Advice with Denon avr and Emotiva xpa 7 gen 3 hookup

[John Goodpaster]

I have the Denon x1300w avr and a Emotiva xpa 7 gen 3 (only have 2 modules in at moment) amp that im having some trouble figuring out if i can run together. The denon has zone two preouts and 2 sub preouts but no 7.2 preouts that i can see. Is there any way to run the denon either summed through the sub preouts or if i use zone 2 preouts will i be able to play front towers through the emotiva and my subs and surounds on the denon still? Thanks in advance.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You would need the $599 Denon X3300 for the 7.2 pre-out.

You can use the EMO for Zone 2 for a different room.

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

To expand a bit on AcuDef’s post, if your intent is for the Emotiva to replace the Denon’s internal amplifiers for a 7.2 system, you’ll need a receiver with 7.1.2 preamp outputs.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[John Goodpaster]

You would need the $599 Denon X3300 for the 7.2 pre-out.

You can use the EMO for Zone 2 for a different room.

Thanks for the reply. I also have the emotiva mc700 7.1 preamp. Is there a way to achieve what im looking for by inclucing it in the mix? Is it possible to run the denon through the mc700 then to amp? Seems a hassle but if i have the equipment and it is capable of my goal i would just assume save the money. Thanks again for any insight!

 

[WaynePflughaupt]

You can use the Emotiva pre-amp with the Emotiva amp. What exactly does the Denon have that you would want to “run though” the Emotiva pre-amp?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[John Goodpaster]

You can use the Emotiva pre-amp with the Emotiva amp. What exactly does the Denon have that you would want to “run though” the Emotiva pre-amp?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

Thanks i was figured as much but was holding out hope lol. Ti answer your question about why i want the denon with the emos, is because the denon front outputs seem to be to weak to push my towers with any authority and punch. I realize now that the rated powdr all channels di en is probably in the neighborhood of 25 to 30 rms maybe. Far cry from the stated 85 rms. So to remedy this i wanted to run the fronts off of the emo and leave the surrounds all on the denon as it seems to do fine with them. Powered subs are good there as well. The mc700 has no amplification and the denon has no preouts. Looks like its time to hunt down a better avr or buy the rest of the modules (5 more) for the xpa. Thanks for your time guys its been very much appreciated.

 

[lovinthehd]

Bench test for the similar 1200 model here

What has the all channel spec to do with your needs for the two speakers, and what are the speakers? What are your spl goals at what distance from the speakers?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Even at 5Ch driven into 8 ohms, it's almost 80W (1% THD).

Why do you think the Denon is weak for your front speakers?

Does it sound distorted? Does it shut down?

Or is it only because you have to increase the volume?

 

[John Goodpaster]

Even at 5Ch driven into 8 ohms, it's almost 80W (1% THD).

Why do you think the Denon is weak for your front speakers?

Does it sound distorted? Does it shut down?

Or is it only because you have to increase the volume?

Because it just absorbs all the amp can give and barely move or break a sweat it seems. Zpart of this may be their efficiency rating of i believe 85 . they are just a modest sey of fluance xl7f towers. They are rated for 40 to 200 rms. Just running them straight of denon no bi amp or bi wire. They sound like something is missing in the low mid range and almost like the highs are for a lack of a better comparison.....muffled or restrained somewhat. Hope that makes sense. I am running all fluance xl7f speakers in a 7.1 system all at correct height and sapced and toed in a bit to the listening position. As for the 1300 rating, it appears the 1200 is quite a bit more powerful as my manuel says 80 rms. Its not the spl im after so much as the clarity and ability to dig deep when needed.

 

[panteragstk]

That is a characteristic of the speakers. Amps won't change that unless the speakers are hard to drive and are starved for power.

 

[lovinthehd]

Because it just absorbs all the amp can give and barely move or break a sweat it seems. Zpart of this may be their efficiency rating of i believe 85 . they are just a modest sey of fluance xl7f towers. They are rated for 40 to 200 rms. Just running them straight of denon no bi amp or bi wire. They sound like something is missing in the low mid range and almost like the highs are for a lack of a better comparison.....muffled or restrained somewhat. Hope that makes sense. I am running all fluance xl7f speakers in a 7.1 system all at correct height and sapced and toed in a bit to the listening position. As for the 1300 rating, it appears the 1200 is quite a bit more powerful as my manuel says 80 rms. Its not the spl im after so much as the clarity and ability to dig deep when needed.

You certainly may be a candidate for a bigger amp, a 7 channel amp perhaps (are you running this in 7ch stereo, too?). Passive bi-amping or bi-wiring wouldn't make a difference btw. Could just be the speakers to an extent, too. Really depends on the distance and what spl you're seeking but keep in mind even a doubling of power only gains you 3dB spl.

 

[lovinthehd]

Measurements for the speakers fwiw

 

[PENG]

As for the 1300 rating, it appears the 1200 is quite a bit more powerful as my manuel says 80 rms. Its not the spl im after so much as the clarity and ability to dig deep when needed.

I read the manual of both, the X1200W and the X1300W appear to have the same amplifier and power supply specs, they even weigh the same. The difference between the two will most likely be in the feature sets. Regardless, unless you are in a small room or sit very close to the speakers, using the xpa amp is a good idea for sure.

If you read page 118 and 142 of the manual, it tells you how zone2 works. For stereo music, using the preout you can definitely run them through your Emotiva preamp. It may work for movies too as the manual is not 100% clear. It may get complicated but there is no harm trying.

It is obviously simpler to trade the 1300 in for a 3300, then you can take advantage of the XPA easily.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Because it just absorbs all the amp can give and barely move or break a sweat it seems. Zpart of this may be their efficiency rating of i believe 85 . they are just a modest sey of fluance xl7f towers. They are rated for 40 to 200 rms. Just running them straight of denon no bi amp or bi wire. They sound like something is missing in the low mid range and almost like the highs are for a lack of a better comparison.....muffled or restrained somewhat. Hope that makes sense. I am running all fluance xl7f speakers in a 7.1 system all at correct height and sapced and toed in a bit to the listening position. As for the 1300 rating, it appears the 1200 is quite a bit more powerful as my manuel says 80 rms. Its not the spl im after so much as the clarity and ability to dig deep when needed.

Passive bi-amp and bi-wire won't do anything for your speakers.

The Denon 1200 should be the same amp as the 1300.

The speaker engineers recommend 40 - 200 Watts, so it seems the Denon is somewhere in the middle there.

Is the problem when listening to 2.1 music or only when watching 7.1 movies?

What is your Denon setting?

Audyssey Flat? Audyssey Reference? Audyssey Bypass L/R? Dynamic EQ on or off? Dynamic Volume on or off? What's your speaker, bass, crossover setting?

The midrange and treble do not require as much power as the bass. And if you set your speakers to SMALL, Crossover to 80-100Hz, most of the power requirement will go to the subwoofer, not the midrange and treble.

I can tell you right now that if the sound quality isn't as good as you want, it's usually NOT the amplifier section.

Unless the amp is clipping (distorting noise/shutting down), the amp usually isn't the problem.

A few more watts or a lot more watts won't magically improve the clarity of the midrange.

The problem is usually the Processor/AVR settings, the speakers, or the room acoustics (hard floors, speaker placement).