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Post by mcalder on Dec 15, 2015 22:27:48 GMT -5
I have a pair of Magnepan 1.7's. I'm interested in the best sound, mainly for music. Should I get one XPR 2 or a pair of XPA 1's? Thanks for any advice.
Mike
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Post by novisnick on Dec 15, 2015 22:45:39 GMT -5
I have a pair of Magnepan 1.7's. I'm interested in the best sound, mainly for music. Should I get one XPR 2 or a pair of XPA 1's? Thanks for any advice. Mike  Ahummm!!! Can anybody say MONOBLOCKS!!!! Really my friend!!
Its Christmas,,,,,,,,,,,,,,believe!!!! 
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Post by vcautokid on Dec 15, 2015 22:56:18 GMT -5
All the virtues of the Monoblock. Isolation. No shared anything. No Cross Talk. The Holy Grail of Music Listening in Stereo. If you have gone Monoblock, you owe yourself a treat with the XPA-1 Amplifiers. Just allot of good stuff, and on sale never hurts the plan either. I like the XPR-2, but I will fight always for Mono Blocks.
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Post by repeetavx on Dec 15, 2015 23:15:39 GMT -5
The XPR-2 is an awesome amplifier, but it isn't fully balanced like the XPA-1. And of course, not a monoblock.
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Lsc
Emo VIPs 
Posts: 3,435
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Post by Lsc on Dec 15, 2015 23:35:40 GMT -5
I'll buck the trend and say go with the XPR-2. Cheap China labor days are over so get this overbuilt, amazing amp while you have a chance.
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Post by brutiarti on Dec 15, 2015 23:59:45 GMT -5
I cannot speak for the xpa-1 as i never tried it but maybe garbulky can chime in here. The xpr-2 is a fantatic amp and i think that will depend what source and the rest of your equipment so we can help you better. If you have forward sound the xpr-2 will smooth things out in a wonderful way |
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Post by ocezam on Dec 16, 2015 0:14:40 GMT -5
I'll buck the trend and say go with the XPR-2. Cheap China labor days are over so get this overbuilt, amazing amp while you have a chance. Yeah this. Except take it to the next level. Find a good set of XPR-1s somewhere. If Emotiva is out of this market. Affordable amps like this will NEVER be available again. If you want bigger and better than the XPR-1s you're gonna have to mortgage the house and get some pass labs X1000s or something equally out of reach. Between my Carver Raven 350s and my XPR-1s I doubt if I'll ever want another amp. Peace |
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Post by novisnick on Dec 16, 2015 0:20:27 GMT -5
I'll buck the trend and say go with the XPR-2. Cheap China labor days are over so get this overbuilt, amazing amp while you have a chance. Yeah this. Except take it to the next level. Find a good set of XPR-1s somewhere. If Emotiva is out of this market. Affordable amps like this will NEVER be available again. If you want bigger and better than the XPR-1s you're gonna have to mortgage the house and get some pass labs X1000s or something equally out of reach. Between my Carver Raven 350s and my XPR-1s I doubt if I'll ever want another amp. Peace You can have my XPR-1s  |
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Post by Axis on Dec 16, 2015 0:33:38 GMT -5
Yeah this. Except take it to the next level. Find a good set of XPR-1s somewhere. If Emotiva is out of this market. Affordable amps like this will NEVER be available again. If you want bigger and better than the XPR-1s you're gonna have to mortgage the house and get some pass labs X1000s or something equally out of reach. Between my Carver Raven 350s and my XPR-1s I doubt if I'll ever want another amp. Peace You can have my XPR-1s View AttachmentHow did I know this was coming. |
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Post by vcautokid on Dec 16, 2015 8:08:39 GMT -5
XPR-1s would be great but remember depending on your listening, and size of room, distance from the 1.7's, the XPA-1 amplifier could be all you need. No harm at all in the XPR-1 used somewhere, but you can get XPA-1 Monoblocks new with the full 5 year warranty. Something to think about here.
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Post by vneal on Dec 16, 2015 8:48:38 GMT -5
go mono amps
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Post by garbulky on Dec 16, 2015 9:06:40 GMT -5
The 1.7s can take quite a bit of juice. I've heard both. They are both very good amps. The XPR-2 has a nice laid back sound in the treble. It has a bit of 3 dimensional sound to insturments and stuff. It also has an effortless feel to things. The XPA-1 gen 2 is the amp I own and I would personally choose it over the XPR-2 by a decent margin. I felt the XPA-1 did better (though this was heard in a different room) at portraying 3 dimensional space especially the room and the performers within it and having a less laid back treble in a good way. I think that additional class A really helps. They both have very close to the same power. But it is a personal choice. If you like that slightly warmer (slightly) laid back treble sound the XPR-2 can give it to ya. You can read my review about it. emotivalounge.proboards.com/post/781528/thread |
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Post by copperpipe on Dec 16, 2015 9:56:50 GMT -5
I haven't heard the XPR's or the Crown XLS, so take what I say with a large grain of salt. But you guys shouldn't worry about the loss of the XPR. The Crown XLS series (2502) puts out 1500 watts bridged 8 ohms, more power there you will ever need. They were reviewed by several people that can't tell the difference b/n them and Emotiva amps, and Andrew Robinson (for example) highly recommends them.
