Post by wgauci on Jun 22, 2011 17:16:59 GMT -5
Well, I've been lurking here for a few weeks while I pull the trigger on my XPA purchase. After a minor hiccup in shipping the was quicklly rectified by Vincent it arrived this week and in an incredible display in delayed gratification, I waited until this weekend to set it all up.
I spent the week before running through some of my music and blu-rays and the few SACD's I have to get a reference point for comparison.
I was surprised at how deep the unit is. I had to make some modifications to my entertainment unit to account for the depth, but I was already going to have to modify it some anyway to make room to give it the space recommended.
I am running a Yamaha HTR-6080 with a Polk CSiA6 centre and some modest RtiA1 and 3's on the front and surrounds. Setup was simple and seamless with no issues, I used a 12v adapter to trigger the unit off my receivers switched outlet and everything has integrated perfectly. Well other than a moment of panic when I powered everything up and nothing happened because I had left the power switch off on the back while setting up for safeties sake.
So anyhow, I powered everything up and hit my watch TV button, call it serendipity or what, but when everything came on I ended up right in the middle of Transformers 2 at the height of a one of the major fight scenes. I have watched the movie a few times and I was surprised at how richer the audio seemed.
I am by no means an audiophile, I got the amp. with intentions of upgrading my fronts to some Polk RtiA7s knowing that I’d need more power than I have from my Yamaha. So now I've spent almost a week running through some of my source materials. I'm not going to use all of the buzz words and all that. Suffice it to say I'm greatly impressed with the XPA-5. Even with the modest speakers I have, I am now able to discern much more clarity and crispness from my speakers. I had never really been able to hear some of the sounds I hear now on my Dark Side of The Moon SACD. In particular the heart beat that permeates through the background on some of the songs. And obviously, I'm not talking about the main heartbeat at the start. My Ziggy Stardust SACD has taken on a new life as well, the different instruments have really come alive for me, I am more able to pinpoint and hear every guitar. I feel that I have more bass and a richer sound.
The movie experience has improved. The sound is much more immersive, my surrounds, I feel have improved with the added power. Low lever listening is much more enjoyable, I always found myself running the volume up and down as I went from quiet dialogue scenes to the high output action/explosive scenes. All I can say is that it sounds like my speakers are now punching above their weight.
To conclude, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. I can honestly say that there is a noticeable difference in the sound of my system now. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend an Emotiva amp to any of my friends and I am very happy with the value I got. Even for the average listener that I am, I believe the money was well worth it. My only problem now is that I have to wait to save the money I need to get some new front speakers fill out my system. Anyone wishing to donate is welcome.
I spent the week before running through some of my music and blu-rays and the few SACD's I have to get a reference point for comparison.
I was surprised at how deep the unit is. I had to make some modifications to my entertainment unit to account for the depth, but I was already going to have to modify it some anyway to make room to give it the space recommended.
I am running a Yamaha HTR-6080 with a Polk CSiA6 centre and some modest RtiA1 and 3's on the front and surrounds. Setup was simple and seamless with no issues, I used a 12v adapter to trigger the unit off my receivers switched outlet and everything has integrated perfectly. Well other than a moment of panic when I powered everything up and nothing happened because I had left the power switch off on the back while setting up for safeties sake.
So anyhow, I powered everything up and hit my watch TV button, call it serendipity or what, but when everything came on I ended up right in the middle of Transformers 2 at the height of a one of the major fight scenes. I have watched the movie a few times and I was surprised at how richer the audio seemed.
I am by no means an audiophile, I got the amp. with intentions of upgrading my fronts to some Polk RtiA7s knowing that I’d need more power than I have from my Yamaha. So now I've spent almost a week running through some of my source materials. I'm not going to use all of the buzz words and all that. Suffice it to say I'm greatly impressed with the XPA-5. Even with the modest speakers I have, I am now able to discern much more clarity and crispness from my speakers. I had never really been able to hear some of the sounds I hear now on my Dark Side of The Moon SACD. In particular the heart beat that permeates through the background on some of the songs. And obviously, I'm not talking about the main heartbeat at the start. My Ziggy Stardust SACD has taken on a new life as well, the different instruments have really come alive for me, I am more able to pinpoint and hear every guitar. I feel that I have more bass and a richer sound.
The movie experience has improved. The sound is much more immersive, my surrounds, I feel have improved with the added power. Low lever listening is much more enjoyable, I always found myself running the volume up and down as I went from quiet dialogue scenes to the high output action/explosive scenes. All I can say is that it sounds like my speakers are now punching above their weight.
To conclude, I couldn’t be happier with my purchase. I can honestly say that there is a noticeable difference in the sound of my system now. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend an Emotiva amp to any of my friends and I am very happy with the value I got. Even for the average listener that I am, I believe the money was well worth it. My only problem now is that I have to wait to save the money I need to get some new front speakers fill out my system. Anyone wishing to donate is welcome.
Holy cow! 
This, I assumed was due to being able to "suck extra power from the unused channels". (that IS a technical phrase 
