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Post by saru on Oct 23, 2015 8:28:55 GMT -5
Hi all! In the pursuit of building up my fledgling home theater, I've come across the Emotiva brand and have spent the past week or so soaking in all the info I can from this forum... so, thank you all for your useful opinions and expertise! The holiday sale is upon us, and it's pushing me ever-so-close to the edge of buying some amps -- likely the XPA-5 and XPA-2, though it's really tempting to swap out the XPA-2 for a pair of XPA-1Ls while they are still in stock. Anyway, I'm glad to be here, and I hope to join the Emotiva Owner's Club sooner than later!  |
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Post by geebo on Oct 23, 2015 8:35:16 GMT -5
Hi all! In the pursuit of building up my fledgling home theater, I've come across the Emotiva brand and have spent the past week or so soaking in all the info I can from this forum... so, thank you all for your useful opinions and expertise! The holiday sale is upon us, and it's pushing me ever-so-close to the edge of buying some amps -- likely the XPA-5 and XPA-2, though it's really tempting to swap out the XPA-2 for a pair of XPA-1Ls while they are still in stock. Anyway, I'm glad to be here, and I hope to join the Emotiva Owner's Club sooner than later! All good choices there. I have or have had all of those. |
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bootman
Emo VIPs 
Typing useless posts on internet forums....
Posts: 9,358
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Post by bootman on Oct 23, 2015 8:36:31 GMT -5
Welcome!
The XPAs are a great choice and will do nicely.
If you are thinking of XPA-1Ls the first question I would ask is "What is your current speaker and room setup?"
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Post by simpleman68 on Oct 23, 2015 8:42:33 GMT -5
Welcome aboard Saru!
Some good folks hanging around these parts that'll be glad to help you if you ever get stuck or need advice on equipment, placement etc.
Scott
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Post by ÈlTwo on Oct 23, 2015 8:44:30 GMT -5
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Post by saru on Oct 23, 2015 8:56:07 GMT -5
Welcome! The XPAs are a great choice and will do nicely. If you are thinking of XPA-1Ls the first question I would ask is "What is your current speaker and room setup?" My theater space is a small-ish basement area, about 12'-x-15' (I should really measure that sometime...). My fronts are MartinLogan Motion 60XT's, center is a ML Motion 8 (upgrading to the matched 50XT in near future), surrounds are Motion 4 bookshelves (upgrading to Motion FX and then moving the 4's to surround rears), subwoofer is a ML Dynamo 700w. Currently I'm running my system with a Denon x3100w receiver, which is competent enough but I suspect I could get improved performance out of my speakers with separate amps... and then my research on quality-plus-value amps led me here! The primary purpose is for movies and gaming, but I also want my system to perform well for 2ch audio. |
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Post by novisnick on Oct 23, 2015 9:13:46 GMT -5
Saru,
welcome!
I see that you have met some of the welcome committee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,it is time!!
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,you must now decide,,,,,,,,,the Blue pill to audio adventure and enlightenment, or the Red pill, goodness knows what happens if you take that one,,,,,,,,no one here has ever done so!!!
You choose wisely,,,,,,, now drink up!
Welcome!
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Post by creimes on Oct 23, 2015 10:23:34 GMT -5
Welcome! The XPAs are a great choice and will do nicely. If you are thinking of XPA-1Ls the first question I would ask is "What is your current speaker and room setup?" My theater space is a small-ish basement area, about 12'-x-15' (I should really measure that sometime...). My fronts are MartinLogan Motion 60XT's, center is a ML Motion 8 (upgrading to the matched 50XT in near future), surrounds are Motion 4 bookshelves (upgrading to Motion FX and then moving the 4's to surround rears), subwoofer is a ML Dynamo 700w. Currently I'm running my system with a Denon x3100w receiver, which is competent enough but I suspect I could get improved performance out of my speakers with separate amps... and then my research on quality-plus-value amps led me here! The primary purpose is for movies and gaming, but I also want my system to perform well for 2ch audio. Don't forget about the badass XPA-7 it's a better deal than an XPA-5 and XPA-2 |
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Post by mshump on Oct 23, 2015 10:44:10 GMT -5
Welcome to the lounge !!
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Post by deltadube on Oct 23, 2015 11:13:42 GMT -5
Hi all! In the pursuit of building up my fledgling home theater, I've come across the Emotiva brand and have spent the past week or so soaking in all the info I can from this forum... so, thank you all for your useful opinions and expertise! The holiday sale is upon us, and it's pushing me ever-so-close to the edge of buying some amps -- likely the XPA-5 and XPA-2, though it's really tempting to swap out the XPA-2 for a pair of XPA-1Ls while they are still in stock. Anyway, I'm glad to be here, and I hope to join the Emotiva Owner's Club sooner than later! hey welcome to the lounge.. join the mono block society.. any combo will blow your socks off.. cheers |
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bootman
Emo VIPs
Typing useless posts on internet forums....
