NAD or Emotiva?

[itschris]

How do you like your sunfire? I heared it colors the sound ( tube like).

I have the Cinema Grand, I would say it does the exact opposite. I also have an 200x2 Adcom. They do sound different, but until you have a reference to go by, how do you really know what's "colored" or not.

I would say that the Sunfire puts out a warm neutral sound, where the Adcom is a bit harsher. Mind you, these are just casual observations.

 

[ned]

I have the Cinema Grand, I would say it does the exact opposite. I also have an 200x2 Adcom. They do sound different, but until you have a reference to go by, how do you really know what's "colored" or not.

I would say that the Sunfire puts out a warm neutral sound, where the Adcom is a bit harsher. Mind you, these are just casual observations.

Could you please define "warm" sound?

 

[tn001d]

Could you please define "warm" sound?

Imagine its a cold winter day and you are sitting in front of the fireplace with a nice wool blanket having some campells chunky soup with the xmas tree in the corner twinkling at night.

That pretty much describes how a warm amp sounds like.

 

[mouettus]

Dammit... dealer won't let me bring one of those Rotel home for a demo! I'll have to buy it if I want to listen to it in my environment to see if it makes a 1.5K$ difference in sound vs my 1800

 

[TRT]

Dammit... dealer won't let me bring one of those Rotel home for a demo! I'll have to buy it if I want to listen to it in my environment to see if it makes a 1.5K$ difference in sound vs my 1800

The Emotiva MPS series is as good as they come. If it doesn't sound great in your system, it's not the amp.

 

[TRT]

The Emotiva MPS series is as good as they come. If it doesn't sound great in your system, it's not the amp.

Rotel makes quality amps as well. Anthem Statement, Bryston and McIntosh make great sounding amps as well, however; Cost vs. performance has to be considered and the Emotiva's win hands down. I'll give you a perfect example. I spent four hours comparing the difference between a Emotiva MPS-1 and [2]Bryston 28B SST monoblocks running a pair of Aerial Acoustics 20T speakers and could not hear any sonic differences. I'm pretty sure that the power cables on the Brystons cost more than the Emo's. At some point on the point of deminishing return graph, you have to know that the money could be spent wisely on other weaker sources in a system. When you go out for a expensive dinner, do you really care how much they spent on the stove?

 

[mouettus]

Rotel makes quality amps as well. Anthem Statement, Bryston and McIntosh make great sounding amps as well, however; Cost vs. performance has to be considered and the Emotiva's win hands down. I'll give you a perfect example. I spent four hours comparing the difference between a Emotiva MPS-1 and [2]Bryston 28B SST monoblocks running a pair of Aerial Acoustics 20T speakers and could not hear any sonic differences. I'm pretty sure that the power cables on the Brystons cost more than the Emo's. At some point on the point of deminishing return graph, you have to know that the money could be spent wisely on other weaker sources in a system. When you go out for a expensive dinner, do you really care how much they spent on the stove?

First thing I ask when I get in a restaurant... don't you?! lol

I like the idea if Emotiva really much but I'd have to pay a lot for shipping only. Furthermore, like I said, I'll consider a behemoth as my last option. Those tiny digital amplifiers have so much in terms of improvements on a lot of grounds.

I think I'll at least email Emotiva for shipping fees...

 

[itschris]

Could you please define "warm" sound?

Certainly. I'll pretend you weren't smirking when you typed that.

"Warm"... The opposite of harsh and fatiguing. I think certain components or combinations of components lend themselves to certain sound characteristics. For instance, a good friend of mine used to have a really nice listening room. He was a big fan of Klipsch. He had Adcom sperates, monoblocks (I had and still have the 2x200 - GFAII 200 I think or something like that, I'd have to dig the amp out and look and we had the same Adcom 5 disc changer that I still use today in my new system.) I was always jealous of those big monster monoblocks and those giant speakers.

As much as I loved that room and that equipment, it was tough to listen for long periods. It just sound a bit technical and shrill... harsh. I imagine this was more the speakers than the amp, but I think both contribute.

I would go back to my place, at the time I had the Sunfire (which I just got), the Adcom player, and an Onkyo 90Pro going through a set of BP2000's when they first came out. I never felt fatigued or got tired or agitated listening to music for long periods of time. The sound was soothing... warm. I really really still like that Adcom amp, but I love that Sunfire and just don't imagine giving that up.

I mean, how do you describe the color blue to someone, or even explain verbally how to tie a shoe? There are some descriptions that just make sense to you that very hard to describe to someone else.

 

[GlocksRock]

First thing I ask when I get in a restaurant... don't you?! lol

I like the idea if Emotiva really much but I'd have to pay a lot for shipping only. Furthermore, like I said, I'll consider a behemoth as my last option. Those tiny digital amplifiers have so much in terms of improvements on a lot of grounds.

I think I'll at least email Emotiva for shipping fees...

I think it cost $50 to ship my 80 lb. IPS-1 from wherever it shipped from, to Charlotte, NC if that gives you any idea about shipping. But I will say when I originally bought my 2 BPA-1 amps, I returned them in exchange for an IPA-1, and they applied full credit towards the IPS-1, even my shipping costs, so I only ended up paying to ship them back, and for the shipping on the IPS-1.

 

[mouettus]

I think it cost $50 to ship my 80 lb. IPS-1 from wherever it shipped from, to Charlotte, NC if that gives you any idea about shipping. But I will say when I originally bought my 2 BPA-1 amps, I returned them in exchange for an IPA-1, and they applied full credit towards the IPS-1, even my shipping costs, so I only ended up paying to ship them back, and for the shipping on the IPS-1.

