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Post by flatpicker on Dec 13, 2014 9:43:57 GMT -5
I'm beginning to think about a configuration that would include the SA-250... but I'm unsure about the "personality" or character of the SA-250 vs the XPA line of amps which I'm so used to. Anyone willing to offer some advice on what I would likely notice about the SA-250 in comparison to the XPA's? Thanks for any revelations...
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moonwolf
Minor Hero
Audio is a great hobby
Posts: 87 
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Post by moonwolf on Dec 13, 2014 12:56:50 GMT -5
I received my SA-250 this week. Still, in the honey moon phase, and I don't have one of the XPA amps. I have UPA mono blocks. UPA monos are wonderful musical amps, but compared to SA-250 they sound like 'MP3' in a relative term. I did hear XPA-1 and XPA-2 in the past, but too many years ago to give you a better comparison. But, if my memory serves me correct, I think SA-250 is the only emotiva amps that got 'layering' of the music right (but I haven't heard XPR series). Please check the other thread, 'anyone interested in the SA-2-250', where people are posting their first impressions. Some users posted their impression compared to XPA series amps.
In my very limited opinion at the time, I think SA-250 is a good step direction for emotiva indicating a true audiophile aim. Oh, and SA-250 got bass right. Very sweet impressive bass! I will post more detailed impression in the other thread later this weekend.
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Post by flatpicker on Dec 13, 2014 18:37:25 GMT -5
I received my SA-250 this week. Still, in the honey moon phase, and I don't have one of the XPA amps. I have UPA mono blocks. UPA monos are wonderful musical amps, but compared to SA-250 they sound like 'MP3' in a relative term. I did hear XPA-1 and XPA-2 in the past, but too many years ago to give you a better comparison. But, if my memory serves me correct, I think SA-250 is the only emotiva amps that got 'layering' of the music right (but I haven't heard XPR series). Please check the other thread, 'anyone interested in the SA-2-250', where people are posting their first impressions. Some users posted their impression compared to XPA series amps. In my very limited opinion at the time, I think SA-250 is a good step direction for emotiva indicating a true audiophile aim. Oh, and SA-250 got bass right. Very sweet impressive bass! I will post more detailed impression in the other thread later this weekend. Thanks for the info... so the SA-250's are shipping... I was seeing the note about beginning shipping at end of December, but sounds like that note is outdated. I'm especially glad to hear of the bass. One thing I notice when I switch between the XPA-2 and XPA-1, is the more present bass in the XPA-1, and I do like it, even though I'm mostly listening to celtic, bluegrass, and classical, but plenty of Allman Bros, too. If these are available right now, that might nudge me forward... thanks, I'll check the other thread... |
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Post by seppo on Dec 13, 2014 21:41:18 GMT -5
Check out the Emo podcast from around 11/20 too. The claim is that SA-250 is so good that "nothing from Emotiva can touch SA-250 at the moment".
I got mine a few days ago, and I have been very happy. Mids and highs are very neutral, and the bass response is definitely improved over my Onkyo A9070. I use it to drive low impedance Infinity RS-IIs, and it does not break a sweat, and seems to have absolute control over these current hungry speakers. Please see the other thread for further comments.
PS SA-250 became available earlier this month, and shipped immediately, and there was a great introductory Cyber Monday discount. Now the pricing has gone up by ~$200 bucks, and the shipping date has been pushed to the end of the month.
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Post by flatpicker on Dec 14, 2014 8:45:18 GMT -5
Check out the Emo podcast from around 11/20 too. The claim is that SA-250 is so good that "nothing from Emotiva can touch SA-250 at the moment". I got mine a few days ago, and I have been very happy. Mids and highs are very neutral, and the bass response is definitely improved over my Onkyo A9070. I use it to drive low impedance Infinity RS-IIs, and it does not break a sweat, and seems to have absolute control over these current hungry speakers. Please see the other thread for further comments. PS SA-250 became available earlier this month, and shipped immediately, and there was a great introductory Cyber Monday discount. Now the pricing has gone up by ~$200 bucks, and the shipping date has been pushed to the end of the month. Thanks for the clarifications on Cyber Monday... I see $1,133.10 as the club price now, so it was $933 then? I should have paid more attention, but I was not in shopping mode at the time... snooze and lose, I guess... I'll continue to eagerly read the SA-250 reviews... |
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Post by quattroll on Dec 14, 2014 14:12:34 GMT -5
I am surprised that more members are not worked up about this situation: "nothing from Emotiva can touch SA-250 at the moment". I posted in the other SA 2 250 thread that I had called EMO during Cyber Monday's sale, and the advice I got was that the 1Ls would be better for me. I agreed because for a long time I was waiting for the XMC 1, and I had been planning on 1Ls for the next move. That turned out well in terms of Gen 2 cosmetics, and I have the 1Ls now running and they do sound very good. I did have a phase problem initially which was from my left speaker wire being inverted (dummy move that occurred late in the evening).
