eiger
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Posts: 201
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Post by eiger on Mar 29, 2018 14:57:13 GMT -5
After 10 years of considering what it would be like to go into the world of blocks, I finally ended up doing it, and a killer used deal. My room: Dedicated, front and back row stadium, primarily for multich, and probably now alot more 2ch listening! Accompanying equipment: Vienna Beethoven Grands, XPA-5, Emo side/rear surrounds, Marantz 7012 AVR. 2x Elemental Design A7s 18" sealed subs still running strong. Here is my conundrum though - I think the amps "look" fantastic at the front of the room, but the equipment rack is in the back. That's a distance of about 25ft wall to wall. I do not have the luxury of XLR hookups at the moment, so I have two choices - 1) Try out a long RCA cable run to the back of the room/pre-amp. I know that RCA is susceptible to cross-talk etc, but am I doing a no-no here? Is it worth a try to see how it goes? 2) Suck it up, and just make room for the XPA-1s in the back and live with the fact they they won't be seen as a center piece. ;-) 3) Swap out the Marantz 7012 for another prepro with XLR Spendy option though, and not sure what the options even would be. At any rate, looking forward to getting these bad boys set up. I have no idea what to expect with my soundstage, but should be interesting to find out! Attachment DeletedAttachment Deleted |
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Post by novisnick on Mar 29, 2018 15:16:43 GMT -5
Funny you should bring this topic up. I personally think that, outside of the metered Emotiva amps, the XPR-1 Monoblocks are the cats meow of beautiful amps. For two channel they are just lovely to look at, BUT, for HT theycan be a distraction, even dimmed to their lowest level. So much so that just last night I turned off the blue glow to watch The Last Jedi. No glowing gear below the screen, no distractions. All that said, my speakers and monoblocks have less then two feet of cable between them. Ibelieve in short speaker cables, RCA to the amps should be fine. Keep them away from power cords. If you don’t pick up any noise on the line, don’t sweat it, if you do post your results. We are all here to help. Good luck and have FUN! Beautiful amps but I liked what I didn’t see while watching the movie  |
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Post by monkumonku on Mar 29, 2018 15:26:21 GMT -5
After 10 years of considering what it would be like to go into the world of blocks, I finally ended up doing it, and a killer used deal. My room: Dedicated, front and back row stadium, primarily for multich, and probably now alot more 2ch listening! Accompanying equipment: Vienna Beethoven Grands, XPA-5, Emo side/rear surrounds, Marantz 7012 AVR. 2x Elemental Design A7s 18" sealed subs still running strong. Here is my conundrum though - I think the amps "look" fantastic at the front of the room, but the equipment rack is in the back. That's a distance of about 25ft wall to wall. I do not have the luxury of XLR hookups at the moment, so I have two choices - 1) Try out a long RCA cable run to the back of the room/pre-amp. I know that RCA is susceptible to cross-talk etc, but am I doing a no-no here? Is it worth a try to see how it goes? 2) Suck it up, and just make room for the XPA-1s in the back and live with the fact they they won't be seen as a center piece. ;-) 3) Swap out the Marantz 7012 for another prepro with XLR Spendy option though, and not sure what the options even would be. At any rate, looking forward to getting these bad boys set up. I have no idea what to expect with my soundstage, but should be interesting to find out! View AttachmentView AttachmentMy two cents, quality of sound and functionality trumps showmanship. XPA-1's are great amps and a reason to be proud of your equipment but I think between showing it off versus sounding at its best, sound is more important. |
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eiger
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Posts: 201
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Post by eiger on Mar 29, 2018 15:34:48 GMT -5
Agreed, in a perfect world we have BOTH.
Would you go as far to say that I am introducing noticeable degradation and SQ with the proposed RCA run, or is that impossible to say until hooked up?
