Quick praise and dislike of XPA-2

[litozacky]

So I have owned the Xpa-2 gen1 for a solid 10 years. Never a hiccup and still going strong. When I first moved to another house I had the Xpa-2 in the middle of the living room and my monster of a 1yr old nephew yanked the cable and pop the RCA input right out. Guess what? The RCA input still works flawlessly. The kids have spilled apple juice onto the inside of the amp at least 1 time and I could smell the sweetness of the caramelized sugar that the amp was cooking. Still works flawlessly. People have said this thing is built like a tank and that is very true. For home theater usage it is perfect for me and I have no complaints.

Now onto the not so good. (Everything after this is based on what I personally hear and by no means is it a judgement of the amp alone, but more of a synergy in my system and room). For music. Music sounds good but it doesn't sound musical. It sounds good at 55-60 db but past that and the speakers start to sound a little unrefined, little bright. Tone is a bit harsh. But it maintains a solid soundstage throughout. My speakers (LsiM 707) completely disappear. I don't have any other amp to compare except for a pioneer receiver. I've been wanting to buy The very musical Schitt Aegir (20 watts 8 ohms). Or dip my toes into tube amps. Do you guys think switching amp make a significant difference in muscality? I highly value sweetness and smoothness above all else. If there's any recommendation I'd love to hear.

[pallpoul]

Try a tube pre amp with the XPA-2. you maybe surprised.
I did this using a Dennis had tube Pre-amp, between the DAC and the XPA-2, feeding a pair of Forte III's. sweet sweet sound. YMMV

[garbulky]

Jul 11, 2020 14:40:12 GMT -5 litozacky said:

So I have owned the Xpa-2 gen1 for a solid 10 years. Never a hiccup and still going strong. When I first moved to another house I had the Xpa-2 in the middle of the living room and my monster of a 1yr old nephew yanked the cable and pop the RCA input right out. Guess what? The RCA input still works flawlessly. The kids have spilled apple juice onto the inside of the amp at least 1 time and I could smell the sweetness of the caramelized sugar that the amp was cooking. Still works flawlessly. People have said this thing is built like a tank and that is very true. For home theater usage it is perfect for me and I have no complaints.

Now onto the not so good. (Everything after this is based on what I personally hear and by no means is it a judgement of the amp alone, but more of a synergy in my system and room). For music. Music sounds good but it doesn't sound musical. It sounds good at 55-60 db but past that and the speakers start to sound a little unrefined, little bright. Tone is a bit harsh. But it maintains a solid soundstage throughout. My speakers (LsiM 707) completely disappear. I don't have any other amp to compare except for a pioneer receiver. I've been wanting to buy The very musical Schitt Aegir (20 watts 8 ohms). Or dip my toes into tube amps. Do you guys think switching amp make a significant difference in muscality? I highly value sweetness and smoothness above all else. If there's any recommendation I'd love to hear.

Which amp do you have? The gen 1? The gen 2 version is an improvement. The gen 1 felt a little bit more "compressed" while the gen 2 was a little bit more relaxed and natural. The gen 3 not so much imo
I think the XPA-2 and the XPA-1 gen 2 (and also gen 1) are one of the best amps I have heard. Since you specificalyl meant that past 55-60 db the speakers sound a bit unrefined and a bit bright.... two suggestions.
1. Room treatments. Man I can't tell you how much nicer the music sounded. I thought it was the limit of my speakers but I am hearing so much more and music sounds so much more natural after room treatments. Even one makes a difference, but more are certainly reccomended. Basically it takes away some of the grunge and "unrefinement" leaving behind some nice sound. Cheapest improvements out there is definitely room treatments. Also don't forget to dance your speakers around. A lot of people have their speakers far too close together. if you can spread them a little apart that might make a large difference in sound. Experiment with toe in.

2. try another dac. Most dacs will end up sounding similar. But sometimes a nice two channel dac can make that difference. I like my DC-1. But depending on the room it can sound too laid back - but not in mine. The Saber dacs tend to have a brighter sound - on dull rooms it can reveal all kinds of details. The latest generationo though really closes the gap and simply has a slight edge on treble.
In terms of an "organic sound" Schiit's multibit dacs have a certain sound to it that's hard to quantify. It's not a detail king. But in the timing it reminds me a lot of a more natural "tape like" sound. So if that's your thing, the schiit dac may float your boat.

Tubes can also DEFINITELY smooth the sound out. I am personally not a big fan as most tube amps I've heard have a rolled off bottom and top and a little bit of flabbiness on the bass. Compared to an XPA-2, the xpa-2 has a lot more control dynamics and even frequency response. But tubes are very holographic and project a wide soundstage. I have heard one tube amp which didn't have these issues and it was just extraordinary. (It produced only about 7 watts on a good day). But it was incredible. Since that amp was a custom build, you can't find it anywhere. So I don't have a commercial tube amp to reccomend other than to say, yes they defnitely exhibit that smoothness you are talking about. For example the Bob Latino tube amps sounded very holographic but lacked a little on treble.

Just remember though, if you are going for a tube amp, don't worry about things like distortion specs and stuff. If you get a good measuring tube amp, you are going to lose the magic of tubes. Go for subjective reviews that gush about liquid midrange and holographic sound. Things that distort the sound so much to be audible won't measure well but they may just tick your boat! Disadvantage - most nice tube amps are expensive!

[pallpoul]

Hi Gar.

I use the Cary Audio DAC-200, with the tubes in it engaged, it does smooth out the sound and makes it more enjoyable. feeding the Emotiva DR-2 and RF-7 III's.

[novisnick]

Jul 11, 2020 22:19:55 GMT -5 pallpoul said:

Hi Gar.

I use the Cary Audio DAC-200, with the tubes in it engaged, it does smooth out the sound and makes it more enjoyable. feeding the Emotiva DR-2 and RF-7 III's.

Hi,
How do you like your DR-2? Are you using it in a fully balanced system? If you’ve done a review have you posted it? I’ve just received mine but haven’t  done any critical listening and it’s not yet in a fully balanced system. Anything I should be aware of?
Thanks in advance.
I’d love to hear your system as I’m also a fan of Klipsch but I haven’t heard any of their better speakers. Who’s I could have a listen.

[AudioHTIT]

So has it taken 10 years to come to this conclusion, or has it always bothered you? In any case it might be time to try something new, lots of choices.

[litozacky]

Jul 11, 2020 22:31:07 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

So has it taken 10 years to come to this conclusion, or has it always bothered you? In any case it might be time to try something new, lots of choices.

Yea lots of new choices these days. 3 amps I'll be totally happy with are either the Schitt Aegir ($840), Willsenton R8 ($1100), and Musical Paradise MP-501 ($1350). The Schitt Aegis is a very interesting fella, everyone who has tried it absolutely loved it but unfortunately some can't live with it because it doesn't have enough power for their preference.

The XPA-2 gen1 has never wow'ed me for music through a few sets of speakers. And my standards for musicality is higher now ever since I bought the Meze Empyrean headphone.