Emotiva sale

[Hostility]

Hello, well i seen on their site they have their holiday sale on. Now my question is, if its worth it for me to get the xpa-5 or 3. Its about $200 more for the 5 channel, but would maybe help down the road? My system consists of Paradigm studio 60 v4 main, CC690 v4 center, paradigm atoms in the rear. Now when i move into a house in a few years maybe upgrade rears and or add side/surrounds. My receiver is a anthem mrx300.

Also on a side note, anyone use their little mini-x a-100? Seems like it would be great for my PC?

and another question. how many amps do these run? im just curious if my apartments 14/2 wire is going to hold up to all this? wish they would put those specs up. I have belkin pf60 and it seems the most ive seen it under 5 amps running my equipment.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have an xpa5 and it will run off a 14-2 15a circuit no problem, you may not want a long extension cord or a refrigerator on the same circuit, but it works fine...

As far as the xpa3 vs xpa5, I would spend the extra $170 on the 5... Here is why...
XPA3=600watts for $600 =$1 per watt
XPA5-1000watts for $769 =$0.77 per watt = better deal...

plus the bstock xpa3's are always $600 so no big deal, the xpa5 bstock is $800 so you are saving another $30 that helps... Plus the xpa5 kicks serious @SS...

And I think your last question was about the mini X, I use one in my office on my PC, its awesome, you wont find one better for twice the price, I promise...

I bought another xpa2 and another miniX when the sale started...

PS not sure if you have an amazon rewards card but I get an additional 5% back in amazon credits with purchas eand they have the sales prices...

 

[Hostility]

ive done a lot of reading about adding amps def bring some more detail out which is what im going for. As for the mini, can you hook it up with just a Y cable, rca on 1 end, headphone jack into pc audio card?

 

[Adam]

I agree - I'd go for the five-channel. It's about 20 pounds heavier, but the same size as the three-channel, and I think it'll be nice to have in the future.

My experience with amps is that they didn't make any difference compared to my previous $500 receiver...the last receiver that I used the speaker outputs on...unless I played things louder than usual (but I don't listen very loudly). At my normal listening levels, my previous receiver sounded identical to my Emotiva amps. It was only at really loud (for me) levels that the receiver went beyond it's limits and the amps were clearly better. My receiver would just sound muffled, but the amps would keep the sound clean and dynamic. I don't know if my current receiver (which is better than my previous one) would be fine at louder levels or not - I've just never tried.

 

[ImcLoud]

ive done a lot of reading about adding amps def bring some more detail out which is what im going for. As for the mini, can you hook it up with just a Y cable, rca on 1 end, headphone jack into pc audio card?

Yes, I actually hook up my ipod that way, and before I got my d1 dac I had the pc wired like that..

The auto on sets it apart from other amps plus its shape and size are perfect for under or above a tower, I have mine between my dual monitors...

The big differences you are going to notice with separate amp and avr's alone are when in larger rooms, with louder material, more than 2 channels driven, and with hard to run speakers...

I noticed my 130 watt amp section in my old avr used to get very thin when I was playing loud movies and music would come on during the movie, having the center and fronts driven loud as soon as a little surround came into the picture I could tell it was getting low on power because my fronts would seem to go unbalanced and sound undefined {like someone through a blanket over them to muffle the sound}...

Its nice not to worry about clipping too....

Also when trying to blast music before I crossed my fronts, I would get clipping when it tried to reproduce the lows...

 

[Hostility]

hmm, well that was another thing sitting in the back of my mind. I am eventually going to move into a bigger place, but as for right now, we watch movies on my anthem around -25 to maybe -15. Now it seems fine to me but what im thinking about is the action scene where so much is happening if the mrx300 is keeping up fine or if stuff is mudding up but i just cant really tell

 

[ImcLoud]

hmm, well that was another thing sitting in the back of my mind. I am eventually going to move into a bigger place, but as for right now, we watch movies on my anthem around -25 to maybe -15. Now it seems fine to me but what im thinking about is the action scene where so much is happening if the mrx300 is keeping up fine or if stuff is mudding up but i just cant really tell

Well if you can't tell, than I don't think it really matters.... I know with my old avr, I could tell it was getting overworked...

 

[DS-21]

hmm, well that was another thing sitting in the back of my mind. I am eventually going to move into a bigger place, but as for right now, we watch movies on my anthem around -25 to maybe -15. Now it seems fine to me but what im thinking about is the action scene where so much is happening if the mrx300 is keeping up fine or if stuff is mudding up but i just cant really tell

Think about it for a minute.

Assuming you ran ARC, that means the loudest any mains speaker can ever be asked to play given the volume settings at which you listen is 100dB at the listening position. (IIRC, -10 is actually reference level on the Anthem boxes.) Let's be conservative in balancing listening distance with output from reflections, and say that means 103dB/1m. (You can be more precise by downloading an SPL meter app for your phone - JL Audio has a free one for iPhones - playing a test tone at a comfortable volume, taking a measurement ~1m away, and taking a measurement at the listening position to see how much output actually fades in your room.)

Your mains are rated 88dB/W/m. That means you need about 15dBW of power to get 103dB out of your mains. The MRX300 clipped at ~70W with 7 channels driven in HT Mag's tests, and is rated at 60W/ch. Peak output will be higher than that. Seventy watts is ~18.5dBW, and 60W is ~18dBW. So even assuming 3dB of power compression, the MRX alone is more than adequate to drive your speakers to your required levels.

So the bottom line is, all an extra amp will buy you is marginally higher power bills.

 

[ImcLoud]

Think about it for a minute.

