mel7
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Post by mel7 on Mar 12, 2013 12:32:53 GMT -5
Hi, I'm playing in my HT for many years with an ONKYO TX SR 805 ( see pic ) Can anybody tell me if i will hear the different in sound if i will use the onkyo only for the processing and an emotiva XPA-5 for amplification? Thanks for the answers best regards Attachments:
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Post by peterk on Mar 12, 2013 16:51:54 GMT -5
Can you give us some details of your speakers and a description of your room and usage please? How big, how loud, layout, etc will all help.
Well that is a very nice receiver and is rated 130 watts per channel. Not sure what it actually tests at. My thoughts from having added an XPA-3 to a Pioneer Elite with the same power rating - don't do it for any sound improvement if your speakers are efficient at all. I noticed no change at all with mine. Now I am very happy with the amp and will likely keep it as I want to move to separates and will find a use for it. If you are thinking of going the separates route with a dedicated pre-pro, the XPA-5 would be a great choice for the money. Plenty of power for most speakers and you would be set for those 5 channels for many years to come. So, if you are planning an upgrade the XPA-5 is highly recommended. With that amp, you can upgrade your receiver later to a lower range unit to get the advantage of any newer formats and not have to worry at all about the internal amps of the receiver as newer receivers sure seem to be reducing their power output or go with a dedicated pre-pro. Hope that helps a little.
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Post by garbulky on Mar 12, 2013 17:04:29 GMT -5
I've heard of very few people that didn't notice a difference in sound when moving to separate amplifiers. The XPA-5 is a real powerhouse. I haven't heard your receiver and so cannot comment. I think I've seen about three people who didn't notice a difference. One of them had a bad room setup that the amp cannot compensate for. Everybody else pretty much raves about any of the emo amps.  |
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mel7
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by mel7 on Mar 12, 2013 17:10:46 GMT -5
Can you give us some details of your speakers and a description of your room and usage please? How big, how loud, layout, etc will all help. Well that is a very nice receiver and is rated 130 watts per channel. Not sure what it actually tests at. My thoughts from having added an XPA-3 to a Pioneer Elite with the same power rating - don't do it for any sound improvement if your speakers are efficient at all. I noticed no change at all with mine. Now I am very happy with the amp and will likely keep it as I want to move to separates and will find a use for it. If you are thinking of going the separates route with a dedicated pre-pro, the XPA-5 would be a great choice for the money. Plenty of power for most speakers and you would be set for those 5 channels for many years to come. So, if you are planning an upgrade the XPA-5 is highly recommended. With that amp, you can upgrade your receiver later to a lower range unit to get the advantage of any newer formats and not have to worry at all about the internal amps of the receiver as newer receivers sure seem to be reducing their power output or go with a dedicated pre-pro. Hope that helps a little. This is how my HT looks like, i use a b&w CDM CNT center speaker and in the near future i'm going the change all the speakers to b&w. I hope this information can help thanks Attachments:
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bootman
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Typing useless posts on internet forums....
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Post by bootman on Mar 12, 2013 17:14:03 GMT -5
Does it sound strained now? Amps are not (should not) be tone controls. (unless you get into tubes, but that is a whole other subject.) If it sounds strained during movies (highs, female voices sounding shrill, etc) then yes the amp might help. (only assuming that the shrillness is due to clipping. if it is due to something else, then maybe not) with a 30 day trial, what is there to lose? Personally with an all B&W system, the xpa-5 is a no brainer. I would not want to run those with a AVR directly.  But that is just me and my opinion on how those speakers really like current (power). |
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mel7
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Post by mel7 on Mar 12, 2013 17:53:45 GMT -5
Does it sound strained now? Amps are not (should not) be tone controls. (unless you get into tubes, but that is a whole other subject.) If it sounds strained during movies (highs, female voices sounding shrill, etc) then yes the amp might help. (only assuming that the shrillness is due to clipping. if it is due to something else, then maybe not) with a 30 day trial, what is there to lose? Personally with an all B&W system, the xpa-5 is a no brainer. I would not want to run those with a AVR directly. But that is just me and my opinion on how those speakers really like current (power). Yes, sometimes it sound strained and sharp. 30 day trial is not really an option because i live in Europe and the transport cost is to high for a 30 day trial |
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Post by Gary Cook on Mar 12, 2013 18:27:47 GMT -5
An ONKYO TXSR805 is rated at 130 watts per channel, which means around 95 watts all channels driven. Having just moved from a 90 watts per channel AVR to an XPA-5 (200 watts per channel) I can assure you that there was a dramatic lift in the sound quality.
