good combo?

[Soulreaper]

I am thinking about buying an XPA 5 in a few months to connect to my Audio Physic Tempo iii fronts, Def Tech center, and Polk monitor 50 surrounds. I'm wondering if this combination with an XPA 5 is a good idea. I'm basically looking for more power and better sound quality.

[Deleted]

An XPA-5 would be great. It would definitely out do your Yamaha receiver you are currently using. BTW Emotiva amps all sound pretty much the same. Some just have more power. More power= Higher SPL levels and headroom. If the UPA-5 was still for sale i would get that one before thinking about the XPA-5. Maybe you could find a used one

[hemster]

soulreaper,

I really think from your description that an XPA-5 is the best option for you. Your speakers will not be left wanting and you will be all smiles! ;D

[RightinLA]

The XPA-5 would work fine, but for your system, I would recommend either a pair of UPA-1's or the XPA-2 for the Audio Physic Tempo iii fronts and the XPA-3 for the center and surrounds. That way you have a more optimum combination for two channel and five channel listening for your system.

[djoel]

You'll do great with any of Emo amps, what concerns me is that you have 3 different brands of speakers. Well the rears shouldn't be a big deal, but the center at least should have the same timber as your fronts....

If you looking around for a good advice on combo you have matching up front speakers, and if you listen to hi rez music, then the rear should match the from as well

Just my 2 cents

Dan

[selkec]

I agree with djoel. I would still get the xpa-5 then focus on getting matching timbre speakers. At least for the front 3.

[Deleted]

Jul 31, 2011 19:43:19 GMT -5 djoel said:

You'll do great with any of Emo amps, what concerns me is that you have 3 different brands of speakers. Well the rears shouldn't be a big deal, but the center at least should have the same timber as your fronts....

If you looking around for a good advice on combo you have matching up front speakers, and if you listen to hi rez music, then the rear should match the from as well

Just my 2 cents

Dan

+++ ;D


This is great advice above. No intention here whatever to be negative or offensive but you sort of have a system that appears to have been "thrown" together. Front L&R's, center and surrounds that don't match at all and a receiver that is way underpowered. The Audio Physic Tempo iii's (were you in Germany?) look like very nice speakers but are 4 ohm rated and should not be used with an entry level receiver like the Yammy A700. The 90 watts rating is with one channel tested only. It probably would test out at about 40-50 watts per channel into 8 ohms with all five channels driven like the XPA-5 is tested. You will hear a tremendous improvement with the XPA-5 in your system. The A700 is not even rated at 4 ohms and should tend to overheat or even shut down when driving your system loud and hard even though the Def Tech (you don't give a model number) and Polks are probably 8 ohms.

I think the XPA-5 is a great choice for the present and future. I would suggest you attempt to gradually upgrade/change your speakers to have at least the front three (LCR) all from the same brand and series, so that they have the same exact tweeter and perhaps midrange also for smooth voicing/timbre across the front soundstage, this makes a very audible improvement. For perfect surround sound the surround speakers IMO should also be voice matched to the front three and a dipole/bipole design, on the wall is fine and small towers are not necessary, You are also missing one of the most important speakers of all and that is a high quality powered sub to play from about 80Hz and down.

It is difficult to find accurate specs on the Audio Physic Tempo iii's as is typical of many European speakers. However, they appear to be high quality with reasonable bass down to maybe 45-50Hz or so (don't pay any attention to their vague FR figures...32 Hz - 40 kHz is meaningless without a stated decibel variance). It would seem they deserve to be matched with high quality source components and amps.

Just some food for thought and suggestions for improvements as you have time and the budget. ;D

[Soulreaper]

One of the reasons why I want an XPA 5 is for my speakers to be powered properly and the other reason is for sound quality. All of my components for my system and speakers were bought at different times, the AP's are the newest edition (I bought them used from audiogon). I only became an audiophile a year or so ago which is one of the reasons why my system is thrown together. Hopefully in a couple months I'll have a new job and will then have the $$ to buy an XPA 5 and improve other parts of my system.

[wideglide]

hi,guys.im new here,just bought the usp-1 matched up with an adcom 555ll power amp B&W cdm se speakers and yamaha cd changer.sounds much better than my old adcom pre.

[wideglide]

very happy with emotiva.may look into getting emotiva cd player,what do u think?thanx.

