Lsc
Emo VIPs
Posts: 3,343
|
Post by Lsc on Mar 11, 2015 0:07:01 GMT -5
If Emotiva didn't send an amp to a shoutout with all different amps, 2 channel, 3 channel, 5 channel, receiver etc. I would have been fine.
They really have nothing to prove in a setting like this...it's "unofficial". Did they get all those other amps from the manufacturers or did they have em around?
|
|
|
Post by Dark Ranger on Mar 11, 2015 0:13:12 GMT -5
True, Emotiva didn't have to send an amp for the unofficial shootout. But I think it's pretty cool that they did.
|
|
|
Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2015 8:18:28 GMT -5
I can't see the Mark Levinson not be as refined but it'll be interesting. Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE.
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Mar 11, 2015 8:41:46 GMT -5
I can't see the Mark Levinson not be as refined but it'll be interesting. Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. But..... The Levinson comes with white gloves.
|
|
|
Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2015 8:56:03 GMT -5
Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. But..... The Levinson comes with white gloves. Yeah... I'll live with the fingerprints on my XPRs, thanks.
|
|
|
Post by monkumonku on Mar 11, 2015 9:07:23 GMT -5
Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. But..... The Levinson comes with white gloves. That's not it. The Levinson comes with the Levison name on it. That's it.
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Mar 11, 2015 9:30:03 GMT -5
But..... The Levinson comes with white gloves. That's not it. The Levinson comes with the Levison name on it. That's it. I forgot that Mark Levinson is owned by Harman. Hmmmmm
|
|
|
Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2015 9:55:04 GMT -5
That's not it. The Levinson comes with the Levison name on it. That's it. I forgot that Mark Levinson is owned by Harman. Hmmmmm It's been since the Harmon buyout that they've been designing these lower build quality amps. Lots of long time Levinson fans have walked away from the brand.
|
|
|
Post by Jim on Mar 11, 2015 9:59:28 GMT -5
I forgot that Mark Levinson is owned by Harman. Hmmmmm It's been since the Harmon buyout that they've been designing these lower build quality amps. Lots of long time Levinson fans have walked away from the brand. I thought I had read something like that a while ago. Thanks for mentioning it.
|
|
KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,938
|
Post by KeithL on Mar 11, 2015 10:09:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2015 10:10:21 GMT -5
Yep. And it's great that you are.
|
|
dmraupp
Emo VIPs
WhatEver
Posts: 729
|
Post by dmraupp on Mar 11, 2015 10:29:52 GMT -5
I am so glad you sent the XPA-2.I just recently added one to my system.I can honestly say my Polk RTI A9's have never sounded better.
|
|
|
Post by brutiarti on Mar 11, 2015 11:19:37 GMT -5
Besides the shipping costs, i think Emo sent an XPA-2 so it will show its strengths and it will leave people wanting more(XPR-1,2,5), like a miniskirt thing ya know....
|
|
Lsc
Emo VIPs
Posts: 3,343
|
Post by Lsc on Mar 11, 2015 11:27:23 GMT -5
I can't see the Mark Levinson not be as refined but it'll be interesting. Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. It has the name and it looks pretty high quality to me. Look at those fancy binding posts. And it has separate transformers for each channel so it's a dual monoblock, fully differential amp. And it's more conservatively rated than the XPA-2. Look, as you can see I'm pro Emotiva all the way but I think they just chose not to show the rating into 4 ohms bc they no longer double to watts as you 1/2 the impedance. If the Levinson isn't several grades more refined than the XPA-2, I would be shocked.
|
|
|
Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2015 11:52:35 GMT -5
Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. It has the name and it looks pretty high quality to me. Look at those fancy binding posts. And it has separate transformers for each channel so it's a dual monoblock, fully differential amp. And it's more conservatively rated than the XPA-2. Look, as you can see I'm pro Emotiva all the way but I think they just chose not to show the rating into 4 ohms bc they no longer double to watts as you 1/2 the impedance. If the Levinson isn't several grades more refined than the XPA-2, I would be shocked. I was comparing it to the XPR-2, not XPA-2. But I'll stand by my remarks. Any high end amp not RATED for 4 ohms is absurd. I personally don't mind if an amp doesn't double down into 4 ohms. Many really can't, and some manufacturers play games with the spec to make it appear to. However a high end amp should produce 170% or better into 4 ohms from it's 8 ohm spec. Otherwise I'd begin to question the stoutness of it's power supply. And again, I am far from being the only person claiming Levinson has lost much of it's ultra high quality since being bought by Harmon. When you ask $8K for a stereo amp it had better be incredibly upscale. I'd put the older Levinson stuff up there with Pass labs, but not any more. Also, I'd question what "several grades more refined" actually means? Beauty, and SQ, are in the eye of the beholder. Call me crazy but I wouldn't buy the No. 532H for half it's asking price. In fact the only amp in the group I'd consider (if I could afford it) is the Pass Labs X250.5. Then again that amp costs three times what I paid for my pair of XPR-1's straight from Emotiva. Yeah, I'll keep my XPRs....
|
|
|
Post by brand on Mar 11, 2015 12:04:02 GMT -5
All I wanna know is what the Denon, Pioneer etc salesman is gonna write after the event has taken place. I'm pretty sure it's not going to be "Emotiva easily beat the Denon" or "They all sound the same guys".
