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Post by chev265 on Apr 7, 2014 21:39:23 GMT -5
Hi All,
I have been reading through these forums for a while now, soaking up as much information as I can handle. I am just starting out on my home audio journey, but I have decided and purchased almost everything with the exception of amplifiers. I have narrowed the choices down to two options but am hoping to get some advice from you fine people as to which would be the best way to go.
Because I live in New Zealand the pricing and availability of amplifiers is quite different to the US and has limited my options somewhat and also makes the benefit of one amp over another a little different when cost is taken into consideration, hence the dilemma I now face…
Option 1 at $8,000 USD (Retail price in NZ is $13,200 USD so this is a significant discount!) 1x Parasound A51 (Surround and Centre) 1x Parasound A21 (Front Left/Right)
Option 2 at $7,000 USD (Retail price + Tax and Shipping) 3x Emotiva XPA-1 (Front Left/Right/Centre) 1x Emotiva XPA-5 (Surrounds with 1 channel spare)
Possible Option 3 at $10,600 USD (If I were to entertain the idea that passive bi-amp would be a good thing) 3x Emotiva XPA-1 (Front Left/Right/Centre – Mid/Bass) 3x Emotiva XPA-1L (Front Left/Right/Centre - Highs) 1x Emotiva XPA-5 (Surrounds with 1 channel spare)
The Parasounds Halo amps seem to have a great reputation and a lot of people rave about them. A big following of Emotiva amps and I really like the idea of mono blocks (mainly just because they are cool), although warranty support is harder over here and the 30 day trial doesn’t apply...
Often the advice given on other posts has been to save the money, go with Emotiva because the Parasounds at 2-3x the price are not 2-3x better. But with the price being pretty close after importing the Emotiva, tax etc. compared with a discounted (new) Parasound option, the decision becomes a little harder for me. Or maybe it’s easier? Maybe it’s just “Which option is better with cost being relatively equal”…
My equipment I have purchased to date (unused so far); Anthem MRX 300 as a pre/pro (they don’t have the MRX310 in NZ yet) Fronts: Paradigm Studio 100 V5 Centre: Paradigm Studio CC690 V5 Surrounds: Paradigm Studio 20 V5 Rears: Paradigm Studio 20 V5 Subs: 2x Paradigm Studio 12 with PBK
I will be using it for 80% Home Theatre, and 20% listening to music both from a Home Theatre PC running XBMC over HDMI. It’ll all be set up in my lounge which is 5m x 5m with one side open to the rest of the house. I plan to put in some room treatments, but haven’t done so yet.
Would love to hear your advice! Thanks in advance.
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Apr 7, 2014 23:30:48 GMT -5
Option 4...1x XPR-5 2x XPR-1 $5,700 USD. Not including tax or shipping. Sorry.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2014 23:59:22 GMT -5
Option 4...1x XPR-5 2x XPR-1 $5,700 USD. Not including tax or shipping. Sorry. Xpr's don't ship international any more though.... What about an Xpa 2 paired with Xpa 5 it's pretty comparable to the parasound pair in option 1 for about half the price....
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Post by repeetavx on Apr 8, 2014 0:55:19 GMT -5
Why don't you do what I'm doing ( ). Passive vertical biamp with two XPA-2s. That gives you 1200VA per speaker like an XPA-1. Then add an XPA-5 for the surrounds. On the other hand, our own Andrew Robinson said: I would really like someone (Andrew?) to post an opinion between the Emotiva and A 21 amps.
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 8, 2014 1:34:20 GMT -5
It's your money, but I just don't see Paradigm Studio 100's benefitting from bi amping. My uncle had a full set of Paradigm Signatures inc. subwoofer and we have tried all sorts of amp combinations. From a pair of Halcro DM58's running the mid/highs and a pair of DM88'ss for the lows. To what he has now which is an XPA-2 for the FL & FR and an XPA-3 for the C, SR and SL. Neither of us, nor my cousin, also a hifi nut, could detect any benefit from bi amping or bi wiring. The 300 wpc from an XPA-2 was more than sufficient. Maybe sans sub woofer, but even then I'm not convinced and you have 2 subs.
