XPA-DR3 to bright for Polk A9’s?

[ddj]

Any one have insight as to whether the DR3 would > the brightness to the already bright Polk A9’s. Former blogs refer to older Emotiva amps being bright, and the Gen 3 series being warmer. Have not seen any comments on the DR series.

[mshump]

What pre-amp are you running ?


Mark

[ddj]

Onkyo Rz820 (130w channel)

[mshump]

If your speakers play bright now to you with the Onkyo, adding an amp will not fix it. I know that from experience. I would work on speaker placement, some tone control, etc. and possible replacement of the receiver if needed. An Amp will only amplify whats fed to it.
Emotiva amps are very neutral IMO. My 2 channel system was very bright to the point of being fatiguing when listening to it. I tried everything from amps, cables, placement to no avail. I replaced the pre-amp and that cleared the brightness situation immediately.

My suggestion if your system is bright, troubleshoot first the buy later so you are not wasting money, and are happy with the end result.







Mark

[ddj]

Sounds like good advice!

[rbk123]

Definitely replace the Onkyo with a dedicated pre.

[garbulky]

I've used a whole lot of the Emotiva amps. The amps are not bright.

[Ex_Vintage]

I had some RTi-8's as my L/R and they were the first thing I replaced when upgrading my system. I know the RTi-8's are not the best of Polk speakers, but they were bright in the tweeter and dull in the midrange.

[pedrocols]

Emotiva amps are typically advertised as being "neutral"

[emofrmcgy]

Maybe try some room treatments to cut down on reflections. I know it made my room sound less “bright” or “forward”.

I’m found my gen1 xpa2 to be on the brighter side of the scale.
I also found the rtiA7 to be more forward than the a9. Same tweeter but I liked the 5.25” mids better.