Post by Deleted on Jan 14, 2014 4:52:34 GMT -5
Ok, I’m back from holidays and have been listening to my XPA 100s for another week so it’s time for a revue. Thanks lionear and jmasterj and chopin
First up – reasons why the XPA 100 and not say, the XPA-1 or even a pair of XPA-1Ls.
My system is ‘vintage’ by choice in some ways (the speakers and turntable) but in other areas way past time to upgrade on amps etc so I really wanted to go to mono blocks. I live in a small apartment (as in 1 bed with kitchen lounge combined) with my home office desktop PC in the lounge on a computer desk with printer and so don’t have much space available – this makes a pair of XPA-1s not practical footprint wise. I live in tropical Nth Queensland where the temperature is about 22- 25°in winter and anywhere from 30 - 37° in summer with high humidity so running XPA-1Ls may cause me room heat issues in such a small space. Aircon you say? Yes, well I have that but when I really listen I don’t like to hear the aircon so turn it off (wish I could do the same with the fridge..) Last but not least cost – I could afford the 100s with freight and they came in under the Aus $1,000 limit so I avoided 10% tax.
My set up is:
Sony DVP NS50P DVD player
Samsung laptop - running Media Monkey
New NAD D 1050 DAC
30 year old Dual 505-2 turntable – modded with Dynamat chassis floor and 1 layer of kids Play-Dough, 2 x belts and sorbothane feet, ClearAudio cartridge
30-year-old NAD 7100 Pre amp receiver
2 x XPA 100s
34 year old AR9 speakers
DIY twisted cables from spades into bananas (essentially bi-wired using both the top and bottom posts on the amps, twisting and then separating again to connect to the bi – posts on the 9s)
The humble set up - you should see all the junk behind the shot! (sorry, I'm not a photographer.)
The AR9s are acoustic suspension types, re foamed, recapped and rewired a few years ago with the 3 level switches removed and upper crossover rewired accordingly. They are 4-ohm speakers with a specification of 18Hz – 30kHz range. The sensitivity is 87 dbl SPL @ 1 meter so are pretty hard to drive and beg for more power. I have borrowed high current A Class equipment in the past and know what these can sound like when fed maniacal levels of juice. Alas I cannot afford such amps but Emotiva have started me upgrading so who knows? My small lounge room as mentioned is a bit of a sound killer also with all the office stuff happening, something I have to address also.
Anyway, I ran the 100s for a week or so before my holidays and while at first they seemed harsh and clinical they soon started to settle down and smooth out (I know, I know – many disagree with this ‘burn in’ stuff but it’s what I experienced – perhaps it’s a case of ‘electro placebo’ but that’s my experience. And yes, they did produce a strange smell for a few days but this has passed and as this also happens to me sometimes I never worry about it..
I left them on for the 3 weeks I was away and now they are really nice and engaging. I was running an old NAD 220 power amp before the XPA 100s so what can I say about the new sound now overall? (no measurements – just ears)
• There seems to be much more of the frequency range connecting with my eardrums now. Detail is much more delicate and refined.
• I’m having fun hearing things I’ve never heard before – don’t we just love that?
• SLAM! oh yes – plenty of it (not like an ME power amp or a Mark Levinson but bloody good all the same)
• Dynamic range is more apparent (if it’s there in the recording in the first place of course)
• The 18Hz bottom has really opened up – man, so much bass but bass that is well controlled and with a sense of effortless precision. The double 12 inch woofers (2 in each of the 9s) are really revealing themselves with well controlled attack and no more smearing on the decay – the 100s have really grabbed control of those coils, tight, tight!!
• I was hearing some ‘grittiness’ in the upper mids and treble before – that has completely gone now and the top end has smoothed out, clean and a lot more transparent.
• The mono configuration has of course created wonderful separation along with a very quiet noise floor. AR9s have never been known for their ability to create a huge sound-stage but nevertheless with the 100s that aspect has improved considerably.
• They look great!
I listen to quite a range of music – jazz, rock, indy-folk, baroque, ambient, electro-dub, opera, psy-trance, country, dub and loads of various drone electronic and orchestra mixed. What these amps have really done is show up crap recordings for what they are. Be it CD, vinyl or flac file I’m now noticing huge discrepancies in some recordings. Compression is oh-so-obvious now (e.g. we’re talking to You misters Coldplay via Brian Eno…) and just pings me off that so much of it takes place. Sure I have some 128 kbps mp3s along with some at 320 etc and in some cases they are even more enjoyable now but many are just depressing….
