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Post by scanspeak8620 on May 29, 2011 20:44:00 GMT -5
First - I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to Emotiva for making some of the best equipment I have ever heard and putting it a price point that I can afford  That being said, I own two XPA-1 amps and the XDA-1. Had them for about 4 months now and last night I decided to take the plunge and cracked the case.  I have done several upgrades on my CD and DVD players, mostly power upgrades or opamps, and thought, why not do the same to the XDA-1 and see what happens. I personally do not like the sound of Burr Brown OpAmps, too soft, too muddy. On the other hand I LOVE AD OpAmps. So I decided to try replacing the OPA-2134's with my favorite AD8620. WOW, I have spent the day listening to my new best piece of equipment. All across the frequency range the sound is tighter and cleaner. I can't believe I didn't do this sooner. I have a good friend who also owns an XDA-1, so I asked him to bring it over. We did A,B tests for about 30min and quickly came to the conclusion that the upgraded unit was better. Thought I would post about it and see if anyone else has tried upgrading this unit. Thanks Again Emotiva!! |
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Post by audiocr381ve on May 29, 2011 20:57:27 GMT -5
Hey there! I'm glad you got the results you wanted! I'm handy with desoldering/soldering and have recapped some crossovers but I've never upgraded OPAMPS. I actually don't have a clue what they are  I'm definitely interested in doing this upgrade and I think it would be a fun project. Would you be able to take some pictures and give some instruction? |
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RPA-1 man
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Phutureprimitive "Kinetic" 2011
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Post by RPA-1 man on May 29, 2011 21:17:51 GMT -5
Hey there! I'm glad you got the results you wanted! I'm handy with desoldering/soldering and have recapped some crossovers but I've never upgraded OPAMPS. I actually don't have a clue what they are I'm definitely interested in doing this upgrade and I think it would be a fun project. Would you be able to take some pictures and give some instruction? Although I don't own an XDA-1 I think that posting pics and instructions is a good idea. Don't forget to post the following disclaimers: - Doing this will void your warranty
- Proceed at your own risk
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Post by audiocr381ve on May 29, 2011 21:20:44 GMT -5
Hey there! I'm glad you got the results you wanted! I'm handy with desoldering/soldering and have recapped some crossovers but I've never upgraded OPAMPS. I actually don't have a clue what they are I'm definitely interested in doing this upgrade and I think it would be a fun project. Would you be able to take some pictures and give some instruction? Although I don't own an XDA-1 I think that posting pics and instructions is a good idea. Don't forget to post the following disclaimers: - Doing this will void your warranty
- Proceed at your own risk
Ahhhh, I forgot about the warranty  I'm going to have to wait until the warranty expires before attempting this one. |
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Post by bobbyt on May 29, 2011 23:13:08 GMT -5
No parts list?
No writeup?
No pictures?
Hurry up and add them so you can really piss off the "don't touch the magic box" types!
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myryse
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AUDIO JUNKIE
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Post by myryse on May 30, 2011 1:10:30 GMT -5
+1!!I'm in on this one!! Please give us the "how to" and some pics!! warranty-shmarranty! I'd love to step up the XDA's performance!
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Post by geebo on May 30, 2011 8:12:57 GMT -5
No pics = It didn't happen. ;D
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Post by scanspeak8620 on May 30, 2011 9:54:14 GMT -5
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Post by audiocr381ve on May 30, 2011 13:05:48 GMT -5
What do the Opamps do? It's hard to believe those little guys made such a change. Would you elaborate a little more about the A/B comparison you guys did?
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Post by RightinLA on May 30, 2011 21:26:01 GMT -5
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Post by rocky500 on May 30, 2011 23:44:49 GMT -5
I am not technically minded when it comes to opamps.
I thought the BB opamps were for I/V conversion.
Changing them will it really make any difference?
I would of thought you would have to change the AD1955 for a chance to change the sound in any way.
Can someone explain it to me a little bit.
I am all for Mods and ordered many Caps and parts and was going to try changing them on the output stage when I had a chance.
With my little knowledge I sort of put this off as I don't really know what to change to make a difference.
I have elna, Nichicon, Vishray etc.
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RPA-1 man
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Phutureprimitive "Kinetic" 2011
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Post by RPA-1 man on May 31, 2011 5:45:41 GMT -5
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Post by Chuck Elliot on May 31, 2011 14:12:36 GMT -5
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Post by oregonbill on May 31, 2011 16:59:06 GMT -5
That is slick you are one informed audio guy.
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Dobs waiting activation
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Post by Dobs waiting activation on Jun 3, 2011 2:53:29 GMT -5
Is the output stage fully discrete? What is the job of the opa2134 exactly? Can the sound imroved by changing them? |
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Post by darekdz on Jun 3, 2011 11:54:05 GMT -5
Please do a test. Remove both OPA from the XDA board and turn it on. Do you still hear the sound? |
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Jun 3, 2011 22:16:11 GMT -5
Is the output stage fully discrete? What is the job of the opa2134 exactly? Can the sound imroved by changing them? I don't have a schematic of the XDA-1, but I do know that the AD1955 DAC (just to the left in the supplied picture above) has a balanced current output. I believe that the sole purpose of the OP2134 op-amps is to do a balanced current to balanced voltage conversion. I bet they do this at pretty much unity gain - just a guess. To the right of the op-amps, everything appears to use discrete transistors. I don't see another op-amp on the board in this path. |
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dobs
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by dobs on Jun 3, 2011 22:29:34 GMT -5
I don't have a schematic of the XDA-1, but I do know that the AD1955 DAC (just to the left in the supplied picture above) has a balanced current output. I believe that the sole purpose of the OP2134 op-amps is to do a balanced current to balanced voltage conversion. I bet they do this at pretty much unity gain - just a guess. To the right of the op-amps, everything appears to use discrete transistors. I don't see another op-amp on the board in this path. If so this dont have real audible impact to the final output right? |
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Post by Chuck Elliot on Jun 3, 2011 22:52:02 GMT -5
I don't have a schematic of the XDA-1, but I do know that the AD1955 DAC (just to the left in the supplied picture above) has a balanced current output. I believe that the sole purpose of the OP2134 op-amps is to do a balanced current to balanced voltage conversion. I bet they do this at pretty much unity gain - just a guess. To the right of the op-amps, everything appears to use discrete transistors. I don't see another op-amp on the board in this path. If so this dont have real audible impact to the final output right? Exactly! IMO the function of the OP2134 section of the analog output stage has the least effect on the overall performance of the circuit past the DAC. The Emotiva creation here is this discrete balanced output stage after the op-amps and is why this circuit, or similar, was added to the ERC-2 as an improvement. |
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dobs
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by dobs on Jun 3, 2011 23:34:23 GMT -5
Exactly! IMO the function of the OP2134 section of the analog output stage has the least effect on the overall performance of the circuit past the DAC. The Emotiva creation here is this discrete balanced output stage after the op-amps and is why this circuit, or similar, was added to the ERC-2 as an improvement. That's what i was thinking. Would be nice to get some precision from Emotiva on that point. Thanks cfelliot for those informations. |
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