Hence my suggestion would be a pair of XPA-1's and an XPA-5, with XPA-1's not chosen specifically for their power but their Class A capability for your 20% music listening plus the advantage of proximity location close to the FL and FR.
Cheers Gary
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Post by chev265 on Apr 8, 2014 3:30:28 GMT -5
Gary, do you think then that perhaps just pair of XPA-1Ls would be sufficient as they have some decent Class A capability too? and available at a discount at the moment. They're significantly less powerful, and with "just" 450VA transformer so not sure but your comment about the XPA-1 being not chosen for their power had me thinking...
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Post by chev265 on Apr 8, 2014 3:36:36 GMT -5
Option 4...1x XPR-5 2x XPR-1 $5,700 USD. Not including tax or shipping. Sorry. Xpr's don't ship international any more though.... What about an Xpa 2 paired with Xpa 5 it's pretty comparable to the parasound pair in option 1 for about half the price.... Was thinking about that too, but wasn't sure if they would be on par with the Parasound pair, which was why I was thinking the XPA-1 mono blocks which then makes it a closer match $$ wise. Then the question became more about the XPA mono blocks vs the Parasound multi-channel and how they would perform against each other... And of course mono blocks have the cool factor about them.
The XPR's would be awesome, but as you say the international shipping puts a stop to that.
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bootman
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Post by bootman on Apr 8, 2014 6:50:21 GMT -5
Do you get local support for the Parasound's? If so, that is what I would chose. Shipping gear back and forth even with good service isn't cheap (or covered).
Plus the Parasounds are really nice amps so sound wise you are covered. I would be thinking any potential warranty service and how much that would cost me if I need it. It might wipe the differences off the board if something goes wrong.
Do you have any other local options?
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 8, 2014 15:34:28 GMT -5
Gary, do you think then that perhaps just pair of XPA-1Ls would be sufficient as they have some decent Class A capability too? and available at a discount at the moment. They're significantly less powerful, and with "just" 450VA transformer so not sure but your comment about the XPA-1 being not chosen for their power had me thinking... Being located in Australia I can relate to your situation regarding wanting to make the right call the first time, the 30 days trial / return is not as attractive for us. I don't see any risk in a pair of XPA-1's they have plenty of "party time" grunt. The XPA-1L's would most likely be perfectly OK, so the risk is small, but with 3 way freight costing more than the difference, I'd take the no risk track. Plus I was relating to your initial post and the power comparisons that invoked, as well as the budget indications. In regards to warranty, it did concern me a little at first but I've found Emotiva stuff to be very reliable. To further mitigate that Emotiva do ship replacement boards which any halfway decent electronics repair shop can install. I've done a few successful board swaps for guys and I'm pretty rusty in the electronics these days. So it doesn't take a genius to do it and the Emotiva tech guys are always helpful. There are no bad choices with Emotiva power amps, I've had UPA-2, XPA-100, XPA-2, XPA-3 and XPA-5, all of them were great power amps at fantastic prices. The trick is matching your power and physical lay out requirements, safe in the knowledge that there isn't any better value for money, that I've found anyway. Cheers Gary
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Post by garbulky on Apr 8, 2014 17:30:35 GMT -5
I just want to mention one thing. You already have the anthem's. They are actually pretty decent in their amp department. So even though your amp selections any one of them are fantastic and significantly more powerful.......they may not bowl you over for the price you spend. It's because for instance 80 watts vs 800 watts isn't 10 times more percieved sound power - not even close. I'm not sure but I doubt it's even double the volume at listening position. You need exponentially more power the higher up you go to "double" the percieved volume. (10db is equal to double the volume). Most of your listening is done at a couple of watts but dynamics peaks may swallow quite a bit. So just want to temper your expectations as I realize you are planning to spend 8-13,000 dollars (!!) on amps! You may get more difference uy extensively treating your room. For me spending that much for what you get in amps is not worth it. For instance your subs are bringing more improvement to the sound than the amps will. And I am a huge amplifier fan - the XPA-1's being one of my dreams I'm not saying you WON'T notice a difference - just that it may not be as large as you hope for the money you spend. Hope that doesn't come off wrong.
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igor
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Post by igor on Apr 8, 2014 19:00:17 GMT -5
The XPR's would be awesome, but as you say the international shipping puts a stop to that.