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 10,261
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Post by KeithL on Mar 29, 2018 15:53:46 GMT -5
With modern equipment there shouldn't be a problem with using RCA cables. Balanced cables have better immunity to picking up noise, which is why they're a better choice for long runs like this (if you have the choice). However, in most installations, it really won't make much difference. (If there is a problem, it would probably be obvious; for example you would hear low level background hum; as long as you hear no obvious noise issues, then don't worry about it.) Agreed, in a perfect world we have BOTH. Would you go as far to say that I am introducing noticeable degradation and SQ with the proposed RCA run, or is that impossible to say until hooked up? |
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Post by bluemeanies on Mar 29, 2018 16:16:46 GMT -5
After 10 years of considering what it would be like to go into the world of blocks, I finally ended up doing it, and a killer used deal. My room: Dedicated, front and back row stadium, primarily for multich, and probably now alot more 2ch listening! Accompanying equipment: Vienna Beethoven Grands, XPA-5, Emo side/rear surrounds, Marantz 7012 AVR. 2x Elemental Design A7s 18" sealed subs still running strong. Here is my conundrum though - I think the amps "look" fantastic at the front of the room, but the equipment rack is in the back. That's a distance of about 25ft wall to wall. I do not have the luxury of XLR hookups at the moment, so I have two choices - 1) Try out a long RCA cable run to the back of the room/pre-amp. I know that RCA is susceptible to cross-talk etc, but am I doing a no-no here? Is it worth a try to see how it goes? 2) Suck it up, and just make room for the XPA-1s in the back and live with the fact they they won't be seen as a center piece. ;-) 3) Swap out the Marantz 7012 for another prepro with XLR Spendy option though, and not sure what the options even would be. At any rate, looking forward to getting these bad boys set up. I have no idea what to expect with my soundstage, but should be interesting to find out! View AttachmentView AttachmentI think you can have the best of both worlds. RCA cables running to my projector are 35' long BJC. Never a problem. Check out BJC, well built with welded ends and reasonably priced. |
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Post by garbulky on Mar 29, 2018 16:50:07 GMT -5
I think you can make do with RCA. But suck it up and buy a set of XLR's! That's what the amp is made for!  Whether they make a difference or not XLR's just add that icing on the cake. Ten bucks! Can't beat that. www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=4754 |
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Post by novisnick on Mar 29, 2018 17:05:58 GMT -5
I think you can make do with RCA. But suck it up and buy a set of XLR's! That's what the amp is made for! Whether they make a difference or not XLR's just add that icing on the cake. Ten bucks! Can't beat that. www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=4754I did not see XLR’s on the back of his AVR, did I look up the wrong model? |
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Post by davidl81 on Mar 29, 2018 17:34:13 GMT -5
I think you can make do with RCA. But suck it up and buy a set of XLR's! That's what the amp is made for! Whether they make a difference or not XLR's just add that icing on the cake. Ten bucks! Can't beat that. www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=4754I did not see XLR’s on the back of his AVR, did I look up the wrong model? Correct, no XLRs on the Marantz 7012. He would need to go with the 8002, 8005 pre-pro. So give or take 3k extra in cost. IMO I would try the RCAs for now, then maybe look at the XMC-1 Gen 3 or RMC-1 once they are out. |
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Post by novisnick on Mar 29, 2018 17:38:13 GMT -5
I did not see XLR’s on the back of his AVR, did I look up the wrong model? Correct, no XLRs on the Marantz 7012. He would need to go with the 8002, 8005 pre-pro. So give or take 3k extra in cost. IMO I would try the RCAs for now, then maybe look at the XMC-1 Gen 3 or RMC-1 once they are out. I really don’t think he’ll have a problem wth RCA’s at all. Buy a XMC-1 anyway! |
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Post by monkumonku on Mar 29, 2018 17:42:51 GMT -5
Agreed, in a perfect world we have BOTH. Would you go as far to say that I am introducing noticeable degradation and SQ with the proposed RCA run, or is that impossible to say until hooked up? Might as well try RCA and see how it sounds. That's a whole lot cheaper than buying a new pre/pro! And if the cables are too noisy or have a negative impact on the sound then I guess you'd have to decide if you want to put the XPA-1's in a less conspicuous place or buy a pre/pro that can accept XLR's. (By the way - there are hybrid XLR to RCA cables but those are the same as using RCA; they only have an XLR termination). |
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Post by highfihoney on Mar 29, 2018 18:44:29 GMT -5
Reading your initial post I missed the reason why your rack is at the rear of the room and not up front where you want to put the mono blocks ? I'm guessing the back of the room is where the power supply is at ? If that's the case and if it were me the cheapest option would be to run dual 20 amp outlets to the front wall of the room ,if your a DIY guy the cost of running dual 20's for the mono blocks and a single 15 for the rack is far south of $200 unless you have some kinda funky breaker box .