I then had another problem right after solving this and that had to do with the speaker wire on my right channel. Because I was using the Emo premium speaker wire, I discovered I had to use banana plugs sideways through the posts. The wire is stretched outward to the left and right posts. This means that things get a little tight for clearance around the triggers, and the chassis of the wire can touch the screws on the caseback. I think this was the cause of a record-like screetch I was getting on power downs 10 seconds after the amps were power cut. I am glad that carefully re-wiring everything again took care of it. Anyway I mention this as a caution for 1L users that they may have to go with different speaker wire or make sure that they have plenty of room behind the units.
Back to the SA 2 250, if I my conversation with Emo had focused more on the podcast statement, that the 250 is now their best sounding amp, I would have bought it at the amazing Cyber Mo price. But what happened to fully differential and mono block awesomeness? Usually I rely on well defined architectural differences to make improvements, i.e. class A, fully balanced, mono, overall weight, etc. Now it seems that a totally different and seemingly less exotic approach can be/is better? Where does this leave the mighty XPA-1 or the XPR Amps? It seems to me that every hard-core Emophile now has to have a SA 2 250! There has been a major disturbance in the force! Help! What are we all going to do! How can I enjoy my 1Ls with this powerful unknown dark force out there that is getting these rave reviews?
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Post by knucklehead on Dec 14, 2014 15:06:48 GMT -5
But, if my memory serves me correct, I think SA-250 is the only emotiva amps that got ' layering' of the music right (but I haven't heard XPR series). Please check the other thread, 'anyone interested in the SA-2-250', where people are posting their first impressions. Some users posted their impression compared to XPA series amps. What in God's name does that mean? Are you saying some Emotiva amps disassemble the music and put it back together in a different manner? |
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Post by Jim on Dec 14, 2014 15:14:06 GMT -5
But, if my memory serves me correct, I think SA-250 is the only emotiva amps that got ' layering' of the music right (but I haven't heard XPR series). Please check the other thread, 'anyone interested in the SA-2-250', where people are posting their first impressions. Some users posted their impression compared to XPA series amps. What in God's name does that mean? Are you saying some Emotiva amps disassemble the music and put it back together in a different manner? It's a great word. Sort of like "organic". These amps sound sooo organic! |
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Post by garbulky on Dec 14, 2014 15:14:30 GMT -5
I am surprised that more members are not worked up about this situation: "nothing from Emotiva can touch SA-250 at the moment". I posted in the other SA 2 250 thread that I had called EMO during Cyber Monday's sale, and the advice I got was that the 1Ls would be better for me. I agreed because for a long time I was waiting for the XMC 1, and I had been planning on 1Ls for the next move. That turned out well in terms of Gen 2 cosmetics, and I have the 1Ls now running and they do sound very good. I did have a phase problem initially which was from my left speaker wire being inverted (dummy move that occurred late in the evening). I then had another problem right after solving this and that had to do with the speaker wire on my right channel. Because I was using the Emo premium speaker wire, I discovered I had to use banana plugs sideways through the posts. The wire is stretched outward to the left and right posts. This means that things get a little tight for clearance around the triggers, and the chassis of the wire can touch the screws on the caseback. I think this was the cause of a record-like screetch I was getting on power downs 10 seconds after the amps were power cut. I am glad that carefully re-wiring everything again took care of it. Anyway I mention this as a caution for 1L users that they may have to go with different speaker wire or make sure that they have plenty of room behind the units. Back to the SA 2 250, if I my conversation with Emo had focused more on the podcast statement, that the 250 is now their best sounding amp, I would have bought it at the amazing Cyber Mo price. But what happened to fully differential and mono block awesomeness? Usually I rely on well defined architectural differences to make improvements, i.e. class A, fully balanced, mono, overall weight, etc. Now it seems that a totally different and seemingly less exotic approach can be/is better? Where does this leave the mighty XPA-1 or the XPR Amps? It seems to me that every hard-core Emophile now has to have a SA 2 250! There has been a major disturbance in the force! Help! What are we all going to do! How can I enjoy my 1Ls with this powerful unknown dark force out there that is getting these rave reviews? Well, from the look of the internal layout the amp looks similar to the mighty XPA-2. So, I'll reserve judgment until I hear it. In terms of "can't touch this amp" can mean all kinds of things. For instance there is a variable gain stage which is probably helpful and all those pro features. I think you'll be just fine with fully balanced class A monoblocks  Don't you worry! Get yourself an XSP-1 and rock it out! |
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Post by seppo on Dec 14, 2014 15:15:08 GMT -5
quattroll I agree. I was quite confused by the SA-250 description on the website, and the specs. It was not clear at all to me what the value proposition was compared to XPAs. The specs do not compare superbly to XPAs, and the rest on the website is just hype words. But then in the podcast they make an strong positive statement about this amp, as I quoted above. I had also contacted their support regarding applicability of XPA-2 for my RS-IIs. The support person said that XPA-2 will do fine, but also advertised SA-250 to me, to quote: "...I would also recommend looking at the SA-250 special edition amplifier (http://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/sa-250). This is a limited release product and is by far one of the most impressive two channel amplifiers available. The noise of the SA-250 is half that of the XPA-2 and it will be well designed to support your speakers as well..."
