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Post by nickwin on Oct 23, 2017 8:42:57 GMT -5
Ive been really curious about the XPR amps since they were first released. I read some of the early "previews" and reviews but I haven't heard much about them since. Im just curious to hear from XPR owners about what they like about them and whats not so hot. Does anyone know why they where discontinued so quickly?
How is the reliability? Ive noticed that a few of the ones I have seen come up on the used market have problems with the front LEDs, is that common with these? Any other common issues?
How do they sound? Has anyone noticed a difference in SQ compared to other Emotiva amps? I own an XPA5 gen 1 and a XPA1 gen 2 and Im most interested in the XPR5. Very curious how these compare In terms of sound and real world power.
Anything else I should know about these?
Thanks!
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Post by simpleman68 on Oct 23, 2017 9:08:48 GMT -5
I go through a fair amount of equipment in both my 2 ch and theater rigs but my XPR amps are ones I'm keeping for the long haul.
Pros:
Excellent sound quality
Very clean
Gobs of power
Very attractive looking
Cons:
Heavy as Hades
Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears.
They sound phenomenal with my Polks, JTRs and several of the Paradigm speakers I've driven with them.
I'm a big proponent of combo, particularly when it comes to amp/speaker matching.
In terms of any issues, mine have run flawlessly except for my XPR 2 having one small glitch. The auto power switching module defaults to 230 and takes
several attempts of turning on before it switches to, and stays on the proper 115 setting.
It's minor enough I've never bothered to get it fixed but it's the only issue I've ever had with these outstanding amps.
Scott
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Post by nickwin on Oct 23, 2017 9:24:26 GMT -5
I go through a fair amount of equipment in both my 2 ch and theater rigs but my XPR amps are ones I'm keeping for the long haul. Pros: Excellent sound quality Very clean Gobs of power Very attractive looking Cons: Heavy as Hades Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears. They sound phenomenal with my Polks, JTRs and several of the Paradigm speakers I've driven with them. I'm a big proponent of combo, particularly when it comes to amp/speaker matching. In terms of any issues, mine have run flawlessly except for my XPR 2 having one small glitch. The auto power switching module defaults to 230 and takes several attempts of turning on before it switches to, and stays on the proper 115 setting. It's minor enough I've never bothered to get it fixed but it's the only issue I've ever had with these outstanding amps. Scott Interesting thanks for the feedback! "Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears." This is particulary interesting to me because I was thinking about using one of these in an all Magnepan HT which are pretty much all of the above. I would say with Dirac they are not overly bright or forward but they are still the most revealing speakers I've encountered. What speakers did you use to come to this conclusion? Nick |
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Post by simpleman68 on Oct 23, 2017 10:01:07 GMT -5
I go through a fair amount of equipment in both my 2 ch and theater rigs but my XPR amps are ones I'm keeping for the long haul. Pros: Excellent sound quality Very clean Gobs of power Very attractive looking Cons: Heavy as Hades Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears. They sound phenomenal with my Polks, JTRs and several of the Paradigm speakers I've driven with them. I'm a big proponent of combo, particularly when it comes to amp/speaker matching. In terms of any issues, mine have run flawlessly except for my XPR 2 having one small glitch. The auto power switching module defaults to 230 and takes several attempts of turning on before it switches to, and stays on the proper 115 setting. It's minor enough I've never bothered to get it fixed but it's the only issue I've ever had with these outstanding amps. Scott Interesting thanks for the feedback! "Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears." This is particularly interesting to me because I was thinking about using one of these in an all Magnepan HT which are pretty much all of the above. I would say with Dirac they are not overly bright or forward but they are still the most revealing speakers I've encountered. What speakers did you use to come to this conclusion? Nick I've heard Maggies but they were driven by BAT tube amps, not XPRs. No way to know without hearing them together but I think they could be a good match. I say that because the Maggies didn't appear overly bright to me at all. Strong in the mids yes but not harsh or tinny at all. Metal dome tweets/super tweets are the ones I'd worry about. I have run the XPRs on Polk RTi A9s, Paradigm Studio 100 V5s, Paradigm Titans (bookshelf sized) and my Legacy Whisper XDS. If you are anywhere near me, you are certainly welcome to lug one of my amps over for an audition. Probably a long shot but it's the only way to hear them on your speakers and in your room, which is everything. I'm at the PA/NJ border and hour from NYC and Philly. Scott |
