XPA-2 Gen 2 vs modified Carver M-1.0t
Jun 6, 2014 14:35:04 GMT -5
frenchyfranky and repeetavx like this
Post by DavidR on Jun 6, 2014 14:35:04 GMT -5
Hi All. I'm new here and I'd like to provide a review of my first, but not last, piece of Emotiva gear.
I've been a Carver guy since the late 80's and have several modified Caver amps. The gear involved with my review includes my Acoustic Research AR90s, Grant Fidelity CD327A, Rotel RC-1082 preamp, Rotel RT-1080 tuner and a Sansui SR717 TT. My speaker cables are 12AWG OFC Phoenix Gold (259/36 strand) + 14AWG OFC RadShak (19/27 strand) combined into Nakamichi BFA banana plugs. For the past 2 years or so the gear has been driven with a modified Carver M-1.0t MkII Opt2 amp capable of 515 watts RMS into 4 ohms with 1,000 watts of dynamic headroom. My Emotiva amp is the XPA-2 Gen 2. I was growing tired and weary of the old Carver amp and was always worried about it blowing up and taking out my speakers. I have another modified Carver amp that had a Sanken transistor fail and it sent 70VDC to my 901s. The Bose took the 'shock' without any damage - tough speakers to kill.
Being a retired engineer who is anally analytical I made a list of potential replacement amps: My list included (used) McIntosh, (used) Bryston (too pricey to buy new), Rotel and Emotiva. I could and would be still waiting for a Rotel RB-1090 to show up but when I explained the 'Pledge' to my wife and how any gear had to be at least made this decade she said " why that old; why not buy something new". So during my anal analyzing due diligence I kept that in mind. Not knowing Emotiva by anything but the name I was somewhat hesitant to pull the trigger. I know Rotel and their quality and have a dealer here in town. But Rotel recommended a Class D amp (RB-1572) which was another unknown. After gathering and digesting info and reviews I was able to narrow the search down to the Emo and the Rotel RB-1572. The price delivered and a 30 day trial period was too attractive to pass by for a Class A/B Emotiva. So I bought the XPA-2 Gen2 over the XPR-2 (too big) and XPA-1L.
My first and rather quick trial (on sacrificial gear; more to see if there was any shipping damage than anything else) was unimpressive. I kept in mind the source used as I had hooked up a Luxman T-111 tuner to my son's Carver M-500t. Finally the extras I needed for my audio gear rack finally showed up and I immediately went to work assembling the rack and gear. The tuner went on first and I fiddled around for some decent music while the Grant CD327A warmed up a bit. Enough of that! First up was some blues I know well (Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) that has some good, deep bass. After a brief listen I remembered what it was like going from my Carver MXR150 to the modded M-1.0t and how it opened up the music. I remember this because its exactly how I felt going from the MkII to this 72 lb. beast. The music was clear; actually ultra clear and crisp. Clean, smooth, quick and a bit brighter - but not too bright. I was astounded at how the 90's upper mid was just 'popping' out the sound. The bass was finally present at low volumes - it can take a bit to wake up those paralleled woofers. At loud volumes the bass was flat, tight and deep. The amp was effortless at pushing the speakers. It didn’t get warm until 3 hours of playing at significant levels.
The one Con I can think of is that the amp's 'voice' is rather neutral; but maybe that's not such a bad thing hearing the music more to how it was recorded. After switching to some jazz on vinyl I made an adjustment to the upper-mid and went with the -3dB setting to give the sound a little warmth. Perhaps in a different room things would be different. I like the amp even more with the speakers at this setting.
Some Beatles, misc. R&R and finished up with some live Stevie Ray. I was hearing notes in my music that I had been missing. I mean this amp really opened up the music. Delicately delectable at low volumes and authoritative at loud volumes.
It's a story of if I knew then what I know now. I think it’s a keeper.
M-1.0t MkII Opt2 anyone?
……….and to think, it could have been a Class D amp at $600 more.
