drod
Minor Hero
Posts: 14 
|
Post by drod on Jan 27, 2014 6:37:35 GMT -5
Hey All!
So I've had the "mini" and the XDA-2 for about a month now (pushing a pair of Polk RTi8's) and have been so completely satisfied I couldn't resist the urge to my story. This is my first taste of actually getting to own any higher end home stereo equipment, the downside to loving sound yet being young and broke. Long story short I was determined to get a good sounding stereo system even on a light budget. Hence a few days of research and all signs pointing towards Emotiva. After little debate I pulled the trigger on a Mini A-100 paired with a XDA-2. I had fairly high expectations based up the reputation of Emotiva but never was I ready for just how much better it sounded versus my old 5.1 reciever, I mean 50 watts is just 50 watts right?! Wrong! I feel like a complete fool for ever buying anything different, all this for just $420 spent (thank god for that Holiday sale!) Emotiva you have renewed my excitment and restored my faith, it's so great to see a company that clearly puts their passion for audio into such a superbly built and well priced package. I'm now offically 100% an Emotiva man for life and looking forward to the day of owning some of the real deal amps and prrocessors they have to offer!
Drod
|
|
|
|
Post by Boomzilla on Jan 27, 2014 7:06:13 GMT -5
Hi Drod!
First, welcome to the Emotiva asylum - everyone else thinks we're crazy when we tell them how great our Emotiva gear sounds. Let me also tell you that just because you've "only" got the A-100 Mini-X DON'T think that your sound is in any way inferior to the more pricey Emo gear. Within it's volume limits (after all, 50-watts IS only 50-watts), the sound is virtually identical to the pricier amps. What you get for more money is more headroom, louder volume, and the ability to drive more difficult speakers. But used within its limits, the Mini-X is one of the absolute best deals in all of audio.
Don't be a stranger!
Boomzilla
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 8:25:37 GMT -5
Welcome - and thanks for the great review, I do appreciate a reviewer who includes specific reasons as to why they chose the gear they have. Also, quality is quality, no matter what size, shape or output and Emotiva will supply all that plus more. I'm sure that mini is really making those Polks sing now! Always makes me laugh to find another lounger with the Emo-bug-for-life.  |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 9:14:24 GMT -5
Drod, welcome to the Emotiva Lounge.
The mini-X a-100 is a little giant. Back in the days when I started in audio, a reasonably priced amp or receiver with 50 watts into 8 ohms and 80 watts into 4 ohms (this 4 ohm strength is what separates the men from the boys) was a strong amp. It still is for many systems. Many "lower power" amps or receivers won't even specify power into 4 ohms.
Congratulations on a great choice for a light budget!
|
|
drod
Minor Hero
Posts: 14
|
Post by drod on Jan 27, 2014 10:03:48 GMT -5
That's good to know Boomzilla, thanks. After doing some reading through the forums I started to get a slight itch for more power, even though I have ZERO complaints. I rarely get the opportunity to really let them loose and probably haven't pushed the mini anywhere near it's limits. Coming from primarily the 12V world and the crazy inflated power ratings it's nice to come back down to earth a little bit. I'm truly amazed how loud, defined and just down right awesome those towers sound when fed quality stuff. The 4 ohm feature is nice also, sometime soon I'd like to get some 4 ohm speakers in there and see how it handles them. I was a little bit weary about giving it a 4 ohm but sounds like it shouldn't be a problem, the mini's not so mini!
Thanks for the feedback, I'm gonna learn a lot poking around here!
|
|
|
|
Post by repeetavx on Jan 27, 2014 11:40:42 GMT -5
Hey drod, welcome to the Lounge. looking forward to the day of owning some of the real deal amps and prrocessors they have to offer! Drod It wasn't that long ago that the XDA-2 was their flagship D to A processor. If the DC-1 is better (some people can't hear the difference) then it is only shades better. Since your getting serious about two channel, I'd start looking into how your room affects the sound. Read the threads about room treatments and try some stuff. You can make some serious improvements without spending much money. We're looking forward to you telling us about your audiophile journey. We're still on it ourselves, and are looking forward to seeing if you can teach us something. |
|
|
|
Post by wizardofoz on Jan 27, 2014 12:01:11 GMT -5
I run a couple of mini-x's into the old erm-1 4ohm Emotiva speakers in my home and lent a setup to a friend and both ate just perfect for an entry level setup.
