Denon AVR to XPA-5

[kknadella]

I recently purchased a 4 month old XPA-5 to replace my Denon AVR-2310.
XPA-5 now drives my Klipsch RF-7/RC-7/RF-5 speakers, paired with an SVS Ultra.

I for one was expecting to be blown away by the power and grunt that XPA-5 would bring to the table (which it did, in spades).
What I did not expect was the shock I experienced at lower volumes... It seemed as if I was listening to a completely new set of speakers.
For the first time ever in my life, I never made it through the complete list of my demo/test tracks.
Somewhere along the way I just got lost in the music, kicked back, closed my eyes and simply started enjoying... 
The amazing texture in music and the humongous soundstage were just unreal!
And the vocals were... OH MY GOD... only one way to describe... liquid gold!!
I cannot believe the amount of improvement XPA-5 brings to even one of the most efficient set of speakers!

Kudos to emotiva! I am now a convert.
Now, if only they would ship me that UMC-200, quickly.
I ordered it only a couple of hours ago and already refreshed the order status page a bazillion times
Need.... U-M-C-2-0-0...  C-a-n-n-o-t   b-r-e-a-t-h... 

[hemster]

Congrats! The XPA-5 is a superb amplifier.

[Gary Cook]

My experience was the same as yours, Denon AVR to XPA-5, a bit over 12 months ago. One regret, I should have done it earlier.

Cheers
Gary

[kknadella]

Thank you, Hemster!

BTW, I ordered premium 2 RCA cables from Monoprice for connecting UMC-200 to XPA-5.
Does anyone have better "value" recommendations for the interconnect cables?

[kknadella]

Gary, I have been kicking myself about the same thing... Why in the hell did I wait so long!
Anyway, better now than never!!

[novisnick]

Somehow my post didn't go through, what I said was, I welcome you to the family and if I didn't know any better I would say that you quoted me from a few months ago.

[villock]

Oct 29, 2013 23:27:05 GMT -5 kknadella said:

Thank you, Hemster!

BTW, I ordered premium 2 RCA cables from Monoprice for connecting UMC-200 to XPA-5.
Does anyone have better "value" recommendations for the interconnect cables?

I agree with hempster the XPA-5 is a great amp

And spend the extra money and get these shop.emotiva.com/collections/interconnects/products/xrca great quality and I replaced all my monoprice cables with these

[kknadella]

Thank you. You know the weird thing is that I already feel like a member of the Emotiva family! That is saying something about the people hanging out in this forum...

Oct 29, 2013 23:32:15 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Somehow my post didn't go through, what I said was, I welcome you to the family and if I didn't know any better I would say that you quoted me from a few months ago.

[kknadella]

Cool. Did you notice a decently big difference with Emo interconnects compared to the monoprice ones?

Oct 29, 2013 23:32:16 GMT -5 villock said:

I agree with hempster the XPA-5 is a great amp

And spend the extra money and get these shop.emotiva.com/collections/interconnects/products/xrca great quality and I replaced all my monoprice cables with these

[villock]

Oct 29, 2013 23:48:17 GMT -5 kknadella said:

Cool. Did you notice a decently big difference with Emo interconnects compared to the monoprice ones?

Oct 29, 2013 23:32:16 GMT -5 villock said:

I agree with hempster the XPA-5 is a great amp

And spend the extra money and get these shop.emotiva.com/collections/interconnects/products/xrca great quality and I replaced all my monoprice cables with these

Just the construction of the cable itself, especially the grip, also I did have one bad cable that was causing a hum. As far as sound..........I'll let others fall on that grenade

[Metaldude]

Man I'm eager to get my XPA 5 hooked up and running , soon ,hopefullly soon..

Sounds like it made a hell of of impact on your system, good on ya

Welcome to the audio addicts hangout

[kknadella]

Grenade?! LOL... I wonder why we are so afraid to voice our opinions

Oct 29, 2013 23:57:46 GMT -5 villock said:

Just the construction of the cable itself, especially the grip, also I did have one bad cable that was causing a hum. As far as sound..........I'll let others fall on that grenade

[kknadella]

Here's hoping you also experience a similar improvement in your setup! Good luck!!
Also, I LOVE your quote

Oct 30, 2013 0:01:47 GMT -5 Metaldude said:

Man I'm eager to get my XPA 5 hooked up and running , soon ,hopefullly soon..

Sounds like it made a hell of of impact on your system, good on ya

Welcome to the audio addicts hangout

[creimes]

Now you just need a pair of XPA-1L's for those Klipsch speakers.....

Welcome to the Lounge and the family

Chad

[kknadella]

Thank you, Chad. As long as we are adding things... Let's go ahead and add divorce and alimony to the list

Oct 30, 2013 0:20:49 GMT -5 creimes said:

Now you just need a pair of XPA-1L's for those Klipsch speakers.....

Welcome to the Lounge and the family

Chad

[Deleted]

kknadella, welcome to the lounge!  

