Any opinions on Emotiva amps?

[Good4it]

Thinking of buying one.

 

[carlthess40]

I have used some of the first gen amps and they sounded great, warm and detailed and sparkly highs with all my heritage Klipsch and my KPT & KI series Klipsch speakers
a friend of mine loan me a few of his of his amps for a few months
I had a mono block , 2 channel in a 5 channel running it on my KPT set up and they sounded wonderful kpt 904 / kpt100’s and 2 kpt-484 subs and I was comparing to my Marantz little monobloc blade amplifiers and they sounded much more warm fast and had tons of reserve power
I’m not sure on how long they last before repairs are needed. The krell class A amps I had would need recapped and stuff after 10 years but the run hot as Hell even at idle

 

[ski2xblack]

Interesting, carl. I would personally prefer amps with input sensitivity or gain controls for such high sensitive speakers, to bury any residual noise (if there were any). Anywho, the OP is probably good to go with Emotional amps.

 

[j_garcia]

Class A amps are full activity 100% of the time, so of course they will die sooner.

Have had a few of the Emotivas over the last few years, both big and small and have not had any problems.

 

[KEW]

One thing to watch on Emotivas is the depth of the gear. The 1st Generation amps were like 21" deep by the time you factored banana plugs, etc!
Pretty sure the new models are better, but if you have a specific spot you plan to put it, make sure you will have room!
I generally consider the Outlaw 5000 a better value for the less expensive Emotivas and the Monolith a better value for the XPA series; but much depends on exactly what you are looking for. Used to be they would have some great sales which made them value leaders, but not seeing much of that any more.
Regardless of the above, they have always designed good reliable amps (but be wary of their pre-processors).

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, some of the models are very deep. I left the back off my Salamader rack so I could fit the cabling.

 

[TechHDS]

I have had several of their amps 1st gen, still have one it’s just over 5 years old still going strong haven’t any Issues with it very solid amp. All of them that I owned anyways. Can’t speak of the ones they are producing now. They ship out fast, good customer service when I used them like for info.

 

[Good4it]

I’ve heard that the build is good now how about the sound? Any bad reviews? How are they with warranty work if needed?

 

[steve64]

I use XPA-1L's to drive the bass section of the speakers. Mac 275 mk 6 for the treble and mid.
Absolutely pleased!!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

how about the sound?

Emotiva amps sound as good as other amps, including Crown, QSC, Yamaha, Denon, etc.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I use XPA-1L's to drive the bass section of the speakers. Mac 275 mk 6 for the treble and mid.
Absolutely pleased!!

Active bi-amp, partial, or passive?

 

[2channel lover]

One thing to watch on Emotivas is the depth of the gear. The 1st Generation amps were like 21" deep by the time you factored banana plugs, etc!
Pretty sure the new models are better, but if you have a specific spot you plan to put it, make sure you will have room!
I generally consider the Outlaw 5000 a better value for the less expensive Emotivas and the Monolith a better value for the XPA series; but much depends on exactly what you are looking for. Used to be they would have some great sales which made them value leaders, but not seeing much of that any more.
Regardless of the above, they have always designed good reliable amps (but be wary of their pre-processors).

I have 2 of their X series amps...the 5ch A500 and multi-zone A800...they're relatively new so you should have any, but so far...no issues.

 

[KEW]

I have 2 of their X series amps...the 5ch A500 and multi-zone A800...they're relatively new so you should have any, but so far...no issues.