Emotiva amps will surprise you. If you can get a upa-2 in the second hand market its a very sweet amp indeed too.
|
|
|
|
Post by garbulky on Jan 27, 2014 14:34:01 GMT -5
Congratulations on your setup! I still feel guilty for having got such good sound out of my setup for so darn little. Seriously! What I got years ago was the cheapest stuff Emo had on sale (UPA-2 and XDA-1). And they are still fully useable and sound great! The mini-x is a nice amp - I've heard it - and I think you'd be set for some time  |
|
|
|
Post by frenchyfranky on Jan 27, 2014 17:51:37 GMT -5
An other Emo junkie...
Welcome Drod and enjoy your new toys.
|
|
|
|
Post by Bonzo on Jan 27, 2014 18:01:34 GMT -5
I love the idea of the Mini, it's quality to price ratio, and that it could be perfect for my bedroom. But I've never gotten it due to 2 things: I wish the size was the other way around, wider and less deep, like normal rack wide, and I wish it had 2 sets of inputs. I just want to run it straight up with a separate CD player and a Wifi Clock Radio (that has RCA outputs). As it is the size won't work in my room, and I don't really want to have to use a switcher. That being said, it really looks like a steal of an amp, and I'm glad you are verifying that. It's great Emotiva builds stuff like this for the people it works for. I'm waiting for the Mini Series 2 with the changes I said and I'll be buying one. Well, I can hope anyway.  |
|
|
|
Post by Davecski65 on Jan 27, 2014 20:04:11 GMT -5
welcome drod,,It is an addiction,you will not be able to resist, the sales, the quality ,the power,resist is futile!
As you can see from my gear I had the bug bite me,it wil you also.ENJOY THE RIDE!
PS
Its a crazy one in here.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dan Laufman on Jan 27, 2014 20:54:25 GMT -5
Hey All! So I've had the "mini" and the XDA-2 for about a month now (pushing a pair of Polk RTi8's) and have been so completely satisfied I couldn't resist the urge to my story. This is my first taste of actually getting to own any higher end home stereo equipment, the downside to loving sound yet being young and broke. Long story short I was determined to get a good sounding stereo system even on a light budget. Hence a few days of research and all signs pointing towards Emotiva. After little debate I pulled the trigger on a Mini A-100 paired with a XDA-2. I had fairly high expectations based up the reputation of Emotiva but never was I ready for just how much better it sounded versus my old 5.1 reciever, I mean 50 watts is just 50 watts right?! Wrong! I feel like a complete fool for ever buying anything different, all this for just $420 spent (thank god for that Holiday sale!) Emotiva you have renewed my excitment and restored my faith, it's so great to see a company that clearly puts their passion for audio into such a superbly built and well priced package. I'm now offically 100% an Emotiva man for life and looking forward to the day of owning some of the real deal amps and prrocessors they have to offer! Drod Thank you Drod, you made my day!! Happy listening, Big Dan |
|
|
|
Post by tchaik on Jan 27, 2014 21:24:08 GMT -5
drod...
my sentiments exactly. after 2 decades of no longer buying high end equipment because of its ridiculous cost, i then discovered emotiva 4 years ago.
i first purchased the erc-1 and was hooked. like you this is my audio company of choice. the stuff far exceeds the cost factor and has renewed my interest in
audio once again. whether it is a mini-x or a n xpr-2 the sound quality is truly exceptional and the other companies out there are now running scared. dan
has shown the audio world how to do it without having to take out a second mortgage or destory one's marriage.
welcome to emo-world. you will not be dissapointed.
tchaik.........
