The Official Emotiva Q&A thread

[PitbullMike]

Originally Posted by d_m1010

I will.

I just unboxed it and my gad is it heavy, and gorgeous as well.

Get to work

[D_M]

I'll have to give you a full review tomorrow but it is the best 2 channel amp I have ever had in my system. Good bye Meitner STR50 ($3000 originally retail). I'm never looking back. To be continued...

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by d_m1010

I'll have to give you a full review tomorrow but it is the best 2 channel amp I have ever had in my system. Good bye Meitner STR50 ($3000 originally retail). I'm never looking back. To be continued...

That is a pretty strong statement my friend! I don't have to tell you how well regarded the Meitner's are, but to say what you are saying is well......surprising.

Looking forward to your review and why you think the Emotiva surpasses it.
And I don't mean that as a doubter or anything, but purely from the point of view that your statement is quite remarkable.

John

[Drew664]

Originally Posted by d_m1010

Hey guys, I've been trying to find that spec sheet on this thread for the UPA 7 and what wattage it pumps out with such and such channels driven. I'm wondering how many watts per channel with 2 channels driven.

BTW, the XPA 2 showed up today and I'll be hooking it up for 2 channel listening tonight!

Here is a detailed answer to your question.

http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=1837

8 ohms:
Number of Channels | Watts:
7 - 125
6 - 135
5 - 140
4 - 150
3 - 160
2 - 170
1 - 180


4 ohms:
Number of Channels | Watts:
7 - 185
6 - 200
5 - 210
4 - 235
3 - 260
2 - 280
1 - 300

THD: 0.007
20hz - 150khz

Ah, and I missed what amp you bought d_m1010...

XPA-2 or UPA-2?

[crazyBLUE]

Originally Posted by Drew664

Here is a detailed answer to your question.

http://emotivalounge.proboards.com/i...ay&thread=1837



Ah, and I missed what amp you bought d_m1010...

XPA-2 or UPA-2?

That means I am Bi-amping My surrounds with 150 watts .
Thanks Drew !

[bigred7078]

Originally Posted by John72953

Rich

But wouldn't you think that this would no longer have to be the case? If Emotiva wanted to, they could have supplied this ability. I suppose however, SA-CD and DVD-A are niche formats, and not of primary importance.

John

No, its not a matter of "If Emotiva wanted too", its a matter of the chip support for DSD. The specific cirrus chip Emotiva uses in the UMC-1 was decided BY cirrus that it would not support dsd.

[chas]

Originally Posted by PitbullMike

BTW does anyone think $475 is a good price to sell my UPA-7? Plus shipping of course

Sounds like a very fair price.

[bigred7078]

Originally Posted by chas

Sounds like a very fair price.

+1 very nice price.

Hell the thing is retailing for $699 plus $25 for shipping lol.
I've seen LPA-1's go for a little less than that and they are less powerful.

[ls7z06]

I am new to the world of separate amps but think I might want to jump in. I am looking at the Emotiva XPA 2 on line and am wondering if it would be a good choice for my application. I have a 7.1 system running from an Onk 876 140 watt receiver. All of the speakers sound strong and clean except for the fronts... 300 watt Polk RTiA7's. They sound a little weak. I do listen to the fronts as stand alones for music. So my thought was to leave everything running from my receiver except the fronts and run them from the Emo. As I understand it, I just run the pre-outs from the receiver to the amp and connect the speakers to the amp. Then the front speakers are controled and adjusted using controls from the amp, or does the receiver still control them? Is the Emo XPA 2 a good match for these speakers? Sorry for the dumb questions, but this is new ground for me.

[bigred7078]

Originally Posted by ls7z06

I am new to the world of separate amps but think I might want to jump in. I am looking at the Emotiva XPA 2 on line and am wondering if it would be a good choice for my application. I have a 7.1 system running from an Onk 876 140 watt receiver. All of the speakers sound strong and clean except for the fronts... 300 watt Polk RTiA7's. They sound a little weak. I do listen to the fronts as stand alones for music. So my thought was to leave everything running from my receiver except the fronts and run them from the Emo. As I understand it, I just run the pre-outs from the receiver to the amp and connect the speakers to the amp. Then the front speakers are controled and adjusted using controls from the amp, or does the receiver still control them? Is the Emo XPA 2 a good match for these speakers? Sorry for the dumb questions, but this is new ground for me.

yup pre-outs to amp. Then speaker wire to speakers. The volume level on your onkyo still controls the speakers just fine, just instead of the signal being amplified to the internal amps of the onkyo its routed to the external amp.

