Need help choosing Marantz Cinema 40 vs Emotive XPA GEN3 5 Channel Amp

[KAKA]

Hey Audioholics,

Below is my current setup

AV : Yamaha Aventage RX-A1050
LCR : KEF R3 META . Soon will be upgrading to Kef R2c for center channel
Sub : SVS SB2000
Surround : KEF Q150

I have been using Yamaha RX-A1050 from past 8 years. so far it is doing well. I recently upgraded my front speakers and will be upgrading center channel as well. KEF R meta is a 4 ohm speaker and I believe it requires a good powerful to drive these speakers. I have been looking around recievers/amps from denon/marantz/emotiva. So I m having a hard time make a decision to buy a marantz cinema 40 or Denon x6700 or keep my Yamaha rx-a1050 as preprocessor and buy emotive XPA gen3 5 channels amp. which one do you guys think is a better buy and how does emotiva amps in general compare to denon/marantz Amps in terms of sound quality. I cannot own an Amp from denon/marantz given its cost.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would just keep using the RX-A1050 (ATMOS/DTSX/4K).

A friend of mine has the KEF R11 towers and he uses the Yamaha RX-A4A, which is equivalent to the 1050. He is planning on getting an ATI AT527NC amp. But in the meantime, the Yamaha AVR is doing just fine for his R11 towers.

If you gotta have an amp, might save up for a nicer amp than Emo.

 

[lovinthehd]

As long as the avr is doing what you need to in non-amp respects I'd keep using it until you have used it with (all? you already have the R3Metas?) your new speakers and see if you need additional power/impedance handling capability. Hard to know a lot from what you posted, so would help to know more about your particular use (distance from speakers, listening levels); what were your previous front speakers? Just changing avr won't bring a particular advantage as the amp sections aren't significantly different, particularly the Marantz (which I'd compare more to the Denon 4800). Your 1050 has pre-outs so adding an amp is an option in any case. Emotiva isn't even on my list of brands to consider for amps.

 

[KAKA]

I m exploring on the amps. I don't know much about emotiva but was browsing around and it looked beefy in terms to specs so thought of considering it. As far as speaker goes I had KEF q300 and Kef Q600 for center which is replaced with KEF R3 Meta and KEF R2 for center (pending). when I auditioned for KEF R meta near my place I was told I need a good amp to drive R3 meta compared to driving Q300. so started exploring for other amps.

Please advise if I can use RX-A1050 for driving in 2 channel mode with a sub and also for movie part where center channel is involved. my viewing distance from TV is around 13 feet.

80% of time I use my receiver for music and as such RX-A1050 is like a tank after 8 years and runs cool and has shown no issues of heating or wearing out. But just want to make sure with 4 ohms load I don't want to drive it hot. Also I have put a limit on -15db as the max volume I can go on RX-A1050 which itself is loud for me from where I sit.

 

[lovinthehd]

They may have just been trying to sell you an amp, too. If you have the R3Metas now, is the 1050 now heating up in your normal use? At your listening levels I wouldn't think it a particular problem and you can always add a fan to help. Altho those speakers are not particularly sensitive at 87 dB (2.83V/1m per their spec), they're not particularly unusual either. I would like to see measurements for them but don't see any, altho there are these for the R3 (non Meta).

 

[KAKA]

Thanks. Another question wrt to kef r3 meta and room correction using YPAO & REW. Basically I measured using YAPO at 6 different position and it dailed in some values for all speakers. I.E YPAO FLAT. At YPAO FLAT I used REW and measured all speakers.

So with REW should I measure all speakers or just F+R+SUB and use house curve and apply it. ? also any good reference on how to dial/map EQ values to PEQ on Yamaha and also should I correct/apply EQ above 250 hz ?

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks. Another question wrt to kef r3 meta and room correction using YPAO & REW. Basically I measured using YAPO at 6 different position and it dailed in some values for all speakers. I.E YPAO FLAT. At YPAO FLAT I used REW and measured all speakers.

So with REW should I measure all speakers or just F+R+SUB and use house curve and apply it. ? also any good reference on how to dial/map EQ values to PEQ on Yamaha and also should I correct/apply EQ above 250 hz ?

I'd prefer Audyssey over YPAO myself. As far as using YPAO and adjusting via PEQ, maybe. Not sure what your preferences are in all the various modes, but in the end it is s simply what you prefer over what someone else may say is "correct". Experiment with your tools, find something you find optimal.

 

[PENG]

Hey Audioholics,

Below is my current setup

AV : Yamaha Aventage RX-A1050
LCR : KEF R3 META . Soon will be upgrading to Kef R2c for center channel
Sub : SVS SB2000
Surround : KEF Q150

I have been using Yamaha RX-A1050 from past 8 years. so far it is doing well. I recently upgraded my front speakers and will be upgrading center channel as well. KEF R meta is a 4 ohm speaker and I believe it requires a good powerful to drive these speakers. I have been looking around recievers/amps from denon/marantz/emotiva. So I m having a hard time make a decision to buy a marantz cinema 40 or Denon x6700 or keep my Yamaha rx-a1050 as preprocessor and buy emotive XPA gen3 5 channels amp. which one do you guys think is a better buy and how does emotiva amps in general compare to denon/marantz Amps in terms of sound quality. I cannot own an Amp from denon/marantz given its cost.

Unless you are in Europe or Asia, if budget is limited, you would get more mileage going with a Denon AVR-X3800H and get a low cost 3 channel amp for the LCR, or go with the AVR-X4800H (or the AVR-X6700H if they offer a deep discount) that may work okay with those speakers with crossover set to 80 or 90 Hz to avoid one of the two worse dips. That's if you don't listen close to reference level, assuming you don't sit too far.

Your questions cannot be answered more fully, without knowing your listening habit, room size, distance etc. (at least you provided details of the speakers, thanks for that). For example, whether you need that Emo amp or not, would still depend a lot on your listening habit, room size, and seating distance.

A very frequently linked calculator is the following:
Peak SPL Calculator (hometheaterengineering.com)
Note: For speaker sensitivity of the R3 meta, enter 84 or even 83, instead of the specified 87 dB, because of its 4 ohm nominal impedance and dips to 3.2 ohms.

The results will give you an idea whether it is worth spending money on adding an external power amp. If you do need an amp, I would go with something better than the Emotiva amp that is no better than the Marantz or Denon AVR amps.

The reason I suggested going for the Denon (if in USA or Canada) or Marantz (if in Europe/Asia) is that you will have an upgrade path to Dirac Live, the DLBC version when your budget is read for it. Until then, you can also use the $20 app to get very good results (almost as good as Dirac) in smoothing the bass range from 20 to 200 Hz, no need to waste time on a $250 minidsp that may do worse.

KEF R3 meta Measurements | Audio Science Review (ASR) Forum