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2014 23:04:22 GMT -5
That's good to know Boomzilla, thanks. After doing some reading through the forums I started to get a slight itch for more power, even though I have ZERO complaints. I rarely get the opportunity to really let them loose and probably haven't pushed the mini anywhere near it's limits. Coming from primarily the 12V world and the crazy inflated power ratings it's nice to come back down to earth a little bit. I'm truly amazed how loud, defined and just down right awesome those towers sound when fed quality stuff. The 4 ohm feature is nice also, sometime soon I'd like to get some 4 ohm speakers in there and see how it handles them. I was a little bit weary about giving it a 4 ohm but sounds like it shouldn't be a problem, the mini's not so mini! Thanks for the feedback, I'm gonna learn a lot poking around here! Drod, perhaps you understand that it is more difficult for an amp to drive 4 ohm speakers and many amps, especially in AVR's and some integrated amps fail miserably at this task. However, be sure in the future you really know the practical impedance load (nominal impedance) a speaker offers to an amp. The 8 ohm and 4 ohm specs by speaker manufacturers are only rough estimates at best. Many times a speaker manufacturer will overrate their speaker at 8 ohms, not wanting to scare off or lose a sale to someone who has an AVR receiver or a wimpy power amp that is not strong into 4 ohms. When the speaker is actually tested it might become evident that the nominal impedance is closer to the 4 ohm range. Many times it is difficult to find an independent review/test of the actual nominal impedance of the speaker. That is why I always look (web search) for a review on a speaker from sources that give impedance test measurements like Sound & Vision Mag, Home Theater Mag, Stereophile, Audioholics and Secrets of HT and Hi-Fi. If I can't find the exact model reviewed sometimes the model one up or one down might have a review and have similar impedance test results. The speaker impedance is a difficult subject as it varies with the frequency. Phase angle also comes into consideration. This can all be very complicated. Just because a speaker is specified as 8 ohms or 4 ohms doesn't mean that is what the amp actually sees. When driving a 4 ohm speaker with an every day AVR that is not rated into 4 ohms, the amp might tend to overheat or even shut down at times. You can be sure with the Mini and other Emo amps that they will be stable into 4 ohms and usually less. Thus you should have no fear of matching the Mini with any speaker of 4 ohms nominal impedance. It is possible you might require more power output but that is affected by many other variable factors. If I can't find test results on a speaker I ask around for owner's opinions as to the low end of the impedance curve and how difficult a particular speaker is to drive. www.google.com/search?q=niminal+impedance&rlz=1C1CHMO_enUS529US529&oq=niminal+impedance&aqs=chrome..69i57.7298j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8#q=nominal+impedance&spell=1www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/understanding-impedance-electrical-phase/page-2 |
|
|
|
Post by milsap195 on Jan 27, 2014 23:06:09 GMT -5
Has anybody tried a mini x and a DC-1 yet?
|
|
|
|
Post by RightinLA on Jan 28, 2014 1:38:40 GMT -5
You can see how the mini-X a-100 shines when you connect it to a Zone 2 or Zone 3 output of a typical AVR and compare the sound to the AVR front LR with the same type of speakers. The superiority of the mini-X can be clearly heard. It is a small gem of an amp.
I've used the mini-X with a McIntosh preamp and was impressed with the results.
|
|
|
|
Post by d1sturb3d on Feb 11, 2014 1:45:17 GMT -5
Has anybody tried a mini x and a DC-1 yet? wait for it..my dc-1 is still yet in transit..sigh..to think I purchased this end of Dec..what a long wait! |
|
|
|
Post by Davecski65 on Feb 11, 2014 6:52:49 GMT -5
Has anybody tried a mini x and a DC-1 yet? yes,i have both setup in my theather,running it into my ERM 6.2s with a Ultra 10 sub into one of the XLR outs,,Sounds awesome,had a friend over the other night and couldn't belive the sound that was coming out,and at loud volumes too,but yopu can tell that the ERM 6.2s wanted some more power,so this is were I am in the process of buying some TEKTON LORE speakers,or maybe TEKTON LORE-S.You will love the sound didn't mattr what I listened to,youtube,pandora one,Buy my HI Rez sounds the best,without a doubt. The guys at Emotiva just make some of the best equipment that I have ever owned and will continue to for my life,THANKS DAN AND LONNIE!! |
|