Posts: 9,358
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Post by bootman on Oct 23, 2015 12:25:03 GMT -5
Welcome! The XPAs are a great choice and will do nicely. If you are thinking of XPA-1Ls the first question I would ask is "What is your current speaker and room setup?" My theater space is a small-ish basement area, about 12'-x-15' (I should really measure that sometime...). My fronts are MartinLogan Motion 60XT's, center is a ML Motion 8 (upgrading to the matched 50XT in near future), surrounds are Motion 4 bookshelves (upgrading to Motion FX and then moving the 4's to surround rears), subwoofer is a ML Dynamo 700w. Currently I'm running my system with a Denon x3100w receiver, which is competent enough but I suspect I could get improved performance out of my speakers with separate amps... and then my research on quality-plus-value amps led me here! The primary purpose is for movies and gaming, but I also want my system to perform well for 2ch audio. Are there times you feel like you are running out of power? If so I would worry about the fronts first then another sub. Also look start doing some research into room treatments. They will actually make the biggest difference sound wise. |
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Post by cheapthryl on Oct 23, 2015 12:43:55 GMT -5
Xpa1L's are a very nice design. Pretty good price on them right now. Don't think you will ever get them new at this low again. (providing they bring them back). My system consist of a pair of XPA1L's and XPA5. Very capable combo. By the way, WELCOME.
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Post by novisnick on Oct 23, 2015 13:04:03 GMT -5
Xpa1L's are a very nice design. Pretty good price on them right now. Don't think you will ever get them new at this low again. (providing they bring them back). My system consist of a pair of XPA1L's and XPA5. Very capable combo. By the way, WELCOME. |
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Post by cwmcobra on Oct 23, 2015 17:14:51 GMT -5
Welcome Saru!
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Post by garbulky on Oct 23, 2015 17:18:43 GMT -5
You already have an XPA-2 which is a darn nice performer. Look in to an XSP-1. This way you can get in to two channel later on with a 2 channel DAC upgarde and still hold on to your reciever. But an XPA-1 L will get you in to fully balanced class A audio which you can take advantage if you ever upgrade your reciever to say an XMC-1.
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Post by saru on Oct 23, 2015 20:24:40 GMT -5
You already have an XPA-2 which is a darn nice performer. Look in to an XSP-1. This way you can get in to two channel later on with a 2 channel DAC upgarde and still hold on to your reciever. But an XPA-1 L will get you in to fully balanced class A audio which you can take advantage if you ever upgrade your reciever to say an XMC-1. Oh, I think I wasn't clear... I meant to say that I was considering buying the XPA-1Ls instead of buying the XPA-2, not that I already had the XPA-2 . But now you have me looking at the XSP-1, and I'm trying to figure out how that'd fit in my setup and what it's role would be (yes, my audio newbie-ness is showing). So this unit would handle processing from stereo sources such as a CD player or a DAC, then run that signal out to my receiver's stereo RCA inputs and get passed-through the pre-outs to my (eventual) amps without getting processed by my receiver... is that right? |
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Post by creimes on Oct 23, 2015 20:38:28 GMT -5
You already have an XPA-2 which is a darn nice performer. Look in to an XSP-1. This way you can get in to two channel later on with a 2 channel DAC upgarde and still hold on to your reciever. But an XPA-1 L will get you in to fully balanced class A audio which you can take advantage if you ever upgrade your reciever to say an XMC-1. Oh, I think I wasn't clear... I meant to say that I was considering buying the XPA-1Ls instead of buying the XPA-2, not that I already had the XPA-2 . But now you have me looking at the XSP-1, and I'm trying to figure out how that'd fit in my setup and what it's role would be (yes, my audio newbie-ness is showing). So this unit would handle processing from stereo sources such as a CD player or a DAC, then run that signal out to my receiver's stereo RCA inputs and get passed-through the pre-outs to my (eventual) amps without getting processed by my receiver... is that right? XSP-1 would go after the receiver, you would connect the left and right preouts of the receiver to the HT Bypass inputs on the XSP-1, that way any of your 2 channel sources like CD Players and\or DAC's connect to the XSP-1 inputs and play only through the XSP-1 for best 2ch performance and SQ. Chad |
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Post by saru on Oct 23, 2015 20:49:03 GMT -5
Are there times you feel like you are running out of power? If so I would worry about the fronts first then another sub. Also look start doing some research into room treatments. They will actually make the biggest difference sound wise. Though I don't think I've pushed my receiver to its limit yet, I am concerned about its ability to drive my fronts properly. According to Denon, the x3100w puts out up to 215wpc under a 4ohm load, and the 60XTs are rated for 20-400 watts, so I'm afraid that those speakers may be asking for more than what the Denon can muster. Naturally, I bought this AVR model last year thinking that I was going to get the Motion 40s, but when time came to buy them a couple months ago I wanted to upgrade.... Funny that you mention room treatments, just the other day I started looking into this. I've got flat walls, flat ceiling, and tile flooring, so there's plenty of need for bass traps and acoustic panels... plus I have to put together a pair of plugs for the basement well windows, since I'm leaking sound to the outside under moderate volumes. |
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Post by creimes on Oct 23, 2015 21:00:15 GMT -5
Room treatments make such an improvement |
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Post by saru on Oct 23, 2015 21:01:59 GMT -5
XSP-1 would go after the receiver, you would connect the left and right preouts of the receiver to the HT Bypass inputs on the XSP-1, that way any of your 2 channel sources like CD Players and\or DAC's connect to the XSP-1 inputs and play only through the XSP-1 for best 2ch performance and SQ. Chad Okay, that makes sense. So currently, my 2ch sources are pretty much just my media server (housing my library of 16-bit FLAC rips and played directly by the Denon) and streaming services (Apple Music and such) from my iPhone via Bluetooth. If I were to employ an XSP-1, I'd have to get a DAC that could take in those sources since the Denon would no longer be doing it, correct? That brings me to the Oppo 105/105D, which I've been eyeing for a while for its lauded audio capabilities. How would it compare to the XSP-1 in regards to 2ch performance and SQ? |
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