XSP-1 Gen 2 vs. Outlaw RR2150

[skiman85]

Hello all of you knowledgeable Lounge members. I am fairly new to the Emotiva community, but so far love the products I own. I was once a dedicated Outlaw Audio fan, but have lost faith in the company the past few years. Emotiva seems to be a much more organized and truthful company with many more products offered and the customer service has been great. I just signed up for an e-club membership and placed and order for a new XSP-1 Gen 2. I am very excited to say the least. Previously this winter I was running some Outlaw LCR speakers, an Outlaw LFM-1EX and the Outlaw RR2150 stereo reciever. Around the first of the year I made some big upgrades. I sold the Outlaw LCR's and jumped on the Focal 816v tower speakers and also ordered the Emotiva XPA-2 amplifier (what a beast). These two upgrades have been the best audio purchases I have ever made hands down.

Getting back on track I am replacing the Outlaw RR2150 with the XSP-1. I am looking for some feedback on weather my new purchase sounds like another home run or if anyone else has made this same or similar transition and would give me some feedback. Anything is great and am just as much introducing myself to my new favorite audio company.

Cheers

Chris 

PS I still have the LFM-1EX

[Deleted]

Chris welcome to the Emotiva Lounge!  I'm a big Emo fan boy for many reasons but also own an Outlaw LFM-1 Plus, a big best buy IMO.  You have a huge big bang for the buck/best buy and gorgeous looking sub in the LFM -1 EX!  I wouldn't hurry to replace it.  

I don't specifically own the XSP-1 or XPA-2, but the feedback here is superb on both.  Until you might go to 5.1 you seem to have made great choices so far.  Others more knowledgeable about the XSP-1, XPA-2 and Focal speakers (like Roadrunner, Darksky and many others) will be here to offer feedback.

Chuckienut   

[ribbonking]

I own the same sub as you - Outlaw LFM-1 EX. Great sub made by Hsu for Outlaw.

I considered buying the 2150 as well a few years ago but went with Emotiva instead and haven't looked back.

Hope you enjoy your new gear and welcome to the Lounge.

[jmasterj]

Hi skinman85,

Welcome to the lounge. I think you're trying to compare apples to oranges. I chimed in because I owned the Outlaw Audio RR2150 retro receiver back in 2009. I enjoyed it and thought it was a pretty good stereo receiver. It was the only outlaw gear I ever tried and I never had a problem with it. I had it connected to a YAQIN tube buffer, a pair of Maggie MGQR12 speakers and at that time think I was using my Sony DVD player as a source. It sounded pretty decent. I had no intention of upgrading then until my entire system was stolen.

Up until then I had been flirting with tube buffers, so instead of going with another RR2150 I decided to purchase a BADA DC-222 Hybrid Tube Integrated Amp. and I've never looked back since then. Having said that, trying to compare a processor to a receiver is difficult because a receiver is three different components in one package. It contains a Preamp section, a Power amp section, and a Tuner section, whereas the Processor only serves one of those functions.

Now if you're asking if the XSP-1 processor/preamp will out preform the preamp section of the RR 2150 I would definitely think so. I say "think so" because I've to date never owned a Emotiva preamp instead I've opted to go to a tube preamp. I do however own a pair of XPA-100 mono block amps and, a ERC-1 CD player. In my opinion the RR 2150 was a good product but I believe the XSP-1, XPA-2 combo will take your system to a whole new level. Let us hear from you after you receive the new pre/pro and hook it up. Then you can tell us what you think. Hope this was helpful good luck j.

[skiman85]

Thanks guys I just love getting some feedback. Its fun to hear from fellow audio enthusiasts until the pre-amp arrives. I am hoping this setup puts me into a new realm of listening experience.

[roadrunner]

Jul 25, 2014 15:28:38 GMT -5 @chuckienut said:

Chris welcome to the Emotiva Lounge!  I'm a big Emo fan boy for many reasons but also own an Outlaw LFM-1 Plus, a big best buy IMO.  You have a huge big bang for the buck/best buy and gorgeous looking sub in the LFM -1 EX!  I wouldn't hurry to replace it.  

I don't specifically own the XSP-1 or XPA-2, but the feedback here is superb on both.  Until you might go to 5.1 you seem to have made great choices so far.  Others more knowledgeable about the XSP-1, XPA-2 and Focal speakers (like Roadrunner, Darksky and many others) will be here to offer feedback.

