which amp?

[motion 40's]

Hi

I am running a marantz sr6006 and just picked up a pair of martin logan motion 40 speakers.  This is a 5.1 theatre, which seems to be lacking in power.  

front: motion 40
center: motion 8
rear: older psb bookshelf, not sure of the model
sub: velodyne ddp 10"

What would you suggest for better amperage?  

[jlafrenz]

XPA-5

[Jim]

Aug 26, 2013 10:50:42 GMT -5 jlafrenz said:

XPA-5

I agree.

It would be a good fit.

[motion 40's]

any point in bi-wire or bi-amping?   
i was inatially thinking of the xpa-2 for the fronts and letting the marantz handle the rest.

Thanks for the input.

[geebo]

Aug 26, 2013 11:14:54 GMT -5 motion 40's said:

any point in bi-wire or bi-amping?   
i was inatially thinking of the xpa-2 for the fronts and letting the marantz handle the rest.

Thanks for the input.

I'll go along with the crowd. The XPA-5 is a no brainer.

[Canuck_fr]

The response is improving your sound incrementally according to budget
Provide more headroom to your Marantz by:
1. Add an XPA-2 to the mix
2. Add an XPR-2 to the mix
3. Add an XPA-3 to the mix
4. Add an XPA-5 to the mix
5. Add an XPR-5 to the mix
6. Add an XPR-7 to the mix and make it ready for 7.1
7. Add 5 XPA-1 to the mix
8. Add 5 XPR-1 to the mix

[Jim]

I hear RLW whispering........ UPA-500......... Anything else is wasted power....

[Canuck_fr]

In my book, Martin Logans require alot of headroom. I would not do this with a UPA 500, but everyone has his/her opinions

[DYohn]

Aug 26, 2013 11:14:54 GMT -5 motion 40's said:

any point in bi-wire or bi-amping?

Nope, not unless you simply want to play around with it.

[novisnick]

I started the same way,,,, almost. XPA-5 then if you want a little more for refined stereo , purchase XPA-1Ls for fronts. IMHO

[suzyq]

Jim posted: "I hear RLW whispering........ UPA-500......... Anything else is wasted power...."

I think RLW would agree that the MLs require a big amp. XPA-5 if money is tight, XPR-5 if you're rolling in cash.

SQ

[dally]

I would have to agree with most of the other posters.The motion 40's will need some current to sound there best being 4 ohm and having folded ribbon tweeters.The xpa 5 seems like the best fit.The xpa 2 would also work really well but if your anything like me then you will find the center and surrounds sound anemic being ran by the receiver and then you'll need to add ANOTHER amp.

[Cory]

I am going to chime in here since I have the same front towers as you do. I have tried a few different amps with my speakers so I will give you some insight on my impressions. I started with a Yamaha RX-A2010 and moved into Emotiva gear.

UPA-500: Great sounding amplifier and will sound a lot cleaner and have much more control of the low end then your receiver. Not a huge WOW factor coming from a receiver but definitely a noticeable difference.

XPA-3 or XPA-5: I tried both of these and this is where you really start to notice the biggest difference coming from a receiver. Your low end our of those speakers really comes alive, the sound-stage becomes much larger and really makes a difference for movies. Music is great also, the amp really lets your speakers open up and push out some real sound. Really felt like a major upgrade over the amps inside my receiver compared to the UPA-500.

XPA-1L: I recently added the XPA-1Ls to my fronts and all I can say is that they are incredible. I was not expecting that big of a difference coming from the XPA-5 but I was VERY satisfied with the results. I immediately noticed the imaging improved 10x over for music, it sounded like the artist was right in front of me, all of the vocals were cleaned up, the sound is so natural coming from the speakers now. I will say I did not notice a big difference for movies so if you are mainly using it for movies it will probably not be a huge difference for you. (They do run HOT so if you purchase make sure you have plenty of space/ventilation around them)

So all in all, my suggestion would be to start with the XPA-5 and then if you feel like you are listening to music more than anything else I would add the XPA-1Ls.

[Porscheguy]

My standard answer:


All Emotiva amplifiers more or less sound the same and will drive your speakers. Choose your amp based on channel needs (now and in the future) and your budget.

[novisnick]

Aug 26, 2013 14:53:20 GMT -5 Cory said:

I am going to chime in here since I have the same front towers as you do. I have tried a few different amps with my speakers so I will give you some insight on my impressions. I started with a Yamaha RX-A2010 and moved into Emotiva gear.

UPA-500: Great sounding amplifier and will sound a lot cleaner and have much more control of the low end then your receiver. Not a huge WOW factor coming from a receiver but definitely a noticeable difference.

XPA-3 or XPA-5: I tried both of these and this is where you really start to notice the biggest difference coming from a receiver. Your low end our of those speakers really comes alive, the sound-stage becomes much larger and really makes a difference for movies. Music is great also, the amp really lets your speakers open up and push out some real sound. Really felt like a major upgrade over the amps inside my receiver compared to the UPA-500.

XPA-1L: I recently added the XPA-1Ls to my fronts and all I can say is that they are incredible. I was not expecting that big of a difference coming from the XPA-5 but I was VERY satisfied with the results. I immediately noticed the imaging improved 10x over for music, it sounded like the artist was right in front of me, all of the vocals were cleaned up, the sound is so natural coming from the speakers now. I will say I did not notice a big difference for movies so if you are mainly using it for movies it will probably not be a huge difference for you. (They do run HOT so if you purchase make sure you have plenty of space/ventilation around them)

So all in all, my suggestion would be to start with the XPA-5 and then if you feel like you are listening to music more than anything else I would add the XPA-1Ls.

Bravo! Excellent review, my thoughts , and , amps exactly! I will echo your statement.

[mmarques]

Hi there,
I wonder if you could tell if the Emotiva MC-700 would work with the Rotel RSX-1067. I love this receiver, but it lacks some audio and video resources currently available on most HT systems.
I appreciate any help I can get on this one. Thanks a lot!

[vneal]

XPA5

[creimes]

XPA-9

[rbk123]

XPA-12?

[pknaz]

The OP was from 2013....dig this thread out of the land fill, did we?