The podcast was really to deal breaker for me. Basically the CTO? of the company going on the record as quoted earlier. That was a strong endorsement to me, and I was willing to take my chances. As it turns out, I am very happy with the SA-250. Although I do not have any experience with other Emotiva gear, or any other gear in this power range for that matter (I re-started this hobby only relatively recently).
Now, the second key statement that Emotiva should be advertising everywhere (if it is for real), is this statement in the owner's manual: "...The SA-250 was designed to be the the flagship amplifier for a new line of super-high-end studio
equipment. Although it inherits its short signal path Class A/B architecture from our audiophile
equipment, the SA-250 incorporates several circuit refinements and additions that raise its
performance to a whole new level...." I am still confused why the CTO's endorsement and the above statement regarding SA-250's position in the product line-up are not front and center on the SA-250 webpage....
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Post by MukAudio on Dec 14, 2014 15:26:19 GMT -5
I was quite intrigued by this amp as well. The person I emailed at Emotiva said I would be better off sticking with my first gen XPA-1s.
Mark
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Post by flatpicker on Dec 14, 2014 20:30:58 GMT -5
I was quite intrigued by this amp as well. The person I emailed at Emotiva said I would be better off sticking with my first gen XPA-1s. Mark That is a core question that had... whether to create a setup with 2 XPA-1's or go with 1 SA-250... I already have 2 XPA-1's in another setup that I really like, but could I achieve a similarly pleasing outcome by going with the SA-250 for the other setup. Would I be disappointed in going with the SA-250 compared with the XPA-1's... I get a feeling, I would not be disappointed and would be happy that I'd have some money left over to apply to other Emo equipment. In the relative lack of user reviews on the SA-250, due to it's newness, I hesitate... yet, I have faith in Dan and Lonnie and company... |
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moonwolf
Minor Hero
Audio is a great hobby
Posts: 87
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Post by moonwolf on Dec 14, 2014 23:27:03 GMT -5
But, if my memory serves me correct, I think SA-250 is the only emotiva amps that got ' layering' of the music right (but I haven't heard XPR series). Please check the other thread, 'anyone interested in the SA-2-250', where people are posting their first impressions. Some users posted their impression compared to XPA series amps. What in God's name does that mean? Are you saying some Emotiva amps disassemble the music and put it back together in a different manner? Hmm.. you know the layers of music? Like you can hear layers of music on top of another? When a composer write a song, a composer layers bass note 1, bass note 2, bass note 3, instrument 1, instrument 2, .. vocal 1, vocal 2, etc? See my friend has an ayre amp and totem speakers, and one thing I envied from his system was the layers. Like some people go crazy about sound stage or timbre, I was dying for the layers. And, within the limitation of my speakers, SA-250 was the first to provide me a joy of hearing layers of music. I heard a few different emotiva amps in the past, but I never thought emotiva got the 'layers' right until SA-250. My wife is a pianist and also a doctoral student in music. She said she could so clear hear each bass line that she can easily write down everything in the bass into musical notes with SA-250, which was not as clear with UPA monoblocks. |
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Dec 15, 2014 0:52:09 GMT -5
What in God's name does that mean? Are you saying some Emotiva amps disassemble the music and put it back together in a different manner? Hmm.. you know the layers of music? Like you can hear layers of music on top of another? When a composer write a song, a composer layers bass note 1, bass note 2, bass note 3, instrument 1, instrument 2, .. vocal 1, vocal 2, etc? See my friend has an ayre amp and totem speakers, and one thing I envied from his system was the layers. Like some people go crazy about sound stage or timbre, I was dying for the layers. And, within the limitation of my speakers, SA-250 was the first to provide me a joy of hearing layers of music. I heard a few different emotiva amps in the past, but I never thought emotiva got the 'layers' right until SA-250. My wife is a pianist and also a doctoral student in music. She said she could so clear hear each bass line that she can easily write down everything in the bass into musical notes with SA-250, which was not as clear with UPA monoblocks. Would it be accurate to say "layering" as you describe it is la less homogenized presentation with actual depth (3d version of stereo imaging)? I've never heard layering used as an adjective in describing an amp And I'm not discounting what you and your wife are hearing, rather im trying to understand it better... Instruments produce different sounds from different places in the recording and better amplifiers give a 3 dimensional audio presentation more true to the original performance than others when paired with compatible loudspeakers. Either way the sa-250 is now on my radar.... |