My vinyl has fared very well (apart from the expected hiss/crackle/pop issues) in the fidelity dept. Some of the stuff from the 70s and 80s, especially pop, has not fared well but ECM jazz, early 60s jazz and some fabulous pressings of classical from the 90s is great. Of course I knew in my head that it always depends on the producer and the mastering but now I’m really getting it rammed home. There is a large back catalogue that will never be fixed but there should be no excuse today for crap mastering now that we have high speed download broadband – even without going to HD Tracks etc….for contemporary experimental electronic and orchestration I buy flacs from boomkat.com/or www.beatport.com/ or sometimes direct from the artists website - whinging and whining part of the review is now over.
Some music I have been playing - I've included some links and videos, although the vids aren't exactly what I have as my sources they do give an idea...
CDs
Spies – King Tut’s Strut, 1990
The timbre of the driving bass-line now stands clear and clean, all instruments stand in their own space and the harshness from the clarinet has gone.
Sam Butera – Street Scene (Saxaphobia) 1996 (music from 1950s)
This is one where I could hear a soundstage difference – wider and more majestic with a real swagger that befits da tune!
Bach – cello suites – Anner Bylsma
I prefer this rendition for tone, speed and sensitivity – I have the Yo-Yo Ma version but this is a bit more gutsy. Before while engaging and musical the cello was always set back somehow (weird for a solo recording) but the amps have brought the cello forward now, almost into the room.
PC – Flac or WAV
Nils Frahm – Tristana, 2009
Beautifully delicate piano with a bass organ note that now just falls out of the speakers in the nicest possible way.
John Mayer – Out of My Mind (Live IN LA) 2007
John’s band now comes together in my system – a problem I had with live music in the old amps. Each member has their place now and the mix reveals itself to be really, really good. John’s guitar just sits and wails, with his voice sailing over the top. The crowd noises, once annoying are now also in their correct relationship – there in the background, swirling and adding warmth with a great ‘I’m in there with it’ feel.
Tuck Andress – Man In The Mirror - 1990
This is a close-miked solo jazz guitar work that just pops in your face. The amps have grabbed the tones and control them very tightly – the separation is really apparent with punchy, percussive strikes on the strings are really up-front and so… well… plucky!
Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [100m version]
Ok, I know – some wouldn’t even call this music, fair enough, but it is bloody amazing sound nevertheless. Ikeda makes electronic installations which are amazing when you actually get to see one, totally immersive. Most of his stuff is also available at CD quality online. Deep synth bass notes and flickering static highs – an assault on the ears maybe but the 100s just laugh at it and deliver in spades.
Vinyl
Bachman Turner Overdrive 1970s
Blue Collar
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
vimeo.com/10860096
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XZWgHNcUeA
These versions on vinyl sound, a) fabulous on Blue Collar – rich, detailed and distinct. B) crap on Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet. Compression shows up here but still, I managed to rock out and shake the booty a bit…I find overall that vinyl is now quite a bit more delicate along with some oomph (whatever that means) but even so I intend to improve that with a XSP-1 pre-amp upgrade this year.
Icehouse – Great Southern Land, 1982
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkidP2OUCk
An Aussie classic – some compression but good separation and still engaging. Always a favorite of mine and now with the extra punch the 100s give it I find myself toe tapping and almost playing air-guitar to those pinging synth sounds. Much fun was had on this album.
So what's next?
I do intend to upgrade other components over the next 12 months or so – new Ortofon cartridge, an XSP-1 pre and an ERC-3, slowly, slowly, bit by bit. I’ll go for the XSP-1 first, really looking forward to hear the combination. yes indeedly
. As said I need to visit the cramped room situation or maybe just move house - if I go for the latter then I'd like to play with making my own electrostatics and adding 2 more XPA-100s to run them beside the 9s, maybe just run their bottom end...could be fun.
All up I’m very happy and mightily impressed with what Emotiva has put into these ‘low end’ mono blocks – I am really engaging with the music again. For my specific needs the XPA 100s suit me very well. They are driving my AR9s to very high levels cleanly and easily. I don’t play at extremely loud levels at any time so haven’t clipped them yet and don’t expect to. The build is fantastic as were delivery costs, timing and packaging.