Yeah, I know about the A500, but even at $100 less than the Outlaw, it just doesn't seem a great value. Maybe @PENG or someone that knows electronics will look at these and tell me the Emotiva is somehow more sophisticated, but the Outlaw uses the same modular card design Emotiva uses in their XPA series and I don't think having two fans that blow into the heat sink instead of flowing through the heat sink shows great engineering - seems like the fans were an afterthought once they found the unit ran hot. From a practical standpoint, I am sure they function fine, The Emotiva puts out 80 WPC X 5 (per Emotiva) and the Outlaw is rated at 120 WPC, but puts out 135WPC X 5 per Gene's evaluation. I do find it curious that Outlaw calls this a 120WPC amp while everybody else on God's green Earth uses the 2 channel power output for describing their amp. I'm sure their sales would increase if they called it a 170WPC amp!
I don't know the details of electronics, but the Outlaw 5000 just seems to be very well designed looking at the layout!
And I also offer the similarities of the A500 vs the Niles SI-275 which is a (very well designed...stable to 2.66 Ohms, IIRC) 75WPC X 2 amp!
I think the Emotiva is solid gear, but just don't see the value represented in past years out of them!

Emotiva A500:

Outlaw 5000:

Niles SI-275 (75WPC X 2):

 

[2channel lover]

Yeah, I know about the A500, but even at $100 less than the Outlaw, it just doesn't seem a great value. Maybe @PENG or someone that knows electronics will look at these and tell me the Emotiva is somehow more sophisticated, but the Outlaw uses the same modular card design Emotiva uses in their XPA series and I don't think having two fans that blow into the heat sink instead of flowing through the heat sink shows great engineering - seems like the fans were an afterthought once they found the unit ran hot. From a practical standpoint, I am sure they function fine, The Emotiva puts out 80 WPC X 5 (per Emotiva) and the Outlaw is rated at 120 WPC, but puts out 135WPC X 5 per Gene's evaluation. I do find it curious that Outlaw calls this a 120WPC amp while everybody else on God's green Earth uses the 2 channel power output for describing their amp. I'm sure their sales would increase if they called it a 170WPC amp!
I don't know the details of electronics, but the Outlaw 5000 just seems to be very well designed looking at the layout!
And I also offer the similarities of the A500 vs the Niles SI-275 which is a (very well designed...stable to 2.66 Ohms, IIRC) 75WPC X 2 amp!
I think the Emotiva is solid gear, but just don't see the value represented in past years out of them!

Emotiva A500:

Outlaw 5000:

Niles SI-275 (75WPC X 2):

LOL...great post.

I feel like I'm a debate or something.

I don't disagree with much of what you said....I have the M2200s from Outlaw so I was thinking about the 5000, but to push surrounds I knowing went with less amp for once.

I didn't get a steal on them or anything, but the holiday sale promo (turned out the to be their last one to date) put the combined (a500/a800) purchase maybe $175-$180 more than the 5000. Outlaw had their monoblocks on sale but not the 5000 which I agree is a great value already.

 

[KEW]

I feel like I'm a debate or something.

Naw, I am just whining because I miss the old Emotiva which had incredible deals!
In October 2010, I bought the 5 channel version of this amp new from Emotiva for $400!
https://www.audioholics.com/amplifier-reviews/emotiva-upa-7

I didn't get a steal on them or anything, but the holiday sale promo (turned out the to be their last one to date) put the combined (a500/a800) purchase maybe $175-$180 more than the 5000. Outlaw had their monoblocks on sale but not the 5000 which I agree is a great value already.

Sounds like you got a 20% discount which is not bad!
How long ago did you buy (when was their last holiday sales promo)?

Thx!

 

[DigitalDawn]

We sell all Emotiva at 15% off.

Also, I'm working on my friend at Outlaw Audio to allow me to sell the line. Stay tuned....

 

[2channel lover]

Naw, I am just whining because I miss the old Emotiva which had incredible deals!
In October 2010, I bought the 5 channel version of this amp new from Emotiva for $400!
https://www.audioholics.com/amplifier-reviews/emotiva-upa-7

Sounds like you got a 20% discount which is not bad!
How long ago did you buy (when was their last holiday sales promo)?

Thx!

LOL...2010...Emo has gone thru some changes since those days.

The amps were the 1st thing I bought on this build and that was DEC 2016 to JAN '17.