Post by tesfaye on Feb 22, 2013 13:37:33 GMT -5
My name is Tesfaye, and I'm from Staten Island, NY. I've been on the fence about picking up a new amp and I've been researching Emotiva products for a while. It would be my luck that when I decided to pull the trigger on a XPA-200, there were none available. So, I said forget it, I'll save the cash until it becomes available. A few days later I changed my mind and decided that I might as well just go for the XPA-2 and not take a chance on still not having enough power (I hate regretting my purchases). Sure enough, when I called to order the XPA-2 it was unavailable with a expected next ship date of "sometime in April, we think". I put my name on the list for a call back not expecting a callback anytime soon. I was wrong! I got a call from Emotiva the following morning letting me know that they had a few XPA-2 amps available if I wanted one. Of course I purchased the amp, and I should be another proud Emotiva amp owner in a few days (Monday to be exact).
I think my Maggie MMGs will thank me. I've been powering them with an Arcam Alpha 8p, which is 50W @8ohm, and something like 90 or 100W into 4ohm (I could never get a straight answer about this). In any event, it's a very nice sounding setup until you push the Arcam to it's limits at which point the soundstage collapses and things get messy. The Arcam is very graceful about saying "enough already" -- she loses steam but without ripping my ears apart in the process (I think the load presented by the MMGs help a little here, but I'm no engineer). I've been threating to buy a new amp for some time now and the wait is finally over! After about two years of seeing great user reviews from people running MMGs with XPA-2s I figured I couldn't really go wrong with this amp.
My setup:
Magnepan MMG (front)
Magnepan MMC (rear)
Denon somethingCI model (at work, I don't remember the model) which I use as a pre/pro and amp for the rear speakers. The Arcam will take over for the rear channels when the XPA-2 is installed.
Polk 10" sub I bought years ago and still runs perfectly and sounds great after proper placement and a little help from Audessey. It keeps up pretty well with the MMGs in my room.
HTPC outputting 24/192 via HDMI to the Denon receiver
Going by what most folks recommned for a listening space, what I'm using for my listening area probably isn't the best, but my ears really like what they are hearing. My gear currently lives in my man cave down in the basement where the dug out and finished portion is 37x17, but there are lots of irregularities due to the location of the support beams. My listening area is effectively 11x17x7, but that space isn't enclosed, and I think that aspect along with the Audessey room correction helps me get away with good sound in a somewhat cramped space.
Blah blah blah, I can't wait to get my hands on this amp!!!
-Tesfaye
I think my Maggie MMGs will thank me. I've been powering them with an Arcam Alpha 8p, which is 50W @8ohm, and something like 90 or 100W into 4ohm (I could never get a straight answer about this). In any event, it's a very nice sounding setup until you push the Arcam to it's limits at which point the soundstage collapses and things get messy. The Arcam is very graceful about saying "enough already" -- she loses steam but without ripping my ears apart in the process (I think the load presented by the MMGs help a little here, but I'm no engineer). I've been threating to buy a new amp for some time now and the wait is finally over! After about two years of seeing great user reviews from people running MMGs with XPA-2s I figured I couldn't really go wrong with this amp.
My setup:
Magnepan MMG (front)
Magnepan MMC (rear)
Denon somethingCI model (at work, I don't remember the model) which I use as a pre/pro and amp for the rear speakers. The Arcam will take over for the rear channels when the XPA-2 is installed.
Polk 10" sub I bought years ago and still runs perfectly and sounds great after proper placement and a little help from Audessey. It keeps up pretty well with the MMGs in my room.
HTPC outputting 24/192 via HDMI to the Denon receiver
Going by what most folks recommned for a listening space, what I'm using for my listening area probably isn't the best, but my ears really like what they are hearing. My gear currently lives in my man cave down in the basement where the dug out and finished portion is 37x17, but there are lots of irregularities due to the location of the support beams. My listening area is effectively 11x17x7, but that space isn't enclosed, and I think that aspect along with the Audessey room correction helps me get away with good sound in a somewhat cramped space.
Blah blah blah, I can't wait to get my hands on this amp!!!
-Tesfaye