Chuckienut   

Chuckienut is right. The Emotiva XSP-1 and the XPA-2 are among the best sounding audio components available from any vendor. I have owned many high-end preamps over the years and the XSP-1 is hands down the best preamp I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. I highly recommend this preamp. Its "bang for the buck" is outstanding and its performance takes you for a ride on the magic carpet to nirvana -- surpassing every other preamp I have listened to. Secrets of Home Theater selected the XSP-1 as "BEST OF 2013" and in their "CONCLUSION" of their review of the XSP-1 they said, "Well, what can I say here, but WOW! For $899, you get one heck of a preamplifier. If it were $3,899, I would still say, "WOW"

The XPA-2 power amp is a power house stereo amp that received the highest accolades from every publication that reviewed the XPA-2 on their web site. Just check out the Product Page for the XPA-2 to see what a "beast" it is. The link below will take you to the Product Page:

emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpa-2

You will be glad that you found Emotiva after listening to the sonic bliss the XSP-1 and XPA-2 delivers. Power and finesse, go hand-in-hand while allowing you to experience every nuance of a live performance. Who could ask for anything more? Emotiva equals "BANG FOR THE BUCK" while delivering life-like sonic performance.

[skiman85]

Well I have had the XSP-1 Gen2 for almost 5 months now, sorry for the very delayed response. I also upgraded from the Focal 816v to the Focal 836v during this time. I could not be happier with my set up. The XSP-1 Gen2 is an amazing piece of equipment with solid build quality and great dynamics. The phono stage is very impressive. I have not yet upgraded to balanced cables to go from my XPA-2 yet. I was wondering am I not using a lot of what the XSP-1 has to offer by not running balanced? Is the differential circuitry only through the balanced side of the pre-amp? The features of this unit are great and the soundstage vs. the Outlaw RR2150 is like night and day. I realize the RR2150 is actually very harsh as far as the highs are concerned. The XSP-1 blows it away with the sound stage and very natural and realistic dynamic range. I am only 29 years old, but have had my share of equipment and my current system is absolutely one of the most powerful sounding I have heard. Nothing I have had before this set up was even in the same realm of what I currently have. This hobby never gets old for me and will be the reason I go broke some day.

[garbulky]

Dec 29, 2014 16:35:41 GMT -5 skiman85 said:

Well I have had the XSP-1 Gen2 for almost 5 months now, sorry for the very delayed response. I also upgraded from the Focal 816v to the Focal 836v during this time. I could not be happier with my set up. The XSP-1 Gen2 is an amazing piece of equipment with solid build quality and great dynamics. The phono stage is very impressive. I have not yet upgraded to balanced cables to go from my XPA-2 yet. I was wondering am I not using a lot of what the XSP-1 has to offer by not running balanced? Is the differential circuitry only through the balanced side of the pre-amp? The features of this unit are great and the soundstage vs. the Outlaw RR2150 is like night and day. I realize the RR2150 is actually very harsh as far as the highs are concerned. The XSP-1 blows it away with the sound stage and very natural and realistic dynamic range. I am only 29 years old, but have had my share of equipment and my current system is absolutely one of the most powerful sounding I have heard. Nothing I have had before this set up was even in the same realm of what I currently have. This hobby never gets old for me and will be the reason I go broke some day.

XLR cables are super cheap. Check out monoprice for cheap good quality cables.

Balanced circuitry is only available via XLR. BUT....just a warning, the XPA-2 is not fully balanced and neither is you oppo. But it does have XLR inputs. So you wouldn't get the benefits of "differential reference" that the XSP-1 has. But having said that, XLR's are still the best cable connection. If you have it, you should use it imo.

If you want more improvements in sound quality, you may want to check out DAC's (especially the more expensive units).
Audio gd is a good place for solid stuff. Don't be thrown off by the asian website and bad english. It's a trustworthy player that does amazing stuff. Schitt gugnir offers a fully differential DAC.
And not forgetting a used Oppo 95 or an Oppo 105 is a fantastic performer for stereo sound. In fact an oppo 105 and XSP-1 (coupled to XPA-1L's and also an XPR-2) alongside a Power sound XV15 subwoofer and axiom m80 speakers produced the best sound I have ever heard by a significant margin. And a big reason for that was the oppo 105 coupled to the XSP-1.

