Salutations all!

[Decllan]

Greetings from North NJ, approx. 11 miles west of NYC (On clear days, the Freedom Tower can be seen in the distance from the main avenue heading downhill).

Similar to others, I found Emotiva by accident while researching speaker upgrades on Audiogon, Fatwallet, AVSForum, & other places.

Vincent @ Emotiva helped out a lot via email, I upgraded from a 11 year old Logitech Z-5500 computer speaker set to the Yamaha V673 only to wind up returning the Yamaha & purchasing the UMC-1.

I also purchased an XPA-5 although I'm wondering if I should return it & either 1) get an XPA-2 for 2-channel; 2) save up for XPA-1L's or better; or 3) don't return it at all & then add option #1 or #2 in order to run Maggie MG 12's.

Thank you Emotiva, without your company, I would never have ventured into the world of hi-fi audio & thank you everyone on this forum - your posts & advice have encouraged me to join the family of satisfied owners.

Derek

[garbulky]

All depends on how important surround sound is for you. The XPA-5 will divert its unused power to the channels using it. So you are not limited to 200 watts per channel if you just use stereo.
I.e: The xpa-5 will be plenty of power for your setup.
I heard maggies like power. The XPA-2 I believe has 5 watts of class A power and the XPA-1 L will have 30 watts of class A power per channel. The XPA-1 L is fully balanced so it is good start if you ever upgrade your source components to fully balanced. So I would go with either one but I don't think you would be dissapointed with the XPA-5 at all.

[hemster]

Hey Derek,

Welcome to the lounge.

As garbulky has said, the XPA-5 will not leave you wanting. I love mine. For 2-channel, it will have more than enough grunt to drive the Maggies, IMHO. I'm sure others will disagree, but that's fine with me. If you prefer the class-A sound, XPA-1Ls are hard to beat but they also run a tad warmer.

[ÈlTwo]

Welcome, from east of NYC!

[geebo]

Welcome to Lounge, Derek. I used to work in Edison and lived in Freehold.

[bulldozer]

Welcome from Georgia Derek.You've found the right place for advice and good reading,the people are knowledgeable and down to earth. Well, sometimes they argue but if everyone had the same opinions it would be dull.

[yves]

Welcome from Belgium Derek.

Magnepan recommends that you try & decide. www.magnepan.com/faq#power
So, it depends on the loudness you need, and the distance between you and your speakers will change the loudness, but if you want the full maximum out of the MG 12 then (IMO) you will require amplification of about 400 Watts RMS per channel into 4 Ohms.

[Decllan]

@ garbulky : I don't think surround sound is as important as I thought it was after upgrading my speakers to the Maggies. I've read that Magneplanars are power needy as well but so far I haven't experienced it although if I upgraded, according to what I've read, there might be more clarity & detail heard through the speakers?

Is there a scale for how much power is channeled through an XPA-5 if only 2 or 3 channels are used at a time?

I was going to get a pair of XPA-100s but the cost was out of the question at this moment in time. My intent was also to get Polk Audio LSI 25's or 15's, or Martin Logan Vistas but somehow I wound up with Maggies instead!

Also, this might belong in the XPA-5 or Newbie section but, do I have to switch the amp to 4 ohm mode or does it know to do this automatically?

@ hemster: I'm not sure what the class-A sound is but I'm a bit concerned that you said that they run a bit warmer. Between the XPA-5 & my monster of a computer, I have enough heat output in my room to keep me warm for the rest of the winter!

@ eltwo & geebo: Small world! Nice to know that there's people here that understand the differences between reality & what the rest of the world thinks about the Northern NJ/NYC Metro area. Bayonne does NOT represent all of NJ!

@ bulldozer: Very true, conflict is good if it brings about thought provoking discussion & the possibility of change. It also provides entertainment when things get out of hand.

@ yves: Wow, international users too! Awesome!

Thanks for your suggestion, I actually purchased from John at Audio Connection in Verona, NJ. The Magnepan website tells you to go to their local dealers which is what I wound up doing. Although I'm sure that I have a 30 day return window, I don't think that I'll need to use it unless I decide to go with a higher end model. Originally, I auditioned the 3.7s (too big for my room but I WANT them), then the MMGs, but was recommended to the MG-12s.

Thanks for such a hospitable welcome! ;D

[ansat]

The ohms is just a function of resistance that the speaker creates. Emotiva amps are rated at 4 ohms and above and will not need any adjustment.

Class A refers to the stage of the amp. Look up class a vs ab vs d to get more info on solid state amps.

[yves]

The room I am in is a tad too small also, but I like it loud so, almost a year ago, I ordered an XPA-2 to power my pair of Canton Vento 890.2 DCs. Since I am located on the other side of the Atlantic, I paid for the FedEx airplane, duty fee and import tax, meaning that my XPA-2 was twice as expensive as the normal price, BUT for me the quality of the sound I get from the XPA-2 is more than two times worth the total price I paid for it.

[Jean Genie]

Yo Derek, what exit?
Sorry, I just had to do that... can't help but lay a shot into a probable Giants fan.
Welcome to the Lounge and to MaggieWorld! I also stumbled onto this forum. The people here are knowledgeable and generous and Emo (& Magnepan) are great companies to deal with. My MG1.7s LOVE the XPA-2, but here's something to consider:
When the XPA-1L does hit the market, many XPA-2s are gonna be for sale at very reasonable prices, IMO. So, if you hold onto your XPA-5 until that release date, then get the XPA-2, you'll save some serious coin.
Anyway, welcome and enjoy, and- oh yeah, E-A-G-L-E-S- Eagles! ;D

g

[Decllan]

Off the Turnpike or the Parkway?

There's a few for sale now at around $650 or so, are you saying that come Dec or Jan, XPA-2's will drop below $500? If so, THAT would be quite a bit of coin that could be saved so that I can "Gunn" my Maggies; maybe Mye stands would be better alternative.

I keep hearing all these great things about the XPA-2, then I read about folks using pro-amps that cost a LOT less but have a LOT more power but have to deal with fan noise. Makes me wonder.

I'm a Giants & Yankee fan by association.

Thanks for the additional welcome & advice!

[Decllan]

@ ansat

Class A - Excellent sound but it gives off a lot of heat due to inefficient amp.
Class AB - Combination of both, still good sound, little bit less heat.
Class D - Sound quality not as good as A or AB, efficient, less heat but still gives off heat.

Why is there always a trade off?

We can fit over 2.5 billion transistors into Intel's 10-core Xeon Westmere-EX enterprise grade computer processor in a 32nm chip size (less than 25% of the size of a dollar bill) but we can't have excellent sound via an efficient amp that gives off no heat? Boo.

[AudioHTIT]

Oct 12, 2012 19:17:48 GMT -5 Decllan said:

@ ansat

Class A - Excellent sound but it gives off a lot of heat due to inefficient amp.
Class AB - Combination of both, still good sound, little bit less heat.
Class D - Sound quality not as good as A or AB, efficient, less heat but still gives off heat.

Why is there always a trade off?

We can fit over 2.5 billion transistors into Intel's 10-core Xeon Westmere-EX enterprise grade computer processor in a 32nm chip size (less than 25% of the size of a dollar bill) but we can't have excellent sound via an efficient amp that gives off no heat? Boo.

Amps are just one of many places you could ask this question, what about light bulbs? LEDs and Fluorescent use less energy and produce less heat, but (like class D) not everyone likes the light - and CPUs produce plenty of heat.