XPA-5...too good to be true?

[Lsc]

I gotta say when I first heard about Emotiva and the XPA-5 about three weeks ago, I was thinking - this is too good to be true...I'm sure it's not very good in build quality and probably has average sound quality. Then I read a few reviews and each one of them ranged from positive to superlative.

Well, here is another superlative review! Because this amp is outrageously good! Anyone who is stuck in receiver-land and is looking to make that jump to the next step, well you found just what you are looking for..this is it. While you're at it, pickup a nice preamp with the money you saved and enter the realm of pure, effortless, dynamic, grit free sound. Everything sounds so much better now, it's not even funny. I am listening to all my old material and saying to myself, "Now, this is how it's supposed to sound!"

Watching Avatar which coincided with my XPA-5 purchase last Thursday, I felt like I was back at the theaters. The dialogue intelligibility, the dynamics, etc. etc., it was all there.

I can go on and on about how awesome this amp is... about the build quality, it's pretty solid. The milled aluminum front panel is not perfectly smooth like a Theta Casanova but it's good enough. Nothing suggests that this amp won't last 10+ years. It better because this is at least a 10 year purchase for me. No constant looking or fiddling with new equipment for me... it's get quality stuff and then enjoy it until it breaks or at least until that nasty bug bites you. :-)

Next up is hopefully the UMC-1 but that could be a while. In the meantime, I will enjoy the new found clean power in both stereo and 5.1.

BTW, I'm running this with a Theta Casanova pre/pro (thanks to a friend), DefTech BP10s, C1, BP2s & PF1500. I also have a pair of legacy Klipsch Forte II. A quick note, my Forte II's have never sounded so good! The dynamics and the bass control of the XPA-5 is outstanding! Combined with the Theta, it actually even makes it sound pretty smooth - something I thought I'd never say, but this is all relative. I need to upgrade speakers too now. Darn it!

[Wideawake]

Very cool! Welcome to Emo Wonderland.

10 years huh? We'll see how long you hold off before deciding to upgrade to one of the monoblocks.

[altpensacola]

10 YEARS? You know that would only be $80 a year!
I think mine is going to end up costing me about $20 a year.

[Lsc]

I think 10 years+ is a reasonable expectation of a well built solid state power amplifier. According to Dan Laufman, "Our amplifiers are built for decades of reliable use, with a full five year warranty on all parts and labor."

200W times 5 is more than enough for me...especially with the Forte II's I have. I've had nothing but receivers for the past 15 years and that's only 2 receivers during that time period. Perhaps, I should call that the dark ages. :-)

At this point, as usual speakers will make the most tangible difference in all of our systems.

Altpesacola, those are some efficient speakers you have! My Forte II at 99dB efficiency play at near rock concert levels and yours are more efficient than mine. Yikes!

[droopy]

also have feel the dynamism and deep bass, can tell, where they were hiding the sounds?. I do not have bad speakers, just never have listen so very well. and if it is too good and it is true .. about 10 years that only time will desided .... just know it is an excellent choice
;D

[strindl]

Apr 29, 2010 20:43:51 GMT -5 Lsc said:

I think 10 years+ is a reasonable expectation of a well built solid state power amplifier.

I would say even longer than that. I have 4 Threshold power amps that are from 16 to 25 years old. They all still work perfectly.

[gerbilaudio]

I am both a CARVER/SUNFIRE fan and NOW an emotiva fan as well. It would be very hard for anyone to convince me to getting rid of my carver and sunfire amps and since obtaining EMOTIVA, it would be EQUALLY hard for anyone to convince me to get rid of my emotiva amps unless someone gives me a FREE KRELL AND MARK LEVINSON amps in the tens of thousands of dollars in which I would resell them for more emotiva and carver/sunfire equipment! at the price those manufacturers sell their top of the line amps, I might as well get BOTH emotiva and sunfire gear and still have MONEY to buy other goodies!

[roadrunner]

With the quality of the parts that Emotiva uses in their XPA Series amps there is no reason you can't get a good 30 to 40 years of use. I have Crown DC-300 power amps that I bought about 40 years ago. The Emotiva amps are built more robustly than the Crown amps, which ought to give you a high level of confidence for the Emotiva amp's longevity.

