XPA-5 Not very impressed

[pedrocols]

Nov 23, 2013 2:50:29 GMT -5 kknadella said:

Nov 23, 2013 1:23:39 GMT -5 pedrocols said:

What you mean when you say you Denon avr was not broken? In addition, what do you mean when you say with the denon the bass was "muddy." Does that mean that the bass from the SVS subwoofer was muddy? Isn't the subwoofer has its own built in amp? Where you running the speakers full range? What do you mean when you say "I always used to feel that the RF-7 never....." And ultimately what do you mean when you say "I have a feeling I will have to add another sub to match their output." Personally, I think (not feel) that most experiences are going to be different based on speakers and equipment and so on...If the OP hears no difference or feel no difference so be it.

I am not sure if you're being sarcastic or serious. I will answer your questions either ways

When I said my Denon AVR was not broken I was referring to N8DOGG's comment (N8DOGG: people that hear these huge drastic differences must have broken amps...)
When I said bass with Denon was "muddy", I was referring to the mid-bass (40-120hz), which is typically handled by my floorstanders (RF-7s).
This has nothing to do with the SVS and the frequencies that it handles (both Denon and UMC perform similarly in lower-bass).
I guess its due to the fact that the SVS subwoofer has its own amplifier and all it needs is a clean pre-out from Denon or UMC.

I do not like to run my Floorstanders as full-range (I think it muddies the mid-bass), I set the crossover at 40Hz for my mains.
Although, with the amount of control XPA brings with it, I can probably run the RF-7s as full range but I won't due to the following reason:
I am afraid that I might blow the woofers on RF-7s if I run them as full range (based on a totally non-scientific approach... the amount of woofer excursion)

Regarding my before and after XPA comment... I meant the following:
Before XPA, there was not enough slam/control in mid-bass (I am pretty sure it probably has to do with the amount of current required for the slam)
I guess high current applications/damping factor were not at the top of Denon's design criteria for the 2310CI AVR  (what with it being lower-midrange receiver)
Due to the lack of that mid-bass slam, I used to feel that the lower-bass generated by SVS subwoofer was more controlled/prominent (with the Denon).
Once I added the XPA, I feel the other way round. Now I feel that I will need to add another sub-woofer (for lower-bass) to keep up with the mid-bass slam/control.

Before you ask me, I did run Emo-Q/Audyssey to make sure that the Freq Response is balanced.
I also confirmed that the subwoofer is not running any hotter than the floorstanders or vice-versa using an SPL meter.

I guess I was fortunate enough to see a big difference in my setup with the addition of XPA/UMC combo

Cheers

I was being serious my friend. These are legitimate questions someone might have. Thank you for taking the time to answer.

Cheers

[creimes]

I had the most noticeable change going from Yamaha avr to UPA-1's and since then just minor changes, my MA RX6 towers are actually very well built speakers for the price, I can crank them up loud enough that I feel the air from the front ports at my listening position 10ft away and they sound great doing it, my Yamaha 1065 avr would not get anywhere close that volume and sound good doing it, for me in my listening environment that is.

Chad

[sealman]

Not sure if anyone mentioned it but one of the main reasons I got my XPA-5 G2 was because I had read that it ran nice and cool unlike my Onkyo DTR40.3 which has a space heater for an amp section.
The XPA-5 runs at most a little warm when driven hard. The DTR40.3 ran hot all the time and would occasionally go into auto protect mode driving my RF7 II's when approaching reference level.

So in my case when playing anything at -30db there was pretty much zero difference from the Onkyo amps. But kick it up to -10 and it was a very noticeable difference in audio quality and a significant lack of extra heat in my room.

I am very happy with my XPA-5 !

[aud]

Nov 15, 2013 6:42:43 GMT -5 garbulky said:

I find the source to bring a bigger difference than the amps do. But the amps need to be upto snuff first.
For instance
I have the UPA-2. I've used the XPA-2 with the XDA-1.
The XPA-2 is a better amp. The most noticeable thing was that it was faster. It also sounded more precise in the soundstage.

However I used the DC-1 DAC. I found the difference that the DC-1 bought to be more of an upgrade connected to my UPA-2 than the XDA-1 connected (via USP-1) to the XPA-2.
Of course it is a generalization that doesn't apply everywhere. But it's what I've found for my setup.

You know what I found bought just as big if not more of a difference with the DC-1? Using room treatments.
I suggest trying them out.
www.atsacoustics.com/panels
Also just as big of a difference....speaker and room setup. If your speakers aren't positioned right you aren't going to get sound that differentiates as well as it could. In my system, I found simple changing the speaker positioning by just a few degrees in toe in and moving them slightly farther apart or closer, or moving it away from walls, or removing obstacles between me and the speakers like cofee tables to have a REALLY big difference. Bigger than going to different amps.
Also I noticed if these things weren't performed, I heard very little difference in my upgrades.

Also...you've tried the XPA-5 and you weren't too imrpessed.
True. Nobody can deny that. This is definitely your experience.
Use it for another week straight. Then go back to the reciever and see if you notice any other differences.
If you don't, the answer is that in your current system with your source and speakers and setup you aren't getting as big of a benefit as the money you put in. If you don't want to try out the other stuff like speaker positioning, room treatments and adding a great source - that's fine - not everybody wants to spend time throwing money and time at something that isn't working out in the first place. Some have noticed very little differences when they upgraded. And I think that's valid. For those people and you - I suggest a return or a resale to recoup the loss.

Meanwhile if you would like some suggestions, post a picture of your room and speaker setup. Make sure to include your couch in it as well so we can see the whole setup. We may be able to provide somethings that may help.

Good luck!

Speaker and room set up are a major part to acquiring musical magic with good recordings. I come from the school that a good amplifier should be neutral and capable of producing high amounts of current when needed. I agree with garbulky completely. It took me two years fooling around with my room and repositioning my front speakers many times before I was happy with the setup. I haven't felt the need to change the placement of my speakers for a long time now. This tells me I found the right positions. Of course, all of this goes out the window if you have to apply the wife factor.