Are they as good as the bigger, more powerful and refined Emo amps? Probably not but I love them and until I win lotto I rate as them as highly recommended.
First up – reasons why the XPA 100 and not say, the XPA-1 or even a pair of XPA-1Ls.
My system is ‘vintage’ by choice in some ways (the speakers and turntable) but in other areas way past time to upgrade on amps etc so I really wanted to go to mono blocks. I live in a small apartment (as in 1 bed with kitchen lounge combined) with my home office desktop PC in the lounge on a computer desk with printer and so don’t have much space available – this makes a pair of XPA-1s not practical footprint wise. I live in tropical Nth Queensland where the temperature is about 22- 25°in winter and anywhere from 30 - 37° in summer with high humidity so running XPA-1Ls may cause me room heat issues in such a small space. Aircon you say? Yes, well I have that but when I really listen I don’t like to hear the aircon so turn it off (wish I could do the same with the fridge..) Last but not least cost – I could afford the 100s with freight and they came in under the Aus $1,000 limit so I avoided 10% tax.
My set up is:
Sony DVP NS50P DVD player
Samsung laptop - running Media Monkey
New NAD D 1050 DAC
30 year old Dual 505-2 turntable – modded with Dynamat chassis floor and 1 layer of kids Play-Dough, 2 x belts and sorbothane feet, ClearAudio cartridge
30-year-old NAD 7100 Pre amp receiver
2 x XPA 100s
34 year old AR9 speakers
DIY twisted cables from spades into bananas (essentially bi-wired using both the top and bottom posts on the amps, twisting and then separating again to connect to the bi – posts on the 9s)
The humble set up - you should see all the junk behind the shot! (sorry, I'm not a photographer.)
The AR9s are acoustic suspension types, re foamed, recapped and rewired a few years ago with the 3 level switches removed and upper crossover rewired accordingly. They are 4-ohm speakers with a specification of 18Hz – 30kHz range. The sensitivity is 87 dbl SPL @ 1 meter so are pretty hard to drive and beg for more power. I have borrowed high current A Class equipment in the past and know what these can sound like when fed maniacal levels of juice. Alas I cannot afford such amps but Emotiva have started me upgrading so who knows? My small lounge room as mentioned is a bit of a sound killer also with all the office stuff happening, something I have to address also.
Anyway, I ran the 100s for a week or so before my holidays and while at first they seemed harsh and clinical they soon started to settle down and smooth out (I know, I know – many disagree with this ‘burn in’ stuff but it’s what I experienced – perhaps it’s a case of ‘electro placebo’ but that’s my experience. And yes, they did produce a strange smell for a few days but this has passed and as this also happens to me sometimes I never worry about it..
I left them on for the 3 weeks I was away and now they are really nice and engaging. I was running an old NAD 220 power amp before the XPA 100s so what can I say about the new sound now overall? (no measurements – just ears)
• There seems to be much more of the frequency range connecting with my eardrums now. Detail is much more delicate and refined.
• I’m having fun hearing things I’ve never heard before – don’t we just love that?
• SLAM! oh yes – plenty of it (not like an ME power amp or a Mark Levinson but bloody good all the same)
• Dynamic range is more apparent (if it’s there in the recording in the first place of course)
• The 18Hz bottom has really opened up – man, so much bass but bass that is well controlled and with a sense of effortless precision. The double 12 inch woofers (2 in each of the 9s) are really revealing themselves with well controlled attack and no more smearing on the decay – the 100s have really grabbed control of those coils, tight, tight!!
• I was hearing some ‘grittiness’ in the upper mids and treble before – that has completely gone now and the top end has smoothed out, clean and a lot more transparent.
• The mono configuration has of course created wonderful separation along with a very quiet noise floor. AR9s have never been known for their ability to create a huge sound-stage but nevertheless with the 100s that aspect has improved considerably.
• They look great!
I listen to quite a range of music – jazz, rock, indy-folk, baroque, ambient, electro-dub, opera, psy-trance, country, dub and loads of various drone electronic and orchestra mixed. What these amps have really done is show up crap recordings for what they are. Be it CD, vinyl or flac file I’m now noticing huge discrepancies in some recordings. Compression is oh-so-obvious now (e.g. we’re talking to You misters Coldplay via Brian Eno…) and just pings me off that so much of it takes place. Sure I have some 128 kbps mp3s along with some at 320 etc and in some cases they are even more enjoyable now but many are just depressing….
