XPA3 Gen1 vs UPA1’s

[quamman]

I have a Xpa3 gen1 as my LCR currently and just acquired a set of Upa1’s . I have found little to compare the two as far as build comparison other than the fact they are both supposed to have the same module in them and both rated at 200wpc @8ohm both are 32 gain. I recently got my upa1’s installed on my mains which are Klipsch RF7’s and moved two of the XPA3 ch onto surround back duty keeping one on my center ch . I did this as looking at both builds the upa1’s appears to have more total secondary capacitance and a heftier power supply per ch rating thinking it would have the slight advantage and being mono blocks give a better isolation.Upon testing once all set up I came to find out the Upa1’s at same rating and what is the same module calibrate at 3 db less than the xpa3 , and the Upa1’s do appear the have a little more separation and slightly more musical than the XPA3 .Both are connected to a sherbourn pt7030 with xlr cables . Has anyone had experience with the two in a setup and what was your findings or observation? Thanks in advance.

[hawk14]

I have had the same set up for the past 8 years or so. The UPA-1's run my L/R front channels and the XPA 3 runs the center and my two surrounds. The UPA's are quieter and have a little more separation for music. However, with movies, I haven't been able to tell the difference. Still works well after all these years.

[knucklehead]

The UPA-1's and the XPA-3 should sound similar, they share some innards IIRC, the UPA-1's use the same output transistors, and maybe more but I'm not sure of that. Of all the Emotiva amps I've owned the only ones I regret selling is a UPA-7, and a trio of UPA-1's. Those were some very good amps, as are the gen 1 XPA amps.