With the advances in class D, more high quality power is in the future, not less.
Anyway, I would say go mono blocks (or bridge two 2-channels).
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Post by garbulky on Dec 16, 2015 10:27:35 GMT -5
I haven't heard the XPR's or the Crown XLS, so take what I say with a large grain of salt. But you guys shouldn't worry about the loss of the XPR. The Crown XLS series (2502) puts out 1500 watts bridged 8 ohms, more power there you will ever need. They were reviewed by several people that can't tell the difference b/n them and Emotiva amps, and Andrew Robinson (for example) highly recommends them. With the advances in class D, more high quality power is in the future, not less. Anyway, I would say go mono blocks (or bridge two 2-channels). I have heard the crown's and I take their massive power ratings as being rather interesting to put it politely. They sounded exactly like they looked when powering the axioms. Relatively cheap and weak. Decent sound for the price. The speakers sounded strained and shouty. They couldn't compete with even the UPA-2 in terms of great sound let alone the larger amps. I'm still confused by the love for these amps. |
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Post by brutiarti on Dec 16, 2015 10:50:25 GMT -5
I haven't heard the XPR's or the Crown XLS, so take what I say with a large grain of salt. But you guys shouldn't worry about the loss of the XPR. The Crown XLS series (2502) puts out 1500 watts bridged 8 ohms, more power there you will ever need. They were reviewed by several people that can't tell the difference b/n them and Emotiva amps, and Andrew Robinson (for example) highly recommends them. With the advances in class D, more high quality power is in the future, not less. Anyway, I would say go mono blocks (or bridge two 2-channels). I have heard the crown's and I take their massive power ratings as being rather interesting to put it politely. They sounded exactly like they looked when powering the axioms. Relatively cheap and weak. Decent sound for the price. The speakers sounded strained and shouty. They couldn't compete with even the UPA-2 in terms of great sound let alone the larger amps. I'm still confused by the love for these amps. I think that depends on what speakers are you running the amps with. For a cheap good sounding Pinnacle speakers i couldn't find any differences between the XPA-1L's and the XPR-1's. For the Dali's is a completely different story. |
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Post by copperpipe on Dec 16, 2015 10:54:45 GMT -5
Garbulky, no offense; but I'll trust Andrew's opinion over yours  Like I said though I haven't heard either the XPR or the Crowns, but my point was that the XPR is not the last word on high quality, high power amps. Either Emotiva will come out with a replacement or someone else will. Ncore's are also available, for example. I've also had some classdaudio.com amps in my setup a few years back, destroyed my little mini-x's in everything but the very high end at loud levels. Depending on what you were using as a preamp for the crowns, that may have also been a problem since they (like all pro-audio amps) require 1.4 volts for full gain. The new series allows you to set the sensitivity to 0.75 which should match most home theatre gear a little better. Anyway, lots of great reviews on the net for those crowns, definitely worth a look. |
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Post by audiobill on Dec 16, 2015 11:00:42 GMT -5
To the OP:
Not to complicate things, but I and others actually prefer the XPA-2 to the XPA1 with the Maggie 1.7's if you are forced to do solid state at all.
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Post by geebo on Dec 16, 2015 11:04:02 GMT -5
To the OP: Not to complicate things, but I and others actually prefer the XPA-2 to the XPA1 with the Maggie 1.7's if you are forced to do solid state at all. Forced to do solid state? That's a good one. |
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Post by audiobill on Dec 16, 2015 11:08:00 GMT -5
I meant forced by extremely high power requirements, heat and other than sonic issues.
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Post by ocezam on Dec 16, 2015 11:08:44 GMT -5
Garbulky, no offense; but I'll trust Andrew's opinion over yours Why? No offense to you or Andrew, but I don't believe I've agreed with anything Andrew has ever said. And I was reading his internet "reviews" long before his brief tenure with Emotiva. Garbulky on the other hand has earned my respect as a listener and reviewer. We've never met, and I don't agree with all his posts. We've even argued over a few on occasion. But Garbulky has a much better ear than Andrew in my opinion. Peace |
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Like I said though I haven't heard either the XPR or the Crowns, but my point was that the XPR is not the last word on high quality, high power amps. Either Emotiva will come out with a replacement or someone else will. Ncore's are also available, for example. I've also had some classdaudio.com amps in my setup a few years back, destroyed my little mini-x's in everything but the very high end at loud levels.
