The Emotiva Lounge - XPA-1 amp requirement and Review

sid
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XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Thread Started on Jul 18, 2010, 10:08am »

hi

will be getting dual XPA-1's very soon
i need to know if both the XPA-1's can share a single 15AMP power socket? or do i need to connect it to two seperate 15AMP power socket.

kindly suggest, if it needs two seperate sockets i need to draw a new line from the adjacent room as my HT has only one free 15AMP socket

« Last Edit: Aug 1, 2010, 1:24am by sid »

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C - Carver TFM35X
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VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
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tjf120
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Re: XPA-1
« Reply #1 on Jul 18, 2010, 12:14pm »

I have triple XPA-1's. I was concerned about the amperage given some stuff I had seen on the forum/instruction manual.

So, I went and bought an ampmeter, and cranked it up to about 115 db listening level on my db meter. Which is pretty loud. It was only a couple amps. I'm actually running all my gear off one 15 amp circuit - dual XPA-1s, XPA-5, Yamaha amp, TV etc.

Now, if I were to plug in a light or anything else in the room, i'll get over 15 amp, but right now, I'm good.

I'd be curious what other says.....

You should change the title of your post, make it more specific - like XPA-1 amp requirements....may get more views/replies...

« Last Edit: Jul 18, 2010, 12:17pm by tjf120 »

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L/C/R - Aperion Verus powered by XPA-1s
Surrounds - UPA-2 - Built-in Spkr
Velodyne Optimum 12" Sub
Onkyo 3007, Oppo BDP-83, PS3
Display: Samsung 8500 55" LED LCD,
Interconnects/Wiring - Zu Mission Cables, BJC, PureAV PF40

Room 2 - Zu Audio Essence L/R powered by UPA-1s
Zu Omen Center, Zu Omen Surrounds powered by XPA-5
Yamaha RXV1800, Emotiva Ultra 12 Sub, PS3, HD-DVD

For Sale - OMD28s, OMD-Rs

fsspete
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Re: XPA-1
« Reply #2 on Jul 19, 2010, 3:35am »

I have 2 XPA-1's and an XPA-5 on the same 15 amp circuit and have had no problems.

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Emotiva XPA-5
Sony BDP-S760
Sony DVP-NC555ES
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Energy C-7 Mains
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strindl
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Re: XPA-1
« Reply #3 on Jul 20, 2010, 5:51pm »

I have a pair of XPA-1's on a single 15 amp circuit...they work just fine that way.

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MAIN SYSTEM

PRE AMPS: Integra DHC 9.9, Threshold T2
POWER AMPS: Threshold SA/4e, Threshold S200 (2), XPA-1's (2) XPA-5
Speakers: Thiel 3.6 main, Velodyne F1500r subs (2), B&W HTM center, Polk RTi28 rear, ERD1 side sur.
SOURCES: OPPO BDP 83, Logitech Duet, Pioneer Elite CLD97 Laserdisc, Oracle TT w/ Magnepan Unitrac 1 arm and Shure V15 V mr cartridge
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sid
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Re: XPA-1
« Reply #4 on Jul 29, 2010, 8:05am »

thanks for reply
i got the XPA-1 delivered by DHL a week back , the packaging was extremely good and it took about a week for it to reach me here in india .I shipped them individually bcoz of the weight issues as i had a limit of 60kg /shipment via borderlinx

once i got them did i realise how huge these guys were , i immediately called up emotiva to know about the power requirements and vincent chen suggested the XPA-1's cud share a single 15amp socket or even better would be to feed them single lines ,so i have fed them single 15amp sockets which i got from my adjacent room

These guys are BIG i mean really big ,it took me a lot of effort to carry them to my HT room located on the second floor
I dont yet have any racks to accomadate these big guys ,so for the time being its placed on the floor
I did realise that the spkr terminals are really wide apart almost 15'' apart as my previous set up was bi-wired i preffered the same set up ,but this required opening up my Chord odyssey bi-wire spkr cables

Build Quality
Have never owned such big power amps and to be frank this is my first mono blocks and the fact that inclined me towards the XPA-1's is my recent purchase of the processor UMC-1 which i found to be a huge upgrade over my onkyo AVR875 ,and the best part of emotiva is the pricing
so i took the plunge and ordered for the pair of XPA-1's during the sale period and got a good 200$ discount too ,Man thats an awesome price for a pair of monoblocks with such monstorous specs, but still had doubts how the unit would be as the closest to these blocks i have come across (only on print) were the Parasound JC1 which were priced @ 6000$ a pair and i cud never afford those in the near future
Well out of the box the XPA-1 looked massive needs two people to move this thing around and coming to the build its nothing short of a tank , i mean the top part of the amp though being 20'' in depth is so solid that it never dips down you cud easily stand on it , the front panel is simple with only the led display (bule lights) and that cud be turned off too , i only wish the entire amp was black they cud have done without the aluminium side plates.....in one word the build of the amp is ROCK SOLID.

