XPA-2 in mono block mode VS XPR-1

[sonar53c]

The XPR-1 is rated @ 1000 watts.  The XPA-2 in mono mode is also rated @ a 1000 watts.  A XPA-2 is getting close to half the price of a XPR-1.  How would these 2 amps sound different driving say Klipsch RF-7 II or a similar speaker in this price range?  I'm sure some will say these amps would be major overkill for the RF-7.  I guess I'm really wanting to learn what some of the other stats mean.

Thanks for your time,

[Boomzilla]

Unless your speakers are truly eight ohms or more across their entire impedance range, bridging just about ANY amp will decrease sound quality. If you NEED the watts, go with the XPR.

However, honestly, if you're running the Klipsch RF-7, ALL of the amps you mention would be major overkill. Want better sound? Buy two XPA-1Ls and run them with long-interconnects & short speaker wires.

[novisnick]

XPR-1 are rated at 1000 watts @ 8 ohms and 1750 @ 4 ohms If you want all the benefits of a serious MONOBLOCK please purchase the XPR-1s.
Great dynamics with controll of anything you can throw at it. When I say controll, I don't mean it will push it in a direction,,,,,I mean grip and move like a rag doll.
I have a set of Klipsch that are not the caliber of the 7s but the XPR-1 has transformed them to a different level,,,( SPEAKER ) There is no comparison to the speakers being controlled by a monster vs a powerhouse. Yes , they are two distinct sounds.

Now, as far as " NEEDING " an amp of that much control and power,,, that my friend is another story. But please don't run a 2 channel amp in mono and expect it to do the same thing.
Is boom correct about the XPA-1L as ample enough amp for your speakers, I think the answer is YES! They are an example of a great MONOBLOCK done properly!.
I have not ever heard the XPA-1s first or second gen. I'm sure they are extremely capable and great.

The OP needs to state what they want or need. Personally, money was a limiter but I've never splurged in my life, always rational and compimising. Never just satisfy a " WANT" well for once I did. Am I glad I purchased the XPR-1s?,,,,,,,,,you dang right I'm happy!!,! Would I do it again???,,,,,You dang right I would!!!
Do I NEED the Big Dogs?? NO Are they pretty to look at?? Dang toot'en they are!
For the most control, dynamic sound and an amp that will exemplify the best your speaker has to give,,,,for the dollor spent, you can't find better. FACT IMHO

Will I purchase a set of XPA-1Ls before the current 20% off sale for my larger HT/ 2Channel room? YEP!!!!! Sure will.
Great sound, plenty of class A @ 30 watts power.

Anything else you need to know, just let us know.

Peace,

Nick

[deltadube]

Jun 30, 2014 23:34:38 GMT -5 novisnick said:

XPR-1 are rated at 1000 watts @ 8 ohms and 1750 @ 4 ohms If you want all the benefits of a serious MONOBLOCK please purchase the XPR-1s.
Great dynamics with controll of anything you can throw at it. When I say controll, I don't mean it will push it in a direction,,,,,I mean grip and move like a rag doll.
I have a set of Klipsch that are not the caliber of the 7s but the XPR-1 has transformed them to a different level,,,( SPEAKER ) There is no comparison to the speakers being controlled by a monster vs a powerhouse. Yes , they are two distinct sounds.

Now, as far as " NEEDING " an amp of that much control and power,,, that my friend is another story. But please don't run a 2 channel amp in mono and expect it to do the same thing.
Is boom correct about the XPA-1L as ample enough amp for your speakers, I think the answer is YES! They are an example of a great MONOBLOCK done properly!.
I have not ever heard the XPA-1s first or second gen. I'm sure they are extremely capable and great.

The OP needs to state what they want or need. Personally, money was a limiter but I've never splurged in my life, always rational and compimising. Never just satisfy a " WANT" well for once I did. Am I glad I purchased the XPR-1s?,,,,,,,,,you dang right I'm happy!!,! Would I do it again???,,,,,You dang right I would!!!
Do I NEED the Big Dogs?? NO Are they pretty to look at?? Dang toot'en they are!
For the most control, dynamic sound and an amp that will exemplify the best your speaker has to give,,,,for the dollor spent, you can't find better. FACT IMHO

Will I purchase a set of XPA-1Ls before the current 20% off sale for my larger HT/ 2Channel room? YEP!!!!! Sure will.
Great sound, plenty of class A @ 30 watts power.

Anything else you need to know, just let us know.