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geebo
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Post by geebo on Oct 23, 2017 10:16:37 GMT -5
Interesting thanks for the feedback! "Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears." This is particularly interesting to me because I was thinking about using one of these in an all Magnepan HT which are pretty much all of the above. I would say with Dirac they are not overly bright or forward but they are still the most revealing speakers I've encountered. What speakers did you use to come to this conclusion? Nick I've heard Maggies but they were driven by BAT tube amps, not XPRs. No way to know without hearing them together but I think they could be a good match. I say that because the Maggies didn't appear overly bright to me at all. Strong in the mids yes but not harsh or tinny at all. Metal dome tweets/super tweets are the ones I'd worry about. I have run the XPRs on Polk RTi A9s, Paradigm Studio 100 V5s, Paradigm Titans (bookshelf sized) and my Legacy Whisper XDS. If you are anywhere near me, you are certainly welcome to lug one of my amps over for an audition. Probably a long shot but it's the only way to hear them on your speakers and in your room, which is everything. I'm at the PA/NJ border and hour from NYC and Philly. Scott Now that's a generous offer! |
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Post by nickwin on Oct 23, 2017 10:23:51 GMT -5
Interesting thanks for the feedback! "Don't match well with some speakers that are very revealing or tend to be bright/forward. Again, this is just my opinion/ears." This is particularly interesting to me because I was thinking about using one of these in an all Magnepan HT which are pretty much all of the above. I would say with Dirac they are not overly bright or forward but they are still the most revealing speakers I've encountered. What speakers did you use to come to this conclusion? Nick I've heard Maggies but they were driven by BAT tube amps, not XPRs. No way to know without hearing them together but I think they could be a good match. I say that because the Maggies didn't appear overly bright to me at all. Strong in the mids yes but not harsh or tinny at all. Metal dome tweets/super tweets are the ones I'd worry about. I have run the XPRs on Polk RTi A9s, Paradigm Studio 100 V5s, Paradigm Titans (bookshelf sized) and my Legacy Whisper XDS. If you are anywhere near me, you are certainly welcome to lug one of my amps over for an audition. Probably a long shot but it's the only way to hear them on your speakers and in your room, which is everything. I'm at the PA/NJ border and hour from NYC and Philly. Scott Thats extremely generous, Im in MI so I probably won't be able to take you up on it but I really appreciate the offer. Are you familiar with the XPA amps? If so do you notice any difference in sound between the XPRs and XPAs? |
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Post by brutiarti on Oct 23, 2017 11:16:37 GMT -5
I currently have the XPR-1's. I also had the xpa-2 and the xpr-2 from emotiva. The main difference to my ears, i found the xpr line more laid back than the xpa. The xpa-2 is a fantastic value, really agile and dynamic.
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Post by tchaik on Oct 23, 2017 11:47:04 GMT -5
the reason they were discontinued according to both dan and lonnie is their weight. because of their 100 pounds +, there were an inordinate amount of shipping problems/damages that made them too costly (and frustrating) a product for both the consumer and emotiva. i have the XPR-2 and XPR-5. Whats to like? everything. What's not to like? their weight. they are really tough to move in and out of cabinets. as for the sound... i have never been able to push them to clipping. SO MUCH CLEAN, TRANSPARENT POWER!
tchaik.........................
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Post by audiophill on Oct 23, 2017 12:11:33 GMT -5
I love everything about my XPR-1's. I also had a XPR-5 but I sold it. The mono blocks sounded better and I could not get rid of a slight hum coming from the XPR-5.
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novisnick
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CEO Secret Monoblock Society
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Post by novisnick on Oct 23, 2017 12:24:22 GMT -5
Yep, they’re heavy Period! I made my purchase, plced them and Thank God, never had to move them.
No downside as a SS amp. It wount add coloration IMO, has goobs and goobs of dynamic headroom! Limitless power from either 15 or 20 amp breakers. Stylish? You bet! 😁
Personally I think the preform more easily and better then any othere SS amp Ive ever heard, and that includes most every Emotiva Monoblock.
No, Im not selling the big dogs. Only if I desperately need the money.
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Post by nickwin on Oct 23, 2017 12:33:14 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback! I have to say they seem pretty awesome.
But, of the 6 people that commented 2 had reliability issues in some form or another. That’s 33%, which is not particularly good. I wonder if that is representative of these or just bad luck in a small sample group?
