The Official Emotiva Q&A thread

[D_M]

Even the tech at Benchmark likes Emotiva. We were talking about how neutral they are, flat across the entire bandwidth, the way audio ought to be priced, etc.

[D_M]

The guy I just bought my Focals off of had a $6000 amp in his Volvo and I said I'd take my XPA 2 over it. He was really interested in Emotiva and I told him I'm a customer for life. No more ridiculous expensive cables or amps.

[D_M]

I may drive a Mercedes but I'll always own an Emotiva.. Nothing to do with cash flow, just quality merchandise.

[Morrissey]

Originally Posted by D_M

He doesn't know what he's talking about.

I was at Kromer Radio the other day and Emotiva has a lot of respect there. I bought my Wadia IPod I70 transport there for $600.

Originally Posted by Fors*

It is funny how sensitive some of the sales guys can be when you mention other manufacturers of equipment.....

Yeah I was pretty blown away. Obviously he wanted to make a sale.
Love Kromer Radio...thats where I got my first Paradigms.

[Adam.C]

Originally Posted by D_M

I may drive a Mercedes but I'll always own an Emotiva.. Nothing to do with cash flow, just quality merchandise.

[MrFattBill]

Originally Posted by Fors*

It is funny how sensitive some of the sales guys can be when you mention other manufacturers of equipment.....

He probably wants to buy his own Emotiva stuff so selling a $6k amp makes sense.....to him

Bill

[azereus]

Originally Posted by Kali157

couldn't wait huh?.... who am I kidding, if they didn't have a B-stock of my XPA-3, I would have probably taken the plunge at full price.

I wonder how azereus is doing with his amp problem...

I haven't had much time to continue to try to diagnose the issue to be quite honest.

Next step is to buy some new ICs and try that. Quick question about cables.... I've never really been clear about the differences between some of these cables. Are RCA cables the same as component video cables?

Right now I'm using 3 "6ft High-quality Coaxial Audio/Video RCA CL2 Rated Cable - RG6/U 75ohm" from monoprice. Due mostly to lack of time and affordable options up here in the great white north, could I just go to Futureshop or Bestbuy and buy a set of video component cables to hook up the receiver to the amp?

Thanks

[jlafrenz]

Originally Posted by azereus

I haven't had much time to continue to try to diagnose the issue to be quite honest.

Next step is to buy some new ICs and try that. Quick question about cables.... I've never really been clear about the differences between some of these cables. Are RCA cables the same as component video cables?

Right now I'm using 3 "6ft High-quality Coaxial Audio/Video RCA CL2 Rated Cable - RG6/U 75ohm" from monoprice. Due mostly to lack of time and affordable options up here in the great white north, could I just go to Futureshop or Bestbuy and buy a set of video component cables to hook up the receiver to the amp?

Thanks

Before you buy new interconnects... did you try out the steps I posted for you a couple of pages back?

[jlafrenz]

For those interested in the Missouri GTG, tentative time frame is late June or early July. It will be dependent on when Emotiva will have the Mobile Lounge ready as they are planning bringing it to the GTG.

[SMALZ11]

I've been a lurker on here for awhile and keep ready the awesome reviews these Emotiva products are. I have never considered doing a Pre/Pro before and was wondering if it will make that big of a difference with what i have. Here is a list of my current equipment:

Pioneer Elite 50" Pro-111
Pioneer Elite BDP-320
Pioneer Elite SC-05

Mirage OS³-FS Floorstanding Speaker X 2
Mirage OS³-CC Center Speaker X 1
Mirage OS³-Sat Bookshelf Speaker X 2
Mirage Omni S10 Subwoofer X1

Since i'm running 5.1 i was looking at the UPA-5 Five Channel Audio Power Amplifier. I want to know, will it make that big of a difference?!?!? Before i drop $550 on the unit. Thanks

DJ

[Kali157]

First off, welcome to the forums!

Now, I looked at your speakers' specs, seem quite efficient and relatively easy to drive. But that said, I still believe you will hear the difference with an amp. May I suggest getting the Emotiva XPA-3 to drive your front 3 speakers since most of your sound is coming from them. The XPA will allow you to drive your speakers while not maxing out the amp (ie more head room) when you are pushing it. I would use your receiver to run the surround speakers since your AVR's power supply is pretty good. You will also hear a difference in your surrounds since your receiver will only be driving 2 speakers instead of 5.

Either way, I would call Emotiva and ask if they have any B-stock amps. I got my XPA-3 for $499 and it still retains its full warranty.

