Emotiva XPA-1 monoblock impressions...

[beek]

Completely Agree, time to Quit

 

[Gordon]

Completely Agree, time to Quit

Well said. I'm out.

Gordon

 

[runnin17]

Posted pics of the setup. Please keep in mind that I understand the placement of the Spires is not ideal, but right now I have to make use of the space I have. I am active duty Army, so I move around a lot and therefore I can't always have a perfect room for Logans (someday though ).

 

[beek]

lookin good

 

[projectormovielover]

Posted pics of the setup. Please keep in mind that I understand the placement of the Spires is not ideal, but right now I have to make use of the space I have. I am active duty Army, so I move around a lot and therefore I can't always have a perfect room for Logans (someday though ).

You could always put some acoustic panels on the walls .I checked your flicker picks and I'm in love with the gaming rig you have

 

[daniel]

Usually emotiva's fan praised their component saying something like "for the price". As long as you're happy there's nothing to argue even if this is great happiness "for the price".

 

[|Tch0rT|]

I just looked at your Flickr too. [H] ftmfw!

 

[mopar04]

I've got an Emotiva XPA-5 running my Theos' and Motif and while it doesn't have the SQ of my old pair of bridged ATI AT-1506s (which were just too huge and had no trigger for standby) or the McIntosh multichannel amp I was borrowing from a friend for a couple weeks, at less than 1/4 of the price he paid for his McIntosh used the Emotiva is a pretty good deal. They may not directly compete with the $5k+ monoblocks that one would obviously expect to sound better, but if someone is looking to make the jump from a receiver into separates it's a really good place to start. Are they perfect? No, but they'll blow you away if you're used to the sound of a stand alone receiver and the resale value of them is outstanding so it's very easy to upgrade.

 

[daniel]

They may not directly compete with the $5k+ monoblocks that one would obviously expect to sound better, but if someone is looking to make the jump from a receiver into separates it's a really good place to start. Are they perfect? No, but they'll blow you away if you're used to the sound of a stand alone receiver and the resale value of them is outstanding so it's very easy to upgrade.

I have to agree with what you have written.

 

[Gordon Gray]

You could always put some acoustic panels on the walls .I checked your flicker picks and I'm in love with the gaming rig you have

So PML,

Please explain your change of heart given your previous posts on this thread.

I, for one, applaud your change of tone.

GG

 

[projectormovielover]

Though he may lack good taste in amps he does have great taste in women ,speakers and high end graphics cards so 3 outa 4 is pretty good lol

I like everyone here am enthusiastic when it comes to audio so I have have strong opinions on things .I recently bought an anthem pre for bluray and still think my upa5 sounds terrible with the anthem and runnin17 thinks his upa5 sounds good with his anthem pre so we have . very different tastes and my opinion does not reflect anything of a personal nature

If I was to give a non audio opinion of runnin 17 then I would have to say he is the salt of the earth and have nothing but the greatest respect for him out there fighting to bring a little liberty to the oppressed .

 

[Dominick22]

I dont get it?

I own XPA-1's mated with Ascent i's. Best Amps I have ever personally owned. Best amps I ever heard mated with Logans was a full Krell front end.

I just dont get how one could so adamantly state that any amp is garbage? I mean, amps are like chocolate chip cookies. 2 brands will taste different and the cost may differ between them, but when the cookie is in your mouth, you either like how your body perceives it or you dont...The key though is that not everyone will like the same cookie the best.
Sound is the same way. Everyone has different hearing characteristics that are special to your own body...So you can never say that an amp is terrible sounding as a blanket statement...only that it is terrible sounding to you.
Now, you can attack the construction or statistical data of the amp, but if we are talking about the XPA-1, it shines in those areas-especially for the money.
And I also want to ask, does it REALLY matter what the amp looks like? Does it REALLY matter if the binding posts are not buttery smooth when you twist them? Does that affect the sound?
If I rated Krell as a 10 with the Logans I heard, I would say that the XPA-1's are 7.5-8 out of 10. The Krell system was about 14k. The Emo is about 3k. I am inculding source and pramp in these dollar figures. So lets just say I feel I am getting 75%-80% of the best possible sound I believe I can get out of the Emo gear at 21% of the cost.

I will also say that the most enjoyable addition to my 2 channel stereo was a $150 passive tube preamp. That surprised me even!

Dominick

 

[Bernard]

I will also say that the most enjoyable addition to my 2 channel stereo was a $150 passive tube preamp. That surprised me even!

Dominick

I'm lost - tubes are by definition active components, so how do you get a passive tube preamp?

 

[projectormovielover]

And I also want to ask, does it REALLY matter what the amp looks like? Does it REALLY matter if the binding posts are not buttery smooth when you twist them? Does that affect the sound?