The XPA-2 should be a nice addition to your system. You say you seem to find your mains lacking though? Is this strictly with music? If that is the case then it could be due to your source. I see you have an ipod dock connection for your onkyo. If your music is in a compressed format with a low bitrate then the source is to blame. Adding an amp in the mix would not actually make things better in that instance, but it could actually make things worse. An amplifiers job is to well, simply amplify the signal. So crap in...crap out. Make senes? IF you already knew this than i apologize lol. If not, well then that is the key to a good sounding system. Its really all about the source, we could have the best audio components available, but if the original source sucks, then the sound will also suck. If an ipod is not your main music method, then what is?

[ls7z06]

I do use the iPod for music but everything on the iPod is in Apple lossless. When I use all 7.1 speakers, it sounds strong and clean. When I just use the fronts in stereo mode, it sucks. I also use the Oppo BDP-83 for cd's and sacd's. Same result. When in stereo mode, you need to crank the volume way, way up and they still seem to sound somewhat removed and faint. So... I am assuming the RTiA7's need more power.

[blu_world]

Originally Posted by ls7z06

I do use the iPod for music but everything on the iPod is in Apple lossless. When I use all 7.1 speakers, it sounds strong and clean. When I just use the fronts in stereo mode, it sucks. I also use the Oppo BDP-83 for cd's and sacd's. Same result. When in stereo mode, you need to crank the volume way, way up and they still seem to sound somewhat removed and faint. So... I am assuming the RTiA7's need more power.

either way,wouldn't be bad thing adding a XPA 2 to help out,the power reserves on the Emotiva is good enough to be noticeable on all ranges of sound

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by bigred7078

No, its not a matter of "If Emotiva wanted too", its a matter of the chip support for DSD. The specific cirrus chip Emotiva uses in the UMC-1 was decided BY cirrus that it would not support dsd.

I understand that completely, but its Emotiva who sets down what features they want a new componant to offer, not the chip maker. Obviously, it wasn't important enough to have them change to another chipset to accomodate this. And that's ok.

John

[D_M]

So let me preface this review with a couple of notes. First I'm not a professional reviewer, work for Emotiva, or a scientist. I'm not using scientific measurements, only my subjectivity. I listened to cds that I am very familiar with and have been listening to for years.

I used a YBA CD2 as the trasport/dac, a Meitner PA6 as the preamp, Cardas neutral reference cable, and JM Lab Focal Electra 905 speakers.

The XPA 2 bests the Meitner STR50 I have owned for 6+ years in many ways.
Dynamics have much more impact. I have never heard the bass like that before. The bass was also more distinct and more coherent, not heavy but right. The highs were not harsh at all like I experienced from time to time with the Meitner. Also, the recordings I listened to had new life in them and sounded very exciting. Some cymbal crashes were startling and I actually said "wow". The Meitner always sounded very lifeless to me in comparison. Also, the speakers seemed 'faster', or had a better tempo, with that extra power - they could reproduce sounds more quickly. The decay was also more satisfying. It has more viceral impact and is less laid back than the Meitner.

The soundstage widened and the instruments were very well placed left to right with a nice front to back stage as well. All the sounds were separate from each other and placed in their distinct places.

The imaging was fantastic with voices dead anchored in the center. The Meitner was more washed out and blurred where the XPA was unwavering. All sounds were in the space they should be without any muddiness. There seemed to be greater resolution, detail, and separation with the cds I played.

Overall, I'd have to say that the XPA 2 is downright exciting. It is neutral and does not color what I was listening to. It has a low noise floor and ran silently. It has injected new interest in my music library! I highly recommend it. I have listened to Classe, Krell, Bryston, amongst others and the XPA 2 comes mighty close to that level of SQ. It has power to explore the depths of any music and yet maintain an intricate feeling of detail even when there are complex musical passages. Anyway, there's my 2 cents.

