Emotiva XPR-5 Five-Channel Reference Power Amplifier Preview

[admin]

Hardcore Emotiva fans may balk at the $2000 price tag for the XPR-5...but they are the only ones. People have gladly paid a lot more for a lot less with other brands. Sporting 400 watts into 8 ohms and 600 watts into 4 ohms all channels driven, the Emotiva XPR-5 redefines the idea of how much power is enough in an amplifier. With a 3.3kVA toroidal power supply and 180,000 uF of storage capacitance, headroom is not a problem. Emotiva promises that the XPR-5 is fully protected from all common fault conditions and it stable with virtually all real-world speakers. For a limited time, you can pick up the Emotiva XPR-5 for 10% off ($1799.10) during their summer sale.

Discuss "Emotiva XPR-5 Five-Channel Reference Power Amplifier Preview" here. Read the article.

 

[avliner]

Nice preview, as usual.

There's one thing that got me intrigued though, as mentioned below. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on the "simple power cord change" thing?

Users can select between 115 VAC or 230 VAC +/- 10% at 50 or 60 Hz meaning the XPR-5 can be used all over the world with a simple power cord change. Twelve volt trigger in and outs allows seamless interaction with your other components.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Like people will hear a difference between 200wpc and 400wpc? Please.

It's an Emotiva. Sure, they are suppose to be a great value, but $2K ain't so great for Chinese cheese.

I bought my ATI AT3005 for $1800. Made in USA, 7 yrs warranty. OEM for Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Cary Audio . That's a great value.

The $800 XPA-5 is a great value.

 

[Rickster71]

Nice preview, as usual.

There's one thing that got me intrigued though, as mentioned below. Would you mind elaborating a bit more on the "simple power cord change" thing?

Users can select between 115 VAC or 230 VAC +/- 10% at 50 or 60 Hz meaning the XPR-5 can be used all over the world with a simple power cord change.

The 'plug end' that goes into the wall is different for the different voltages and styles, depending what's used in that country: Filelugs.png - Wikitravel

 

[scott911]

"Like people will hear a difference between 200wpc and 400wpc? Please."

Without know what load someone would put on their system, that is an ill-informed statement.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Like people will hear a difference between 200wpc and 400wpc? Please.

It's an Emotiva. Sure, they are suppose to be a great value, but $2K ain't so great for Chinese cheese.

I bought my ATI AT3005 for $1800. Made in USA, 7 yrs warranty. OEM for Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Cary Audio . That's a great value.

The $800 XPA-5 is a great value.

I mostly agree with you, except one point, MSRP for AT3005 is closer to $3500.
With more wpc and smaller msrp Emotiva's offering is still a decent deal, granted not as great value as XPA-5

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

"Like people will hear a difference between 200wpc and 400wpc? Please."

Without know what load someone would put on their system, that is an ill-informed statement.

As if your accusation is any benefit to anyone.

Instead of accusing someone of making an ill-informed statement, why don't you well-inform us and tell us which speakers would sound so much better with 400wpc vs 200wpc?

And also keep in mind that folks who buy Emotiva don't exactly own Revel Salon2, KEF 207/2, or B&W 800D.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

MSRP for AT3005 is closer to $3500.

My point was, instead of paying $2K for an Emotiva, folks could look at Classic Audio Parts for 50% off deals on ATI 200wpc & 300wpc amps with full 7yr warranty.

Or buy a used amp for less from Bryston, Anthem, Parasound, Sunfire, ATI, Lexicon, Cinepro, etc.

 

[Adam]

It's an Emotiva. Sure, they are suppose to be a great value, but $2K ain't so great for Chinese cheese.

Well, to be fair - China makes good and bad gear, and America makes good and bad gear. Also, some of the "good" gear has an issue, so the question becomes how does the company stand behind it? In my case, Emotiva didn't stand behind it, so I'll never buy from them again. In other people's cases, they got good gear or Emotiva did make it right, so they will buy from them again.

