Pooraudiophile's XPA-1L review

[stlaudiofan1]

What I find really cool is....

For a total price of $3900, My system consists of 4 class A monoblocks (4 1Ls), a full differential balanced preamp with HT bypass and full base management (XSP-1), a full differential balanced CD player (ERC-3) and a full differential balanced DAC (DC-1).  Each of these components is solidly built and sonically fabulous.  As important to me, I have had the ongoing, on hand experience of personally testing:

• Stereo mono blocks vs biamping 4 monoblocks
• Class A vs Class AB
• Differential balance vs unbalanced performance at the component level
• Base management vs. sub controlled crossover
• Balanced CD player vs balanced DAC with the same chipset
• Digital AES/EBU vs BNC vs optical interface between CD player and DAC
• CD transport vs. music server

I know of no where else I can come ANYWHERE IN THE VICINITY of this sonic level of componentry with this feature set for $3900.  I recently picked up a Simaudio Moon LP310 that is already improving my vinyl playback without even be broken in, but it is more than half the price of the entire rest of my system (not counting speakers).

[pooraudiophile]

Thanks all for your comments and feedback. I've always of the opinion that it's important and valuable to engage ourselves in a healthy dialogue. Hopefully, the fact that I chose to come here and make some direct posts speaks to the fact of the kind of audiophile I am. I think it's important for all of us to engage in a healthy dialogue about our hobby. The reality is our hobby is shrinking and we need to be able to promote and advocate for great audio. I'm very passionate about our collective hobby as I'm sure all of you are as well. Personally, I believe that everyone can experience great audio at a price point that they can afford.

I think it goes without saying that we all likewise need to give a nice nod to Emotiva who fosters a dialogue and community among it's owners and prospective buyers.

Let me touch upon a few themes here.

As any owner of audiophile gear, I think we'd all agree that we want to see and hear how it really performs. To have credibility, at least in my book, I would want to put budget and high value gear in some good, transparent systems. I'd argue that the Salon2s are among the best candidates for that. If the Emotiva XPA-1L's can drive Salon2s that's making a pretty big statement in the high end community. My understanding is that on one of the Emotiva road shows or at Emotiva's offices, Lonnie did just that to showcase what the folks at Emotiva felt was the sound quality of their gear. I think and stand by the judgement of doing the review in that manner. If you can drive a high end speaker with a litany of industry awards and accolades then you'd have every confidence that the amplifiers would be able to drive and control pretty much any speaker out there. I don't need to reiterate my feelings about the sonic performance. It's there in the review for all to read.

I haven't made any retractions of the article. I wanted to make sure that any incorrect statements made in this forum about the review (such as my review units arriving scratched, which I never stated or implied) were clarified. Otherwise, people would get the wrong impression that I got brand new units that were scratched.

My big and I think very valid beef is with what I comparatively see as the Q/A and build quality in the units I received. We reviewers get gear all the time. Some of it is early production and some of it is fairly mature in its production cycle. Sometimes (though not often) you'll even get review gear that was previously with another reviewer. In rare occasions, such as with the Benchmark AHB2, you'll get gear that's specifically labeled for promo/reviewers (http://www.pooraudiophile.com/2015/04/benchmark-ahb2-amplifier-thx-preview.html).

Of course, there can be some variation in production lots. With the units I had, I feel that the review is an accurate description. I've also had one of the Emotiva power strips go bad on me and it needed to be repaired. With my Mini-X a-100, one of the binding posts is significantly more snug than the rest to the point where I can't use one set of banana plugs on that particular binding post only (but those same banana plugs work fine on the three other binding posts). Go figure.

Certainly, there have been many customers who have had no problems—that's great. There have been others who have had even worse documented issues with their Emotiva gear too. There was a user just today who posted that his XPA-1L died after just 8 months of use and knocked Emotiva's customer service. That hasn't been my experience as my gear is running just fine and customer service was quite responsive to me and addressed my issues with my review set. Experience differs from user to user and reviewer to reviewer.

As Emotiva owners (of which I am one), deep down we would certainly want our gear to rank up there with the best. As I stated in the review, I do have concerns about Emotiva's Chinese-based manufacturing. I think there's enough of a variance from lot to lot based on what I saw and, as a reviewer, I do feel it's my responsibility to state that–as tough of a pill as that might be to swallow.