CONNECTIONS AND GEAR

i am running the xpa-1's with 2 seperate 15AMP sockets,no other equipments share this circuit (have done this following the advice from emotiva , according to them the XPA-1's cud share a single 15AMP socket but if provided with single sockets of 15AMP it cud be better and ideal)

Cables- Chord odyssey bi-wire speaker wires and Chord chameleon plus inter connects

CDP- Marantz SA11S1 SACDP

PRE-AMP --Have used the Vincent SA31MK tube preamp for stereo and Emotiva UMC-1 for movies

Speakers - JAMO C809 pack with Defenitive Technology Trinity sub

THE SOUND
my Present set up also includes the Vincent SP331MK a hybrid tube based power amp rated 150 X 2 @ 8ohms and the first 10watss in pure class A which i have used till now and have loved them and had preffered the vincents over much bigger and better known brands . The XPA-1 's have now been set in place of the vincent SP331MK
First impression - as per most reviews i read before purchase of these monoblocks it says that these guys need about 100hrs of break in time, OK i have just run them for abt 10-15 hrs till now which also includes a couple of movie watching.
The first thing you notice about the XPA-1 is the tremendous low frequency it diggs out , earlier i used my def tech trinity for stereo too but with these guys i wud negate the use of sub for music .
The low frequency put out by the XPA-1's are very deep, tight and hits you right in the gut and at times with some recordings i found the bass too much to handle . i would say the bass put out by these amps was almost on par with my sub
With bass heavy spkrs it cud take a while to fine tune these amps,anyway i cud activate tone controls in my preamp ,this got things under control .
These guys play loud i mean really loud when u hit 12'o clock position in the preamp it cud play to ear splitting levels @ even the loudest levels the sound was crystal clear the mids where dead centered and the highs smooth and airy and the soundstage was huge ,will keep you posted after further run in time
Movies- with movies the sound of my HT was different ,i was amazed at the kind of difference it made by adding on the XPA-1's for my mains ,i chkd out the BD of Clash of the titans , Kick ass and The losers .The blasts had tremendous impact then before , i dint have to crank up the volume to get room shaking effects like before ,overall i found the XPA-1's to have a mojor positive effect on the overall performance of my HT
When taken to reference levels the overall sound is dynamite, and also the overall low frequencies in the DTS-HD soundtrack appeared to be more powerful than before . Bcoz of the raw power the XPA-1 outputs the seperation of the front L/R channels is dramatic which was missing in my earlier set up

OVERALL if you are looking at a power amp and you crave for power these are the blocks to get and that too at a price thats

i love my music and movies at a much higher levels than normal ,have never done any sort of measurements with meters ,i belive my ears are the best judges and these XPA-1's meet my requirements perfectly ,i wud definetly replace my other channels (C and sorrounds ) too with Emo power blocks very soon .

will get back to more detailed review for stereo after some hours of usage

thanks and regards

« Last Edit: Jul 31, 2010, 5:28am by sid »

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Left -XPA-1
R - XPA-1
C - Carver TFM35X
L/R sorounds - CarverTFM35X
DEF TECH TRINITY SUB
MARANTZ SA11S1 SACDP
VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
VINCENT SP331MK POWER
OPTOMA HD65 PJ
GRANDVIEW 120''
CHORD CHAMELEON PLUS ICs
CHORD ODYSSEY BIWIRE SPKR CABLE
JAMO-C809 SPKR PACK

House
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Re: XPA-1
« Reply #5 on Jul 31, 2010, 10:25am »

you will be fine on a single post..

if you were driving a large pair of low impedence towers or something at full range AND at CONSTANT high volumes...and I mean HIGH.....then there are some cases were you MIGHT come close to the limits of the circuit.....you for instance say you were listenting to some spectacutlar recording of the grand symphony and there were every instrument just peaking away and an organ just flooding the stage with the lowest of lows all at the same time....THEN......you just might pop a breaker......personally I put all of my gear on a single dedicated 20 amp circuit....and have never even come close to tapping it out......not even during some pretty insane movie scenes.....and i mean everything is on that single circuit....receiver, large 5 channel amp, large LCD television, 15" servo subwoofer, a lamp, ps3, AALL of it.....and all on at once just to test out the limits.........and nothing

dont sweat the small stuff.................unless of course your planning on holding a 3 hour long 130db grand symphony concert in your listening room......

