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Post by earwaxxer on Jul 18, 2021 12:55:42 GMT -5
I just moved, and my wife is tired of the mammoth look of the XPA (and weight) so I bought a new BasX A2 and I'm waiting for the delivery. I have had the XPA for years and it had been doing a good job with my Airmotiv T2's. New house, new situation, so I moved the 80 lb. XPA to the basement and bought an equipment rack that has a max load of 50 lbs. What I have read about the new BasX series has been good. I do miss the idea of not being able to use XLR interconnects but I can live with that. I intend to mostly listen at low to moderate volume level in our new place so I dont think I will miss the added power of the XPA. Any thoughts on what else I might notice about the two different amps?
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Post by garbulky on Jul 18, 2021 13:25:25 GMT -5
Hi!I suggest going with the emotiva PA-1 amp instead. It is much closer to the sound of the XPA-2 amps.
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Post by mountain on Jul 18, 2021 14:03:26 GMT -5
I just moved, and my wife is tired of the mammoth look of the XPA (and weight) so I bought a new BasX A2 and I'm waiting for the delivery. I have had the XPA for years and it had been doing a good job with my Airmotiv T2's. New house, new situation, so I moved the 80 lb. XPA to the basement and bought an equipment rack that has a max load of 50 lbs. What I have read about the new BasX series has been good. I do miss the idea of not being able to use XLR interconnects but I can live with that. I intend to mostly listen at low to moderate volume level in our new place so I dont think I will miss the added power of the XPA. Any thoughts on what else I might notice about the two different amps? Sounds like a good plan. Try it you may be happy as a lark. If not, you still have the mammoth xpa’s to fall back on (nice problem to have). Then consider other options. Enjoy the music. |
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LCSeminole
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Res firma mitescere nescit.
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Post by LCSeminole on Jul 18, 2021 14:18:56 GMT -5
Hi!I suggest going with the emotiva PA-1 amp instead. It is much closer to the sound of the XPA-2 amps. For the time being, Emotiva has the PA-1 as temporarily unavailable, so unless they get these back in stock and/or is willing to wait, his only option for the PA-1 is used. |
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LCSeminole
Global Moderator
Res firma mitescere nescit.
Posts: 20,495
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Post by LCSeminole on Jul 18, 2021 14:20:58 GMT -5
I just moved, and my wife is tired of the mammoth look of the XPA (and weight) so I bought a new BasX A2 and I'm waiting for the delivery. I have had the XPA for years and it had been doing a good job with my Airmotiv T2's. New house, new situation, so I moved the 80 lb. XPA to the basement and bought an equipment rack that has a max load of 50 lbs. What I have read about the new BasX series has been good. I do miss the idea of not being able to use XLR interconnects but I can live with that. I intend to mostly listen at low to moderate volume level in our new place so I dont think I will miss the added power of the XPA. Any thoughts on what else I might notice about the two different amps? At the low to moderate listening levels you've stated, I doubt you'll hear much, if any, difference between these power amplifiers. At reference levels is where the XPA-2 Gen1 and Gen2 shine. |
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Post by audiobill on Jul 18, 2021 15:10:27 GMT -5
What do you mean by “reference levels”? Loud enough to cause hearing damage so fidelity doesn’t matter any longer?
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Post by garbulky on Jul 18, 2021 15:56:57 GMT -5
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Post by rbk123 on Jul 18, 2021 16:34:34 GMT -5
Hi!I suggest going with the emotiva PA-1 amp instead. It is much closer to the sound of the XPA-2 amps. Fire up the Delorean.  |
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Post by earwaxxer on Jul 18, 2021 16:40:38 GMT -5
Interesting thoughts... I kind of expected that at low listening levels I wouldnt notice a difference and possibly the new BasX might resolve a little better. I'm not really uptight about it though. I always kind of wondered if the XPA was biased toward Class A for the first 15 watts or so, but I never really noticed any "transition" to class A/B as I upped the volume. I really liked the XPA at higher sound pressure levels but I really cant do that anymore (dont have the dedicated listening room, live in a condo, and my hearing is going away fast enough and I dont need to rush that). I wasnt really that happy with the XPA at lower volume but that may be because I was listening to higher volumes most of the time! We will see with the new BasX.
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Post by audiobill on Jul 18, 2021 17:36:08 GMT -5
Yup, disco at 1 meter is 100db and a chainsaw at 1 meter is 100db. Enough to destroy my delicate ears and disqualify me as an audiophile! |
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Post by earwaxxer on Jul 18, 2021 18:36:50 GMT -5
There has been some discussion about "reference levels" and I can relate to how well the XPA-2 performs when it gets its legs underneath it! It sounds so right when it gets some exercise. Thats just me, but I also have a friend who is a musician and he agrees. When I told him I was getting another amp, the first thing he told me was "Dont get rid of the XPA". With the peak meters on I rarely saw it go past the first 1 or 2 levels.
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Post by bonscott on Jul 18, 2021 19:44:40 GMT -5
What do you mean by “reference levels”? Loud enough to cause hearing damage so fidelity doesn’t matter any longer? No kidding. Who listens that loud and how long could you handle it. I blasted my amplifier so loud I can now say it sounds better then the other one. Now turn the damn thing down so it sounds like every other amplifier. That’s better |
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Post by audiobill on Jul 18, 2021 19:46:41 GMT -5
Music is less about volume than sublety.