[skiman85]

Thanks garbulky for the info. I am planning on keeping my XPA-2 for a while, but was thinking of getting the latest version of the ERC cd player with balanced connections. Would this allow me to take better advantage of the XSP-1 circuitry if I then had everything connected using balanced cables? I also thought of buying the Emotive DAC to run my digital music from my computer and other devises. Advice is always welcome and appreciated.

[garbulky]

Dec 29, 2014 17:19:33 GMT -5 skiman85 said:

Thanks garbulky for the info. I am planning on keeping my XPA-2 for a while, but was thinking of getting the latest version of the ERC cd player with balanced connections. Would this allow me to take better advantage of the XSP-1 circuitry if I then had everything connected using balanced cables? I also thought of buying the Emotive DAC to run my digital music from my computer and other devises. Advice is always welcome and appreciated.

Yes and no.
The ERC-3 will be a fully balanced device. However, the last step in the chain the XPA-2 is not fully balanced so you may not have all (or maybe none) of the advances of fully balanced. Not exactly sure what happens when one step is broke in the chain.

But having said that, I have heard the XSP-1 in fully balanced mode with fully balanced circuitry all the way throughout (XPA-1 L's), and honestly the difference ....I couldn't hear any. However, the sound was SPECTACULAR. So if you were buying something purely for the advantage of fully balanced, no it's not the best reason to do it. I would do it only if it sounds better.

The Emotiva DAC ( I have the Emotiva DC-1) is signficantly better than the XDA-2 and sounds fantastic.....in my setup. However, connected to the XSP-1 in a different much larger room but same speakers we experienced some issues with the sound quality ....not being all that great.
Now I'm not sure why. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the DC-1's impedance output is like 45 ohms while the minimum reccomended input impedance for the XSP-1 is 600 ohms. So maybe some sort of mismatch. It could have been the room. Or it could just have been simply that the comparison dac - which was the oppo 105 was simply way better.

So, because of that ONE negative experience I can't fully reccomend the DC-1 with an XSP-1. In my room (without the XSP-1, DC-1 direct to amp) it sounds great but I have to tell you that even though it sounds great in my room (read my gushing review of it here: emotivalounge.proboards.com/thread/33501/garbulkys-review-love-female-voice ) I have heard better and that was the oppo 105 to the XSP-1 in the other much larger room.

So due to that I reccomend a schiit gugnir, audio gd (they have amazing saber dacs), and maybe even an oppo 105.
Now having said that, I love my DC-1, and I think that's the only negative review I have read about the DC-1. So take it wit a grain of salt. You may well have STELLAR performance out of it.

But do get those XLR cables
So hope that helped.
As for the emotiva CD player, I haven't heard a bad thing said about it. But I wonder if you may get a lateral shift in sound quality (you may not as I have heard nothing but good things about it). I think Gary Cook really finds his stellar.

[djoel]

I would go with a pair of these to take advantage balance section of the XSP-1, but that's just me.

emotiva.com/products/amplifiers/xpa-1l

Glad you're enjoy the preamp.

happy listening

Djoel

[Gary Cook]

Without getting into the "fully balanced" versus "dual/quad differential discussion" yet again, let me firstly confirm garbulky's comment on the ERC-3, easily the best player of CD's that I have ever had. Personally I would always have an analogue pre amp (USP-1 / XSP-1) in my system for playing 2.1 stereo music. For me analogue bass management is a must, as is HT bypass. Moving onto the power amp, I currently have an XPA-1L (balanced, quad differential) that is in for testing and servicing powering the RF and my XPA-100 (balanced, dual differential) powering the LF. They are both located in close proximity to their respective speakers and as a result have 5 metre RCA interconnects and very short speaker cables. I also have an XPA-5, short interconnects and long speaker cables, that I can swap in and out of each channel. In Class AB I'm hard pressed to notice any difference between the 3 amps, I can however pick the XPA-1L in Class A, for sure it's not night and day and not noticeable in all recordings. A subject for its own dedicated thread for another day.

I see at some time in the future I'll probably have an ERC-3, with balanced connections (very short XLR's) to an XSP-1 in turn with balanced connections (long XLR's) to a pair of XPA-1L's. The XPA-100 will continue to run the subwoofer, it already has a balanced connection (long XLR) from the USP-1. That combination will give me a fully balanced system for 2.1 stereo music, while the XPA-5 will continue to power the surrounds for HT.

