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Post by ocezam on Mar 10, 2013 17:48:47 GMT -5
Anyone else going off half-cocked? ;D What do you mean "half cocked"? Has Emotiva EVER made a bad amp? There may have been some mis-steps (minor?) in the processor and/or DAC areas. I am not aware of any problems with amps. I am really looking forward to these.
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klinemj
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Post by klinemj on Mar 10, 2013 18:29:16 GMT -5
I won't be getting the XPA-1l's. They appear interesting, but I like the Mono's I have.
Mark
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Post by audiophill on Mar 10, 2013 18:57:13 GMT -5
I'm jumping aboard! Just sold my pair of upa-1's and selling a upa-2 to help fund a pair of these! I will be ordering mine this week!
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Post by milt99 on Mar 10, 2013 20:36:09 GMT -5
Anyone else going off half-cocked? ;D What do you mean "half cocked"? Has Emotiva EVER made a bad amp? There may have been some mis-steps (minor?) in the processor and/or DAC areas. I am not aware of any problems with amps. I am really looking forward to these. Whoa Pal, didn't you see the smiley? I ordered mine the second time I logged on to the Emotiva site on Friday after work and saw that it was up for order. If anyone is half-cocked around here it's me I've been anticipating these amps ever since I accidentally ran across the announcement a couple months ago. Maybe a splainin' will help. Back in 1980 I bought a system with a Denon DP-80 TT, DL103 cartridge, Precision Fidelity tube pre-amp, Rappaport amp and Harbeth speakers. The Rappaport was an extremely rare bird. 100 watts Class A. No power switch, just 2 power cords. Ran hotter than sh!t by design the heatsinks ran horizontally, but the sound was magical. Really an impractical piece of gear. Had it modded by a Boeing EE with Beryllium oxide insulators on the Motorola transistors and a soft power-on switch. I loved that system. You could crank it up and instead of clipping\distorting it just wouldn't get any louder. Think of a Pass Aleph x3. After a few years it became too much deal with and being so rare getting any further mods and no schematic wasn't in the cards. Earlier this year I put together a 2-channel system for my living room with some nice, to me, speakers but the amp I'm using is on loan. I've drooled over the thought of hearing what a more powerful amp could reveal and the XPA-1L really piqued my interest after hearing a friend's system with the JC1 amps which absolutely floor me. He suggested I look at the XPA-1 as Secrets had reviewed them as true giant killers. I've also been casting about for other options like the Hypex NCore 400s, D-Sonic, used Pass XA.5 30s etc., but I've never forgotten how exceptional the Class A amps I've heard sounded. So there you have it, my boring long-winded saga. March 15th can't come soon enough, plus I have to order new speaker cables as the ones I'm using are on loan as well.
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Post by Jim on Mar 10, 2013 21:05:14 GMT -5
I won't be getting the XPA-1l's. They appear interesting, but I like the Mono's I have. Mark Blasphemy!! ;D ;D ;D You do have ncores though........ Soooo...
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KeithL
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Post by KeithL on Mar 10, 2013 22:28:47 GMT -5
ALL Class A/B amplifiers provide some power in Class A mode, and "transition" into Class A/B mode when that power level is exceeded... that's what Class A/B means. In most cases, the "transition point" is between a fraction of a watt and a few watts, so you're really running in Class A/B most of the time. The significant thing about the XPA-1L is that, when you set that switch to "Class A Mode", it stays in Class A up to and including power levels that include what most people normally use at "normal listening levels"... so you actually get to listen to it in Class A. Xpa-1L won't stack well then...I'm surprised about the 'XPA-1 has 10 class A watts via Lonnie' ... How come that never surfaced before
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Post by Jim on Mar 10, 2013 22:35:22 GMT -5
Keith - Do you have any idea how that "transition" is measured? I'm not thinking of the 1L, in particular, I was just thinking for any given amp, how is the wattage that an amp can deliver in Class A measured? (other than the theoretical design)
I'm guessing once you hit the transition point, power draw would drop, being more efficient in A/B mode.
I doubt Audio Precision has a test routine, but who knows. Could be interesting, if it does.
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Post by ocezam on Mar 11, 2013 6:29:00 GMT -5
What do you mean "half cocked"? Has Emotiva EVER made a bad amp? There may have been some mis-steps (minor?) in the processor and/or DAC areas. I am not aware of any problems with amps. I am really looking forward to these.Whoa Pal, didn't you see the smiley? I ordered mine the second time I logged on to the Emotiva site on Friday after work and saw that it was up for order. If anyone is half-cocked around here it's me I saw the smiley, guess I shoulda used one also. ;D March 15th can't come soon enough, plus I have to order new speaker cables as the ones I'm using are on loan as well.I'm guessing, since the 15th is a Friday, it'll be the 20th or so before we get them.