Emotiva has a good and generous in-home trial and in the review I do encourage people to take advantage of that and then decide for themselves. You'll certainly be hard-pressed to find a monoblock with those specs and sound quality in this price range. But in my book there's more to a total product than just the specs; and it's in that manufacturing aspect that I feel the XPA-1L has it's weakest link. I hammered on that point because I've seen other companies (SVS, MartinLogan, Classé) who have not had such Q/A variances in different lots.

I think we'd all agree that we love to root for companies that want to bring high end audio to an affordable range for people who love audio. It also provides us with an opportunity to introduce great audio to people without them having sticker shock and mortgage their homes.

In the meantime, beefs and all about the build, the XPA-1Ls continue to chug along in my setup.

Cheers all!

[tchaik]

Jul 6, 2015 12:16:03 GMT -5 pooraudiophile said:

Thanks all for your comments and feedback. I've always of the opinion that it's important and valuable to engage ourselves in a healthy dialogue. Hopefully, the fact that I chose to come here and make some direct posts speaks to the fact of the kind of audiophile I am. I think it's important for all of us to engage in a healthy dialogue about our hobby. The reality is our hobby is shrinking and we need to be able to promote and advocate for great audio. I'm very passionate about our collective hobby as I'm sure all of you are as well. Personally, I believe that everyone can experience great audio at a price point that they can afford.

I think it goes without saying that we all likewise need to give a nice nod to Emotiva who fosters a dialogue and community among it's owners and prospective buyers.

Let me touch upon a few themes here.

As any owner of audiophile gear, I think we'd all agree that we want to see and hear how it really performs. To have credibility, at least in my book, I would want to put budget and high value gear in some good, transparent systems. I'd argue that the Salon2s are among the best candidates for that. If the Emotiva XPA-1L's can drive Salon2s that's making a pretty big statement in the high end community. My understanding is that on one of the Emotiva road shows or at Emotiva's offices, Lonnie did just that to showcase what the folks at Emotiva felt was the sound quality of their gear. I think and stand by the judgement of doing the review in that manner. If you can drive a high end speaker with a litany of industry awards and accolades then you'd have every confidence that the amplifiers would be able to drive and control pretty much any speaker out there. I don't need to reiterate my feelings about the sonic performance. It's there in the review for all to read.

I haven't made any retractions of the article. I wanted to make sure that any incorrect statements made in this forum about the review (such as my review units arriving scratched, which I never stated or implied) were clarified. Otherwise, people would get the wrong impression that I got brand new units that were scratched.

My big and I think very valid beef is with what I comparatively see as the Q/A and build quality in the units I received. We reviewers get gear all the time. Some of it is early production and some of it is fairly mature in its production cycle. Sometimes (though not often) you'll even get review gear that was previously with another reviewer. In rare occasions, such as with the Benchmark AHB2, you'll get gear that's specifically labeled for promo/reviewers (http://www.pooraudiophile.com/2015/04/benchmark-ahb2-amplifier-thx-preview.html).

Of course, there can be some variation in production lots. With the units I had, I feel that the review is an accurate description. I've also had one of the Emotiva power strips go bad on me and it needed to be repaired. With my Mini-X a-100, one of the binding posts is significantly more snug than the rest to the point where I can't use one set of banana plugs on that particular binding post only (but those same banana plugs work fine on the three other binding posts). Go figure.

Certainly, there have been many customers who have had no problems—that's great. There have been others who have had even worse documented issues with their Emotiva gear too. There was a user just today who posted that his XPA-1L died after just 8 months of use and knocked Emotiva's customer service. That hasn't been my experience as my gear is running just fine and customer service was quite responsive to me and addressed my issues with my review set. Experience differs from user to user and reviewer to reviewer.

As Emotiva owners (of which I am one), deep down we would certainly want our gear to rank up there with the best. As I stated in the review, I do have concerns about Emotiva's Chinese-based manufacturing. I think there's enough of a variance from lot to lot based on what I saw and, as a reviewer, I do feel it's my responsibility to state that–as tough of a pill as that might be to swallow.

Emotiva has a good and generous in-home trial and in the review I do encourage people to take advantage of that and then decide for themselves. You'll certainly be hard-pressed to find a monoblock with those specs and sound quality in this price range. But in my book there's more to a total product than just the specs; and it's in that manufacturing aspect that I feel the XPA-1L has it's weakest link. I hammered on that point because I've seen other companies (SVS, MartinLogan, Classé) who have not had such Q/A variances in different lots.

I think we'd all agree that we love to root for companies that want to bring high end audio to an affordable range for people who love audio. It also provides us with an opportunity to introduce great audio to people without them having sticker shock and mortgage their homes.