***I live in Canada

 

[jcPanny]

Amp demo

Dammit... dealer won't let me bring one of those Rotel home for a demo! I'll have to buy it if I want to listen to it in my environment to see if it makes a 1.5K$ difference in sound vs my 1800

Maybe you can setup a demo at the dealer. Bring in your receiver and speakers and set it up with and without the Rotel amp. You need to level match the volume for a good A/B comparison.

You will know if an amp will improve you system but you will still have to decide on Rotel or Emotiva.

 

[GlocksRock]

***I live in Canada

I'm sorry... I guess that would make shipping a lot more in your case.

I also doubt you will hear a $1,500 difference bewteen the Rotel and the Yamaha, but you will probably hear some difference.

 

[egreen1976]

I've posted a few resoponses to this but I should reiterate I last week made the decision between Rotel and Receive, upgrading from a Denon that is comparable to your Yamaha. After playing some more vinly last night there is certainly a difference when adding the Emotiva amp, whether its a 1500 difference is debateable. I feel more comfy with it being a $750 difference. I get what your trying to do and this is as much about the future of your system. With that in mind, here is some more of my reaoning for getting the Emotiva.

1) I wasnt going the Rotel 1095 I was getting the one that was 125w x5. So Emotiva won for pwer. Also the Rotel went for 800 on audiogon at best. The Emotiva should resell in the 650 range. So I am assuming much less risk if I want to sell later. Rotel losses 33% of its value instantly.

2) I'll chalk this up to a starter amp, and if I feel an upgrade is needed later I can sell this or add a real kick *** 2 channel to the XPA-5.

3) I would rather add a Rotel processor later if I absolutely needed the peice of mind in owning a staple brand. The 750 + I save would allow me to get a substantial upgrade in the pre/pro dept.

I hope this helps as I debated the EXACT same question for a year. I think I'll be the first one to tell you a straight answer. Go with the Emotiva, these amps are pretty much Neutral and the save 700+ gives u a serious head start on another upgrade.

Or how about this scenerio, for the price of the Rotel. You can get the XPA5, and when the new pre/pro is released, you can sell your yammy and use this savings to upgrade to the emotiva pre/pro, for about the same cost of the entire Rotel receiver, and this is coming from someone who will gladly pay up for a little bit more quality. In this scenerio there is just no reason to.

 

[mouettus]

I've posted a few resoponses to this but I should reiterate I last week made the decision between Rotel and Receive, upgrading from a Denon that is comparable to your Yamaha. After playing some more vinly last night there is certainly a difference when adding the Emotiva amp, whether its a 1500 difference is debateable. I feel more comfy with it being a $750 difference. I get what your trying to do and this is as much about the future of your system. With that in mind, here is some more of my reaoning for getting the Emotiva.

1) I wasnt going the Rotel 1095 I was getting the one that was 125w x5. So Emotiva won for pwer. Also the Rotel went for 800 on audiogon at best. The Emotiva should resell in the 650 range. So I am assuming much less risk if I want to sell later. Rotel losses 33% of its value instantly.

2) I'll chalk this up to a starter amp, and if I feel an upgrade is needed later I can sell this or add a real kick *** 2 channel to the XPA-5.

3) I would rather add a Rotel processor later if I absolutely needed the peice of mind in owning a staple brand. The 750 + I save would allow me to get a substantial upgrade in the pre/pro dept.

I hope this helps as I debated the EXACT same question for a year. I think I'll be the first one to tell you a straight answer. Go with the Emotiva, these amps are pretty much Neutral and the save 700+ gives u a serious head start on another upgrade.

Or how about this scenerio, for the price of the Rotel. You can get the XPA5, and when the new pre/pro is released, you can sell your yammy and use this savings to upgrade to the emotiva pre/pro, for about the same cost of the entire Rotel receiver, and this is coming from someone who will gladly pay up for a little bit more quality. In this scenerio there is just no reason to.

Thansk for the nice post. I feel really comfortable thinking that I'm not cheap by not wanting to spend 1.5K$ for a small improvement in AQ. The ONLY thing that is keeping me with Rotel is the fact that it's a digital amplifier at a price I could afford. Again, having a small, effective, cool piece of equipment is really appealing to me.

BTW, I sent an e-mail yesterday to emotiva and they didn't even answer yet. :S

 

[egreen1976]

about the class D amps.. i to was looking into the Rotel D at first, but the consensus seems to be that they arent as good as the normal class a/b. that there is distortion at certain levels.

 

[jostenmeat]

I visisted a particular Rotel dealer a couple of times last year. He also said he did not like their D class amps. He still preferred the A/B.

 

[mouettus]

about the class D amps.. i to was looking into the Rotel D at first, but the consensus seems to be that they arent as good as the normal class a/b. that there is distortion at certain levels.

sources?

Cuz I've read all over the net personnal reviews of ppl switching from A/B to D without hearing any difference.

 

[jostenmeat]

sources?

Cuz I've read all over the net personnal reviews of ppl switching from A/B to D without hearing any difference.

Specifically Rotel models?

 

[rnatalli]

I've heard several opinions with regards to Class D amps. Some say they've come along and sound excellent, some say A/B sound better, others say they can't tell any difference. I just purchased an Emotiva DMR-1 for someone which uses Class D amplification so I'll have to post my impressions next week when it gets here.

 

[ned]

Most professional reviewer couldn't tell the difference with the distortion. Check out Gene's review on 1095.