If that won't solve your problem then I'd be looking for a used pre/pro in the listings here or at Agon that has XLR for every in and out .
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Post by garbulky on Mar 29, 2018 18:55:20 GMT -5
Ah I didn't realize. Sorry. Yeah RCA's will be fine  Congrats on an amazing amp! |
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Post by vcautokid on Mar 30, 2018 2:55:44 GMT -5
Quality Shielded RCAs and lets hook it up and get this party started. Movies, music are waiting. If you decide on a Pre Pro with balanced, you are ready to go. Unless you are talking about a ridiculously long run, RCA will be fine like Keith said unless noise becomes an issue. Balanced because of its common noise cancellation feature is a favorite for those long runs to and from whatever. Studios have done that for years for their connections due to their long run needs and noise being a no can do.
So in summary, go with a good set of RCAs for now hook up and enjoy, and you can decide on a Pre Pro later. Though the XMC-1 is mighty good. Yes, personal bias there, but it is.
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eiger
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Posts: 201
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Post by eiger on Mar 30, 2018 9:56:58 GMT -5
Ah I didn't realize. Sorry. Yeah RCA's will be fine Congrats on an amazing amp! Thanks for the great replies everyone. Garbulk/all - What are your thoughts on bi-wiring the XPA1s? Part of me is like, meh, those terminals are pretty far apart, and definitely questionable in design how far they chose to put them apart. Should I bother? I see you bi-wired yours, what speaker cable are you using, and how did you terminate them at the amp? |
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Post by Boomzilla on Mar 30, 2018 10:46:18 GMT -5
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Post by garbulky on Mar 30, 2018 14:11:30 GMT -5
Ah I didn't realize. Sorry. Yeah RCA's will be fine Congrats on an amazing amp! Thanks for the great replies everyone. Garbulk/all - What are your thoughts on bi-wiring the XPA1s? Part of me is like, meh, those terminals are pretty far apart, and definitely questionable in design how far they chose to put them apart. Should I bother? I see you bi-wired yours, what speaker cable are you using, and how did you terminate them at the amp? I guess in a way I'm neutral. Biwiring the amp allows for double the thickness of wire to go from your amp to the speakers. And I like that. Now is that necessary? I don't know. Probably not. I biwire my amps because I can. I just use the thickest wire I can and bi wire it. My Axiom bi wire terminals are actually separated from each other which allows for active bi amping. Eventually I hope to do that if I can get another line of power in because right now my outlets are near max capacity. I think the reason the two are apart is that it's a balanced amp and the two modules are on either ends. All I do is pull the two wires and they come apart. I don't use any special wire. One set of wires has banana plugs the others are spades. I find the banana plugs are a bit easier to insert than spades which require more tightening. |
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eiger
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Posts: 201
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Post by eiger on Mar 31, 2018 17:15:48 GMT -5
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Post by novisnick on Mar 31, 2018 18:25:08 GMT -5
Theilled for you! Your room is so sweet! Clean lines and stylish! |
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eiger
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Posts: 201
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Post by eiger on Mar 31, 2018 18:36:25 GMT -5
Theilled for you! Your room is so sweet! Clean lines and stylish! Thank you for the compliment! It's gotten quite a few facelifts over the years, and I'm lucky my wife lets me do what see fit there. Will post a few others when I get the chance. Carpet is fairly new as well. |
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Congrats on an amazing amp! 
