Emotiva pre amp.. and amp choice

[ematthews]

Looking at upgrading for more power. 2 channel music only.
Do you go with a Mono amp or two channel amp. What is best?

My on;y concern with the Emotiva pre amp is no tone controls. Anyone out there own this and wish it had them. Emotiva rep says there is no tone controls to keep the sound super clean and quite.

Help? Suggestion?

 

[lsiberian]

Looking at upgrading for more power. 2 channel music only.
Do you go with a Mono amp or two channel amp. What is best?

My on;y concern with the Emotiva pre amp is no tone controls. Anyone out there own this and wish it had them. Emotiva rep says there is no tone controls to keep the sound super clean and quite.

Help? Suggestion?

For an AMP why not just use a Yamaha P series? More Power. For a pre-amp I recommend a receiver. Scale of production really makes them a better value IMO.

 

[ematthews]

Good suggestions but since I have built a good relationship with Emotiva and like their products, I will stick with them.

Now would the UPA-2 two channel Emotiva amp give me a larger clean sound then running my 4 ohm speakers on a Harman Kardon HK 3490 stereo??????

 

[jinjuku]

Good suggestions but since I have built a good relationship with Emotiva and like their products, I will stick with them.

Now would the UPA-2 two channel Emotiva amp give me a larger clean sound then running my 4 ohm speakers on a Harman Kardon HK 3490 stereo??????

What is your speaker make and model #? What is your room size? What is your seating distance? What don't you like about your current setup?

The HK3490 is 4ohm stable and outputs 170 watts RMS and I believe can hit 230 WPC at 4 ohm before clipping.

In other words I doubt the UPA-2 would be a 'night and day' upgrade. Emo offers a 30 day trial. Why don't you take them up on it?

Tone controls aren't evil and most respectable brands that have tone controls also have tone defeat. As John 'Zaph' Krutke said about mastered audio: Hope for the best and EQ for the rest

 

[ematthews]

To be honest and this may sound dumb....I want to move the HK3490 to the garage so I can listen to the radio. I for some reason alway think in my head that if I have true component set up, that I will have a cleaner sound..And better. I would like to have a true HI-FI component set up.

I will be driving some brand new Polk LSI-15 speakers that I got new for 750 a pair. Could not pass it up and they sound better than anything I have...

Plus a Martin Logan Grotto sub...

 

[jinjuku]

To be honest and this may sound dumb....I want to move the HK3490 to the garage so I can listen to the radio. I for some reason alway think in my head that if I have true component set up, that I will have a cleaner sound..And better. I would like to have a true HI-FI component set up.

I will be driving some brand new Polk LSI-15 speakers that I got new for 750 a pair. Could not pass it up and they sound better than anything I have...

Plus a Martin Logan Grotto sub...

$750 is pretty good for new. I would upgrade the side firing sub in the 15's. Polk has an upgraded drop in sub for the 15's I believe. It's supposed to be a really great improvement.

I liked the Emotiva XPA-3 as much as my Crown and the shop NAD. You should be good to go. Two UPA-1's for $600 would do nicely (and look cool) for monoblocking the setup. You could also hit Craigslist and search for Adcom, Parasound, Rotel, ATI, and post back with anything that you find. Sometimes great deals can be had. I picked up a Parasound HCA1000A for $135 in like new condition on Clist

 

[96cobra10101]

UPA-2 is discontinued.

 

[TheWarrior]

I just ordered a pair of UPA-1's and and XDA-1 to use as a stereo only setup. I'll post up a short and very subjective report with purdy pictures when I get it all hooked up.

For the holiday pricing, just grab a pair of UPA-1's and whatever you like as a preamp. If you have a quality disc player and are not obsessed with vinyl, the XDA would work well. I confirmed with Emotiva that the XDA is being replaced, but not until at least July. So grab one while you can!

 

[ematthews]

UPA-2 is discontinued.

any idea what will replace it

 

[ematthews]

To all
Will I see a difference in the Emotiva amp and my Harman Kardon HK3490 running in 4 ohm mode driving my polk LSI-15 spekers??
sensitivity is 88

 

[96cobra10101]

any idea what will replace it

There going to re-insert it in their XPA line. I was going to order one today, but there gone, but I did order the other amp I wanted, an XPA-5! Woooot!

 

[baniels]

Try this.

From what I read the power rating for that KH at 4 ohms is 150 watts. The UPA 2 is gone forever unless you can find one used. Is your question above regarding a pair of UPA-1's?

The calculator linked above provides this:

At 3 meters, 150 watts will get you 100.22 db with no headroom.
At 3 meters, 350 watts will get you 103.9 db with no headroom.

350 is the rating for the UPA-1 at 4 ohms.

I went from 130 watts at 8 in my Onkyo to ~260 in the XPA-2. My speakers are 88 db sensitive. Their impedance is probably closer to a nominal 6 than 8, so the actual wattage provided by both the Onkyo and the XPA-2 might vary from the above numbers. There is no doubt a noticeable difference at the upper volume levels.

I could definitely notice the sound start to come apart at higher listening levels with the Onkyo. I have yet to experience that with the XPA-2 and I have tried. My ears didn't thank me.

The benefit in the power jump is there, but I have to crank it to get there. The degree to which you will benefit is a factor of your listening levels, your distance from the speakers, and the dynamic of your music.

 

[ematthews]

Well
I got the UPA-2. I called and they had two left. Looks as if I will use this with a
USP-1 to complete my two channel set up....

By chance can you use the UPA-2 with a HK3490 to Bi-amp the speakers.
Would that work? Or use the HK3490 as a pre amp with the Emotiva amp.
Sorry, kinda new to all this

 

[96cobra10101]

Well
I got the UPA-2. I called and they had two left. Looks as if I will use this with a
USP-1 to complete my two channel set up....

By chance can you use the UPA-2 with a HK3490 to Bi-amp the speakers.
Would that work? Or use the HK3490 as a pre amp with the Emotiva amp.
Sorry, kinda new to all this

I'm gonna go with "horrible ideas for $100 Alex". Seriously though, if you had a 4 channel or 2 matching 2 channels, maybe, but not 2 different amps, but you can try it.
I'm gonna call them tomorrow about the UPA-2, the sales guy told me verbally they were gone. BS.

 

[ematthews]

I got the last one. Looks like someone didnt commit on an order.

 

[PENG]

Try this.

Keep in mind that calculator does not account for room gain. Depending on the room configuration you could easily get 3 dB or more than the calculator shows, at 3 meter.

The benefit in the power jump is there, but I have to crank it to get there. The degree to which you will benefit is a factor of your listening levels, your distance from the speakers, and the dynamic of your music.

That makes sense, thanks for not exaggerating.