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Post by tkmetz on Dec 15, 2014 7:24:08 GMT -5
I owned an XSP-1 G1. Then Lonnie said in a podcast that the XSP-1 G2 was noticeably better than the G1. I purchased a G2 and found that to be the case. And I thought the G1 was already a very good sounding unit. I sold the XSP-1 only as I had been wanting an XMC-1 primarily because I have a lousy room and dirac gives me hope of fully enjoying my system. I was intrigued to hear (I don't remember if it was Lonnie or Dan)say that the analog performance of the XMC-1 was better than the XSP-1 G2. I found that hard to believe. Well, it is. So when they said that the other Emo amps couldn't touch the SA-250 regarding noise, etc., I knew that was code for 'this amp sounds better than anything we currently produce' and I jumped on one for the $954 price (I'm surprised few did as even though it is a limited production unit, it still had the 30-day return and the 5-yr transferable warranty). I replied in a different thread saying that in my experience, it is the best sounding Emo amp I've heard in my system, the latest amps I have owned and used being the XPR-2 and XPA-1L which are very very good amps. Firstly, this is the first Emo amp I've used that equals the Krell amps I've used (KAV250, FPB300, KSA200s) for bass response and control. Driving my Magnepan MGIII, the dynamics at low volumes are amazing and make the music involving at low volumes. This is a particular weakness of the early generation Maggies. The amp just loafs along at high volumes and doesn't even get warm to the touch. There is no softness in the upper mids/highs, yet it is smooth and natural sounding - there is bite in the upper mids/highs when it should be there(think trumpets), but there is no fatigue whatsoever. The imaging and soundstage reproduction (layering!) are just fantastic. Detail is so well rendered that it is incredibly easy to follow every nuance of the performance, yet it is not a hyper-detailed sound that is so often fatiguing. Given the descriptions Emo uses for its amps, I don't know what kind of copy they would use to better describe the superior sound of this unit compared to their other amps. The XPR-2 and XPA-1L are fantastic amps, but the SA-250 is phenomenal IMO. As always, YMMV. quattroll I agree. I was quite confused by the SA-250 description on the website, and the specs. It was not clear at all to me what the value proposition was compared to XPAs. The specs do not compare superbly to XPAs, and the rest on the website is just hype words. But then in the podcast they make an strong positive statement about this amp, as I quoted above. I had also contacted their support regarding applicability of XPA-2 for my RS-IIs. The support person said that XPA-2 will do fine, but also advertised SA-250 to me, to quote: "...I would also recommend looking at the SA-250 special edition amplifier (http://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/sa-250). This is a limited release product and is by far one of the most impressive two channel amplifiers available. The noise of the SA-250 is half that of the XPA-2 and it will be well designed to support your speakers as well..."
The podcast was really to deal breaker for me. Basically the CTO? of the company going on the record as quoted earlier. That was a strong endorsement to me, and I was willing to take my chances. As it turns out, I am very happy with the SA-250. Although I do not have any experience with other Emotiva gear, or any other gear in this power range for that matter (I re-started this hobby only relatively recently).
Now, the second key statement that Emotiva should be advertising everywhere (if it is for real), is this statement in the owner's manual: "...The SA-250 was designed to be the the flagship amplifier for a new line of super-high-end studio
equipment. Although it inherits its short signal path Class A/B architecture from our audiophile
equipment, the SA-250 incorporates several circuit refinements and additions that raise its
performance to a whole new level...." I am still confused why the CTO's endorsement and the above statement regarding SA-250's position in the product line-up are not front and center on the SA-250 webpage....