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Post by creimes on Jul 18, 2021 21:20:01 GMT -5
Music is less about volume than sublety.  |
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Post by audiobill on Jul 18, 2021 21:40:00 GMT -5
Maybe……
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Post by davidl81 on Jul 19, 2021 8:34:26 GMT -5
Hi!I suggest going with the emotiva PA-1 amp instead. It is much closer to the sound of the XPA-2 amps. Logically this would not make any sense. The XPA-2 is an old school transformer based amp, much the same as the BasX A2 is. The PA-1 is a class D amp that is not even really an Emotiva amp (it’s parts are all BO put inside of an Emotiva case). I am not saying Gar is wrong as I own the PA-1s and they are fantastic little amps. It’s just odd that the PA-1 would sound more like the XPA line of amps than the BasX amps. |
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Post by garbulky on Jul 19, 2021 9:14:47 GMT -5
Hi!I suggest going with the emotiva PA-1 amp instead. It is much closer to the sound of the XPA-2 amps. Logically this would not make any sense. The XPA-2 is an old school transformer based amp, much the same as the BasX A2 is. The PA-1 is a class D amp that is not even really an Emotiva amp (it’s parts are all BO put inside of an Emotiva case). I am not saying Gar is wrong as I own the PA-1s and they are fantastic little amps. It’s just odd that the PA-1 would sound more like the XPA line of amps than the BasX amps. It sure DOES sound strange. You could probably put 8 PA-1's in one XPA-2 gen 2 case. I consider the PA-1's to be better than the Bas-x line. It sounds very similar to my XPA-1 gen 2 on class A mode. (I A/B'd it several times). And it sounds very similar to the XPA-2 gen 2 as well. I have heard some reports that on certain kinds of speakers (maggies, electrostats) it doesn't do very well. But on the speakers I've heard it does great. Axiom M80. Thiels, and maybe Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII etc. My Axiom m80 though efficient doesn't handle all amps well. Many amps have struggled on it and sound a little shouty. The difference between the 2 is the PA-1 sounds slightly lighter on its feet than the XPA-1 gen 2. Not by much, but it's like trying to different flavors of the same amp. On the XPA-1 the sound shifts more towards the bass and the PA-1 the sound shifts more towards the treble. Not that it sounds bright or lacking bass, it's just the difference I hear and it's very minor. Yes, the XPA-1 gen 2 is a bit better, but not by much. The PA-1, XPA-1, XPA-2 gen 2, and this one heavily modified mono tube amp are the best amps I've heard. And it is a significant difference. |
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Post by earwaxxer on Aug 25, 2021 16:42:56 GMT -5
 I FINALLY got my BasX A2. I have to say I like it. It is not "burned in" or anything like that, although, it seems to sound a bit better when warmed up. One thing for sure - its not "bright". What I have noticed is the mids are good, the upper bass is tight and present, and the sound is not fatiguing. I just listened to a Rush blu-ray and it was enjoyable and sounded full range. I cranked it up on a few tracks and the sound was not strained in any way. I have some other recordings that sound a bit "rolled off" in the highs - such as Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick. Again - that album sounded a bit better as the amps warmed up, but I always felt that was a crappy recording to begin with. I havent heard my XPA-1 in over a year so I cant really comment on the difference in sound. |
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Post by ausman on Oct 14, 2021 9:39:36 GMT -5
my question are you basing opinion on rca listening in both amps or basing comments from xlr vs rca
there is going to be difference in sound to a degree using the same speakers because output into 8 and 4 ohms is going to be between the 2 amp, it wouldn't be fair to compare a 300-490 watt amp to something that does 180-250 watts which is more a companion amp to an avr, vs something designed to be used with a processor..
with xlr being the best listening it would be hard to compare between something that only has rca vs something that has both where you can test both connections..
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KeithL
Administrator
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Post by KeithL on Oct 14, 2021 10:19:55 GMT -5
I would also caution about overgeneralizing...
Many of these sorts of comparisons are prefaced with "all other things being equal" - which is rarely the case in real life. For example, on a given amplifier that has both balanced and unbalanced inputs, those inputs use different circuitry. And, likewise, obviously the circuitry on different amplifiers may be quite different. Therefore it's quite possible that, on a particular amplifier, the unbalanced input may sound noticeably better than the balanced input, because the circuitry involved does something better. It's also possible that a certain amplifier may simply sound better than another, for other reasons entirely, regardless of which inputs you use on each. In this case there are simply too many other factors that usually make more of a difference to assert that a specific difference is likely to be due to the type of input involved.
(And, yes, in a well-designed amplifier, assuming that the two outputs on your source sound the same, doubling the power available will probably make a bigger audible difference that which connection you use.)
my question are you basing opinion on rca listening in both amps or basing comments from xlr vs rca there is going to be difference in sound to a degree using the same speakers because output into 8 and 4 ohms is going to be between the 2 amp, it wouldn't be fair to compare a 300-490 watt amp to something that does 180-250 watts which is more a companion amp to an avr, vs something designed to be used with a processor.. with xlr being the best listening it would be hard to compare between something that only has rca vs something that has both where you can test both connections.. |
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