Assuming you ran ARC, that means the loudest any mains speaker can ever be asked to play given the volume settings at which you listen is 100dB at the listening position. (IIRC, -10 is actually reference level on the Anthem boxes.) Let's be conservative in balancing listening distance with output from reflections, and say that means 103dB/1m. (You can be more precise by downloading an SPL meter app for your phone - JL Audio has a free one for iPhones - playing a test tone at a comfortable volume, taking a measurement ~1m away, and taking a measurement at the listening position to see how much output actually fades in your room.)

Your mains are rated 88dB/W/m. That means you need about 15dBW of power to get 103dB out of your mains. The MRX300 clipped at ~70W with 7 channels driven in HT Mag's tests, and is rated at 60W/ch. Peak output will be higher than that. Seventy watts is ~18.5dBW, and 60W is ~18dBW. So even assuming 3dB of power compression, the MRX alone is more than adequate to drive your speakers to your required levels.

So the bottom line is, all an extra amp will buy you is marginally higher power bills.

So his amp section is good enough at 1m? Im sorry Im not as technical with this stuff as a lot of guys on this board...

Another thing to keep in mind is, how long is your avr going to last when you are playing it at 95% all the time... I was a t my sisters house over the weekend and she was using her new system, playing music pretty loud {through her cable box so a lot of it was through the center ch.} and after 2 hours her avr was HOT, I only went and felt it because I could smell it...

IMO if you listen loud, have a big room, or have hard to run speakers you wont go wrong with separates....

 

[DS-21]

So his amp section is good enough at 1m?

Please re-read my post to clear up your confusion.

Another thing to keep in mind is, how long is your avr going to last when you are playing it at 95% all the time...

Assuming it's well-ventilated, about as long as it would if it were played at 45%.

IMO if you listen loud, have a big room, or have hard to run speakers you wont go wrong with separates....

That's the "psst! I got something to sell you" position. It does not always accord with actual reality.

(That said, I have a separate amp and will use it with my MRX300 soon, though currently it's not even plugged in. The reason I will use it is that my system design will require an outboard DSP processor for the three main channels. See here for more on when a separate amp is actually warranted for a given situation, and when it's just a waste of money.)

 

[Hostility]

Thanks for th responses, I Guess how I look at it is my MRX is putting out 60/ watts a channel and my speakers are recommended in the front to run 150-200 watts continuous.

I really wish I could try it out and test it. As for hearing clipping. To be honest I haven't been able to play it to my levels in a little while been watching cheesey movies lately at moderate levels. Ill download that app and try it out! What test tone should I run?

 

[JerryLove]

The Studio 40's and Studio 60's both ran well off my AVRs. They aren't terribly demanding speakers.

 

[Hostility]

comparing music wise, my onkyo sounded more fuller then my set up now. As for movies, sounds more rich. (i had the onkyo 807)

 

[PENG]

comparing music wise, my onkyo sounded more fuller then my set up now. As for movies, sounds more rich. (i had the onkyo 807)

If you want an amp just to to try out and just to have one, I would go with the XPA-2 for the mains. Or the XPA-3 for the fronts. Then when you move in to a bigger place, with larger surround speakers than buy another XPA-3 if you have the 2 already, or the 2 if you have the 3 already and then use the 2 for the mains.

That's only if you do want to have more power for 2 channel music listening, otherwise I agree with others that go with the XPA-5 for more watts/$/cu.ft. Having said that, an alternative is to trade the MRX-3 for its bigger brother (if you are brand loyal and prefer their ARC) or a Denon AVR-4520, or the outgoing 4311 for cheap if you think Audyssey XT32 is good for you.

I don't like the XPA-5 because it go against the principles of getting a separate amp for more power. It has too small a power transformer and not enough filter capacitance for my appetite.

 

[Hostility]

Thanks peng. I think I might order up the xpa3 actually and let the avr take care of surrounds. Even if I don't like it there is a huge market for these amps where I live. Also the 3 could be moved over to a 2 ch setup if not needed for my ht.

 

[ImcLoud]

Thanks peng. I think I might order up the xpa3 actually and let the avr take care of surrounds. Even if I don't like it there is a huge market for these amps where I live. Also the 3 could be moved over to a 2 ch setup if not needed for my ht.

Hmmm, I would consider the 5 or 2 for the sale prices.... but the 3 is great too... Just the 5 and 2 are special...

 

[Hostility]

Hmmm, I would consider the 5 or 2 for the sale prices.... but the 3 is great too... Just the 5 and 2 are special...

Why are they special? It's hard to make the choice. $200 isn't a huge deal breaker just don't think I need that much power for rears so I figured I would save the $200 lol I'm also ordering the minix amp they sale for a small pc set up!

 

[ImcLoud]

Why are they special? It's hard to make the choice. $200 isn't a huge deal breaker just don't think I need that much power for rears so I figured I would save the $200 lol I'm also ordering the minix amp they sale for a small pc set up!

Not really special lol, the xpa2 uses some different components to make it more better, but the xpa5 for the little extra cost is worth it for a few reasons, resale value, cost per watt, and when you have all channels driven by an amp, you can buy a receiver with no amp sections in the future...

 

[Hostility]

you can buy a receiver with no amp sections in the future...

Thats actually a very good point!

 

[PENG]

Thats actually a very good point!

But by then you can buy a 2 to power the front and use the 3 to power the rest. Also keep in mind an AVR will always come with onboard amps, unless you plan on going the separate prepro route. Again, base on the published specs, the 5 may not be that much more powerful (may be a couple of dB at the most) than a strong AVR such as the Denon AVR-4311 and the Onkyo 300X and 500X models, just check HTM, HCC lab measurements to see for yourself. I am reluctant to consider anything below the 3 a real "power" amp, but that's just me.