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Post by flatpicker on Dec 15, 2014 7:50:16 GMT -5
... I replied in a different thread saying that in my experience, it is the best sounding Emo amp I've heard in my system, the latest amps I have owned and used being the XPR-2 and XPA-1L which are very very good amps. Firstly, this is the first Emo amp I've used that equals the Krell amps I've used (KAV250, FPB300, KSA200s) for bass response and control. Driving my Magnepan MGIII, the dynamics at low volumes are amazing and make the music involving at low volumes. This is a particular weakness of the early generation Maggies. The amp just loafs along at high volumes and doesn't even get warm to the touch. There is no softness in the upper mids/highs, yet it is smooth and natural sounding - there is bite in the upper mids/highs when it should be there(think trumpets), but there is no fatigue whatsoever. The imaging and soundstage reproduction (layering!) are just fantastic. Detail is so well rendered that it is incredibly easy to follow every nuance of the performance, yet it is not a hyper-detailed sound that is so often fatiguing. Given the descriptions Emo uses for its amps, I don't know what kind of copy they would use to better describe the superior sound of this unit compared to their other amps. The XPR-2 and XPA-1L are fantastic amps, but the SA-250 is phenomenal IMO. As always, YMMV. ---- Well, that's it... you are pushing me past the tipping point!! :-) |
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Post by seppo on Dec 15, 2014 8:28:23 GMT -5
I owned an XSP-1 G1. Then Lonnie said in a podcast that the XSP-1 G2 was noticeably better than the G1. I purchased a G2 and found that to be the case. And I thought the G1 was already a very good sounding unit. I sold the XSP-1 only as I had been wanting an XMC-1 primarily because I have a lousy room and dirac gives me hope of fully enjoying my system. I was intrigued to hear (I don't remember if it was Lonnie or Dan)say that the analog performance of the XMC-1 was better than the XSP-1 G2. I found that hard to believe. Well, it is. So when they said that the other Emo amps couldn't touch the SA-250 regarding noise, etc., I knew that was code for 'this amp sounds better than anything we currently produce' and I jumped on one for the $954 price (I'm surprised few did as even though it is a limited production unit, it still had the 30-day return and the 5-yr transferable warranty). I replied in a different thread saying that in my experience, it is the best sounding Emo amp I've heard in my system, the latest amps I have owned and used being the XPR-2 and XPA-1L which are very very good amps. Firstly, this is the first Emo amp I've used that equals the Krell amps I've used (KAV250, FPB300, KSA200s) for bass response and control. Driving my Magnepan MGIII, the dynamics at low volumes are amazing and make the music involving at low volumes. This is a particular weakness of the early generation Maggies. The amp just loafs along at high volumes and doesn't even get warm to the touch. There is no softness in the upper mids/highs, yet it is smooth and natural sounding - there is bite in the upper mids/highs when it should be there(think trumpets), but there is no fatigue whatsoever. The imaging and soundstage reproduction (layering!) are just fantastic. Detail is so well rendered that it is incredibly easy to follow every nuance of the performance, yet it is not a hyper-detailed sound that is so often fatiguing. Given the descriptions Emo uses for its amps, I don't know what kind of copy they would use to better describe the superior sound of this unit compared to their other amps. The XPR-2 and XPA-1L are fantastic amps, but the SA-250 is phenomenal IMO. As always, YMMV. quattroll I agree. I was quite confused by the SA-250 description on the website, and the specs. It was not clear at all to me what the value proposition was compared to XPAs. The specs do not compare superbly to XPAs, and the rest on the website is just hype words. But then in the podcast they make an strong positive statement about this amp, as I quoted above. I had also contacted their support regarding applicability of XPA-2 for my RS-IIs. The support person said that XPA-2 will do fine, but also advertised SA-250 to me, to quote: "...I would also recommend looking at the SA-250 special edition amplifier (http://emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/sa-250). This is a limited release product and is by far one of the most impressive two channel amplifiers available. The noise of the SA-250 is half that of the XPA-2 and it will be well designed to support your speakers as well..."
The podcast was really to deal breaker for me. Basically the CTO? of the company going on the record as quoted earlier. That was a strong endorsement to me, and I was willing to take my chances. As it turns out, I am very happy with the SA-250. Although I do not have any experience with other Emotiva gear, or any other gear in this power range for that matter (I re-started this hobby only relatively recently).