As others have commented this amp WILL expose poor recordings.
Now that I have used the amp many times and have some hours on it the bass has really filled in and it's like WOW . I've been missing so much that my speakers can deliver.
I've been a Carver guy since the late 80's and have several modified Caver amps. The gear involved with my review includes my Acoustic Research AR90s, Grant Fidelity CD327A, Rotel RC-1082 preamp, Rotel RT-1080 tuner and a Sansui SR717 TT. My speaker cables are 12AWG OFC Phoenix Gold (259/36 strand) + 14AWG OFC RadShak (19/27 strand) combined into Nakamichi BFA banana plugs. For the past 2 years or so the gear has been driven with a modified Carver M-1.0t MkII Opt2 amp capable of 515 watts RMS into 4 ohms with 1,000 watts of dynamic headroom. My Emotiva amp is the XPA-2 Gen 2. I was growing tired and weary of the old Carver amp and was always worried about it blowing up and taking out my speakers. I have another modified Carver amp that had a Sanken transistor fail and it sent 70VDC to my 901s. The Bose took the 'shock' without any damage - tough speakers to kill.
Being a retired engineer who is anally analytical I made a list of potential replacement amps: My list included (used) McIntosh, (used) Bryston (too pricey to buy new), Rotel and Emotiva. I could and would be still waiting for a Rotel RB-1090 to show up but when I explained the 'Pledge' to my wife and how any gear had to be at least made this decade she said " why that old; why not buy something new". So during my anal analyzing due diligence I kept that in mind. Not knowing Emotiva by anything but the name I was somewhat hesitant to pull the trigger. I know Rotel and their quality and have a dealer here in town. But Rotel recommended a Class D amp (RB-1572) which was another unknown. After gathering and digesting info and reviews I was able to narrow the search down to the Emo and the Rotel RB-1572. The price delivered and a 30 day trial period was too attractive to pass by for a Class A/B Emotiva. So I bought the XPA-2 Gen2 over the XPR-2 (too big) and XPA-1L.
My first and rather quick trial (on sacrificial gear; more to see if there was any shipping damage than anything else) was unimpressive. I kept in mind the source used as I had hooked up a Luxman T-111 tuner to my son's Carver M-500t. Finally the extras I needed for my audio gear rack finally showed up and I immediately went to work assembling the rack and gear. The tuner went on first and I fiddled around for some decent music while the Grant CD327A warmed up a bit. Enough of that! First up was some blues I know well (Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac) that has some good, deep bass. After a brief listen I remembered what it was like going from my Carver MXR150 to the modded M-1.0t and how it opened up the music. I remember this because its exactly how I felt going from the MkII to this 72 lb. beast. The music was clear; actually ultra clear and crisp. Clean, smooth, quick and a bit brighter - but not too bright. I was astounded at how the 90's upper mid was just 'popping' out the sound. The bass was finally present at low volumes - it can take a bit to wake up those paralleled woofers. At loud volumes the bass was flat, tight and deep. The amp was effortless at pushing the speakers. It didn’t get warm until 3 hours of playing at significant levels.
The one Con I can think of is that the amp's 'voice' is rather neutral; but maybe that's not such a bad thing hearing the music more to how it was recorded. After switching to some jazz on vinyl I made an adjustment to the upper-mid and went with the -3dB setting to give the sound a little warmth. Perhaps in a different room things would be different. I like the amp even more with the speakers at this setting.
Some Beatles, misc. R&R and finished up with some live Stevie Ray. I was hearing notes in my music that I had been missing. I mean this amp really opened up the music. Delicately delectable at low volumes and authoritative at loud volumes.
It's a story of if I knew then what I know now. I think it’s a keeper.
M-1.0t MkII Opt2 anyone?
……….and to think, it could have been a Class D amp at $600 more.
As others have commented this amp WILL expose poor recordings.
Now that I have used the amp many times and have some hours on it the bass has really filled in and it's like WOW . I've been missing so much that my speakers can deliver.