Happy New Year
Gary

[novisnick]

As for what garbulky said about the DC-1 coupled to the XSP-1, to me this setup really works great!!, my room my blah, blah blah,,,,,he,,,,,he,,,,   (rofl)I'm running fully balanced though.
I'm really enjoying the Emotiva line of gear, I think you should try the Oppo 83 to DC-1 to the XSP-1 and see ( hear ) what you think. I think you'll like it, if not, you have the 30 day return period. I think you'll keep it though.






Oh yeh,,,,,,MONOBLOCKS rule!! If cash flow isn't up to the big dogs, the XPA-1Ls are monsters for their price!! 8)

[skiman85]

Thanks for all of the advice guys I really appreciate it. I think my next step is going to be to list my oppo-bdp-83se and purchase the erc and purchase some balanced cables to connect everything.

Chuckienut you were saying that you also have the LFM-1 EX. How do you have your sub positioned in your room. I have mine in the corner of two exterior wall and the bass is pretty good but it seems like I have to have the volume on the amp over half way all the time to achieve the bass level that I want. I havent moved it around much, but was thinking of putting it more in the middle of the wall.

Thanks again guys.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

[garbulky]

Dec 30, 2014 8:36:33 GMT -5 skiman85 said:

Thanks for all of the advice guys I really appreciate it. I think my next step is going to be to list my oppo-bdp-83se and purchase the erc and purchase some balanced cables to connect everything.

Chuckienut you were saying that you also have the LFM-1 EX. How do you have your sub positioned in your room. I have mine in the corner of two exterior wall and the bass is pretty good but it seems like I have to have the volume on the amp over half way all the time to achieve the bass level that I want. I havent moved it around much, but was thinking of putting it more in the middle of the wall.

Thanks again guys.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!

Turning the volume up on the dial isn't an issue at all. It's how it sounds that's important, not the position on the dial.

[cheglie]

Skiman85,

I see you made a modest (is this accurate?) upgrade in the Focal speaker line. Do you notice much difference in the 816 vs 836? I have had the 726's for mains and 706's for surrounds and the 700 center speaker for almost a year now. Within 7 mo I had a mid range go out and both crossovers had to be replaced in the 726's. Not a cheap shipping bill from Idaho to New York for warranty work, you know how heavey these speakers are built! I often wonder if when I do upgrade my speakers if I would go for another Focal or change brands all together. I understand the W's with the "sandwiched" cones are an improvement and for the price increase I would hope so! Overall I am happy with these speakers for now, but my PSA subwoofer takes a lot of the credit for the good sound for sure.

[skiman85]

Dec 30, 2014 13:54:15 GMT -5 cheglie said:

Skiman85,

I see you made a modest (is this accurate?) upgrade in the Focal speaker line. Do you notice much difference in the 816 vs 836? I have had the 726's for mains and 706's for surrounds and the 700 center speaker for almost a year now. Within 7 mo I had a mid range go out and both crossovers had to be replaced in the 726's. Not a cheap shipping bill from Idaho to New York for warranty work, you know how heavey these speakers are built! I often wonder if when I do upgrade my speakers if I would go for another Focal or change brands all together. I understand the W's with the "sandwiched" cones are an improvement and for the price increase I would hope so! Overall I am happy with these speakers for now, but my PSA subwoofer takes a lot of the credit for the good sound for sure.

I am very happy with the upgrade from the 816v to the 836v. The difference in the low end is huge having two more bass drivers in each tower. I was not prepared for the drastic height difference but really like having the tweeter up a little higher. These speakers are beasts in my listening room. The only reason I decided to upgrade was that a friend of mine was in need of a new set of front speakers and he was really pleased when he heard the 816v's at my house. I had only had the 816's for about 6 months before upgrading. I was very happy with the 816's but the opportunity came along to sell the others at a good price and the 836's were only $2000 from music direct. The natural unique sound and great imaging the focals produce is like no other speaker I have owned and think I will stick to this brand for quite some time. I have owned B&W, Paradigm, and the Outlaw LCR's and have not been nearly this satisfied. Great looking speaker and great build quality. 

[me262]

As a Schiit Gungnir owner (I am probably selling mine, but sad about it) and an XSP-1 owner, I can say the two work together and are awesome. If you can swing it pick one up, I think it is the best Dac under $1000, but others may disagree.

[rocky500]

I had a XDA-1 then Audio gd nbf-2 then XDA-2 then a Nad M51 Dac then a Schiit Gungnir then the DC-1.
In my system the DC-1 was the best Dac I have owned. It was the most open sounding of Dacs that gave me wow moments with my music.