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Post by eiffel62 on Apr 21, 2016 8:17:51 GMT -5
or would I be better of going with the XPA3 gen 3, and just run the front 3 channels off the Emotiva XPA3, and let the Denon handle the FXI-A6's? I have the Gen3 three channel amp running my GoldenEar LCRs (Triton Ones for L/R, SuperCenter XXL) and I love the sound. The 275 watts per channel really make the LCRs sing with great detail, and separation of instruments and vocals. Played some RCA Living Stereo in 3.0 (Violin Concerto) last evening and it was divine. I also plan to run long XLR cables and get another Gen3 4 channel amp for the surrounds and rears once I decide on the surround processor upgrade to replace my current Denon 3805 AVR which powers the rears for now. A Crown XLS 1502 @ 300 watt/channel drives the surround for impressive 5.1. A 3 channel & 4 channel makes better sense to me than a 5 channel & 2 channel amp combination. If I go with height channels in the future, the existing Gen3 amps could either be upgraded to handle those, or more likely, get another dedicated Gen3 four channel amp.
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KeithL
Administrator
Posts: 9,938
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Post by KeithL on Apr 21, 2016 9:13:58 GMT -5
The biggest difference between balanced and unbalanced connections is that balanced cables have much better immunity to picking up hum and noise. This is why balanced connections are standard in studios and pro installations. So, if you're already using unbalanced connections, and have hum problems, then switching to balanced connections MAY cure it. And using balanced cables to begin with makes it less likely you'll have hum problems - especially if your interconnects are long, and especially if they run near power cables, fluorescent lights, etc. However, assuming that your cables are short, and you don't have hum problems, I wouldn't expect them to sound different. (With some equipment, depending on the circuit topology, the two inputs/outputs will sound a tiny bit different, and, if so, the balanced should be better. However, I'd have to say that I barely, if ever, notice the difference.) One last question for all you Emotiva Pro's. Ive never had an amplifier set up for my home theatre so I am not sure which route to go. I noticed the amp has balanced and unbalanced inputs. I am assuming I want to go with the balanced one's? What is the advantage of going with XLR vs RCA? I believe my Denon 4311 has XLR outputs. So if I go this route, what XLR cables should I go with? I have always gone with Monoprice for cables, and I am guessing they sell XLR cables as well.
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Post by pikkashoe on Apr 21, 2016 10:07:04 GMT -5
Well that makes my decision easy if the 4311 doesn't have XLR outputs. I am not home, so I couldn't check, I just assumed it had XLR out put. I actually considered last night just stepping up to the xpa5 gen 3, but $600 is a large premium to pay for 50 watts extra per channel. That $600 will go much further addressing the acoustical issues I have in the room, and will provide much better results than those 50 watts per channel I get for $600.
The RCA run is only about 4 feet, so I shouldn't have an issue, and I don't have any hum currently.
SRPawski, thanks for the link for that cable snake, that looks like the perfect solution for me. I will go ahead and order that with the XPA5.
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Post by pikkashoe on Apr 21, 2016 10:08:05 GMT -5
Also, Emotiva responded to my inquiry about adding the extra modules in the future. Sounds like you will also have additional costs associated with upgrading, sounds like they will charge labor to do the upgrade, as they mentioned more details will be provided soon regarding additional costs associated with the module upgrades. So with that in mind, my decision is made on the xpa5 for now.
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Post by srpawski on Apr 21, 2016 10:21:20 GMT -5
So moral of the story is if one gets a Gen 3, drop the extra for more channels up front to be ahead in the long run.
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Post by teaman on Apr 22, 2016 16:16:15 GMT -5
Emotiva's JadeDesign Ebay store just listed three XPA-2's if anyone is interested!
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Post by chicagorspec on Apr 22, 2016 20:11:49 GMT -5
Emotiva's JadeDesign Ebay store just listed three XPA-2's if anyone is interested! I find these jadedesign listings so confusing. They show photos of a Gen2 front and back, and list spec as 32dB gain, which would be a Gen1. They never (so far as I can tell) explicitly say it is one or the other. It's surprising to me they don't do a better job of helping potential buyers understand what they would be buying.
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Post by teaman on Apr 22, 2016 21:54:55 GMT -5
Emotiva's JadeDesign Ebay store just listed three XPA-2's if anyone is interested! I find these jadedesign listings so confusing. They show photos of a Gen2 front and back, and list spec as 32dB gain, which would be a Gen1. They never (so far as I can tell) explicitly say it is one or the other. It's surprising to me they don't do a better job of helping potential buyers understand what they would be buying. Hmm, I never even picked up on that....good eye!
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Post by eclypse on Apr 23, 2016 0:44:33 GMT -5
Emotiva's JadeDesign Ebay store just listed three XPA-2's if anyone is interested! I find these jadedesign listings so confusing. They show photos of a Gen2 front and back, and list spec as 32dB gain, which would be a Gen1. They never (so far as I can tell) explicitly say it is one or the other. It's surprising to me they don't do a better job of helping potential buyers understand what they would be buying. Yea, prob old listing reused. I bought 2x xpa-1 and the listing was gen 1 and she thought I was supposed to get gen2. I ended up getting a one of each. So I guess it's best to message her first and ask.
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Post by leonski on Apr 23, 2016 1:20:36 GMT -5
Proper balanced are also 6db 'louder' than single ended.
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