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Post by sahmen on May 28, 2017 14:12:14 GMT -5
2 XPA-1L monoblocks or SA-250 for stereo music?
Is one of the above options superior to the other? The Pre-amp in the chain will be the Emotiva XSP-1, and the DAC will either be the DC-1 or the Metrum Acoustics Hex. Speakers will be the Polk LSIM 705. Please chime in if you have comparatively tested both options in your own system, or if you have witnessed such a comparison. Thanks.
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Post by garbulky on May 28, 2017 15:37:31 GMT -5
I've heard the XPA-1 L including using quad XPA-1 L's in bi amp configuration. They sound good and they are fully balanced. But honestly, I think I would go for the SA-250 even though it's not fully balanced because I found the XPA-2 it was similar to, to be superior in bass extension and dynamics. I haven't heard the SA-250 but from what I can gather it's the XPA-2 on steroids.
However....your XPA-1 gen 2's you have are better than the XPA-2 by a bit though the XPA-2 is very similar.
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Post by Gary Cook on May 28, 2017 17:17:07 GMT -5
I'll go the complete opposite to gar, I have owned an XPA-2 and I find the XPA-1L's to be noticeably superior, that's sound wise. Plus they have the monoblock advantages of placement as well as fully balanced quad differential circuitry. Which means the XPA-1L's are noticeably quieter, some of which is internal and some external due to long XLR connections as well as very short speaker cables.
Cheers
Gary
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Post by simpleman68 on May 28, 2017 17:26:31 GMT -5
I haven't done any bi-amping on my Polks (RTi A9) but I can tell you they really open up and are much more dynamic with gobs of power.
The difference was not minimal. They actually sounded like an entirely different speaker.
Assuming your Polks may be similar, I'd go for the extra power. Would be good to find a demo amp to see for yourself.
Maybe yours will sound better with the 250. Combo is everything when matching amps/speakers.
Scott
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novisnick
EmoPhile
CEO Secret Monoblock Society
Posts: 27,223 
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Post by novisnick on May 28, 2017 17:43:24 GMT -5
I'll go the complete opposite to gar, I have owned an XPA-2 and I find the XPA-1L's to be noticeably superior, that's sound wise. Plus they have the monoblock advantages of placement as well as fully balanced quad differential circuitry. Which means the XPA-1L's are noticeably quieter, some of which is internal and some external due to long XLR connections as well as very short speaker cables. Cheers Gary I too have never heard a SS multi channel amp sound better then a MONOBLOCK.  |
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Post by brutiarti on May 28, 2017 17:54:26 GMT -5
I compared the xpa-1l vs Xpr-2 driving at that that time a set of Dali helicons 300 (enjoy a good amount of power). The xpr-2 was the winner eventough I really wanted the monoblocks to win. If your speakers don't benefit from more power the xpa-1l can be a good match.
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Post by simpleman68 on May 28, 2017 18:25:49 GMT -5
I compared the xpa-1l vs Xpr-2 driving at that that time a set of Dali helicons 300 (enjoy a good amount of power). The xpr-2 was the winner eventough I really wanted the monoblocks to win. If your speakers don't benefit from more power the xpa-1l can be a good match. The XPR2 was one that sounded outstanding on my Polks. That is still what I'm running in the theater. They are very musical as well. When I put on concert blu rays, the sound is pretty incredible. I did not like the XPR2 on my Paradigm studio 100 V5s though. Scott |
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