The Emperor has no clothes! XPA's vs. AV receiver

[hemster]

Capn, sorry to hear of the auditory issues. I agree and hearing is something we all take for granted but not realize how easy it is to damage this precious sense.

If you're looking to sell your Emo gear, you could start with the Emporium here on the lounge.

[Deleted]

Reverend Capn,

What exact products will you be selling? Where are you located?

If you do place the products for sale at the Emotiva Emporium (highly recommend), please let us know in this thread so we can check them out in that section. I know a number of Emo Lounge folks who would jump on the 4 Emo products you listed if they are in mint condiditon.

Thanks ;D

[GreenKiwi]

Sorry to hear about your ears. I hope they get better.

[capn]

Jan 30, 2013 0:03:48 GMT -5 @chuckienut said:

Reverend Capn,

What exact products will you be selling? Where are you located?

If you do place the products for sale at the Emotiva Emporium (highly recommend), please let us know in this thread so we can check them out in that section. I know a number of Emo Lounge folks who would jump on the 4 Emo products you listed if they are in mint condiditon.

Thanks ;D

The products are as follows:
XPA-1 (qty 2)
XPA-5
USP-1
XDA-1
ERC-1

All still have about half of the 5 year warranty remaining (most items purchased back in July of 2010)

All are in extremely good condition (I'll stop short of saying mint for now until I take 'em out of the boxes to examine them, but I think they're probably pristine and they definitely weren't abused from an audio point of view).

I have all of the original packaging (i.e. the double boxes from Emotiva).

I am in the Atlanta area (north of the city).

[ausman]

capn, can I ask you something how much 2 chan vs multi chan do you listen to???

sometimes we can be spoiled with multi chan music vs 2 chan music as more output goes into 2chan..

i feel you i have my usp--1 still in its box..

though i still have to an amp and speakers for it..

[Boomzilla]

Where's Jamrock when we need him?

OK - my take on this is that there ISN'T too much difference between AV receivers and separates with MOST systems.

Why?

Because the speakers and the room interface (being the "weakest links in the chain) overwhelm all differences in electronics. I noticed that the OP used the same speakers in both systems. The speakers are a relatively easy "drive" for the amplifiers, and the room is the same, thus the "no difference" result.

Does that mean that there's NO DIFFERENCE between an AVR and Emotiva separates? No. The Emo stuff is definitely superior, but the speakers & room mask the differences.

With a difficult set of speakers (low impedance anythings), the superiority of the Emo gear will tell.

However - back to the OP: If your speakers and room make the differences between the Emo gear and the AVR inaudible, then by all means, the AVR life is the life for you! This is not intended to be a sarcastic comment - I'm completely serious.

For those of us who have low-impedance speakers, low sensitivity speakers, speakers with large phase-angle crossovers, large rooms, and/or a desire to play at insane volumes, then Emotiva is an unbeatable value.

Cheers - Boomzilla

[capn]

Jan 30, 2013 10:42:26 GMT -5 ausman said:

capn, can I ask you something how much 2 chan vs multi chan do you listen to???

sometimes we can be spoiled with multi chan music vs 2 chan music as more output goes into 2chan..

i feel you i have my usp--1 still in its box..

though i still have to an amp and speakers for it..

All the music I listen to is two channel with very few exceptions. I like the imaging that results from well recorded two channel material.

[creimes]

I guess we all have different experiences as when I connected my UPA-1's to my Yamaha RXV-1065 I noticed a big difference in imaging and depth in the soundstage and that was my first step into seperates and knew not what to expect so I'm sure it was my equipment and not me.

Chad

[broncsrule21]

Jan 30, 2013 12:24:18 GMT -5 creimes said:

I guess we all have different experiences as when I connected my UPA-1's to my Yamaha RXV-1065 I noticed a big difference in imaging and depth in the soundstage and that was my first step into seperates and knew not what to expect so I'm sure it was my equipment and not me.

Chad

That is the same experience I had, moving from the UPA-2 to the UPA-1s through the pre-outs of my Denon.