Now I'll have to see what it will do in my HT setup...

[Johnny Vinyl]

Thanks for that review d_m1010!

It is obvious you are mightely impressed with XPA-2.

As a point of interest for myself, may I ask what this unit cost you in total in Canuck bucks? Shipping, conversion, duties and taxes..the whole thing!

John

[D_M]

Originally Posted by John72953

Thanks for that review d_m1010!

It is obvious you are mightely impressed with XPA-2.

As a point of interest for myself, may I ask what this unit cost you in total in Canuck bucks? Shipping, conversion, duties and taxes..the whole thing!

John

Sure!

It was $799 USD with a free 4 meter X series power cable, $138 USD shipping (2 days wow), and $113 CAD Customs/Duties. Worth every penny. The USD I multiplied by 1.15 to get a rough exchange. There you go!

[bigred7078]

Originally Posted by John72953

I understand that completely, but its Emotiva who sets down what features they want a new componant to offer, not the chip maker. Obviously, it wasn't important enough to have them change to another chipset to accomodate this. And that's ok.

John

Well again yes and no. They can demand as much as they want, but the chip was not specifically made for them. Its a mass marketed chip that Cary and Krell use in their high end processors. They initially went with this because at that time it was quite different from the generic chip sets on the market. Could they have gone elsewhere, i dunno, i would assume that Dann L's Jade Design has ties to Cirrus and/or got a much better deal and decided to stick with it.

But i agree it does suck it doesnt have DSD capability.

[D_M]

Alright so I sold the Meitner gear on Canuck audio Mart, so now I'll be getting a replacement to go with the XPA 2. It will either be a YBA 3 preamp or the Emo USP for 2 channel use (no HT). Hmmmmm...

[Johk]

Originally Posted by d_m1010

So let me preface this review with a couple of notes. First I'm not a professional reviewer, work for Emotiva, or a scientist. I'm not using scientific measurements, only my subjectivity. I listened to cds that I am very familiar with and have been listening to for years.

I used a YBA CD2 as the trasport/dac, a Meitner PA6 as the preamp, Cardas neutral reference cable, and JM Lab Focal Electra 905 speakers.

The XPA 2 bests the Meitner STR50 I have owned for 6+ years in many ways.
Dynamics have much more impact. I have never heard the bass like that before. The bass was also more distinct and more coherent, not heavy but right. The highs were not harsh at all like I experienced from time to time with the Meitner. Also, the recordings I listened to had new life in them and sounded very exciting. Some cymbal crashes were startling and I actually said "wow". The Meitner always sounded very lifeless to me in comparison. Also, the speakers seemed 'faster', or had a better tempo, with that extra power - they could reproduce sounds more quickly. The decay was also more satisfying. It has more viceral impact and is less laid back than the Meitner.

The soundstage widened and the instruments were very well placed left to right with a nice front to back stage as well. All the sounds were separate from each other and placed in their distinct places.

The imaging was fantastic with voices dead anchored in the center. The Meitner was more washed out and blurred where the XPA was unwavering. All sounds were in the space they should be without any muddiness. There seemed to be greater resolution, detail, and separation with the cds I played.

Overall, I'd have to say that the XPA 2 is downright exciting. It is neutral and does not color what I was listening to. It has a low noise floor and ran silently. It has injected new interest in my music library! I highly recommend it. I have listened to Classe, Krell, Bryston, amongst others and the XPA 2 comes mighty close to that level of SQ. It has power to explore the depths of any music and yet maintain an intricate feeling of detail even when there are complex musical passages. Anyway, there's my 2 cents.

Now I'll have to see what it will do in my HT setup...

Good review!

I see that you are enjoying your new XPA-2... Glad you like it!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by d_m1010

Sure!

It was $799 USD with a free 4 meter X series power cable, $138 USD shipping (2 days wow), and $113 CAD Customs/Duties. Worth every penny. The USD I multiplied by 1.15 to get a rough exchange. There you go!

Thanks for getting back to me on that!

John