My Emotiva XPA-3 Amplifier Arrived Today

[sholling]

No pictures yet because it got here a day early and is still sitting on the floor until I pick up something to put it on. There's just no room left in the cabinet but there is no way in heck I could wait to try it out. To be quite honest the XPA surprised the heck out of me. It's a beast! But more than that - just based on specs I'd been expecting only maybe 2db of additional volume over my Onkyo TX-NR906 when driving the 4olm Salk Song Tower-RTs. My goal had been more reserve power and impact and maybe a tad more volume. I knew my 906 had been working pretty hard to drive the mains when I was in the mood for loud but the actual improvement with the Emotiva is at least 4db. That's based on rebalancing the fronts with the surrounds which are still running off the now loafing Onkyo. I expected improved impact and life and the XPA-3 delivered those in spades! What I did not expect was a much wider-fuller sound stage but I sure as heck have one. I'm not sure how that works but it's there. Maybe the Onkyo was struggling more than I realized but I was pretty careful to keep it well below its limit. Anyway the Salks wowed me before but now it's more of a holy crap OMG wow!

 

[GlocksRock]

Glad you are happy with it, can't wait to see some pics. Emotiva makes some great amps.

 

[oppman99]

I knew you'd love it once you gave it a try. Glad you're happy with the purchase. Enjoy!

 

[sholling]

I knew you'd love it once you gave it a try. Glad you're happy with the purchase. Enjoy!

My only regret is that I didn't buy the XPA-5 but that might have been too much for my home's circuits.

 

[MatthewB.]

To me outboard amps are like gas in my jeep. When I use the lowest grade (87) it runs good, I get where I need to go and all is fine, but when I use higher octane (89-91) I get a more peaceful running engine, the ride has a tad more power and all is great.

Same principle. I have the Onkyo 805 (which is almost the same as your 905 but less video processing and one HMDI) and ran my speakers just fine, but when I added an outboard amp, the speakers opened up, seemed to run more smoothly. Granted the amps only improved the sound slightly (not night and day mind you) but id did improve and I can play my system far louder than without the amps.

Enjoy and nice amp.

 

[j_garcia]

You don't get more power from higher octane gas without making changes to the engine unless you had knocking with the lower octane and the computer is detuning to compensate

I am extremely pleased with my XPA-3.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62831&highlight=xpa-3

 

[darien87]

You don't get more power from higher octane gas without making changes to the engine unless you had knocking with the lower octane and the computer is detuning to compensate

My wife drives me nuts with always putting premium in her 91 240SX. She swears it runs better. Gimme a break.

My 07 Mustang GT with Bullitt cold air intake and tune definitely runs better on 91, but that's another story.

 

[sholling]

It's more like a low pressure turbo.

 

[son-yah-tive]

No pictures yet because it got here a day early and is still sitting on the floor until I pick up something to put it on. There's just no room left in the cabinet but there is no way in heck I could wait to try it out. To be quite honest the XPA surprised the heck out of me. It's a beast! But more than that - just based on specs I'd been expecting only maybe 2db of additional volume over my Onkyo TX-NR906 when driving the 4olm Salk Song Tower-RTs. My goal had been more reserve power and impact and maybe a tad more volume. I knew my 906 had been working pretty hard to drive the mains when I was in the mood for loud but the actual improvement with the Emotiva is at least 4db. That's based on rebalancing the fronts with the surrounds which are still running off the now loafing Onkyo. I expected improved impact and life and the XPA-3 delivered those in spades! What I did not expect was a much wider-fuller sound stage but I sure as heck have one. I'm not sure how that works but it's there. Maybe the Onkyo was struggling more than I realized but I was pretty careful to keep it well below its limit. Anyway the Salks wowed me before but now it's more of a holy crap OMG wow!

Welcome to the club! That's exactly what happened to us! We had to order another stand. I got a VTI, cause it came with cross bars under the shelf to support this monster. We have the XPA-5. I was going to order the XPA-3, but wanted to get the UMC-1 to replace my Yamaha Reciever. I love them both.

 

[son-yah-tive]

My wife drives me nuts with always putting premium in her 91 240SX. She swears it runs better. Gimme a break.

My 07 Mustang GT with Bullitt cold air intake and tune definitely runs better on 91, but that's another story.

Alright another Mustang guy! We have an '03 GT and an '04 Mach1. We do shows all over the southeast, and one in California....A 91 240SX using premium!!

 

[darien87]

Alright another Mustang guy! We have an '03 GT and an '04 Mach1. We do shows all over the southeast, and one in California....A 91 240SX using premium!!

It's my 4th one. I've had an 86 convertible GT, a 92 convertible GT, a 95 GT coupe and now the 07.

 

[oppman99]

My only regret is that I didn't buy the XPA-5 but that might have been too much for my home's circuits.

I think you would still have been ok with the 5. Hindsight is always 20/20. You can always use it as an excuse to tell the wife you need another dedicated line and then get monoblocks for your mains! Down the road of course. I know you don't want to do that, but power is addicting.

 

[son-yah-tive]

It's my 4th one. I've had an 86 convertible GT, a 92 convertible GT, a 95 GT coupe and now the 07.

Thanks' for the PICs. I'm at work and can't post anything. You've been busy with the 'Stangs, I had to wait 30 years.

 

[MatthewB.]

Wow I opened up a can of worms didnt I? My gas comment was merely representing that you still get from point a to b but the illsuion that the ride is better and smoother just makes you feel better none the less.

Wow you guys sure do like your stangs.

 

[darien87]

Wow I opened up a can of worms didnt I? My gas comment was merely representing that you still get from point a to b but the illsuion that the ride is better and smoother just makes you feel better none the less.

Wow you guys sure do like your stangs.

Gimme a break. You're at an enthusiast website. I think most of us are here because we take things we do a little more seriously than the common man.

 

[j_garcia]

Even the XPA-3 is pretty hefty. I think I might have been better off with the XPA-5 also, but I am satisfied with this guy and I still have the two Audiosource Amp300s that I will eventually use for surround duty when I replace my receiver with a pre/pro.

I'll have to look at which motor the 91 s13 had, because the 92-93 did recommend using high octane gas, but it had a different engine from the previous 89-91, so it depends on which motor is in the car, a KA24E or KA24DE. I owned one for a number of years and with a little suspension work they are very fun cars to toss around.