Some people just like the looks of Emotiva, or they like the brand for whatever reason - so, they'll buy this instead of something else.

As for the review, what I'm wondering is this - if this amp approaches Class D efficiency, why does it weigh 95 pounds for five 400W channels? Is that just for marketing?

 

[ratso]

not sure why this company always evokes either blatant fanboy-ism or "it's a chinese HT company so they must be crap" reactions.


anyhoo, i think that emotiva might have shot themselves in the foot a bit with this whole dedicated "20amp" thing here. (they are NOT recommending you use an adapter, although you, of course, could. but then you may not be getting the full capability of the amp so what's the point of getting one in the first place?). one guy on emotiva's forum reported that he got 2 quotes for 20 amp service in his house - one was for $600 and one was for i believe over $2000??? also someone reported that even if you run it on 15amps or use an adapter that you might run into problems if your insurance company finds out? off the top of my head i don't recall other amps that the company recommended a dedicated 20amp circuit although i'm probably wrong. seems like a huge headache and hassle to me and not something that i think the average buyer is even aware of - it's not exactly spelled out clearly on the web site.

 

[gene]

"Like people will hear a difference between 200wpc and 400wpc? Please."

Without know what load someone would put on their system, that is an ill-informed statement.

They surely can when driving a pair of speakers that are both revealing enough and power hungry enough to benefit from higher power.

I have a 10CH Denon amp that delivers almost 500wpc in bridged mode that can NOT adequately drive my new reference speakers but the Classe CT-2300 rated at 700wpc can drive them all day long. This amp has incredible control for low impedance loads that my reference Denon amp does NOT.

My point was, instead of paying $2K for an Emotiva, folks could look at Classic Audio Parts for 50% off deals on ATI 200wpc & 300wpc amps with full 7yr warranty.

Or buy a used amp for less from Bryston, Anthem, Parasound, Sunfire, ATI, Lexicon, Cinepro, etc.

Many of the amps on your list are engineered in the USA but manufactured in China. You would be surprised at how many esoteric brands are also manufactured in China yet have USA stamps on them b/c final assembly is done here.

 

[gene]

not sure why this company always evokes either blatant fanboy-ism or "it's a chinese HT company so they must be crap" reactions.


anyhoo, i think that emotiva might have shot themselves in the foot a bit with this whole dedicated "20amp" thing here. (they are NOT recommending you use an adapter, although you, of course, could. but then you may not be getting the full capability of the amp so what's the point of getting one in the first place?). one guy on emotiva's forum reported that he got 2 quotes for 20 amp service in his house - one was for $600 and one was for i believe over $2000??? also someone reported that even if you run it on 15amps or use an adapter that you might run into problems if your insurance company finds out? off the top of my head i don't recall other amps that the company recommended a dedicated 20amp circuit although i'm probably wrong. seems like a huge headache and hassle to me and not something that i think the average buyer is even aware of - it's not exactly spelled out clearly on the web site.

It's more about dynamic load delivery than sustained power. You can still get tons of headroom out of an amp like this on a conventional 15 amp circuit.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...500wpc in bridged mode that can NOT adequately drive my new reference speakers...

And how many folks who can afford your new reference speakers would buy an Emotiva?

Many of the amps on your list are engineered in the USA but manufactured in China.

Yes. But I like their aesthetics much better than Emotiva.

The Bryston is made in Canada. ATI, Lexicon, Cinepro, Sunfire are made in USA. Parasound and Anthem are made in China.

When I said "cheese", I was purely referring to the Emotiva aesthetics, which is a hit-and-miss with folks.

 

[lsiberian]

Some raised questions. There is certainly a difference between 200 wpc and 400 wpc. 3db is audible and with inefficient speakers and large rooms it might be the headroom needed to drive some speakers(pro-audio class drivers) to max dynamics.

While Class D amps are very light. Transformers and power supplies capable of handling this load are not. It's not marketing it's simply required to handle the load.