[wizardofoz]

I got a Sunfire CG 5x200w for ~$150 a few days after getting a 2nd hand XPA-5...well the XPA is sold now and the Sunfire still with me.

I just did some power usage checks on the Sunfire in standby (25W) and idle or low volume listening (42-50W) so thats not bad....my room fan pulls more than that!!!

[Deleted]

Some folks think driving high efficiency speakers like the Forte II's with a high power SS amp like from Emotiva is overkill? The peak power requirements for dynamics are huge and frequently far in excess of the specified maximum rated power. If you have loads of cash top tube amps are also great.



Greg Smith of SoundStage had a slightly different take and some interesting comments in his review of the Forte II's.

"..........Amplifier matching

With that 99dB sensitivity, you’d think you could use any old amplifier and have plenty of power. This is not at all the case. In order to match the output levels of the drivers (those horns are even louder than that without some padding), Klipsch uses some very unique matching techniques using things like a type of transformer. (see A Visit to the Klipsch Kingdom in the 4/89 issue of Speaker Builder for comments from Paul Klipsch on their autoformer design). Transformers are obviously inductive, as they are made out of inductors. What this means is that while the amplifier used doesn’t need to have a very high power output in typical terms, it does need to be able to deal with the very difficult load that inductors present. Using a cheap receiver to drive these speakers just because you don’t need much power is the wrong approach. What you need is a high- current amplifier that can deal with difficult loads without introducing problems.

One of the problems you’ll constantly fight with these speakers is that any components that might sound a bit harsh with other speakers will have that harshness revealed in all its glory. Use a typical cheap CD player and a pair of these speakers will drive you from the room. The amplifier matching in particular can introduce an incredibly rough sound. Back when I was using an Adcom GFA-555 with these speakers, an amplifier generally recognized as being a bit too aggressive in its treble, I had to deal with a level of sibilance that was almost unbearable. The Proton D1200 amplifier I current use is a very good match, but you can’t buy them anymore. Essentially, I recommend trying amplifiers from manufacturers known for producing laid-back components. I’ve had excellent luck building a system around these speakers with components from Rotel, and I have no reason to expect that their power amplifiers would be a bad match for these speakers (and they even make inexpensive, low-power models that still have excellent current driving ability). The tube amps I’ve tried all sound terrific with these speakers. A 35w/ch Dynaco ST-70 is plenty of power to drive a pair to ear-bleeding levels with no problems.

Placement

The other thing that really can bite you and leave a bad impression of these speakers is how you place them. All of Klipsch’s speakers are designed to be placed closer to the corners than typical designs. I like these best sitting about 1-2’ from the left, right, and rear walls. Pull them far out into the room and they don’t sound as good. Another things to watch out for is toe-in. Most people angle their speakers so that the drivers are directly facing them. Bad idea here--you want these facing directly forward, with no toe-in rotation toward the center. When pointed right at you, the harshness that’s always waiting around for the unwary comes right out. The off-axis sound is much smoother and more pleasant to listen to. The manual that comes with the speaker has very generic recommendations that recommend toe-in for all their speakers; ignore all of their suggestions. They may very well be true with other models, but with the Forte II they are just plain wrong (current production might have a revised manual that gives better advice)..........."

[rightslot]

Hey to All,

I am getting it together on the Emotiva XPA-5

Certainly will be watching this space for your thoughts.

I have Magnepan (entry level) speakers---MMG.

Currently running a HK 7300. System about 4 1/2 years old. I was planning on a total upgrade ANYWAY, but I think I'm noticing some very, very, slight harshness. Most likely the speakers not the Harmon K.

Do you think going separates and with the Emotiva will make an actual audible difference?

[Deleted]

Jun 11, 2011 14:45:25 GMT -5 roadrunner said:

.....there is no reason you can't get a good 30 to 40 years of use......

Let's see ... in 40 years I'll be 106 years old! Perhaps that is a little bit of overkill?

[roadrunner]

Jun 14, 2011 2:14:46 GMT -5 @chuckienut said:

Jun 11, 2011 14:45:25 GMT -5 roadrunner said:

.....there is no reason you can't get a good 30 to 40 years of use......

Let's see ... in 40 years I'll be 106 years old! Perhaps that is a little bit of overkill?

