XPA-5 and XPA-2. New owner

[jmargaglione]

You are now in a perfect position to answer a burning question of mine:

Does the XPA-2 sound significantly better to your ears than the XPA-5 in stereo mode?

I have an XPA-5 right now, and I am thinking of going to an XPA-2 for the fronts.

If you have the time to A/B test 2-channel with these amps, I would be very appreciative! Especially since now would be the time to make the upgrade...

And if anybody has gone from XPA-5 or XPA-2 to XPA-1's, I'd like to hear from you as well.

Note that I don't need the extra power of the XPA-2 or XPA-1s, the XPA-5's drive my speakers well beyond my ability to withstand the SPL's. I am looking for dynamics, imaging, and other non-loudness-related info.

Thanks!

[Deleted]

with the speakers you have and their sensitivity, the XPA-5 is all you need.

[red5ive]

Welcome to the club. I love my XPA-2 + XPA-5 combo.

[stiehl11]

I recently added a XPA-2 to my XPA-5: I can tell a noticable difference in sound quality for the better. It may be all in my head but that is my opinion.

[aussie]

For 2 channel use I would be surprised if the XPA-5 sounded the same or better than the XPA-2 and I would think the difference would be evern greater between the XPA-2 and the XPA-1's.

I have a XPA-5 and love it but so far in what I have heard multi-channel amps always tend to be slightly more forward and lend themselves best to HT work. I'm quite happy with the stereo sound of the XPA-5 but if I could find the money I'd be all over a set of XPA-1's. I'd love to hear from people with these different set-ups and their findings as well.

[ssvhd]

I just added an XPA-2 to my XPA-5 and I'm very happy with the results--gain is matched between 7 channels of B&W speakers and 3 subwoofers(2 of which are new Ultra Sub 10's).

With my Onkyo 886 audio processor and four old amps, I couldn't get anymore than -3db gain after Audyssey calibration. Adding the XPA-5 for all but the back channels brought me up to +5db. Now with the XPA-2 for L+R, and the XPA-5 for all other channels, I have +18db!

Obviously I won't normally listen to music or HT at that kind of level, but I have source material that is recorded 10+ db down, so it's useful from a gain perspective. It's also nice to see all channels balanced by Audyssey within 3 db of each other, including the subs. They were all over the map previously due to using 4 mis-matched amps.

I know that I will never need to worry about clipping on any movie due to the huge headroom of the two Emotiva amps, and I'm enjoying a very open, transparent sound that my side and back speakers were lacking, even though balanced with Audyssey with the old amps.

I haven't had enough time with the XPA2 yet, but I do know that amps are no longer a weakness of my system and my B&W 800 series speakers have proper, clean power.

[gigbyt]

Hello ledd4u,
I think that the Bose 901's are the limiting factor here. and they can be blown, i've personally seen it done many times,LOL.
Do you have any decent quality speakers that you could hook up to your new amps?

[gigbyt]

I agree on the weight of the xpa--2, i just got one a few days ago.
im really interested in your findings as far as output on the xpa-2.

theres a hometheater hi fi review and bench test that states they will do 300wpc@.04% thd and 340wpc @ 1% thd.

Nice ref system!

[gigbyt]

any updates on the xpa-2 testing?

[klinemj]

I can't speak to the XPA-5 vs. 2 w/your speakers, but I can say that I experienced a big jump in clarity of details, dynamic response, and overall enjoyment moving from my 5 to my 2 for the fronts. I still have the 5 driving the center and surrounds and it is great for that. I thought it was great for my fronts and probably would still be fine...but the 2 is just that much nicer. I would also love to hear some XPA-1's w/my speakers...maybe in another year or so...

[hemster]

Nov 21, 2010 12:44:17 GMT -5 klinemj said:

I can't speak to the XPA-5 vs. 2 w/your speakers, but I can say that I experienced a big jump in clarity of details, dynamic response, and overall enjoyment moving from my 5 to my 2 for the fronts. I still have the 5 driving the center and surrounds and it is great for that. I thought it was great for my fronts and probably would still be fine...but the 2 is just that much nicer. I would also love to hear some XPA-1's w/my speakers...maybe in another year or so...

Yes... I too dream one day of feeding my Paradigm's with a pair of XPA-1s... I'm sure that's be sonic nirvana.

[gtjames]

Just ordered my first emotiva xpa-5 and cant wait till Monday
how does everyone like a xpa-5
BTW new guy here this is my first post not even sure it will work...lol
Kool it works
Here is my setup
Def Tech
BP3000TL's (mains)
CLR2500 (center)
BP30's (surrounds)
BP10B's (rear surrounds)
SVS PB12-NSD (subwoofer)
Supercube 2's (subwoofer) two of the bi-amped into BP30'S
Onkyo txsr 806 (receiver
Panamax 5100ex (conditioner)
Samsung 56'' DLP
Sony BDP-550
HD-A35
Emotiva XPA-5 NEXT WEEK ;D ;D

[Tyler wants bass!]

Love my XPA 5, and next week I bet I'll love my 2 as well.

[gatomalo]

hempster, I'm powering my studio 100's,(bi-amped), with my pioneer sc27, 145wpc. Do you think since we have similar systems that xpa-5 or xpa-2 would make a substantial difference? I bi-amped my cc690 also and a pair of adp590 surr.

[jackvader]

^I beg to differ, XPA-5 is way better than UPA-7 (headroom, dynamics, etc..) I'm using XPA-5 w/ Yammy V765 as pre/pro on Studio 60 v.4 and CC590 center channel and they're awesome... the best upgrade I ever made. my next upgrade is XMC-1 and probably will throw in the XPA-2 together... go for XPA-5