[Spurrier Sucks]

Originally Posted by SMALZ11

I've been a lurker on here for awhile and keep ready the awesome reviews these Emotiva products are. I have never considered doing a Pre/Pro before and was wondering if it will make that big of a difference with what i have. Here is a list of my current equipment:

Pioneer Elite 50" Pro-111
Pioneer Elite BDP-320
Pioneer Elite SC-05

Mirage OS³-FS Floorstanding Speaker X 2
Mirage OS³-CC Center Speaker X 1
Mirage OS³-Sat Bookshelf Speaker X 2
Mirage Omni S10 Subwoofer X1

Since i'm running 5.1 i was looking at the UPA-5 Five Channel Audio Power Amplifier. I want to know, will it make that big of a difference?!?!? Before i drop $550 on the unit. Thanks

DJ

Those are the speakers I have and I added a XPA-3 to them and have been real happy with it. I also got a b stock and it looked to be new to me.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by SMALZ11

I've been a lurker on here for awhile and keep ready the awesome reviews these Emotiva products are. I have never considered doing a Pre/Pro before and was wondering if it will make that big of a difference with what i have. Here is a list of my current equipment:

Pioneer Elite 50" Pro-111
Pioneer Elite BDP-320
Pioneer Elite SC-05

Mirage OS³-FS Floorstanding Speaker X 2
Mirage OS³-CC Center Speaker X 1
Mirage OS³-Sat Bookshelf Speaker X 2
Mirage Omni S10 Subwoofer X1

Since i'm running 5.1 i was looking at the UPA-5 Five Channel Audio Power Amplifier. I want to know, will it make that big of a difference?!?!? Before i drop $550 on the unit. Thanks

DJ

Welcome to the Forum SMALZ !

You will hear A difference in the way your speakers sound . The suggestions above of the XPA-3 are good ones , Or you could go with the XPA-5 to Bi-amp your fronts or power your surrounds .

It is worth doing by all means . Best thing I did to my sound system .

[Spurrier Sucks]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Welcome to the Forum SMALZ !

You will hear A difference in the way your speakers sound . The suggestions above of the XPA-3 are good ones , Or you could go with the XPA-5 to Bi-amp your fronts or power your surrounds .

It is worth doing by all means . Best thing I did to my sound system .

XPA-5 would've been great. I wouldn't be wanting to add a UPA-2 now.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Spurrier Sucks

XPA-5 would've been great. I wouldn't be wanting to add a UPA-2 now.

Not after having the XPA ! There is nothing wrong with the UPA , But us power hungry members

[Kali157]

My choice of the XPA3 was due to what b-stock emotiva had. In the end, I think it is a better choice unless I upgrade to a more inefficient or power hungry surround or if I go 7.1 with demanding surround speakers For now, my AVR is more than capable of driving 2 surround speakers. Just dont get caught up in spending money for upgrades unless it makes sense.

Originally Posted by Spurrier Sucks

XPA-5 would've been great. I wouldn't be wanting to add a UPA-2 now.

I think your AVR is more than enough to drive those mirage bookshelves as surrounds. Put that $300 towards blus. Just my thoughts.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Kali157

My choice of the XPA3 was due to what b-stock emotiva had. In the end, I think it is a better choice unless I upgrade to a more inefficient or power hungry surround or if I go 7.1 with demanding surround speakers For now, my AVR is more than capable of driving 2 surround speakers. Just dont get caught up in spending money for upgrades unless it makes sense.



I think your AVR is more than enough to drive those mirage bookshelves as surrounds. Put that $300 towards blus. Just my thoughts.

Then again It is how you feel about the way things sound Kali .

I have an Elite SC-07 That would have no problem powering the 4 surrounds ! But I prefer having everything sound clean & clear . Right know all 7 of my speakers & my 3 Subwoofers are powered by my 2 amps & it sounds great .

[Spurrier Sucks]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

spurrier, i do have a UPA-2 running my back 2 surrounds so i'll give you my take. first i'll tell you that they will power your surrounds as well as your receiver will and in most cases better. more times than not your surrounds don't envoke the kind of power or sustained use of said power like your front 3 will during movies. oh yeah, there will be loud burst here and there but most of the time the level of sounds coming from them will not be matching the front sound stage. if your happy with your Yammy, then in this case i'd tell you to stay with it.

having said that, i went with the UPA-2 because i was going complete seperates, to get all the amplification for my speakers out of the processor section to dedicated amps. to lessen the chance of the signal being bothered, to increase the level of power i could have available to each channel and to not have to run that hot receiver amp for nothing other than switching & processing duties. those were the reasons i went to full seperates. I currently power 5 of my 7 channels with the XPA-5 and the surround back 2 channels with my UPA-2 my new pre-amp is set up to only turn on the UPA-2 when the source can support more than 5 channels i.e. when watching cable tv, listening to internet radio, iphone, sirius radio or anything with 5 or less channels the UPA-2 is powered off by the pre-amp but when switching to the PS3, Xbox 360, HD-DVD player or the Oppo blu player, the UPA-2 is commanded on.