My vinyl has fared very well (apart from the expected hiss/crackle/pop issues) in the fidelity dept. Some of the stuff from the 70s and 80s, especially pop, has not fared well but ECM jazz, early 60s jazz and some fabulous pressings of classical from the 90s is great. Of course I knew in my head that it always depends on the producer and the mastering but now I’m really getting it rammed home. There is a large back catalogue that will never be fixed but there should be no excuse today for crap mastering now that we have high speed download broadband – even without going to HD Tracks etc….for contemporary experimental electronic and orchestration I buy flacs from boomkat.com/or www.beatport.com/ or sometimes direct from the artists website - whinging and whining part of the review is now over.
Some music I have been playing - I've included some links and videos, although the vids aren't exactly what I have as my sources they do give an idea...
CDs
Spies – King Tut’s Strut, 1990
The timbre of the driving bass-line now stands clear and clean, all instruments stand in their own space and the harshness from the clarinet has gone.
Sam Butera – Street Scene (Saxaphobia) 1996 (music from 1950s)
This is one where I could hear a soundstage difference – wider and more majestic with a real swagger that befits da tune!
Bach – cello suites – Anner Bylsma
I prefer this rendition for tone, speed and sensitivity – I have the Yo-Yo Ma version but this is a bit more gutsy. Before while engaging and musical the cello was always set back somehow (weird for a solo recording) but the amps have brought the cello forward now, almost into the room.
PC – Flac or WAV
Nils Frahm – Tristana, 2009
Beautifully delicate piano with a bass organ note that now just falls out of the speakers in the nicest possible way.
John Mayer – Out of My Mind (Live IN LA) 2007
John’s band now comes together in my system – a problem I had with live music in the old amps. Each member has their place now and the mix reveals itself to be really, really good. John’s guitar just sits and wails, with his voice sailing over the top. The crowd noises, once annoying are now also in their correct relationship – there in the background, swirling and adding warmth with a great ‘I’m in there with it’ feel.
Tuck Andress – Man In The Mirror - 1990
This is a close-miked solo jazz guitar work that just pops in your face. The amps have grabbed the tones and control them very tightly – the separation is really apparent with punchy, percussive strikes on the strings are really up-front and so… well… plucky!
Ryoji Ikeda, test pattern [100m version]
Ok, I know – some wouldn’t even call this music, fair enough, but it is bloody amazing sound nevertheless. Ikeda makes electronic installations which are amazing when you actually get to see one, totally immersive. Most of his stuff is also available at CD quality online. Deep synth bass notes and flickering static highs – an assault on the ears maybe but the 100s just laugh at it and deliver in spades.
Vinyl
Bachman Turner Overdrive 1970s
Blue Collar
You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet
vimeo.com/10860096
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XZWgHNcUeA
These versions on vinyl sound, a) fabulous on Blue Collar – rich, detailed and distinct. B) crap on Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet. Compression shows up here but still, I managed to rock out and shake the booty a bit…I find overall that vinyl is now quite a bit more delicate along with some oomph (whatever that means) but even so I intend to improve that with a XSP-1 pre-amp upgrade this year.
Icehouse – Great Southern Land, 1982
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mkidP2OUCk
An Aussie classic – some compression but good separation and still engaging. Always a favorite of mine and now with the extra punch the 100s give it I find myself toe tapping and almost playing air-guitar to those pinging synth sounds. Much fun was had on this album.
So what's next?
I do intend to upgrade other components over the next 12 months or so – new Ortofon cartridge, an XSP-1 pre and an ERC-3, slowly, slowly, bit by bit. I’ll go for the XSP-1 first, really looking forward to hear the combination. yes indeedly
. As said I need to visit the cramped room situation or maybe just move house - if I go for the latter then I'd like to play with making my own electrostatics and adding 2 more XPA-100s to run them beside the 9s, maybe just run their bottom end...could be fun.All up I’m very happy and mightily impressed with what Emotiva has put into these ‘low end’ mono blocks – I am really engaging with the music again. For my specific needs the XPA 100s suit me very well. They are driving my AR9s to very high levels cleanly and easily. I don’t play at extremely loud levels at any time so haven’t clipped them yet and don’t expect to. The build is fantastic as were delivery costs, timing and packaging.
Are they as good as the bigger, more powerful and refined Emo amps? Probably not but I love them and until I win lotto I rate as them as highly recommended.
..let's see what will happen when they arrive.. 