I'm sure there are plenty of re-shippers that can handle that..I've used one called shopusa.com to get things to sweden (for other purposes than weight), but I'm sure there are similar solutions for Australia? In my case, I got a "virtual" address in Virginia, asked Emo to ship there, and then I pay the fees for shipping and taxes and tolls and the re-shipper handles the paperwork for me (not all do that so find one that does) and delivers overseas, at a reasonable price.
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 8, 2014 19:29:26 GMT -5
The XPR's would be awesome, but as you say the international shipping puts a stop to that.
I'm sure there are plenty of re-shippers that can handle that..I've used one called shopusa.com to get things to sweden (for other purposes than weight), but I'm sure there are similar solutions for Australia? In my case, I got a "virtual" address in Virginia, asked Emo to ship there, and then I pay the fees for shipping and taxes and tolls and the re-shipper handles the paperwork for me (not all do that so find one that does) and delivers overseas, at a reasonable price. It's not just shipping that's an issue, although the cost of third party freight for 50+kgs per XPR would be exorbitant. In the case of shipping to Australia, XPR's all exceed the no duty / no GST limit of $A1K, so there are custom's agents fees, brokerage etc to also be considered. Perhaps all up making it uneconomical. Then there is the question of warranty, if Emotiva won't sell the product outside of the USA then chances are they may not warrant it outside of the USA. Especially with voltage and frequency differences. Service could likewise be an issue, if Emotiva won't sell the product outside of the USA then chances are they may not ship service parts outside of the USA. With XPR's now being shipped on mini pallets, I don't see international freight being the only reason for USA only sales. Questions perhaps Emotiva can only answer. Cheers Gary
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Post by milsap195 on Apr 8, 2014 20:19:29 GMT -5
What is the discounted price for an pair of jc1 mono blocks to use as your fronts?
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Post by chev265 on Apr 8, 2014 21:51:16 GMT -5
What is the discounted price for an pair of jc1 mono blocks to use as your fronts? Although they haven't given me a price for JC1 mono blocks specifically, my expectation are they'd match the discount. So it would be $4,480 USD (normally $7,400 USD here in NZ). It's weird because the hugely discounted price for Parasound in NZ is about the same as standard retail price in the US. But because Emotiva price is unchanged and then has freight and tax added on, it brings the two closer in price than what you'd get in the US.
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Lsc
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Post by Lsc on Apr 8, 2014 22:13:11 GMT -5
I'd go with the Parasound if the prices are this close.
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bootman
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Post by bootman on Apr 8, 2014 22:21:45 GMT -5
I'd go with the Parasound if the prices are this close. If they have local warranty service, yup no brainer. I like the Parasound amps. Nice build quality. The Halo series especially.
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 8, 2014 22:34:09 GMT -5
It's weird because the hugely discounted price for Parasound in NZ is about the same as standard retail price in the US Is not the "hugely discounted price" telling you something? Cheers Gary
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Post by milsap195 on Apr 8, 2014 23:04:01 GMT -5
It's weird because the hugely discounted price for Parasound in NZ is about the same as standard retail price in the US Is not the "hugely discounted price" telling you something? Cheers Gary Hey Gary, people didn't complain about the discount prices during the emotiva sales.
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Post by Gary Cook on Apr 8, 2014 23:25:43 GMT -5
Is not the "hugely discounted price" telling you something? Hey Gary, people didn't complain about the discount prices during the emotiva sales. Of course not, but the level of discount in Emotiva Sales is rationaliseable. Keeping in mind the $NZ exchange rate, freight, duty and GST this one is somewhat more interesting than simple end of season, new model coming etc pricing. If it is in fact broad based and not product specific then I'd be looking for any hidden reasoning, like change of distribution, move to direct selling model, change of manufacturing source etc. Cheers Gary
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Post by chev265 on Apr 9, 2014 0:14:36 GMT -5
I'd go with the Parasound if the prices are this close. If they have local warranty service, yup no brainer. I like the Parasound amps. Nice build quality. The Halo series especially. Thanks for the feedback. So you'd still do Parasound A21/A51 multi-channel over the Emotiva mono block? Maybe I'm giving the mono block approach more credit than what it deserves. I had thought that might trump the multi-channel option but so far nobody has really brought it up as much of a benefit.
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