Peace,

Nick

don't forget to ask about membership in the mono block society Nick is the ceo!!!!

wow nick you make so jealous of them big dogs moving them woofers like a rag doll eh!!!

cheers

[repeetavx]

Another discussion on bridging the XPA-2

[novisnick]

Jun 30, 2014 23:58:10 GMT -5 deltadube said:

Jun 30, 2014 23:34:38 GMT -5 novisnick said:

XPR-1 are rated at 1000 watts @ 8 ohms and 1750 @ 4 ohms If you want all the benefits of a serious MONOBLOCK please purchase the XPR-1s.
Great dynamics with controll of anything you can throw at it. When I say controll, I don't mean it will push it in a direction,,,,,I mean grip and move like a rag doll.
I have a set of Klipsch that are not the caliber of the 7s but the XPR-1 has transformed them to a different level,,,( SPEAKER ) There is no comparison to the speakers being controlled by a monster vs a powerhouse. Yes , they are two distinct sounds.

Now, as far as " NEEDING " an amp of that much control and power,,, that my friend is another story. But please don't run a 2 channel amp in mono and expect it to do the same thing.
Is boom correct about the XPA-1L as ample enough amp for your speakers, I think the answer is YES! They are an example of a great MONOBLOCK done properly!.
I have not ever heard the XPA-1s first or second gen. I'm sure they are extremely capable and great.

The OP needs to state what they want or need. Personally, money was a limiter but I've never splurged in my life, always rational and compimising. Never just satisfy a " WANT" well for once I did. Am I glad I purchased the XPR-1s?,,,,,,,,,you dang right I'm happy!!,! Would I do it again???,,,,,You dang right I would!!!
Do I NEED the Big Dogs?? NO Are they pretty to look at?? Dang toot'en they are!
For the most control, dynamic sound and an amp that will exemplify the best your speaker has to give,,,,for the dollor spent, you can't find better. FACT IMHO

Will I purchase a set of XPA-1Ls before the current 20% off sale for my larger HT/ 2Channel room? YEP!!!!! Sure will.
Great sound, plenty of class A @ 30 watts power.

Anything else you need to know, just let us know.

Peace,

Nick

don't forget to ask about membership in the mono block society Nick is the ceo!!!!

wow nick you make so jealous of them big dogs moving them woofers like a rag doll eh!!!

cheers

Rag Doll, that reminds me of Diana Krall,,,,,,,  

[sonar53c]

Thanks for the feedback all!  This will be a very similar question, how would a XPR-2 be different from (2) XPA-1's? Again we are at the same rated power for both set ups, 600 watts this time.  Let's assume we're still driving the Klipsch RF-7 II.  

Thanks for your time and helping me expand my knowledge!

[creimes]

Jul 1, 2014 1:21:07 GMT -5 sonar53c said:

Thanks for the feedback all!  This will be a very similar question, how would a XPR-2 be different from (2) XPA-1's? Again we are at the same rated power for both set ups, 600 watts this time.  Let's assume we're still driving the Klipsch RF-7 II.  

Thanks for your time and helping me expand my knowledge!

Like Boomzilla said, 2 XPA-1L's are more than enough for those klipsch, in the end it is your money and your choice, Boom has a good writeup on an XPR-2 and a pair of 1L's and how little of difference they were to him, at the price of the 1L's and if you are an eclub member you may get 20% off as well, I have owned many Emotiva amps from the UPA and XPA series and the 1L's are my keepers.

Chad

[Gary Cook]

Jul 1, 2014 1:21:07 GMT -5 sonar53c said:

Thanks for the feedback all!  This will be a very similar question, how would a XPR-2 be different from (2) XPA-1's? Again we are at the same rated power for both set ups, 600 watts this time.  Let's assume we're still driving the Klipsch RF-7 II.  

Thanks for your time and helping me expand my knowledge!

Wattage isn't the issue, there's more than enough in all of the comparisons. So what you are looking for is a difference in the sound quality (not quantity). The only real spec difference is the monoblocks (XPA-1, XPA-1L and XPR-1) are all quad differential. Whereas the XPA and XPR multi channel amps are dual differential. Whether or not you can actually hear a difference is difficult to guess.

The advantage of the XPA-1 (60 watts) and the XPA-1L (35 watts) is their Class A capability. Again, whether or not you can actually hear a difference between their performance in Class A and Class AB is difficult to guess.

As the monoblock society zealots will tell you, get the monoblocks and you will never have that doubt that you just might be missing out on something (even if you can't actually hear it).


Cheers
Gary

[garbulky]

Jul 1, 2014 1:21:07 GMT -5 sonar53c said:

Thanks for the feedback all!  This will be a very similar question, how would a XPR-2 be different from (2) XPA-1's? Again we are at the same rated power for both set ups, 600 watts this time.  Let's assume we're still driving the Klipsch RF-7 II.  

Thanks for your time and helping me expand my knowledge!

