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Post by benbvan on Nov 6, 2019 0:29:40 GMT -5
Hi all, haven't been on the forum in a long time. I've been doing a bit of an upgrade spree. Added dual Rythmik F18's which was a wonderful experience. But after replacing Polk Rtia7's and Csia4 with Rtia9's and Csia6 a couple months ago, I couldn't pass up the deal on Adorama for LsiM707's and Lsim706c. I'm using a Gen 3 XPA2 for the towers and they definitely draw more power from the amp than the Rtia9's ever did, lights dim now with just the two towers running.. no subs. The LsiM707 are a huge upgrade in sound quality and the bass is insane. Here's my question, I had thought about adding a DR2 eventually, and sending my XPA back to add 3 more channels to make it 5 channels.... would this be a worthy upgrade? The towers could probably eat the power up pretty well.
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Post by Gary Cook on Nov 6, 2019 0:50:09 GMT -5
Why are you playing around with a stereo power amp when monoblocks are the real deal. Locate each monoblock close by its respective speaker, use long interconnects, preferably XLR's and short speaker cables. That's a "worthy upgrade" anything else is half baked (IMHO).
Cheers
Gary
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Post by benbvan on Nov 6, 2019 2:54:48 GMT -5
Why are you playing around with a stereo power amp when monoblocks are the real deal. Locate each monoblock close by its respective speaker, use long interconnects, preferably XLR's and short speaker cables. That's a "worthy upgrade" anything else is half baked (IMHO). Cheers Gary To he honest, I didn't think the (up to) 100 extra WPC and the extra cost and increased space necessary, which I have very little, like none, would make enough of a difference. I would have thought the DR2 from XPA2 would be a bigger upgrade than from a DR2 to 2 DR1'S. Could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. |
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Post by davidl81 on Nov 6, 2019 10:14:13 GMT -5
I really like my DR-2. Its a great amp. That being said it was not a huge jump form my XPA-2 G2 to the DR-2 when I upgraded. But also I was not dimming lights with my XPA-2 so maybe you are pushing harder than I am. BUt If you are thinking of going to a 5 channel amp + a 2 channel on a 7 speaker setup then yeah you can do a lot worst than the DR-2.
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Post by Don't use on Nov 6, 2019 11:25:24 GMT -5
I really like my DR-2. Its a great amp. That being said it was not a huge jump form my XPA-2 G2 to the DR-2 when I upgraded. But also I was not dimming lights with my XPA-2 so maybe you are pushing harder than I am. BUt If you are thinking of going to a 5 channel amp + a 2 channel on a 7 speaker setup then yeah you can do a lot worst than the DR-2. Yes, from an XPA2 to a DR2 and upgrade the XPA2 to an XPA5. Thank you for your response. I'm surprised there wasn't more difference between the G2 XPA and the DR2. |
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Post by davidl81 on Nov 6, 2019 12:27:21 GMT -5
I really like my DR-2. Its a great amp. That being said it was not a huge jump form my XPA-2 G2 to the DR-2 when I upgraded. But also I was not dimming lights with my XPA-2 so maybe you are pushing harder than I am. BUt If you are thinking of going to a 5 channel amp + a 2 channel on a 7 speaker setup then yeah you can do a lot worst than the DR-2. Yes, from an XPA2 to a DR2 and upgrade the XPA2 to an XPA5. Thank you for your response. I'm surprised there wasn't more difference between the G2 XPA and the DR2. At the time I had a Marantz SR7009 AVR so the difference in the amps may have been hidden somewhat by my processor. I now have a RMC-1 and my two channel setup slams now with the Mirage OMD-28's on the DR-2. I have had to check several times to make sure the subs are not on because the bass has been so strong. Of course overall it's not just bass, but all of the overall dynamics have improved with the RMC-1/Dr-2 combo. I wish I could have done a better A/B test on the RMC-1, but I honestly couldn't be any happier with my DR-2 on the RMC-1 |
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Post by Don't use on Nov 6, 2019 13:31:03 GMT -5