Maybe for some people your age, but not for you. You are too ornery to kick the bucket before you get full usage for all of your purchases. ;D ;D

[flamingeye]

If you ask me a Emotiva class H amp and Klipsch = perfection

[slbenz]

Jun 13, 2011 15:49:24 GMT -5 rightslot said:

Hey to All,

I am getting it together on the Emotiva XPA-5

Certainly will be watching this space for your thoughts.

I have Magnepan (entry level) speakers---MMG.

Currently running a HK 7300. System about 4 1/2 years old. I was planning on a total upgrade ANYWAY, but I think I'm noticing some very, very, slight harshness. Most likely the speakers not the Harmon K.

Do you think going separates and with the Emotiva will make an actual audible difference?

The answer is yes. I have heard my Magnepan IIIas using top-line AV receivers by Pioneer, Denon, Marantz and Yamaha. All of these receivers do not sound as good as the XPA-5 that are running my IIIas front, rears and an Eminent Technology LFT-XII as a center. All planar, all the time. The XPA-5 shines. It outperformed and replaced my Parasound HCA-1205A multichannel amp that I had for almost ten years as my reference amp.

[gerbilaudio]

I have my integrated tubes that's awesome with my ESS HEIL 1D modified, but I also am setting up my carver/sunfire setup and I will set up my EMOTIVA setup using my OHM WALSH I believe. I was going to use it for the sunfire, but I will use all sunfire for sunfire, since I have the CRM 2 for my TGR 401 receiver and my carver amps and preamps. I will use the PIONEER SC 37 with my oppo and SLS HTR 8 ribbon speakers, so i can switch from 2 ch tube to 2 ch solid state to 2 different HT receivers. I guess it's over kill but I like to have the option to change systems, SINCE my EPSON 8700UB has 2 hdmi video inputs, I can have two systems using TWO blu ray players from oppo BDP 93 and 95 and I will be using 4 cd players, 1 tube, 3 solid state one being the emotiva ERC 2. I use dakiom stabilizers, sonic holography, bbe, ART equalizers and DBX range expanders for cd's to balance my system. MY UNPROCESSED super clean system is my TUBE, nothing in between but high grade filtered cables and AC power cord. My tube setup is AUDIO NIRVANA since I modified my ESS HEIL 1D and it's twice better then it's STOCK form. I turned it into a DIPOLAR radiating woofer design and it creates a combo of what magnepan does and what bose does which is what SNELLS is known for and the INFINITY RS series of the 70's to 90's and dbx soundfield of the 80's which I happen own too, the dbx sf 10. I have so many gear I ain't even using like eminent technology lft 8a push pull planar/electrostat. I already miss the sound of it, it's awesome in both stereo and HT playback, i never heard glass and bullets sound so real. Time to set up my turntables like my JA MICHELL and opera consance.

[Deleted]

Yes, I thought the Emotiva amps were too good to be true. They are the best amps I've ever had and I've had a number. They are the opposite of magical power cords and interconnects. They do what they claim to do, just provide clean, transparent output at a bargain price.

[skeetlong]

Jun 11, 2011 14:19:56 GMT -5 gerbilaudio said:

I am both a CARVER/SUNFIRE fan and NOW an emotiva fan as well. It would be very hard for anyone to convince me to getting rid of my carver and sunfire amps and since obtaining EMOTIVA, it would be EQUALLY hard for anyone to convince me to get rid of my emotiva amps unless someone gives me a FREE KRELL AND MARK LEVINSON amps in the tens of thousands of dollars in which I would resell them for more emotiva and carver/sunfire equipment! at the price those manufacturers sell their top of the line amps, I might as well get BOTH emotiva and sunfire gear and still have MONEY to buy other goodies!

Just what i been saying about Carver/Emotiva amps...

[RightinLA]

Jul 23, 2011 5:07:39 GMT -5 @theresa said:

Yes, I thought the Emotiva amps were too good to be true. They are the best amps I've ever had and I've had a number. They are the opposite of magical power cords and interconnects. They do what they claim to do, just provide clean, transparent output at a bargain price.

This would be heresy if written in some other popular audio forums. Emotiva is one of the best things to happen in component audio in recent memory. The XPA-5 is such a gem that I have two of them.

[audiofile]

Thanks to everyone who put some time into their comments here. They have definitely helped me in my research on a good 5-ch amp!