Cheers
Gary
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LCSeminole
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Post by LCSeminole on Mar 12, 2013 18:47:19 GMT -5
I know your Onkyo TXSR-805 was quite impressive in the power department for a receiver and weighed in at about 60 lbs, but I doubt it will push a B&W setup to reference levels if you so desire to at some point, on the other hand, the XPA-5 should have no problem.
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Post by bolle on Mar 12, 2013 19:21:36 GMT -5
The 805 was measured with over 100W per channel, all channels driven, which is very good for a receiver. So a XPA-5 will give you a little more headroom but not as much as many here would think.
I would rather invest in optimization of your room acoustics. You have a stone floor, a very barren and "hard" room which in my opinion would be the main reason for a "harshness" that you hear when cranking it up.
I myself went from a 805 to separates so I think I can make a qualified recommendation.
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Post by maximumkahuna on Mar 12, 2013 19:25:25 GMT -5
I know your Onkyo TXSR-805 was quite impressive in the power department for a receiver and weighed in at about 60 lbs, but I doubt it will push a B&W setup to reference levels if you so desire to at some point, on the other hand, the XPA-5 should have no problem. Many feel that the Onkyo TXSR-805 is the last of the great amps in Onkyo receivers. It was a beast, weighed 60 lbs.; and later generations traded amp power for features, e.g. extra HDMI inputs, etc. That said, the extra headroom from the XPA-5 will always be nice to have. How much difference you'll notice may depend on the size of the room and how loud you like it. |
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Post by The Mad Norseman on Mar 12, 2013 20:44:43 GMT -5
An ONKYO TXSR805 is rated at 130 watts per channel, which means around 95 watts all channels driven. Having just moved from a 90 watts per channel AVR to an XPA-5 (200 watts per channel) I can assure you that there was a dramatic lift in the sound quality. Cheers Gary Actually, I'd be surprised if it bench tested better than 60w x 7 all channels driven...AVR power supplies run out of steam FAST when you add in more channels than the 2 its rated at. |
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Post by ribbonking on Mar 12, 2013 21:05:20 GMT -5
An ONKYO TXSR805 is rated at 130 watts per channel, which means around 95 watts all channels driven. Having just moved from a 90 watts per channel AVR to an XPA-5 (200 watts per channel) I can assure you that there was a dramatic lift in the sound quality. Cheers Gary Actually, I'd be surprised if it bench tested better than 60w x 7 all channels driven...AVR power supplies run out of steam FAST when you add in more channels than the 2 its rated at. The 805 was a very powerful receiver with a huge power supply - 120 watts per channel all channels driven into 8 ohms at .1% distortion. Here's a link to the test results. www.hometheater.com/content/bampw-600-series-speaker-system-and-onkyo-tx-sr805-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures-onkyo-tx-sr8 |
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Post by garbulky on Mar 12, 2013 21:13:41 GMT -5
Wow. And it does 200 X5 too.
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Post by ribbonking on Mar 12, 2013 23:16:07 GMT -5
I had an 805 and now have an 818.
Also have an XPA-5 in the system.
When I used the XPA-5 with the 805, there was a difference but not huge.
Bigger difference when I move to the 818 with the XPA-5. I attribute part of the improvement to the XPA-5 but the improved sound quality of the 818 with Audyssey XT-32 played a big role, too.
