Emotiva XP5 or xp3

[Harrison476]

Gentlemen:

I have a ok 875 receiver
I have two sets of mains LCR 4ohm, 400max speakers
Set of surrounds, 250 max
set of back surrounds, 250 max

The ok875 drive the fronts and surrounds nicely. For the second l&r mains I use a ok amp which delievers~125 w. I only use this when listening to music.

I have been looking at the emotiva amps. My feeling is that the xp5 to run three speaker which would deliver 350w to the mains.

I would then leave the second set of L&R main to run by the reciever using bi-amp which would deliever ~300w to theses .

The 875 reciever would also then run the surr's
and the extra ok amp would run the surrback's.


With all this increase power do you think I would hear any dynamic sound changes or would this just alow me to play it to a larger sound field louder?


I like loud music but not to the exent of damaging my ears. What I am actually looking for is a more forceful dynamic sound at reasonable volumes, since the speakers will take 400w why not push them? Will it sound better?


How do you guys feel about this or am I just wasting my money on the emotiva amp?
Thanks

 

[ParadigmDawg]

What speakers do you have?

 

[Harrison476]

Greg

I have all M & K s150 thx ultra, ss-150 thx ultra and three M&K subwoofers.

 

[jamie2112]

Well as a rule of thumb, more power means cleaner sound with more headroom. If you have the money to spend and more power is what you want then I would say go for it. Emotiva makes nice stuff and their customer service is very good as well.

 

[jcPanny]

Emotiva amp

Get the XPA-5 model and use it to run both sets of front speakers. It will deliver more clean power than the receiver. Let the receiver run the surround channels.

Whether or not you need more power is another question. What do you find lacking on your current system?

 

[Harrison476]

Xpa-5

Yep, That is exactly what I was thinking drive the fronts with the xpa-5. Lacking? The thing that brothers me mosts is music listening. It seems I am not satisfied with the music sound, Home Theater is excellent. But when I listen to music i have readjust set-up of reciever to be satisfied. I even have to do this between differnent kinds of music? I wonder if my ears are to good for my on enjoyment?
thanks guys

 

[EJD]

Your comment isn't the first time I have heard someone say the Onkyo is great for HT, but leaves a little to be desired with critical 2 ch listening.If that's indeed the case, I would suspect is has more to do with the preamp section than the amps.

You could always try the Emotiva and return it if it doesn't make the difference you had hoped. Keep in mind it won't be cheap to send something that heavy back to them.

 

[jcPanny]

Critical audio components

The speakers and the room have the most influence on what you hear. You might consider room treatments in addition to or in place of the amplifier upgrade.

Also what do you mean by two sets of "main" speakers? You need to have a single speaker connected to each of the Left, Center, and Right channels otherwise you introduce all kinds of interference and combing effect. The same goes for the surround channels unless you have a unique situation like a very large room with lots of seats. If you are using this configuration now (2 sets of mains), it could explain your lack of music performance.

 

[Harrison476]

It is my room

The speakers and the room have the most influence on what you hear. You might consider room treatments in addition to or in place of the amplifier upgrade.

Also what do you mean by two sets of "main" speakers? You need to have a single speaker connected to each of the Left, Center, and Right channels otherwise you introduce all kinds of interference and combing effect. The same goes for the surround channels unless you have a unique situation like a very large room with lots of seats. If you are using this configuration now (2 sets of mains), it could explain your lack of music performance.

Im sure my room is my biggest problem. Having moved from a great set up in my house to an apt. due to divorce. I have two sets of Main L&R speakers, M&k made a small speaker (s-150 ultra)which has switches on the back to use them when "stacked". I run one set with reciever and the other set with a oky amp which only come on when I listen to music. By the way Ive tried the a automatic set-up for speaker and it sounds nuts. I use meter to set the speaker levels with.
Im sure thinks will be better when I get a house. But thank you guys for your comments, it does help

 

[majorloser]

Ok, I know that the guys at Emotiva call me an amp whore, but have you thought about going with monoblocks? The new XPA-1's are simply BEASTS

I've had a recent opportunity to have the Emotiva guys at my house with a bunch of gear. They brought all of the current and future two-channel amps they have. My favorite was the XPA-2. It has huge power headroom and really clean sound. The XPA-1 is supposed to be even more monsterous.

I'm still thinking about getting seven of the XPA-1's for my theater.

 

[imola ghost]

Ok, I know that the guys at Emotiva call me an amp whore, but have you thought about going with monoblocks? The new XPA-1's are simply BEASTS

I've had a recent opportunity to have the Emotiva guys at my house with a bunch of gear. They brought all of the current and future two-channel amps they have. My favorite was the XPA-2. It has huge power headroom and really clean sound. The XPA-1 is supposed to be even more monsterous.

I'm still thinking about getting seven of the XPA-1's for my theater.

I don't see the Emotive XPA-1 on their site?

 

[majorloser]

I don't see the Emotive XPA-1 on their site?

It's top secret jk

It's listed on here at the bottom:
http://www.emotiva.com/extreme.html

For pre-order here:
http://www.emotiva.com/preorder.html

And talked about here:
http://emotivalounge.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=amps&action=display&thread=1656

 

[Harrison476]

Xpa-3

I think the XPA-3 would be prefect for me.