In the meantime, beefs and all about the build, the XPA-1Ls continue to chug along in my setup.

Cheers all!

i don't agree with some of what you said …..BUT……….. i think you are a stand-up-guy who is trying to offer the best review you can and i appreciate reading your entries. keep on reviewing and i will keep reading even though with the long list of emotive products i have, i have never experienced some of the issues you and others have spoken of. for my experience…. sound quality-stellar, build quality-stellar, customer service-stellar. i can't say the same of some other 'very high end' companies i dealt with in the past.


tchaik……….

[pooraudiophile]

tchaik Big thumbs up to your post and thanks. I absolutely welcome and appreciate any constructive comments—even disagreements—on the review. After all, we're passionate audiophiles aren't we? Together, we're all in this to help promote the incredible—even indescribably joy—that only a great audio setup brings. When we can recommend and bring home quality gear that won't break the bank and will make audio come alive then we're all winners.

Sadly, especially with a younger, more mobile generation, they haven't had a chance to really experience what great-sounding audio is and how much of a difference it can make. Let's be real, those of us who relish the unique experience of a full-blown two channel or multichannel audio system are a slowly dying breed. I hope that all of us "poor audiophiles" can be real audiophile evangelists and mentors in helping both our peers and the younger generation experience and appreciate great sound. Whether it's slapping on a quality pair of cans or an entry-level bookshelf system, we owe it to the next generation to share the same audio joy that someone once shared with us.

Cheers all!

[garbulky]

I felt that you had given a very fair shake for the XPA-1 L. Though it doesn't mirror mine, I feel you were being sincere. What was your source and pre amp for the XPA-1 L's? I found that a dedicated (active) stereo pre-amp tends to help the dynamics out that you mentioned. Namely...the XSP-1

[pooraudiophile]

Jul 6, 2015 16:16:12 GMT -5 garbulky said:

I felt that you had given a very fair shake for the XPA-1 L. Though it doesn't mirror mine, I feel you were being sincere. What was your source and pre amp for the XPA-1 L's? I found that a dedicated (active) stereo pre-amp tends to help the dynamics out that you mentioned. Namely...the XSP-1

garbulky Thanks.  :-)  The XSP-1 looks like a very well thought out product.  I'm impressed with how Emotiva has thought through the unit functioning in both two channel and multichannel environments.  The attention to detail like having both MM and MC phono input options and independent L & R subwoofer or a summed sub port is brilliant.  However, I do wish that Emotiva had implemented Dirac for the XSP-1.  I've had very positive experiences with Dirac and quality room correction when used in its proper context can be a huge sonic asset—especially in the 250Hz and lower range.

I did use an active preamp.  The preamp used with XPA-1Ls was an Anthem AVM 50v 3D.  The AVM 50v is a superb preamp for both two channel and multichannel duty (though it's more expensive sibling the D2v is a bit better). I used only balanced cabling between the Anthem and the XPA-1Ls.  I used a variety of sources with the XPA-1Ls.  

Among the various sources was an Oppo BDP-83, which served as a source for Blu-ray discs and CDs.  For CD play, I have both an analog feed and an HDMI feed coming from the Oppo to the Anthem.  AppleTV Gen 2 and then Gen 3 served for streaming sources like Netflix, etc.  Music was served from my MacMini music server, where my collection of 16/44 and also high-res 24/96 and 24/192 files are stored.  The AVM 50v's internal DAC was used for decoding digital files.  

[tchaik]

Jul 6, 2015 16:13:11 GMT -5 pooraudiophile said:

tchaik Big thumbs up to your post and thanks. I absolutely welcome and appreciate any constructive comments—even disagreements—on the review. After all, we're passionate audiophiles aren't we? Together, we're all in this to help promote the incredible—even indescribably joy—that only a great audio setup brings. When we can recommend and bring home quality gear that won't break the bank and will make audio come alive then we're all winners.

Sadly, especially with a younger, more mobile generation, they haven't had a chance to really experience what great-sounding audio is and how much of a difference it can make. Let's be real, those of us who relish the unique experience of a full-blown two channel or multichannel audio system are a slowly dying breed. I hope that all of us "poor audiophiles" can be real audiophile evangelists and mentors in helping both our peers and the younger generation experience and appreciate great sound. Whether it's slapping on a quality pair of cans or an entry-level bookshelf system, we owe it to the next generation to share the same audio joy that someone once shared with us.

