Thoughts on my new XPA-3

[gfong]

Hi all, purchased just after Christmas and was delivered in 8 days (with the holidays) to my place. Emotiva customer service was outstanding and the Canadian international order process was seamless and flawless.

My equipment that I am using with the XPA-3 is:
Sony STR-DA 5400ES AVR
Pro-ject Geni Mk3 turntable/Ortofon 2M Red Cartridge
Sony SCD-CE595 SACD player
Sony 53 inch lcd TV
Sony BDP-s770 Blu-Ray
APC H10 Conditioner

Speakers:
All Polk Audio
Fronts: RtiA9's
Center: CSiA6
Rear: FXiA4's

Sub Woofer:
SVS PB12-NSD

First impression after hooking the amp up was that it created a wider sound stage and clearer sound; volume was up as well.

In Home theater use it brought the 3 front speakers up a notch to what I was use to, as I could hear clearer voices coming from the center and I liked how the front stage seemed to get bigger and wider. Plus 1 for the XPA.

Next I tired it with my turntable in 2 channel mode and the RTiA9's liked the added power and cleaner power. Bass was more pronounced, tighter and the mids seemed to be sound fuller. Highs were knocked down a notch. (not a bad thing)
Sound stage was broader and it seemed that the sound moved up the speakers creating a bigger footprint.

After a few days while listening to the turntable in 2 channel mode I was starting to hear stressing or a little screachy sounding coming from strong vocals like Elton John, Carly Simon, etc. It seemed that their voices were stressing and a little screechy. They were not bright sounding at all but it was a little fatiguing to the ears.

I unhooked the amp and went back to my original setup and I could hear a little smoother sound but the umph was gone, along with the reduced sound stage and power.

I was using cheap interconnects for the amp to avr connection so

I ordered some Atlas Equator MK II 2 RCA to 2 RCA Audio Cables.
Atlas cables are made in Scotland and have some pretty good reviews and awards so I thought I would take a shot. First attempt at upgraded cables.
Price wise they were $68.00 for a set.

I listened to my system for the next couple of days without the XPA-3 until my cables arrived to "get" that sound back in my ears.

Hooked up the amp with the new cables and everything came into place. Records via analog sounded great, SACD multi-channel sounded awesome and home theater belted out the Blu-ray sound.

If I had better cables when I started, I an confident that I would have been happy right out of the gate and would not have needed the actual cables that I got.

The XPA-3 is a very nice amp and it really shines when and if you are looking to upgrade your 3 front stage home theater speaker set up. It runs cool and is very easy to access and connections are set out in a logical order with lots of space in between.

The XPA-3 works nice in whe I am using it with just the 2 front speakers. I think if I was only using an amp in 2 channel use, I would look into the Emotiva XPA-2 or the XPA-1 as they look more in line to power two speakers.

Not a bad thing to say about the Amotiva XPA-3, lots of power, nice look, great price, exceptional customer service.

I am a very happy "new" Emotiva customer.

[Porscheguy]

Nice thoughts!! As always, everyone loves Emo amps!!

[gfong]

Thanks, the XPA is working out fine with my system. I thought I needed a bit more power for the speakers and XPA fit the bill from the reviews and such that I found on the internet.

[NorthStar]

Thanks mate for sharing a great experience from Canada, and Welcome to the Lounge!

Bob

[geebo]

Glad to see you're happy with the XPA. I have the RTi A7's with an XPA-5 and noticed they really come alive with decent power. Hoping to move the 7's to the rear soon and get the 9's for up front.
Welcome to the lounge.

George

[Deleted]

I hate to break it to you but spending more than a certain minimum amount on cables is wasted money. Its all smoke and mirrors. People hear differences because they expect to hear differences, just like a placebo in medicine. Its your money but if you want to flaunt waste you might get reminded that the laws of physics cannot be violated with anything less than a superconductor and perhaps a tiny black hole in CERN. Also, having separate speaker wires for the different drivers will make no difference unless you have a "low-level" (ie. active in most cases) crossover sending the separate frequencies through the appropriate wires. Its promoted because it sells wire, probably the highest profit segment for the "audio industry". I have active crossovers and have to have separate wires to each driver in the front and center speakers. That is worth the money for all the (cheap) cable that I use. I can't believe I'm writing this, I'm such a geek!

[gfong]

Jan 31, 2011 16:38:23 GMT -5 @theresa said:

I hate to break it to you but spending more than a certain minimum amount on cables is wasted money. Its all smoke and mirrors. People hear differences because they expect to hear differences, just like a placebo in medicine. Its your money but if you want to flaunt waste you might get reminded that the laws of physics cannot be violated with anything less than a superconductor and perhaps a tiny black hole in CERN. Also, having separate speaker wires for the different drivers will make no difference unless you have a "low-level" (ie. active in most cases) crossover sending the separate frequencies through the appropriate wires. Its promoted because it sells wire, probably the highest profit segment for the "audio industry". I have active crossovers and have to have separate wires to each driver in the front and center speakers. That is worth the money for all the (cheap) cable that I use. I can't believe I'm writing this, I'm such a geek!

Hi, thanks for the information and your explanations. If it is in my head that I hear a difference that is fine with me as I am the one that is listening to them. (I am not beng sarcastic.)

I did not spend a lot of money on the cables and I like the cables to be of some standard and that is why I purchased the ones I did.
Thanks again for the information, I was thinking about changing the cables out on my SACD player, but will do some more research on the whole cable thing.

Have fun with your gear, thanks again.

Thanks all, for the welcome as well.

[Deleted]

Sorry about the negativity, cable myths bring out the worst in me. I too like my XPA-3. I have it driving the subs (2) and the center channel's woofer (I have all active fronts and subs). I cannot tell one of my amps apart from the others. I can tell the difference between my Yamaha DSP-A1 and the Emo system, the Emo is much "clearer" while the Yam is warmer. I far prefer the Emotiva.

[dimemecka]

Congrats!!!!

[gfong]

Feb 1, 2011 11:20:06 GMT -5 @theresa said:

Sorry about the negativity, cable myths bring out the worst in me. I too like my XPA-3. I have it driving the subs (2) and the center channel's woofer (I have all active fronts and subs). I cannot tell one of my amps apart from the others. I can tell the difference between my Yamaha DSP-A1 and the Emo system, the Emo is much "clearer" while the Yam is warmer. I far prefer the Emotiva.

Sounds good, looking at your signature, you got lots running from Emotiva. Must be awesome to listen to music on or to view a movie on your system. Keep rockin! Thanks again for the info.

[alaskaaudiophile]

Just so you know when you use your XPA-3 as a 2-Channel Amp or even a Single Channel Amp you will have more available wattage, check the chart below:

Power output into 8 ohms
200 watts into 3 channels
250 watts into 2 channels
300 watts into 1 channel

Power output into 4 ohms
300 watts into 3 channels
400 watts into 2 channels
500 watts into 1 channel

THD 0.006%

Frequency response of 10-150Khz (-3db) and 20-20Khz (+/- 0.125db)