciated. I mainly will listen to home theater. Thanks.

If you're choosing between the Emotiva and the big McIntosh, I'd go with the Mac any day! It's head and shoulder above the Emo.

I have to agree with Spike

MCIntosh is the right choice

mamba24 said:

Hello, can't decide on which amps to get. I have Martin Logan Ethos, Stage X and 4 Motion 15's as my rears and a descent i as my sub. I have a Marantz AV8801 as my pre pro and an oppo 103. Can't decide between an Emotiva XPR-2 to drive my Ethos and an XPR-5 to drive my Stage X and the 4 motion 15's or go with the Mcintosh MC8207 to drive all the speakers. Any input would be much appreciated. I mainly will listen to home theater. Thanks.

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Man, I thought you said that you'd decided to go with the XPR-5 and then the XPR-2 . No one can help you decide which amp to get here but your own ears so the best is auditioning them yourself. If you ask for people's opinions here, most would tell you to get the McIntosh, including myself.

Like I said before, Emotiva amps are powerful, can handle ML speakers fine, and will serve you well for HT use. For music, they might give you a good initial impression with their headroom and power but they are not musical and engaging amps. In the long term, you will start wondering that something is missing and be on a quest for an amp again. So if you will mainly use your system for movies and occasionally listen to music and just want to play it loud, I recommend getting both XPR2 (or better, 2 XPA-1s) and XPR-5 for much less than the price of a Mc8207.

However, if you care about music and movies equally, get the McIntosh. You CAN'T go wrong with McIntosh. It's a great amp/match for ML electrostatic speakers. If you love music, you'll be rewarded for getting this amp. It will also serve you well in HT application. It's great for both music and movies.

You're probably attracted to the lower prices of Emotiva amps (and their matching to your Marantz pre/pro, cosmetically) and wondering how McIntosh amps can be that expensive and beat those powerful top of the line Emotiva ones right ? It's all in the design, part quality, and also that's how high end audio is. Quality/price ratio is a curve. You pay double/triple to get a 5%-10% improvement. If you pay that much for the speaker system, you should at least invest about the same amount for amp, source components, and cables.

Hope that would help you make your decision. Good luck, man.

You're right, the price and the match to my Marantz is what is attracting me. I mainly use my speakers for HT but I'll stick to the Mcintosh and be done with it.

What danvu said.

OK, I'll be the contrarian here. the Mac's are great amps, and as stated, hard to go wrong there. But has anyone actually benched the new Class-H XPR Emo's against them?

On paper, that XPR-2 has all the muscle needed to wring out the performance of an ESL. Plenty of current reserves in that 2.5KVA toroid and large capacitor bank. A class-H (or the similar class-G) amp will deliver plenty of power without excessive heat. The balanced topology mates perfectly with sources like the 8801 and the demanding ESL loads.

So I'd give the Emo's a shot, and if I didn't like it, easy enough to return (well, shipping that beast could cost a few $$'s). Worth a try IMHO.

Sorry Jon, I've listened to Emotiva many, many times at RMAF and in a members system at a Colorado Audio Society function. I want to like them, appreciate the consumer friendly price, even like the Industrial Design. BUT - they always leave me wanting. They strike me as dry and flat (no depth of soundstage), and frankly just don't sound musical to me. Perhaps the Bob Carver influence will breathe new life into the designs, time will tell. I know the company sells a lot of product, but I would personally never be satisfied when there are so many truly great products out there to compete against them.

Hi Tim, did those sessions include the XPR's?

I ask because I'd agree with you that their older A/B designs are probably middle of road, designed for value. But these newer amps seem a step up in capabilities.

I also have high expectations for Bob's influence on the Emo product line. I hope he does yet one more spin on his Class-G designs. Imagine, Sunfire-category power at Emotiva prices

Well guys, I stepped up and got the Mcintosh MC303 to power my Ethos and StageX and a Mcintosh MC205 to power my rears (4 Motion 15's) and a Mcintosh MX151 as my pre pro with AudioQuest Niagara XLR cables and AudioQuest Diamond HDMI cables and AudioQuest Rocket 88 speaker cables. I hope it sounds good. Will let you guys know how it sounds. Ill post some pics once it's all installed in about a week. Can't wait!!!!!

mamba24 said:

Well guys, I stepped up and got the Mcintosh MC303 to power my Ethos and StageX and a Mcintosh MC205 to power my rears (4 Motion 15's) and a Mcintosh MX151 as my pre pro with AudioQuest Niagara XLR cables and AudioQuest Diamond HDMI cables and AudioQuest Rocket 88 speaker cables. I hope it sounds good. Will let you guys know how it sounds. Ill post some pics once it's all installed in about a week. Can't wait!!!!!

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What was the reason for the mc303 over the mc8207?

My dilemma is I need 9 channels so it's getting up there. Thinking maybe mc302 or 303 and 8207. Wish they had a 8303 with digital to reduce price

I also noticed the 303 and 302 do 2 ohm and the 8207 does not in the montis will that play into the equation?

Will the stagex benefit fp from the 303 vs the 8207? If not I can go with the 302 for the mains

Well I got the mcintosh and all I can say is wow.

The montis sound w on derail now as they really came to life at all volume levels