Cheers all!

i teach at a local community college where i have set up in my class rooms and office high quality sound systems which many students are very surprised to hear how good they sound,,,,, especially those who have listened only to earbuds. i even have some emo equipment in the mix. it has been my experience that out of every class of 25, i will have 1 or 2 serious audiophiles trying to live the dream on a student's budget. or… for my music majors…. some will be trying to outfit their recording studio with equipment that gives the most bang for the buck as possible. those i have cited are thrilled when they are directed to the emotiva site and can't believe they can get that much performance for such a low price. so….the young audiophiles are out there waiting to finish college, get a job, and start spending their discretionary dollars on the hobby we all love so much. give them time……


tchaik…………..

[novisnick]

Jul 6, 2015 20:04:47 GMT -5 tchaik said:

Jul 6, 2015 16:13:11 GMT -5 pooraudiophile said:

tchaik Big thumbs up to your post and thanks. I absolutely welcome and appreciate any constructive comments—even disagreements—on the review. After all, we're passionate audiophiles aren't we? Together, we're all in this to help promote the incredible—even indescribably joy—that only a great audio setup brings. When we can recommend and bring home quality gear that won't break the bank and will make audio come alive then we're all winners.

Sadly, especially with a younger, more mobile generation, they haven't had a chance to really experience what great-sounding audio is and how much of a difference it can make. Let's be real, those of us who relish the unique experience of a full-blown two channel or multichannel audio system are a slowly dying breed. I hope that all of us "poor audiophiles" can be real audiophile evangelists and mentors in helping both our peers and the younger generation experience and appreciate great sound. Whether it's slapping on a quality pair of cans or an entry-level bookshelf system, we owe it to the next generation to share the same audio joy that someone once shared with us.

Cheers all!

i teach at a local community college where i have set up in my class rooms and office high quality sound systems which many students are very surprised to hear how good they sound,,,,, especially those who have listened only to earbuds. i even have some emo equipment in the mix. it has been my experience that out of every class of 25, i will have 1 or 2 serious audiophiles trying to live the dream on a student's budget. or… for my music majors…. some will be trying to outfit their recording studio with equipment that gives the most bang for the buck as possible. those i have cited are thrilled when they are directed to the emotive site and can't believe they can get that much performance for such a low price. so….the young audiophiles are out there waiting to finish college, get a job, and start spending their discretionary dollars on the hobby we all love so much. give them time……


tchaik…………..

Sing it on the highest mountain brother!! Tell it both near and far!!! Spread the word   music!!

[deltadube]

Jul 6, 2015 16:16:12 GMT -5 garbulky said:

I felt that you had given a very fair shake for the XPA-1 L. Though it doesn't mirror mine, I feel you were being sincere. What was your source and pre amp for the XPA-1 L's? I found that a dedicated (active) stereo pre-amp tends to help the dynamics out that you mentioned. Namely...the XSP-1

you got to love the sound of that xsp1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[milt99]

I think one of the limitations of Poor Audiophile is that he only has one pair of speakers to judge with.
That likely the same as most of us but in all seriousness, I would not buy a pair of XPA-1Ls if I owned Salon2s.
That being said I own Studio2s and drive them with a pair of XPA-1Ls.
My system is somewhat similar to his in that I use and Anthem D2 as a pre-amp and an Oppo-105 as a source.
What may have been more useful instead of measuring temperature difference between Class A & A/B mode would have been to measure amperage draw between the 2 modes.
I did that when I bought the amps to confirm to myself what the difference was because after all that's part of what you/re paying for in a pure Class A design.
For some time I've wanted to buy another pair of 1Ls and bi-amp my Studios as the most cost effective way to power them up a bit necessary or not.
As far as the Ayre vs Emotiva, basically you're talking about an amp that is 5 times the price of the Emos.
And simple watts per channel is only a part of the equation.
I like Ayre gear a lot but I'm just not going to spend that kind of coin when the price\performance ratio is so skewed in favor of what I have now.

[gzubeck]

Consider the speakers and source material....I'm currently running some 88db sensitive speakers I built using quality mid priced drivers and a mini x amplifier I bought for $135 on sale. Instead of paying more for amplification increase your speaker sensitivity. I figure once you get to 90db+ all you would need is a mini x because you wouldn't be stressing the amp out at all and blow yourself out for cheap. I bet with my $600 setup I would put to shame systems costing ten times more for two channel audio. Also I'm using a parts express $30 dbd decoder for two channel audio.scary how good and cheap you can go. Audio quality is not dying out but $10,000 solutions are...
Yours sincerely cheapass poor audiophile ;-)