The biggest thing to note is that you are driving high efficiency Klipsch drivers meaning you don't NEED the power. With these drivers a few watts into them and you will be getting deafened. Most listening is probably done at 1/4 or 1/2 a watt.
There are a few differences between an XPR-2 and XPA-1.
The main one is that the XPR-2 has a voltage rail that switches to provide the higher power normally above 200 watts and switches back. This is a class H power supply. And there is a small and likely inaudible bump in distortion at that switching point according to audioholics.
The XPA-1's do not have this switcher as it doesn't need it for its capabilities.
The XPA-1's are fully balanced monoblocks that have 60 watts of class A. What this means is that for your Klipsch you will be running in class A nearly all of the time. Class A eliminates a thing called notch distortion.
The XPR-2's do have some class A reserve and if you judge the heat being given off, it's a decent amount but likely nowhere close to the XPA-1.
The fully balanced feature of the XPA-1 monoblocks also allow for reduction or cancellation of a certain type of distortion. The XPR-2's are not fully balanced in "that way".
The monoblock component also eliminates a certain kind of distortion due to the power supply being shared by a single channel vs two channels for the XPR-2. I believe it's called "cross talk".
Having said that the distortion figures on both these amps are technically inaudible to the human ear.
What really matters despite all this technobabble is - how does it sound to your ears.

I've heard the XPR-2's, XPA-2, UPA-2, UPA-1, and the minix. These series all sounded SLIGHTLY different from each other.
The XPR-2 had the nice SLIGHTLY laid back nature of the UPA-2's. The XPR-2 and XPA-2 really benefitted from a proper dedicated pre-amp like an XSP-1 or USP-1 vs dac direct. The UPA-2 also benefits from one but to a lesser extent.
The XPR-2's biggest stregnth was that it had the ability to portray "body" or a 3d like image of the instrument. But the truth is they are all very close in terms of sound quality and differ by a sound "signature".

According to B'zilla, who owns the XPR-2 has slightly laid back dynamics and treble.
The XPR-2 is a fine amplifier and if you were to purchase one, do use some $$ to purchase a pre-amplifier for them. It will help get the best out of it in terms of dynamics.
I haven't heard the XPA-1's so I can't comment on their sound. However if you were to buy an XPA-1. You should know that A DC-1 connected to a pair of XPA-1's or XPA-1 L's will provide a fully balanced signal from end to end for a relatively low price compared to the brick and mortar brands where you would likely be spending about 3 to $4000 to get that.

[brado]

I started my Emo collection with an XPA-2 and an XPA-5, both gen2. Great amps. Fabulous improvement over my Onkyo TX-NR3010, which was pretty good in its own right for a receiver( I'm now using as a pre/pro). The XPAs were a fantastic intro into separates for me.  After about a year, I decided to give the XPA-1L's a try, so I bought 3 for R,L and C. I moved the XPA-2 to the surrounds.  The difference between the 1Ls vs. the XPA2 was as much a bump up from the XPA 2 as the XPA 2 was over the Onkyo.  The XPA 2 is very good. The 1Ls are great.  

The best way I can think of to describe the difference is while the XPA-2 provides great detail and super low noise, the 1Ls add a certain 'liveliness' that really pulls out the subtle nuances and even better clarity. I've done a lot of experimenting over the years with speaker placement, and with each change, I rerun Audysee MultEq32., so I've gotten very used to listening to the frequency sweeps during room calibration. After putting in the 1Ls, I recalibrated and immediately noticed the difference just in the very first sweep.

The folks at Emotiva talked to me about the quad differential design in the 1L vs the dual differential of the XPA-2 as having a more active drive of the speaker being the likely 'livliness' I hear.  I know in my experience, the difference was really stunning.  I recently bought 2 more 1Ls, now running the main 5 with 1Ls.  I moved the XPA-2 to the rear surrounds.  I'm running golden ear speakers everywhere in a 9.1 configuration (Triton 2's for RL, SuperXL center, and supersat 50s for surrounds and rear surrounds.  Very interesting hearing the frequency sweeps on the surrounds and rear surrounds with the 1L vs XPA-2 on the same model speakers. Definite difference between the two. The 1Ls are just plain better -more detail, more alive, more nuance (not that the XPA 2 is bad at all, in fact it is very good).

I like (no, LOVE) the 1Ls so much that I'm now in the process of trading in the XPA 5 and XPA 2 for a pair of XPA-1s. The 1s have the same quad diff design as the 1Ls. I'll be driving the RL with them and C,SR,SL,BSR, BSL with the 1Ls. I'm driving heights with the Onkyo.  I probably don't need the power of the 1's, as the 1Ls give me plenty of clean volume for the way I listen to movies and music. But, I wanted 2 more channels, and taking advantage of the eclub promotion and trade in, I figured I'd go ahead and spring for the big boys.

BTW, the folks at Emotiva told me that the XPA-2 in bridged mode drops the S/N by 3db compared to non-bridged, so you might want to consider that as well.  I'd say that you'd be well served by going with 1Ls, and if you need more juice for the R/L, get the 1's later and use the 1Ls on surround channels.