Post by RichGuy on Jan 18, 2009 15:41:43 GMT -5
My Emotiva was delivered Friday Jan 2nd, here is my review as first posted on the Klipsch forum.
Packaging:
Well packaged, double boxed with thick foam protection. Included inside is the amp, power cord and manual, the amp is wrapped in clear plastic, the cord and manual each are in plastic ziploc bags. Power cord is round, detachable with a 3 prong plug.
No other cables are included. Shipping was done very quickly, my order was placed late at night and shipped the next morning.
Appearance:
Nice looking, I like the styling for an amp, basic and solid, it looks good with the rest of my equipment. The black anodized aluminum front panel is very thick, the visual edge which can be seen is 5/16 inch thick, this is just the visible edge the actual front panel is likely even thicker. Writing on front is engraved into the aluminum not just silk screened. The amp is very heavy weighing about 70 lbs, the amp sits on large heavy rubber feet, rear connections are nice quality. The brushed aluminum front panel is black anodized, satin silver brushed aluminum trim pieces on each side in the front and the main casing is sturdy and black powder coated with a slight texture. The Amp is both large and heavy so be sure your rack stand can accommodate it.
Sound:
My listening volume settings have remained at the same level, also my calibration levels for each speaker did not need to be adjusted the volumes were all still good. Before I received the amp I thought I might need to raise the volume of the surrounds to keep up with the fronts but I found this was not needed. The surrounds even seem to have improved probably because the receiver no longer has to power the fronts dedicating the receivers power only to the surrounds. My system already had more volume available than I needed, with the added power there should be more headroom.
With the amp my system sounds a little cleaner and more detailed, bass is a little tighter and with more punch.
Listening to music the sound is more detailed, I have noticed a few things I never noticed before on songs I regularly listen to, instruments seem to have more separation, vocals slightly clearer. Music listening was done in 2 channel with subwoofer.
With home theater both voices and effects seem slightly clearer and more defined.
The XPA-3 has had an overall improvement to the sound of the system. Also even though the amp is not powering them surrounds do not seem underpowered and the system seems nicely balanced. Both music and home theater have improved with the most noticable improvements to music listening.
The amp runs very cool producing almost no heat at all to or from the case.
My system used in these tests:
Front mains- Klipsch RF-5
Center- Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds- Klipsch RS-3 II four used in 7.1 (2 side and 2 rear)
Subwoofer- Klipsch RW-12d
Receiver- Onkyo TX-NR900
Overall I am very happy with the XPA-3, it is a nice improvement to my system. I originally purchased the amp on sale for $599 with free shipping (regular price is $649), one week after my purchase Emotiva reduced their sale price to $499 with $25 shipping. Emotiva has a 2 week sale price matching policy and with one simple phone call the $75 difference was credited back to my credit card. Emotiva seems to be a very nice company to deal with and has a nice web site and online forum that seem to give them a very good reputation.
I give the Emotiva XPA-3 a definite thumbs up!
P.S. Thoughts of if I decide to upgrade in the future, maybe I would like to purchase an XPA-2 to power the front mains plus another XPA-3, using two XPA-3's to power the surrounds and bi-amp the center.
Packaging:
Well packaged, double boxed with thick foam protection. Included inside is the amp, power cord and manual, the amp is wrapped in clear plastic, the cord and manual each are in plastic ziploc bags. Power cord is round, detachable with a 3 prong plug.
No other cables are included. Shipping was done very quickly, my order was placed late at night and shipped the next morning.
Appearance:
Nice looking, I like the styling for an amp, basic and solid, it looks good with the rest of my equipment. The black anodized aluminum front panel is very thick, the visual edge which can be seen is 5/16 inch thick, this is just the visible edge the actual front panel is likely even thicker. Writing on front is engraved into the aluminum not just silk screened. The amp is very heavy weighing about 70 lbs, the amp sits on large heavy rubber feet, rear connections are nice quality. The brushed aluminum front panel is black anodized, satin silver brushed aluminum trim pieces on each side in the front and the main casing is sturdy and black powder coated with a slight texture. The Amp is both large and heavy so be sure your rack stand can accommodate it.
Sound:
My listening volume settings have remained at the same level, also my calibration levels for each speaker did not need to be adjusted the volumes were all still good. Before I received the amp I thought I might need to raise the volume of the surrounds to keep up with the fronts but I found this was not needed. The surrounds even seem to have improved probably because the receiver no longer has to power the fronts dedicating the receivers power only to the surrounds. My system already had more volume available than I needed, with the added power there should be more headroom.
With the amp my system sounds a little cleaner and more detailed, bass is a little tighter and with more punch.
Listening to music the sound is more detailed, I have noticed a few things I never noticed before on songs I regularly listen to, instruments seem to have more separation, vocals slightly clearer. Music listening was done in 2 channel with subwoofer.
With home theater both voices and effects seem slightly clearer and more defined.
The XPA-3 has had an overall improvement to the sound of the system. Also even though the amp is not powering them surrounds do not seem underpowered and the system seems nicely balanced. Both music and home theater have improved with the most noticable improvements to music listening.
The amp runs very cool producing almost no heat at all to or from the case.
My system used in these tests:
Front mains- Klipsch RF-5
Center- Klipsch RC-7
Surrounds- Klipsch RS-3 II four used in 7.1 (2 side and 2 rear)
Subwoofer- Klipsch RW-12d
Receiver- Onkyo TX-NR900
Overall I am very happy with the XPA-3, it is a nice improvement to my system. I originally purchased the amp on sale for $599 with free shipping (regular price is $649), one week after my purchase Emotiva reduced their sale price to $499 with $25 shipping. Emotiva has a 2 week sale price matching policy and with one simple phone call the $75 difference was credited back to my credit card. Emotiva seems to be a very nice company to deal with and has a nice web site and online forum that seem to give them a very good reputation.
I give the Emotiva XPA-3 a definite thumbs up!
P.S. Thoughts of if I decide to upgrade in the future, maybe I would like to purchase an XPA-2 to power the front mains plus another XPA-3, using two XPA-3's to power the surrounds and bi-amp the center.
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