[Deleted]

Aug 1, 2011 17:54:44 GMT -5 Soulreaper said:

One of the reasons why I want an XPA 5 is for my speakers to be powered properly and the other reason is for sound quality. All of my components for my system and speakers were bought at different times, the AP's are the newest edition (I bought them used from audiogon). I only became an audiophile a year or so ago which is one of the reasons why my system is thrown together. Hopefully in a couple months I'll have a new job and will then have the $$ to buy an XPA 5 and improve other parts of my system.

The XPA series are great amps. I have the XPA-3 and the UPA-5. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the XPA-5 over the UPA-5 any day because the extra output contributes to more headroom and therefore higher potential dynamic range.

[hemster]

Aug 3, 2011 11:07:11 GMT -5 wideglide said:

very happy with emotiva.may look into getting emotiva cd player,what do u think?thanx.

The Emotiva CD players are excellent performers and great value. I think you'll be very happy.

[roadrunner]

Aug 3, 2011 11:07:11 GMT -5 wideglide said:

very happy with emotiva.may look into getting emotiva cd player,what do u think?thanx.

Congrats on your purchase of the USP-1 and welcome to the Emotiva Lounge. I must warn you that listening to music played thru your new USP-1 will cause you to become addicted to all things Emotiva. ;D ;D The build quality, the sound quality, and the low price are the first things you will notice, but just as important, in the long run, is Emotiva's Customer Service and Tech Support.

The ERC-2 is an exceptional CD Player that will take your listening experience to an entirely new plateau of enjoyment. When I purchased my ERC-1 CD Player I was using the Oppo 980H to play my CDs. The 980H was noted for for its exceptional sound quality, but the ERC-1 put the Oppo to shame... with far better sound quality. I literally rediscovered my music collection.

The ERC-2 and the USP-1 will make an awesome combination to your music listening experience. I highly recommend that you get some high quality HDCD encoded albums to play via the ERC-2. This will demonstrate the amazing sound quality that is possible from your CD collection. About the same time that I bought my ERC-1, I discovered Reference Recordings on the Internet. They offer the best mastered music I have encountered and the vast majority of their catalog is HDCD encoded. If you like music with huge dynamic range that sounds like the musicians are in the same room you will love these albums. Link is below.

www.referencerecordings.com/SAMPLE.asp

I would start by ordering several of their Sampler CDs that give you a great assortment of recordings from their full catalog at a highly discounted price. I now have all of their Sampler albums and love everyone of them. These are some of the best sounding CDs available. Reference Recordings CDs are universally recognized as the highest quality recordings in the industry; and they have been awarded several Grammy Awards. This past February their BRITTEN'S ORCHESTRA (RR-120) won the Grammy for the Best Sounding Album during the 53rd Annual Grammy Award Presentations at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

[earlgrey]

Just go for the XPA-5, it's a good match for the Tempo 3 / Def Tech combo. I just tested my XPA-2 with my AP Virgo 3, and the speakers became somewhat stressed at high levels - they cannot keep up with the dynamic capabilities of big amps. And the Tempo is significantly "smaller" than the Virgo anyway.

Other than that, I'd follow the other poster's recommendation, and get an identical R-C-L combo, because this really makes a difference for HT. Unless you are listening stereo mainly (and HT on occasion only). Unfortunately, there are no matching center speakers for the earlier AP models like the Tempo, I believe that they have only one center model in their product line. And I've never seen a single AP speaker on the second hand market. So AP is for stereo only - this is how I use them.

[Soulreaper]

I think Ill go with the XPA 5 when it is back in stock or get an XPA 3 and power my surround speakers with my receiver.

[Soulreaper]

Ok I just put an order in for the XPA 5. They said I should get my fedex tracking # tomorrow.

[hemster]

Aug 16, 2011 14:18:28 GMT -5 Soulreaper said:

Ok I just put an order in for the XPA 5. They said I should get my fedex tracking # tomorrow.

Congrats! Look forward to a review once you get it configured.

[djoel]

Aug 16, 2011 14:18:28 GMT -5 Soulreaper said:

Ok I just put an order in for the XPA 5. They said I should get my fedex tracking # tomorrow.

Congrats, let us know what you think, even though we know what reaction you'll have


Djoel

[selkec]

YOu will love the amp. I for one think the upa5 was lacking in the power department as one reason its not for sell anymore. It was just a slight upgrade from an avr IMHO. The x series amps are all good and the xpa-1 is the beast.

[Deleted]

I think the UPA-5 is a great upgrade from AVRs. Its power output into 4 ohms is really a great deal more than any receiver I know of. The difference between its output and the XPA-5 is only about 2db.