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novisnick
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Post by novisnick on Oct 23, 2017 13:48:30 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback! I have to say they seem pretty awesome. But, of the 6 people that commented 2 had reliability issues in some form or another. That’s 33%, which is not particularly good. I wonder if that is representative of these or just bad luck in a small sample group? Small sampling isn’t good. These are folks that choose to share or have seen your post. Look how these folks voted! 😋  |
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Post by thorcorps on Oct 23, 2017 14:13:47 GMT -5
I actually had the same problem (or at least somewhat similar) that Scott mentioned on both of my XPR-1's.
After almost 4 years of ownership, one started doing it and wouldn't come off of standby. Emotiva replaced a few small caps on the 5V power supply to resolve the issue. After almost 4 1/2 years of ownership, my other XPR-1 started acting up in the same way - switches to 230V when you try to bring it off of standby. It's been patiently sitting here for 4 months while I've been busy with other things.
I suppose the easiest thing to do is give Emotiva a quick call and see if the easiest fix is just to switch to 230V input. Seeing as I'm the one that ran the (2) dedicated 20-amp circuits in the first place, it would only take about 10 minutes to switch the voltage (after a trip to HD for a new breaker). Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm..............
Edit: Well, I talked to the guys in support, and they're unfortunately being risk averse, and would rather I not try that........so it needs to go back to TN.
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Post by nickwin on Oct 23, 2017 14:39:58 GMT -5
Now a sample size of 7 with with 42% failure rate. Doesn’t this seems high for Emotiva standards? So far all the issues seem minor other than the hum audiophill experienced.
The flip side of course is you have to spend 3-4 times as much to get similar specs from any other company and that’s totally out of my budget.
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Post by teaman on Oct 23, 2017 15:33:47 GMT -5
Now a sample size of 7 with with 42% failure rate. Doesn’t this seems high for Emotiva standards? So far all the issues seem minor other than the hum audiophill experienced. The flip side of course is you have to spend 3-4 times as much to get similar specs from any other company and that’s totally out of my budget. I would like to see how many of the new Gen 3 amps are having problems. I have seen at least five in the last few months on Ebay being sold as-is due to defects. |
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novisnick
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Post by novisnick on Oct 23, 2017 15:46:35 GMT -5
Now a sample size of 7 with with 42% failure rate. Doesn’t this seems high for Emotiva standards? So far all the issues seem minor other than the hum audiophill experienced. The flip side of course is you have to spend 3-4 times as much to get similar specs from any other company and that’s totally out of my budget. I would like to see how many of the new Gen 3 amps are having problems. I have seen at least five in the last few months on Ebay being sold as-is due to defects. Something just doesn’t sound right teaman ! Don’t these amps come with a rather good warranty? Why wouldn’t they send the unit back and maximize their return? Repair would be free if they didnt foobar the amp! Sounds a little fishy to me.  |
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Post by lehighvalleyjeff on Oct 23, 2017 16:37:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback! I have to say they seem pretty awesome. But, of the 6 people that commented 2 had reliability issues in some form or another. That’s 33%, which is not particularly good. I wonder if that is representative of these or just bad luck in a small sample group? I owned two XPR-1’s until this past Saturday when I sold them. They operated flawlessly. I was paid well for them. |
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Post by Lsc on Oct 23, 2017 17:25:39 GMT -5
I have the XPR-2 and XPR-5. They have been flawless in sound and operation.
The XPR-2 sounds a little bit better (more airy vs CPR-5 that sounds a little flat in a direct comparison). The XPR-5 is still amazing in its own right though.
I’d buy em up if you have the chance. No way can Emotiva ever duplicate these offerings again since the labor cost in China has skyrocketed.
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Post by Kent on Oct 23, 2017 22:05:40 GMT -5
My XPR-1's have been flawless performers. They sound fantastic at both low and high volume and are dead quiet. Truly remarkable regardless of their cost which was a steal IMHO.
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Post by snafujg on Oct 23, 2017 22:28:12 GMT -5
I have an XPR-2 and XPR-5, both of which have had to go in for service. The 5 had an issue with one channel going into default and the 2 needed differential input transistors replaced. Each one cost me abou $100 to ship in. I used FedEx and never had any trouble with damage or anything like that. Even given the troubles I've had I would still recommend them if you can find them. You will never find a comparable amp for the money. Tons of headroom, SQ is excellent, and I love the looks. I run a pair of Focal Electra 1028s with beryllium tweeters. I will say if I listen at loud volumes for a long period of time I do get fatigued. When I say loud I'm talking about 10 - 12 on the XMC-1 volume. Probably way louder than most, but sometimes I like to crank it Up! That's why we all spend the money, right? I have a friend here in Chicago selling a pair of XPR-1s if your interested. He has them on the emporium here.
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