bill58
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 6
|
Post by bill58 on May 23, 2017 11:06:56 GMT -5
Has anyone had any experience or thoughts on replacing an XPA-2 and XPA-5 1st gen for a gen 3 7 channel. My only reservation is that I can currently turn off one amp when I want to play vinyl. Other than that I will have one less piece of equipment. Thoughts please, thanks in advance. I had the two amps for sale but not sure at this point.
|
|
|
|
Post by mgbpuff on May 23, 2017 14:52:13 GMT -5
Nothing to be gained except space!
|
|
|
|
Post by leonski on Jun 5, 2017 13:27:44 GMT -5
And maybe a few less interconnects. Maybe neater wiring, too?
With more space MAY come the ability to run the gear cooler, which adds lifetime
|
|
|
|
Post by vcautokid on Jun 5, 2017 14:05:03 GMT -5
Frankly I think it is brilliant running a 7 channel gen 3. You might want Atmos later and another small 2 channel will get it done. Just a thought.
|
|
|
|
Post by Gary Cook on Jun 5, 2017 15:59:01 GMT -5
A few years ago I replaced an XPA-2 and an XPA-3 with an XPA-5 with reducing the rack height being the only reason. I have never felt that I lost anything for 2.1 stereo music listening by the swap, quality or quantity. With the XPA-5 making 275 watts with 2 channels driven hardly a step down from the 300 watts from the XPA-2. So if you are doing it for space reasons only it's a valid choice. I'm still using 3 channels of the XPA-5 in the 5.1 system, with the other 2 channels occasionally used for stereo on the verandah. Quite likely that one day I'll utilise the 2 channels for Atmos/DTSX in a 5.1.2 system.
Ultimately the answer is we can never have too many quality power amplifiers, they last a long time and never really go out of date. A good power amplifier today will be a good power amplifier for years, decades even. Take advantage of the space saving now and have some spare if/when needed. But if you are looking for a sound quality improvement then there are probably better choices. Like a pair of monoblocks for example.
Cheers
Gary
|
|
bill58
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 6
|
Post by bill58 on Jun 8, 2017 19:39:48 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback and helping me to make the right decision. I bought the 7 channel and it was well worth it, the first thing I played was Atom Heart Mother on vinyl, my benchmark for great sound in stereo and all 7 channels. I then played the blu-ray version of A New Hope and was very impressed. So to answer my own question do it. Time to listen to Echoes.
|
|