Yes, from an XPA2 to a DR2 and upgrade the XPA2 to an XPA5. Thank you for your response. I'm surprised there wasn't more difference between the G2 XPA and the DR2. At the time I had a Marantz SR7009 AVR so the difference in the amps may have been hidden somewhat by my processor. I now have a RMC-1 and my two channel setup slams now with the Mirage OMD-28's on the DR-2. I have had to check several times to make sure the subs are not on because the bass has been so strong. Of course overall it's not just bass, but all of the overall dynamics have improved with the RMC-1/Dr-2 combo. I wish I could have done a better A/B test on the RMC-1, but I honestly couldn't be any happier with my DR-2 on the RMC-1 I also want to RMC-1, but have to get all my channels powered but amps first. That's another reason I want a DR2, and to upgrade the XPA. The bass on my LsiM707's is ridiculous and I've only used them for 2 days. I swapped them in for the Rtia9's I was using, though the a9's drop a little bit lower, the bass of the LsiM707 is more substantial and cleaner. Much cleaner. I've heard that the RMC-1 has amazing results in upgrading people's soundstage. |
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Post by Gary Cook on Nov 6, 2019 14:20:21 GMT -5
Why are you playing around with a stereo power amp when monoblocks are the real deal. Locate each monoblock close by its respective speaker, use long interconnects, preferably XLR's and short speaker cables. That's a "worthy upgrade" anything else is half baked (IMHO). To he honest, I didn't think the (up to) 100 extra WPC and the extra cost and increased space necessary, which I have very little, like none, would make enough of a difference. I would have thought the DR2 from XPA2 would be a bigger upgrade than from a DR2 to 2 DR1'S. Could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. As a stereo power amplifier the XPA-2 Gen 2 is hard to beat, they are not rated so highly by accident. As a result any step up in stereo power amps is not going to be that noticeable and there are always going to be the downsides (they share a single power supply and live in the same case etc) of them being “just another stereo pre amp”. In comparison to a pair of mono blocks each with their own power supply, in seperate cases that can be separated by plenty of air space. For example a DR2 only has 1 x 3kw power supply, whereas a pair of of DR1’s have 2 x 3kw power supplies. As for space, I’d suggest thinking outside the box (sic) such as, can you locate each monoblock right next to its respective speaker? If so, there are advantages in doing that (eg; retained damping factor). With 2 x woofers each I’d suggest your LSiM707’s would benefit from as much damping as the power amp can supply. To finish, good power amps last a long time, more like decades than years, they don’t go ‘out of date” technically. For example XPA-1 Gen 2’s often sell for more than their new price. Why is that? Because they were a great monoblock power amp 5 years ago and they will still be in another 5, 10, 15 years time. Cheers Gary |
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Post by Don't use on Nov 6, 2019 14:33:02 GMT -5
To he honest, I didn't think the (up to) 100 extra WPC and the extra cost and increased space necessary, which I have very little, like none, would make enough of a difference. I would have thought the DR2 from XPA2 would be a bigger upgrade than from a DR2 to 2 DR1'S. Could be wrong though. I've been wrong before. As a stereo power amplifier the XPA-2 Gen 2 is hard to beat, they are not rated so highly by accident. As a result any step up in stereo power amps is not going to be that noticeable and there are always going to be the downsides (they share a single power supply and live in the same case etc) of them being “just another stereo pre amp”. In comparison to a pair of mono blocks each with their own power supply, in seperate cases that can be separated by plenty of air space. For example a DR2 only has 1 x 3kw power supply, whereas a pair of of DR1’s have 2 x 3kw power supplies. As for space, I’d suggest thinking outside the box (sic) such as, can you locate each monoblock right next to its respective speaker? If so, there are advantages in doing that (eg; retained damping factor). With 2 x woofers each I’d suggest your LSiM707’s would benefit from as much damping as the power amp can supply. To finish, good power amps last a long time, more like decades than years, they don’t go ‘out of date” technically. For example XPA-1 Gen 2’s often sell for more than their new price. Why is that? Because they were a great monoblock power amp 5 years ago and they will still be in another 5, 10, 15 years time. Cheers Gary Oh the all elusive space... I so wish I could put them next to the towers, I cant even put my second Rythmik F18 on the front stage. I do intend to move in the next couple of years and I am going to make sure I have a room big enough for this setup. I definitely love the idea of monoblocks and not sharing a PS, and no crosstalk. Running the G3 XPA2 I never had it pull power from the wall like it does now and never was close to using even half of the power supply. I suspect I was a lot closer to that the other day when listening than ever before. I will give this some serious thought. Thank you for your input. |
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