I bought my XPA-5 close to 5 years ago.  What a dynamic beast, up to that point the best buy I ever made in this hobby.  Besides my other Emotiva equipment I added over the past 4 years, I just bought a slightly used UMC-200 (see Emo has a bluetooth USB device, BTM-1, for it on sale in the accessories section it you need one)..  You have made two excellent choices!  The XPA-5 now allows you to experience the wonderful dynamic range of the RF-7's matched with your superb SVS sub.  Please read carefully the UMC-200 owner's manual, especially the part on the Emo-Q auto room system.  It is very important you follow the instructions to the letter for best results.  You still have the capability to tweak the settings manually as you see fit.  

Just a suggestion, but if you haven't already, try setting your L&R, center and surrounds to "small' at about 50-70Hz.  Let the Ultra do the work from there down all by itself for perhaps more defined and clean lower bass.  Many folks shudder to not run those Klipsch at "large/full range" but IMO the THX method is superior.  This will even give you some more power if needed from the XPA-5 above that crossover point.

You will like it here.  The equipment is untouched by any other online dealer for quality/price/performance, factory direct to end user.  I have not one significant complaint or regret about any piece of equipment I have purchased from Emotiva.  If you have any problems call Emo or ask here.  Lots of help is available. 

I own both Monoprice and Emotiva connectors.  They both perform great.  The Monoprice are very solid best buys and the Emotiva are extra well built and attractive. No need to spend any more IMO. 

[garbulky]

Hi kknadella! Welcome. Emotiva has a fantastic line up! Especially in their amps. But all their other gear has never dropped the bar on the sound quality they bring. You will find with your amp that as you upgrade components that your amps will keep in step with every upgrade - which I think is the mark of a quality component! One thing that's really nice about the amps is that their high frequency playback is beyond reproach IMO and they don't EVER gasp when asked to reproduce volume. They just say "Did I STUTTER?! No, I didn't!"

You may be interested in room treatments and optimizing your speaker placement as well. Great value for your money!
I use this - the thickest and largest ones and it really helps my system. Even one really helps but more also are worth it.
www.atsacoustics.com/cat--ATS-Acoustic-Panels--100.html

Also if you are interested in positioning post a pic of your setup and we can give you some advice if you like. I found speaker positioning makes a HUGE difference and best part - it is free! For me, it was almost like buying an expensive new component. Well free except for the ire of the spouse but that's how it goes.

[kknadella]

Thank you for the welcome.

I swear you must be my long lost brother or something. 
I have the exact same feelings about not running the Klipsch speakers as Full Range.
I would probably do it, if my Subwoofer was not up to the mark (but it is and some more).

Thank you for the tip on Emo-Q. I will definitely pay close attention to that part of the manual.

I for one never doubted Emotiva's quality / value / durability.
I cannot even imagine what I would have to spend on an AVR to get the kind of power that XPA-5 puts out (if that is even possible).
And coming to durability, the five year warranty speaks a lot about the confidence Emotiva has in its products
The warranty as I see it is to simply increase the WAF...  You know honey... I will never have buy another one for at least 5 years! 

Thank you for the tip about the connectors.
I will use the monoprice connectors for a couple of weeks before ordering the Emo connectors (double bonus).
One: I will not feel like I threw away my money!
Two: I get the rush of buying something in a couple weeks, again 

Also, I did order the BTM-1 along with the UMC-200.

One thing I am not sure is whether it supports only apt-X or apt-X Lossless as well.

How much of a difference does it make using BTM-1 vs using an HTPC / HDMI / foobar2000-WASAPI combo?

Oct 30, 2013 0:46:13 GMT -5 @chuckienut said:

kknadella, welcome to the lounge!  

[kknadella]

I will go back and do some more listening with tracks heavier on the high end.
Not that I doubt you but I want to experience it by myself and revel in the awesomeness
As far as the power goes... I think its a good sign if I cannot manage to turn the dial past 50%.
I say that because my normal movie levels were upwards of +7dB on the AVR (maxes out at +15dB)
Then again, I always felt that the AVR could not keep it together once I went beyond 0dB.
This could be partly due to the fact that the RF-7's impedance dips down to a little over 2Ω for some bass heavy passages.

I am definitely interested in treating my room properly.
No need to consider WAF in my home theater room (Its MINE) 
On a broad level, my HT room is going to be 23ftx20ftx8ft.
There are a couple of kooky things in the room (chimney 5ftx2ft and the wall behind the screen is concave - bay windows)
Any suggestions are welcome as my home is still in the process of getting constructed (target Feb 2014 completion).
I can make some changes at this point (hopefully nothing major).
One thing I cannot change is the bay windows (I am thinking of covering that wall with thick room darkening curtains).

I am really interested in knowing what kind of an impact room treatment is going to have on the whole.
For one, I know we could remedy dips and speaks in the subwoofer frequency response.
Anyway, I am not afraid of putting in some elbow grease moving around speakers and using REW

Please find attached, a layout of my HT room, by the way.
I really appreciate the enthusiasm and help offered on this forum!!

Oct 30, 2013 5:20:43 GMT -5 garbulky said:

Hi kknadella! Welcome. Emotiva has a fantastic line up! 

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[drtrey3]

XPA-5 is next on my list. I am happy for you!

Trey