As far as manufacturing quality goes. There are good ones and bad ones in every country. I remind you these things are hand made by a line worker. You are going to get duds in every factory with hand made items.

 

[Matt34]

Good, this maybe this will flood the market with XPA-5/3/2 and I can pick one up on the cheap.

 

[nickboros]

not sure why this company always evokes either blatant fanboy-ism or "it's a chinese HT company so they must be crap" reactions.


anyhoo, i think that emotiva might have shot themselves in the foot a bit with this whole dedicated "20amp" thing here. (they are NOT recommending you use an adapter, although you, of course, could. but then you may not be getting the full capability of the amp so what's the point of getting one in the first place?). one guy on emotiva's forum reported that he got 2 quotes for 20 amp service in his house - one was for $600 and one was for i believe over $2000??? also someone reported that even if you run it on 15amps or use an adapter that you might run into problems if your insurance company finds out? off the top of my head i don't recall other amps that the company recommended a dedicated 20amp circuit although i'm probably wrong. seems like a huge headache and hassle to me and not something that i think the average buyer is even aware of - it's not exactly spelled out clearly on the web site.

The flagship Outlaw amp (Model 7900 Seven Channel Power Amplifier) doesn't require a 20 amp breaker, but two 15 amp breakers to run at what they spec'ed. This would probably require just as much expense as to having a 20 amp circuit, as many rooms would have just one 15 amp circuit for the room.

The Emotiva amp seems to me like a huge bargain when you compare it to the Outlaw amp.

 

[gene]

And how many folks who can afford your new reference speakers would buy an Emotiva?


Yes. But I like their aesthetics much better than Emotiva.

The Bryston is made in Canada. ATI, Lexicon, Cinepro, Sunfire are made in USA. Parasound and Anthem are made in China.

When I said "cheese", I was purely referring to the Emotiva aesthetics, which is a hit-and-miss with folks.

Very good points but Emo is planning a mono block version of this amp and I am strongly considering using it in the long term to run these new speakers.

I wish EMO would come up with analog VU meters for these babies. I'm not a big fan of the blinking LEDs, but I am sure some folks dig em.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

http://www.amazon.com/Crown-XLS2000-Amplifier-integrated-Crossover/dp/B003HZPKXC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341849497&sr=8-1&keywords=crown+xls+2000

The Harman Crown XLS 2000 is $467 each delivered. It is 375wpc 8ohm/ 650wpc 4ohm/ 1050wpc 2ohm. So 6 channels = $1400. Much better value. And it weighs only 10lbs each.

XLS Drivecore

 

[ratso]

agree with the aesthetics on emotiva, people have been yelling for years for more of a macintosh vu style amp. but that's subjective, someone may love the way they look (disco fans perhaps). and gene is right, you could probably drive this amp with 15 amp service to more than crazy levels, but that is not what emotiva is recommending and i wonder if the confusion might hurt sales overall.

 

[gene]

http://www.amazon.com/Crown-XLS2000-Amplifier-integrated-Crossover/dp/B003HZPKXC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341849497&sr=8-1&keywords=crown+xls+2000

The Harman Crown XLS 2000 is $467 each delivered. It is 375wpc 8ohm/ 650wpc 4ohm/ 1050wpc 2ohm. So 6 channels = $1400. Much better value. And it weighs only 10lbs each.

XLS Drivecore

Hmm ugly cosmetics, power ratings only at 1kHz. Many Class D amps have issues powering 4 ohm speakers fullbandwidth. High distortion, Terrible SNR figures which are claimed at full rated power. Where do I sign up?

This may be great for portable PA as they are claiming its purpose is just for that, but I wouldn't call these audiophile nor would they likely be suited for critical two channel listening in a home environment where the noisefloor and resolution of upstream equipment would hear the limitations of these amps.


Seriously lets keep this thread on track and STOP with the posts about other DJ amps that would yield more power per dollar. Emotiva isn't a DJ amp company. Their core business is consumer audio. Different market with different design goals.