88hht
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 5
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Post by 88hht on Jan 8, 2019 15:19:13 GMT -5
Hi.
Im from Australia and there arent any retailer that carry both amplifiers to listen to.
The xpa3 is $1900 AUD and DR3 is $3000
I currently have AVR Yamaha 3070 for 9.2.4 setup. LCR speakers are diy Jim Holtz Statement II .. its a dual 8in (80w rms 160 watt peak each). 2 mids(45w rms 90w peak each) and a ribbon (40w)
I have the BASX A300 for the fronts and i can immediately hear the difference...
I also have the crown xls 2502. But the top end wasnt as smooth as id like for critical listening. That is now driving my subs..
I'm 50/50 2ch and movies.. my audio is mainly flac files.
What would you suggest i should power the LCR?
Thanks
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Post by doc1963 on Jan 8, 2019 22:30:05 GMT -5
Hi. Im from Australia and there arent any retailer that carry both amplifiers to listen to. The xpa3 is $1900 AUD and DR3 is $3000 I currently have AVR Yamaha 3070 for 9.2.4 setup. LCR speakers are diy Jim Holtz Statement II .. its a dual 8in (80w rms 160 watt peak each). 2 mids(45w rms 90w peak each) and a ribbon (40w) I have the BASX A300 for the fronts and i can immediately hear the difference... I also have the crown xls 2502. But the top end wasnt as smooth as id like for critical listening. That is now driving my subs.. I'm 50/50 2ch and movies.. my audio is mainly flac files. What would you suggest i should power the LCR? Thanks Since the XPA “DR” series are “quad differential” balanced amps, you’d be punching way above what you need or can use. Since you’re using single ended RCA outputs from an AVR, the XPA-3 is a more logical choice. Be advised, though, that the XPA Gen3 amps have an input sensitivity of 1.5v (the BasX is 1.2v). So with the XPA-3, you will need 1.5v of “clean” (unclipped) output from your Yamaha’s pre-outs to drive them to their full rated power. While 1.5v isn’t in any way unreasonable, Yamaha has been known to be skimpy in this regard on their AVRs, so check with them to make sure your 3070 can deliver 1.5 volts cleanly before committing. |
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88hht
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 5
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Post by 88hht on Jan 9, 2019 1:05:32 GMT -5
Thank you.. i cant seem to find anywhere wherr it mentions the preout voltage. I can see in the specs that for input it is 1.2v.
Let say that the yamaha pre out is 1.2v. How much power would the XPA3 be producing? And would the DR3 power in this sense make up for the low preout sensitivity?
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Post by doc1963 on Jan 9, 2019 6:28:01 GMT -5
Thank you.. i cant seem to find anywhere wherr it mentions the preout voltage. I can see in the specs that for input it is 1.2v. Let say that the yamaha pre out is 1.2v. How much power would the XPA3 be producing? And would the DR3 power in this sense make up for the low preout sensitivity? Taking a quick look at the online owners manual for the 3070, Yamaha rates the pre-outs nominally at 1v and a “max” of 2v. Now without a THD disclosure, I would reasonably assume that “max” would be interpreted to mean “before clipping”. 2v is sufficient headroom to drive an XPA-3 to full output. You should be fine. To the contrary, due to its balanced design, the “DR” series requires 2v of unclipped voltage to deliver its rated output. But seriously, take the “DR” series off of the table. A fully balanced “quad differential” design really has no justifiable purpose in a single ended application. You’d be spending more money than you need to and gain no appreciable benefit other than for an additional few decibels of headroom. Take the money you’ll save buying the XPA-3 and invest some of it in high quality (but not overpriced) shielded unbalanced cables (like the Blue Jeans Cables LC-1). Keep the rest in your pocket...  |
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Post by rbk123 on Jan 9, 2019 10:08:46 GMT -5
Use the money you save by not buying the DR and put it towards a high end preamp. You will get a far greater improvement with a good preamp, than the tiny sonic difference between the XPA and DR amps.
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Post by davidl81 on Jan 9, 2019 10:45:57 GMT -5
I agree with the XPA-3 over the DR-3. I went from the XPA-2 (Gen 2) to the DR-2 and I could not hear any real difference at all. I did hear a huge difference in SQ when I went from my Marantz SR7009 AVR to the AV8802 Pre-Pro. Thus agreeing with rbk in the fact that I would buy the XPA-3 and a solid preamp to get you the best sound quality.
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88hht
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 5
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Post by 88hht on Jan 9, 2019 21:43:41 GMT -5
Great thank you. Will be ordering the XPA3.
Now abit off topic. The AVR plays FLAC files. What benefit would i have if i bought say PT100 or XSP-1 preamp and A Cambridge CXN player to play flac files...as oppose to just using the avr to play the flac files?
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Post by garbulky on Jan 9, 2019 23:05:35 GMT -5
I would get two (or three) XPA-1 gen 2 amps.
OR....
I would bi amp using PA-1 monoblock amps. I don't know if i'd bother bi amping the center with PA-1. These PA-1 amps are very good. And I imagine if you could bi amp they'd be even better.
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Post by mack71 on Jan 10, 2019 7:04:08 GMT -5
Generation DR receives very good opinions in Europe ; lydogbillede.dk/test/hi-fi/emotiva-xpa-dr2-3/... I personally think that it is the most sonically successful in relation to previous generations (I previously had Xpa1 gen1,2, Xpr -1)....Everything depends, of course, on the rest of the system, room acoustics and your own preferences |
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