The choice is yours my friend, you won't necessarily hear incredible improvements some of the time, but i will tell you that for your side surrounds, (and sometimes they do call for it) when the need for high instantaneous peak power is called upon, the UPA-2 will supply it without hesitation, without worry and without sacrificing clarity of sound. sometimes lots of sound does come from side surrounds relative the the front 3 i'd say it's like 75 - 25 % ratio and it's even less for the rear which relative to the front 3 it's more like 90 - 10 % of not more depending on the movie. so if you've got cash set aside for this then using it would NOT be a bad thing. of course, if you really want to put your money to use in other things and are at this time completely satisfyed with the Yammy then do that.

oh yeah, if you are using this for the side surrounds (in a 5.1 setup) and if you listen to DVD-A or SACD music it will have a good impact on them. i connected my side surrounds to my UPA-2 and listened to some elton john & billy joel and the sound was incredible, hey, i've even connected my front 2 to the UPA-2 and they sounded good too (not as much power as the XPA-5 of course but they sounded good too)

so, go take a couple of drinks and sleep on it buddy, either way you won't go wrong, it's just that if you do go with getting the UPA-2 you'll be right'er! and no, i meant it like i spelled it!

hope this helps, keep us posted buddy!

This is why I'm leaning toward the upa-2.

[Kali157]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

Then again It is how you feel about the way things sound Kali .

I have an Elite SC-07 That would have no problem powering the 4 surrounds ! But I prefer having everything sound clean & clear . Right know all 7 of my speakers & my 3 Subwoofers are powered by my 2 amps & it sounds great .

Fair enough. That is why I didnt say that EVERYONE doesnt need the amp their surrounds. As I said, do it if it makes sense. But before jumping into a purchase, I would do a test. This is what I did to figure out if my surrounds need an extra amp: I unplugged my center and fronts and plugged my 2 surrounds to the Emotiva amp. I then played several blu ray scenes that are surround heavy and played at reference as well as a low level. I used SPR Omaha Beach landing and ending bridge scenes. I also used scenes from Avatar. After I play a scene, I unplugged my surrounds from the amp and switched to the receiver and replayed the scene. Evaluate the difference. The great thing about this test is that it isolates surround sounds from the more dominating fronts.

In my tests, I could NOT hear a difference in both reference level and soft level. I did this test with my fronts and center only and there was a very noticeable difference. (that is why the amp wasn't sent back ). Which brings me to the conclusion that I dont need an amp for my surrounds with the speakers and receiver I have now.

So again, before you put money towards placing amps on surrounds, do this simple test. If in the future you upgrade your surrounds to something more demanding, do the test again and see if you need an amp then. My point is this: the Emotiva amp is great, but I am not just going to say to anyone that asks "Get one b/c all speakers need one!" Most people will see the most difference in adding an amp for the front and center speakers. Your avr maybe more than enough to power you surrounds.

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Kali157

Fair enough. That is why I didnt say that EVERYONE doesnt need the amp their surrounds. As I said, do it if it makes sense. But before jumping into a purchase, I would do a test. This is what I did to figure out if my surrounds need an extra amp: I unplugged my center and fronts and plugged my 2 surrounds to the Emotiva amp. I then played several blu ray scenes that are surround heavy and played at reference as well as a low level. I used SPR Omaha Beach landing and ending bridge scenes. I also used scenes from Avatar. After I play a scene, I unplugged my surrounds from the amp and switched to the receiver and replayed the scene. Evaluate the difference. The great thing about this test is that it isolates surround sounds from the more dominating fronts.

In my tests, I could NOT hear a difference in both reference level and soft level. I did this test with my fronts and center only and there was a very noticeable difference. (that is why the amp wasn't sent back ). Which brings me to the conclusion that I dont need an amp for my surrounds with the speakers and receiver I have now.

So again, before you put money towards placing amps on surrounds, do this simple test. If in the future you upgrade your surrounds to something more demanding, do the test again and see if you need an amp then. My point is this: the Emotiva amp is great, but I am not just going to say to anyone that asks "Get one b/c all speakers need one!" Most people will see the most difference in adding an amp for the front and center speakers. Your avr maybe more than enough to power you surrounds.

Vary good post Kali & you are right if someone has any Questions about amping there surrounds . the test sounds like A good one for those people that wonder if they should or should not .