[garym]

capn wrote,

"I've concluded that I can't hear the difference."

That is quite possible. The signal differences imposed by "mainstream" electronics (such as Denon, Sony, Marantz, et al) and "high end" gear, while sometimes measurable, are usually inaudible.

But that doesn't mean the emperor has no clothes. I bought my Emotiva gear because I wanted a more powerful amp, and Emotiva seemed to deliver the most bang (clean RMS watts) for the buck.

[richardrc]

Tinitus is horrible. An old boss of mine had it since being in the trenches in WWII. We made an adjustible audiot frequency oscillator with a headphone output so he could sleep at night.

Try to remove the stress from your life.

[savjac]

Sorry to hear about your ear issues, mine has started recently and it is more of a pain in the backside that anything else but it is there. Folks get it, my research and a visit to the local ear doc along with xrays and ct scan show...it happens. Using a phone in one ear over the other, loud sounds, genes, infections a myriad if things you may or may not be able to prevent. Richard is right to keep stress down, no salt ...do research. Luckily mine is mainly one ear and if I am enjoying the music, I can most times hear right through it. But like you, there has been many a night that gets me thinking, does all this equipment do me any good. I have not unhooked anything in the last year for fear of finding out. On the other hand, it you enjoy the Denon alone, so be it, millions do and enjoyment is the key, worrying about what may or may not be better may cause stress.

Besides if I started to sell stuff that would make my wife so happy and I have to keep that joy thing at bay.

[tchaik]

an excellent article written years ago in 'psychology today' by dr. robert cutietta (a personal friend) concerning musical perception, dealt with the challenges we all have hearing what other people hear. the problem is, our perceptions are colored by age, experience, biology, environment, culture and a whole lot of other variables that make for unique ways in which we all perceive and process sound and music.

let your heart not be troubled that you don't perceive what some others can. we all listen, hear, perceive and process differently.

tchaik........

[jjmatrix]

Jan 28, 2012 12:42:56 GMT -5 capn said:

...The issue of course is that the volume I used in #2 above is NOT my normal listening volume and other than setting up for an all-house party, I can't imagine I'll really need all that power....

I did a similar test some time ago; I've concluded that my AV Receiver is not even close to my Emotiva setup. I do agree that there is a big gap between the setups, and that the closer you get in the same category... there is a lot less difference.

I quoted you because I'd like to explain you why I for one, like to have more power through an analogy with cars.

CAR 1: top speed 280 km/h (I do own this car)
I would never even dream of driving around that speed; but let's say I drive it at 140km/h. This mean I use my car at aprox. 50%.

CAR2: top speed 160 km/h ( I use to own this car ;D)
At the same speed I would use the car at 87.5%

I hope you'll understand what I mean by my analogy above; it's the same with amps. It's sometime called headroom, and it has a lot of advantages.
Me and my wife went to Christmas party to a close friend that for years is telling me he doesn't need to spend lots of money for audio, as his receiver is more than enough. With 20 people in one room/basement, you would need lots of dBs to actually hear the music loud; he kept pushing his receiver until he reached the absolute max. It distorted badly, but after a few beers no one really cared any more; after 20 minutes or so, it started clipping real bad. So we had to turned it down as it was not listenable; next day he called me saying a tweeter is burned, and if I can suggest him what amp to buy.

I do agree that to spend a lot of money for a one-off night when you need the juice is maybe not the right choice; but that doesn't mean that all amps are the same.

[krazystang]

1. Not sure if you do, but If you listen to your system at low to medium levels you probably wouldn't notice a difference.

2. My Studio 100's would love them, I'll keep an eye out for the sale.

[Deleted]

Jan 30, 2013 21:29:16 GMT -5 savjac said:

Sorry to hear about your ear issues, mine has started recently and it is more of a pain in the backside that anything else but it is there.

Sorry, I don't mean to make light of a serious illness and I do feel for Capn and his hearing issues.

However, savjac, where is that bad ear located?