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Post by calvinhobbe on Mar 11, 2013 8:33:27 GMT -5
Anyone else going off half-cocked? ;D What do you mean "half cocked"? Has Emotiva EVER made a bad amp? There may have been some mis-steps (minor?) in the processor and/or DAC areas. I am not aware of any problems with amps. I am really looking forward to these. There is one really HUGE problem with Emotiva's amps...they are FRIGGIN HEAVY! ;D
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Post by harrison20 on Mar 11, 2013 9:09:22 GMT -5
So I am new at this. If you are listening to a class A amp in class A mode and it transitions to class A/B do you hear a difference in sound quality? If not than is class A just hype? Don't mean any offense, just curious
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 9:12:56 GMT -5
So I am new at this. If you are listening to a class A amp in class A mode and it transitions to class A/B do you hear a difference in sound quality? If not than is class A just hype? Don't mean any offense, just curious Honestly (for me at least) you will not hear a difference between any of the classes. I've owned class A, A/B and D. They all sound the same.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 9:27:48 GMT -5
..... In this case the test signal was set to 1 Watt and the residual noise of the amp at that level was -86db down from the test signal...... Lonnie The spec page on the Emotiva XPA-1L shows: " Signal to Noise Ratio (8 Ohm load): > 86 dB at 1 watt (A-weighted)." 35/250/500 watts, 3.875" high Current price at Emtovia.com, $699 From a Stereophile test: " The JC 1's unweighted, wideband signal/noise ratio (ref. 1W into 8 ohms) was good at 73.3dB, this improving to 87.8dB when the figure was A-weighted." (don't know if wideband makes any difference or if the XPA-1L is the same) 25/400/800 watts, 7.625" high Current price on the JC! at Audio Advisor, $4500.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 9:29:05 GMT -5
So I am new at this. If you are listening to a class A amp in class A mode and it transitions to class A/B do you hear a difference in sound quality? If not than is class A just hype? Don't mean any offense, just curious Honestly (for me at least) you will not hear a difference between any of the classes. I've owned class A, A/B and D. They all sound the same. Does that mean you're not a classy guy? ;D
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2013 9:33:00 GMT -5
Honestly (for me at least) you will not hear a difference between any of the classes. I've owned class A, A/B and D. They all sound the same. Does that mean you're not a classy guy? ;D Sure does ;D
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Post by cwt on Mar 11, 2013 10:41:37 GMT -5
So I am new at this. If you are listening to a class A amp in class A mode and it transitions to class A/B do you hear a difference in sound quality? If not than is class A just hype? Don't mean any offense, just curious Ive only ever had class a/b and d power amps and been happy with either [if well designed ]harrison but theoretically class a does have advantages so I wouldnt label it hype exactly ; some advantages are mentioned here ; bias current effects on thd for example passlabs.com/articles/leaving-class-aSome prefer the 2nd order harmonic that class a puts out ; heres some background on why that correlates www.nutshellhifi.com/triode4.html
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Post by wizardofoz on Mar 11, 2013 11:00:54 GMT -5
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Post by repeetavx on Mar 11, 2013 12:49:09 GMT -5
So I am new at this. If you are listening to a class A amp in class A mode and it transitions to class A/B do you hear a difference in sound quality? If not than is class A just hype? Don't mean any offense, just curious ...
And I'm 59. I don't have hearing sensitivity like I did when I was 25, but it's still easy to hear SQ differences. For subtle differences, you have to train yourself to listen. Really listen.
But sometimes, it so apparent, it's like...duh! Lonnie just designed a Class A variant of one of our more poplar power amplifiers, and the difference in SQ when switching between Class A and Class AB was striking! It was not something that you had to even go back and forth trying to discern the difference. It was BANG. Wow!! HUGE!!
...
Big Dan Now, I don't know if it is the XPA-1L that he is talking about. Or if the sound changes between operations has been worked out. (Or if you would even want them to be). Certainly it will sound some different because of the differences in the harmonic structure inherent to the different classes of operation. I'm betting that you would hear a difference.
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Post by Jim on Mar 11, 2013 13:56:57 GMT -5
From a Stereophile test: " The JC 1's unweighted, wideband signal/noise ratio (ref. 1W into 8 ohms) was good at 73.3dB, this improving to 87.8dB when the figure was A-weighted." (don't know if wideband makes any difference or if the XPA-1L is the same) 25/400/800 watts, 7.625" high Current price on the JC! at Audio Advisor, $4500. So, what you're saying is that we should spend 6x more so that we can get that inaudible 1.8db in SNR at 1W. Right? ;D ;D I'm fond of specs, but they don't tell you everything, that's for sure.
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Post by creimes on Mar 11, 2013 14:19:45 GMT -5
I think he's referencing the price difference and how the 1L is a way better value...
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Post by Jim on Mar 11, 2013 15:00:00 GMT -5
I think he's referencing the price difference and how the 1L is a way better value... Yes... Thus the grinning face...... Of course the 1L is a better value.
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