Now, the second key statement that Emotiva should be advertising everywhere (if it is for real), is this statement in the owner's manual: "...The SA-250 was designed to be the the flagship amplifier for a new line of super-high-end studio
equipment. Although it inherits its short signal path Class A/B architecture from our audiophile
equipment, the SA-250 incorporates several circuit refinements and additions that raise its
performance to a whole new level...." I am still confused why the CTO's endorsement and the above statement regarding SA-250's position in the product line-up are not front and center on the SA-250 webpage....
Thank, you are confirming my reading of the 'coding'  Regarding copy language, Emotiva clearly uses a lot of superlatives, which fundamentally dilutes the messaging in the long run. And doing quantitative comparison is difficult, particularly if the differences are not obvious (e.g. mooore watts, less noise). I always look for more quantitative ones, like I quoted above. If something is better than anything else, it is #1 by definition. No superlatives needed And thanks for your review, I can very much agree with your review. My RS-IIs (with their full dipole midranges and highs) create fantastic 3D soundstage when hooked up with SA-250, with correct recording the music just fill the room (e.g. Boston Third Stage). This is further enforced by the absolute control the amp seems to have over these low impedance speakers. The high damping factor might be at play there. |
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moonwolf
Minor Hero
Audio is a great hobby
Posts: 87
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Post by moonwolf on Dec 15, 2014 13:16:26 GMT -5
Instruments produce different sounds from different places in the recording and better amplifiers give a 3 dimensional audio presentation more true to the original performance than others when paired with compatible loudspeakers. Either way the sa-250 is now on my radar.... Yes, I think '3D' sound perfectly right way to put it. Some system provides not just left and right sound stage, but front and back sound stage. My ears have never been good enough to tell front and back, but I could hear up and down with certain systems. I mean it's not really up and down since all musicians are placed on the same horizontal plane, but I think due to today's mastering techniques there are pseudo vertical sound stage in acoustic images which contribute to what people call a holographic sound stage or 3D sound with some music. I think one of the key is having enough definition in order to create 3D sound. Within my humble system using XDA-2, SA-250 and KEF Q900 speakers, I was able to hear some sense of 3D sound first time in my home. Hearing Lorde's Royals gave me a pseudo sense of hearing an envelop of bass with its own tonal texture clearly separated from the vocals and other background instruments. With Adele's Fire To The Rain on a CD, I thought I was hearing a delicate layer upon layers of of bass lines on top of other bass lines. |
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moonwolf
Minor Hero
Audio is a great hobby
Posts: 87
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Post by moonwolf on Dec 15, 2014 13:25:39 GMT -5
I owned an XSP-1 G1. Then Lonnie said in a podcast that the XSP-1 G2 was noticeably better than the G1. I purchased a G2 and found that to be the case. And I thought the G1 was already a very good sounding unit. I sold the XSP-1 only as I had been wanting an XMC-1 primarily because I have a lousy room and dirac gives me hope of fully enjoying my system. I was intrigued to hear (I don't remember if it was Lonnie or Dan)say that the analog performance of the XMC-1 was better than the XSP-1 G2. I found that hard to believe. Well, it is. So when they said that the other Emo amps couldn't touch the SA-250 regarding noise, etc., I knew that was code for 'this amp sounds better than anything we currently produce' and I jumped on one for the $954 price (I'm surprised few did as even though it is a limited production unit, it still had the 30-day return and the 5-yr transferable warranty). ...Thank, you are confirming my reading of the ' coding' Regarding copy language, Emotiva clearly uses a lot of superlatives, which fundamentally dilutes the messaging in the long run. And doing quantitative comparison is difficult, particularly if the differences are not obvious (e.g. mooore watts, less noise). I always look for more quantitative ones, like I quoted above. If something is better than anything else, it is #1 by definition. No superlatives needed And thanks for your review, I can very much agree with your review. My RS-IIs (with their full dipole midranges and highs) create fantastic 3D soundstage when hooked up with SA-250, with correct recording the music just fill the room (e.g. Boston Third Stage). This is further enforced by the absolute control the amp seems to have over these low impedance speakers. The high damping factor might be at play there. I was lucky that I read that code and ordered two on the last day of the sale. I wasn't even thinking of getting new amplifiers because I actually don't have any place to put them in at the moment. But, I just could not pass the opportunity. |
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Don't you worry! Get yourself an XSP-1 and rock it out! 