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Post by creimes on Mar 13, 2013 0:37:32 GMT -5
When I took the plunge into separates I noticed a big change at all volume levels, I had a Yamaha RXV-1065 and not your Onkyo but external amps will to me always be able to be more dynamically pleasing then a typical receiver, there's very very few here who have not noticed an improvement in sound quality jumping to an external amp, that was the biggest improvement in my system to date, the other upgrades I have done have been smaller steps for sure.
Chad
P.S. Very nice HT you have there, looks amazing and I think I can hear it calling for the XPA-5...lol
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mel7
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by mel7 on Mar 13, 2013 2:54:53 GMT -5
So many people....so many opinions   Thanks for all replys, i must think everything over now best regards |
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Post by peterk on Mar 13, 2013 9:15:42 GMT -5
Hey mel7 - - any chance you could borrow an amp from a friend? Or a local store? If you could get one with similar power output - even if only 2 or 3 channel - it should give you some idea of any improvement.
Again with mine, I recently had to move my system around a little bit and after 2 years of having the XPA-3 in use, I noticed no change at all when reverting back to using the receiver's internal amps for about 2 weeks. Now realize I am referring to a $4200 receiver at the time I purchased it and I am running a 7 channel setup so the amp was powering the front 3 speakers - Audio Concepts ACI Jaguars and Essence center and have dedicated subwoofers.
That brings up another point - are you running subwoofers? If so, the receiver is already running with reduced load and again far less chance of an amp making a difference. I love Emotiva products and have several and am not trying to talk you out of making a purchase, just being honest with what you might experience in your setup.
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mel7
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Post by mel7 on Mar 13, 2013 9:35:37 GMT -5
Hey mel7 - - any chance you could borrow an amp from a friend? Or a local store? If you could get one with similar power output - even if only 2 or 3 channel - it should give you some idea of any improvement. Again with mine, I recently had to move my system around a little bit and after 2 years of having the XPA-3 in use, I noticed no change at all when reverting back to using the receiver's internal amps for about 2 weeks. Now realize I am referring to a $4200 receiver at the time I purchased it and I am running a 7 channel setup so the amp was powering the front 3 speakers - Audio Concepts ACI Jaguars and Essence center and have dedicated subwoofers. That brings up another point - are you running subwoofers? If so, the receiver is already running with reduced load and again far less chance of an amp making a difference. I love Emotiva products and have several and am not trying to talk you out of making a purchase, just being honest with what you might experience in your setup. You have a 4200$ receiver, my onkyo was 6 years ago 1200 euros, that +/- 1500$. Maybe that's why you heard no difference between youre receivers amp and the XPA-3?? So the chanche is bigger that i will hear a big difference between my onkyo and an XPA-5. Best way to find out is trying out at home first, unfortunate' buy and try' an emotiva is not an option because the cost of transport is to high. One thing is for sure: emotiva amps on the second hand market are sold very quickly So in case a new XPA-5 amp wil not satisfie me, i can sell him second hand very fast ( whit some loss ) I run also i subwoofer ( SVS PC13 ultra ) but i don't think the amp will have reduced load because of the sub, or ame i wrong??? |
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USAFRetired
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Post by USAFRetired on Mar 13, 2013 9:45:14 GMT -5
Before adding the XPA-5 I felt after listening to music for long periods of time my Denon seemed strained in it's ability to provide power to my speakers, all B & W 600 series 3's at the time. I then added the XPA-5 and now I can play music all day without that issue affecting the overall sound of my system. And things are cooler overall in the room. My Denon seems like a real heater. Recently I added the B & W N804's, however I have never tried to drive them alone with the amps from the receiver, and I feel the extra current the amp provides is certainly a plus for these speakers. (By the way, I would love to have your sub and your room)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2013 10:28:51 GMT -5
I think the recommendation to tame the room's hardness is the most sound one - pun intended. It won't cost that much. *After* you have done that, then see if you think you need more grunt. But that Onkyo tested at 162.5 watts/ch., 5 channels driven. It is NOT a wimpy amp...
-RW-
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