Dominick

Well since you asked sugar cookie I will answer . The emotiva binding posts dont have to be buttery smooth to leave a bad taste in MY mouth .The foul texture is whats wrong, they just crumble like shortbread because they never used the proper ingredients when they had em in the oven.

 

[Legis]

I find it pretty straightforward to form an opinion of a brand in general based on the cheapest model that you use projectormovielover. X-series has, among other things, higher quality speaker terminals, pretty close to WTB's terminals (my friend has Bladelius's amp that has WTB's terminals). They are pretty decent.

XPA-1, what this thread is all about, is based on the Tonewinner's (OEM manufacturer of Emotiva, XTZ and Advanced Acoustics) flagship monoblock design. I would not compare it to Emotiva's lesser models because the whole design is different. Advanced Acoustics MAA-1000 is also based on the flagship monoblock, and is essentially the same amp as XPA-1 with some minor modifications. Pair of MAA-1000s sells for over 4x the price of XPA-1 (around 9000$/8000€ per pair). MAA-1000 differs in regard of rail voltages (XPA-1 has higher operaing voltage, thus the higher output into 8R), operating bias (MAA-1000 has relays switched class AB/A modes), transformer size (MAA-1000 has only 1000VA vs. 1200VA of XPA-1, thus XPA-1 outputs more into 4R and lower impedances) and appearance. I have looked at the pictures and the amplifier modules are identical in both amps, that means the last 4 amplifying stages are the same. Also the input buffer section seems to be very close to XPA-1 in regards of components and component layout (MAA-1000 has also quad differential input stage, which is made of discrete component without op-amps, like the rest of the signal path).

Regards,

Legis

 

[projectormovielover]

I find it pretty straightforward to form an opinion of a brand in general based on the cheapest model that you use projectormovielover. X-series has, among other things, higher quality speaker terminals, pretty close to WTB's terminals (my friend has Bladelius's amp that has WTB's terminals). They are pretty decent.

XPA-1, what this thread is all about, is based on the Tonewinner's (OEM manufacturer of Emotiva, XTZ and Advanced Acoustics) flagship monoblock design. I would not compare it to Emotiva's lesser models because the whole design is different. Advanced Acoustics MAA-1000 is also based on the flagship monoblock, and is essentially the same amp as XPA-1 with some minor modifications. Pair of MAA-1000s sells for over 4x the price of XPA-1 (around 9000$/8000€ per pair). MAA-1000 differs in regard of rail voltages (XPA-1 has higher operaing voltage, thus the higher output into 8R), operating bias (MAA-1000 has relays switched class AB/A modes), transformer size (MAA-1000 has only 1000VA vs. 1200VA of XPA-1, thus XPA-1 outputs more into 4R and lower impedances) and appearance. I have looked at the pictures and the amplifier modules are identical in both amps, that means the last 4 amplifying stages are the same. Also the input buffer section seems to be very close to XPA-1 in regards of components and component layout (MAA-1000 has also quad differential input stage, which is made of discrete component without op-amps, like the rest of the signal path).

Regards,

Legis

You really know your stuff when it comes to emotiva bud. You should work for them

Would you mind sharing what speakers and equipment your have?

Its weird Mr L that you say your from Europe because everyone i know thats from there almost never say Europe

 

[theWB]

I bought a pair of XPA-1s back in February. Had no problems with their customer service got the amps 2 days after I paid for them. I find the build quality excellent and no problems with the speaker terminals, my only complaint about the terminals is they're more than a foot apart. Rather than reterminate my current Zu cables I picked up a pair of Emo's cables. I also didn't like the silver plates on the side of the amps, so I ordered the black ones. They are not as warm as my B & K, but I hear more of the music with the Emo's. I'm very happy with the purchase.

The Chicago clan a while back had all brought over their high end amps for a listen, if I remember correctly it was the CJ350, CJ140, and Sanders ESL mono blocks. Perhaps we could all get together again and throw the EMO's into the mix to see how it stacks up.

 

[Dominick22]

I think you caught me!

This is the tube piece I referred to as "passive".

http://shop.grantfidelity.com/B-283-Tube-Processor.html

They call it a processor. I used the term "passive" because it does not have a gain and if I dont activate the unit, then the audio signal will pass through unchanged. It is simply on or off.

I understand that active/passive traditionally means powered and vs unpowered so maybe I used the wrong terminology.

You got me! LOL

 

[Bernard]

They call it a processor.

Yes, they do, but it is incorrect as from the description it is a tube buffer.

 

[DrJRapp]

XPA-1, what this thread is all about, is based on the Tonewinner's (OEM manufacturer of Emotiva, XTZ and Advanced Acoustics) flagship monoblock design. I would not compare it to Emotiva's lesser models because the whole design is different.
Legis

Basically, from what you are saying, I gather that Emotiva does not design all their gear.