They're coming!!!!!

[savjac]

Irrespective of anything else, they are very good looking units. They would look bitchin on my shelf.

[jerrin]

No lie there. They do really look posh.

I'm hoping the Reference line sounds as good as it looks (or better).

[RadTech]

They do look good and I may need some more power for HT. However, it would have to real be something special for me to take the RPA 2 out of my 2 channel rig.

[UT-Driven]

I'm am hoping that the gain is dropped down for this line. The high gain is one of the reasons I am staying away from using an XPA-5 to match with the XMC-1when it is released.

Doug

[Pauly]

I'm expecting 28 or 29db gain with these. Isn't that what the RPA was at?

[RadTech]

Mar 25, 2012 21:57:08 GMT -5 Pauly said:

I'm expecting 28 or 29db gain with these. Isn't that what the RPA was at?

29 db.

[RadTech]

Mar 25, 2012 21:49:44 GMT -5 UT-Driven said:

I'm am hoping that the gain is dropped down for this line. The high gain is one of the reasons I am staying away from using an XPA-5 to match with the XMC-1when it is released.

Doug

I hope so too! I understand their reasoning but at this level I doubt most buying will use an AVR as a pre/pro. Of course I could be wrong as it wouldn't the first or last time. ;D

[Deleted]

I hope it's not too high

My speakers are 103db ;D

My LM 3886 GainClone has a gain of 23.1 db. I use Rothwells on it. So I guess it would be a gain of 13.1 lol

[Pauly]

So when people tell you to crank it to 11, you crank it to 22 or so? lol

Bad joke, sorry.

[Deleted]

Mar 25, 2012 22:27:00 GMT -5 Pauly said:

So when people tell you to crank it to 11, you crank it to 22 or so? lol

Bad joke, sorry.

I remove the Rothwells ;D

[Nemesis.ie]

Mar 25, 2012 14:48:07 GMT -5 jamrock said:

Yea. But the Reference Line needs exclusivity and not run of the mill. Then you can't ask a good price for them. But I tend to agree with you

Not sure about "exclusivity" that usually means paying extra so less people will have it. IMO it should NOT be about that, but putting the best components (within a sensible non-diminishing returns envelope) in and selling for a reasonable price - like all the Emotiva gear. "Exclusivity" is not the Emotiva ethos - they have e.g. Sherbourne for that line of thinking/B&M.

[alhull]

Mar 21, 2012 23:08:21 GMT -5 Dan Laufman said:

Hi all,
Look what Lonnie let out of their cages!!!

Wow!

The new XPR's will arrive on the site very soon and will be shipping this summer... hope you like them!
Cheers!
Big Dan

the attached .jpg file won't open...

[jmilton]

...looks something like this:

[dimemecka]

look sweet

[knucklehead]

To me looks are superfluous when it comes to amps - and women. Can she cook?

[jamrock]

You are always going to get great value with Emo products. And the Reference Line will also represent good value. However, when I talk about exclusivity, I'm talking about real performance over the other lines. Not just a different look or few more features. In other words: Can you HEAR the difference? Then and only then will folks feel that the additional prices are justified because the Reference Line of products are going to cost more. This is the reason I argue for the Reference Line to only involve products where REAL PERFORMANCE CAN BE OBJECTIVELY REALIZED and it is not left to a few exuberant members or audiophiles to "sell" subjective performance.

[Deleted]

I'll buy that ;D

[macromicroman]

This is probably a dumb question from somebody that is new to separate amplification, but why would you want less gain? Isn't more and bigger always better?

[xki]

A quick reply: A higher gain will amplify the noise floor signal from the pre/pro making the always present hiss audible. A lower gain amp will make this - zero volume - signal quieter.

This becomes really pronounced with higher efficiency speakers. If you can't really hear a hiss with 85db sensitive speakers, adding 20 db to that sound with 105db sensitive speakers could be really annoying. This can happen with even lower gain amps.

I've been really lucky with my UMC-1 and UPA-7/UPA-2. There is a hiss but it's so low, the spinning hard drive in the cable box is louder.

Edit: Long day, many thousands of words!

[jamrock]

There is nothing wrong per se with a high gain amp. The above post #138 is generally true. But hearing a constant hiss means that there is/are components in the chain that has a high noise floor. So, a high gain amp will usually reveal that flaw. Remember, the hight gain does not cause the hiss. It simply reveal that it is already there. My UPA-7 is also high gain at 31. My speakers have a sensitivity of 88dB. Yet, I have never heard my system to hiss, and I play it at very high volume regularly.

One of the advantage of high gain that readily comes to mind is that you can play the system very loud without having to tax the amp. So, there is very little possibility that you are going to over drive the amp before your ears start bleeding. Personally (no scientific support) I believe that a high gain amp is also able to reveal subleties in a presentation at low volume that you would normally miss with other amps until you increase volume significantly. This is one of the reasons I believe that Emo amps are so highly praised for being "musical" It getting more 'drive' at low volume.

Let me apologize for this analogy. But another passion of mine are cars. High gain is tantamount to a car with good low end torque. It is simply easier to get the car off the block and you experience a better driving sensation at low speeds. My apology again. Hopefully the point is well made.