« Last Edit: Jul 31, 2010, 10:26am by House »

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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #6 on Aug 1, 2010, 1:27am »

Jul 20, 2010, 5:51pm, strindl wrote:

I have a pair of XPA-1's on a single 15 amp circuit...they work just fine that way.

thanks strindl , i am running the xpa-1's on seperate 15amp cicuits

« Last Edit: Aug 1, 2010, 1:30am by sid »

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Left -XPA-1
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C - Carver TFM35X
L/R sorounds - CarverTFM35X
DEF TECH TRINITY SUB
MARANTZ SA11S1 SACDP
VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
VINCENT SP331MK POWER
OPTOMA HD65 PJ
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sid
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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #7 on Aug 1, 2010, 1:28am »

Jul 19, 2010, 3:35am, fsspete wrote:

I have 2 XPA-1's and an XPA-5 on the same 15 amp circuit and have had no problems.

thanks

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Left -XPA-1
R - XPA-1
C - Carver TFM35X
L/R sorounds - CarverTFM35X
DEF TECH TRINITY SUB
MARANTZ SA11S1 SACDP
VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
VINCENT SP331MK POWER
OPTOMA HD65 PJ
GRANDVIEW 120''
CHORD CHAMELEON PLUS ICs
CHORD ODYSSEY BIWIRE SPKR CABLE
JAMO-C809 SPKR PACK

sid
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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #8 on Aug 1, 2010, 1:36am »

Jul 31, 2010, 10:25am, House wrote:

you will be fine on a single post..

if you were driving a large pair of low impedence towers or something at full range AND at CONSTANT high volumes...and I mean HIGH.....then there are some cases were you MIGHT come close to the limits of the circuit.....you for instance say you were listenting to some spectacutlar recording of the grand symphony and there were every instrument just peaking away and an organ just flooding the stage with the lowest of lows all at the same time....THEN......you just might pop a breaker......personally I put all of my gear on a single dedicated 20 amp circuit....and have never even come close to tapping it out......not even during some pretty insane movie scenes.....and i mean everything is on that single circuit....receiver, large 5 channel amp, large LCD television, 15" servo subwoofer, a lamp, ps3, AALL of it.....and all on at once just to test out the limits.........and nothing

dont sweat the small stuff.................unless of course your planning on holding a 3 hour long 130db grand symphony concert in your listening room......

yup thanks
but we dont have 20amp cicuits out here in india for household use
i do understand the XPA-1's can share a 15 amp cicuit but just to be sure i have run them on seperate circuits just in case if i do have a 3 hour 130+db concert in my HT room they dont tap

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Processor-UMC-1
Left -XPA-1
R - XPA-1
C - Carver TFM35X
L/R sorounds - CarverTFM35X
DEF TECH TRINITY SUB
MARANTZ SA11S1 SACDP
VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
VINCENT SP331MK POWER
OPTOMA HD65 PJ
GRANDVIEW 120''
CHORD CHAMELEON PLUS ICs
CHORD ODYSSEY BIWIRE SPKR CABLE
JAMO-C809 SPKR PACK

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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #9 on Aug 1, 2010, 2:23pm »

An interesting note on the location of the binding post's. I've always wondered why the + & - are so far apart?! I don't think it right that one has to cut up their wires to fit the amp.

I'm running all my gear off a pair of 20 amp circuits which is probably overkill, but the walls were open and a new panel box was being installed so I took advantage of the situation. A pair if 15's would have been plenty but the cost for the 20 was minimal.

Gordon

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gbobby
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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #10 on Aug 24, 2010, 12:05pm »

how much did the XPA-1's cost u.... the total landing cost of both the amps here in INDIA???

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sid
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Re: XPA-1 amp requirement and Review
« Reply #11 on Aug 31, 2010, 10:04am »

i bought the xpa-1 's during sale (discount of 200USD) so the total cost for the pair was 1798 USD (85K) add another 40K for customs and shipping thro borderlinx ,so roughly about 1.25L for the pair

« Last Edit: Aug 31, 2010, 10:06am by sid »

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Processor-UMC-1
Left -XPA-1
R - XPA-1
C - Carver TFM35X
L/R sorounds - CarverTFM35X
DEF TECH TRINITY SUB
MARANTZ SA11S1 SACDP
VINCENT SA31MK PRE FOR STEREO
VINCENT SP331MK POWER
OPTOMA HD65 PJ
GRANDVIEW 120''
CHORD CHAMELEON PLUS ICs
CHORD ODYSSEY BIWIRE SPKR CABLE
JAMO-C809 SPKR PACK