|
|
|
Post by monkumonku on Mar 11, 2015 12:13:14 GMT -5
Actually the Levinson is pretty much junk IMHO, and in the opinion of many long time Levinson devotees. It's not even rated into ANY loads less than 8 ohm. That is a FARCE as far as I'm concerned. A high end amp not rated for 4 ohm loads? And believe it or not, they have a set of monoblocks based on this amp that also ARE NOT rated under 8 ohms. Please... I think the XPR 2 would annihilate it, and I'd rather have an XPR-2 or XPA-2 AT ANY PRICE. It has the name and it looks pretty high quality to me. Look at those fancy binding posts. And it has separate transformers for each channel so it's a dual monoblock, fully differential amp. And it's more conservatively rated than the XPA-2. Look, as you can see I'm pro Emotiva all the way but I think they just chose not to show the rating into 4 ohms bc they no longer double to watts as you 1/2 the impedance. If the Levinson isn't several grades more refined than the XPA-2, I would be shocked. Bose has the name and LOOKS high-quality, too, cosmetics-wise. Sure, it doesn't have the specs or performance but among a large group of people it has the reputation of being the "best." We're all speculating.. the proof will be in the actual comparisons, assuming they are done in a valid manner.
|
|
|
Post by creimes on Mar 11, 2015 12:40:55 GMT -5
Hopefully I didn't overstep my bounds by posting this thread and getting your attention making you send an amp to the evaluation, but I'm happy to see you guys being a part of it Chad
|
|
|
Post by teaman on Mar 11, 2015 12:57:42 GMT -5
I think it is funny with the bias stated in the Theater Shack thread. People who have probably never heard an Emotiva product stating they are not high end enough to compete. Give me a friggin break. I can say from A/B comparison in my home to a $5000+ Bryston 4B-SST that the Emotiva XPA-2 is no slouch. These dorks that put it out there that the Emotiva cannot hold it's own beside the likes of a Denon or Pioneer AVR are obviously bias against the brand. Probably because they are afraid to let their buddy's know that the Emotiva at a fraction of the price kept up with their little prized possession. Believe me, my buddy with the Bryston bashed my amp before hearing it in person too.
Isn't that the point of a comparison? If the product can't keep up you state it that way, not sight unseen bashing of a lower priced competitor. I agree with the ads that Emotiva used to run in the magazines stating that the competition was disappointed that this would bring down the pricing in the market. It is true.
|
|
Lsc
Emo VIPs
Posts: 3,343
|
Post by Lsc on Mar 11, 2015 15:47:58 GMT -5
I was comparing it to the XPR-2, not XPA-2. But I'll stand by my remarks. Any high end amp not RATED for 4 ohms is absurd. I personally don't mind if an amp doesn't double down into 4 ohms. Many really can't, and some manufacturers play games with the spec to make it appear to. However a high end amp should produce 170% or better into 4 ohms from it's 8 ohm spec. Otherwise I'd begin to question the stoutness of it's power supply. And again, I am far from being the only person claiming Levinson has lost much of it's ultra high quality since being bought by Harmon. When you ask $8K for a stereo amp it had better be incredibly upscale. I'd put the older Levinson stuff up there with Pass labs, but not any more. Also, I'd question what "several grades more refined" actually means? Beauty, and SQ, are in the eye of the beholder. Call me crazy but I wouldn't buy the No. 532H for half it's asking price. In fact the only amp in the group I'd consider (if I could afford it) is the Pass Labs X250.5. Then again that amp costs three times what I paid for my pair of XPR-1's straight from Emotiva. Yeah, I'll keep my XPRs.... I'm with you regarding the XPRs. I'd like to think I had a small role in your path to the XPR-1 by not acknowledging the XPA-1L's as true monoblocks...it goes without saying that the XPR-1s are TRUE MONOBLOCKS and then some!!! The Levinson is pretty highly rated and perhaps the feeling of the Levinson losing it's ultra high quality may be because they started to price products that mere mortals can afford (relatively) and it's the uber high end snobs who are feeling this way. Weren't the older Levinson stuff over $20K? I recall hearing the B&W Nautilus back in 1997 or so with Levinson amps and preamp and thought it was the greatest thing I ever heard. I also take great pride with my XPR-2 and XPR-5 (even though the side blue lights don't match). So, I know how good the XPR-2 & XPR-5 are along with the XPR-1 (since my buddy has 3 of them). As I have said previously, I heard the $80,000 Martin Logan Neolith powered by the McIntosh 1.2kW monoblocks and the Mac preamp and thought it was great but not a whole lot better than my system (see my signature). As a point of reference, 5 years ago, when I had the crappy DefTech speakers w/ the Onkyo 708 (repurposed) and the XPA-5.... when I heard the B&W 802D or the Revel Ultima Studio2 with the Mac amps and came home....I couldn't believe how crappy my stuff sounded - I actually stopped listening to music at home for a while. After the Martin Logans, I came home and thought the sound quality was way up there close the Martin Logan / McIntosh combo...didn't have to sell the farm ....my point is I know and understand how good the XPRs are. I hope the XPA-2 gen 2 kicks a$$. I'll be able to sell my XPA-2 at a higher price then . We shall see...
|
|