My Emotiva XPA-3 first impressions

[JDawg]

It took a while but Fedex finally delivered my XPA-3 today. I finally decided to get one after doing some reading on here and from different people telling me about the difference adding an amp made. So I figured its on sale for $519 now so I might as well try it and find out for myself if it improves the sound quality at all. Well after getting mine all hooked up I was curious to see how it sounded and well....I have to say I did not hear any difference at all. Music sounded just the same as it did before and movies didn't sound much different either. I've only had it for 6 hours but my initial impressions is that it didn't make much difference compared to driving my Paradigm Studio 60 speakers with my Yamaha receiver. So now I wonder if people really heard a big difference in sound after adding an amp to their system or if they were just hearing things that weren't really there. I suppose I'll have to spend more time listening to it before I come to a final conclusion.

 

[avliner]

First of all, congrats on your new toy

Overall I do agree with your comments and being myself an Emo owner, I'd say that the most important point to me is the "authority" the speakers have when fed by an amp. Try to boost up the volume knob and you'll hear what I'm talking about (with and without the amp. in-between).

In case your AVR is a flagship one (lots of power), you're not going to hear that much of a difference though, otherwise you will; I mean, not that the amp. itself will improve/change the sound, but the speakers will be fed by a constant power that low/medium range AVR's just don't have, specially at high levels and for extended listening periods,though.

Another useful point is the fact that an external amp. helps a lot getting the burden out of the AVR and that means the AVR will run a lot cooler

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It took a while but Fedex finally delivered my XPA-3 today. I finally decided to get one after doing some reading on here and from different people telling me about the difference adding an amp made. So I figured its on sale for $519 now so I might as well try it and find out for myself if it improves the sound quality at all. Well after getting mine all hooked up I was curious to see how it sounded and well....I have to say I did not hear any difference at all. Music sounded just the same as it did before and movies didn't sound much different either. I've only had it for 6 hours but my initial impressions is that it didn't make much difference compared to driving my Paradigm Studio 60 speakers with my Yamaha receiver. So now I wonder if people really heard a big difference in sound after adding an amp to their system or if they were just hearing things that weren't really there. I suppose I'll have to spend more time listening to it before I come to a final conclusion.

I've compared amps that are 300 wpc to 50 wpc and none of them made a bit of difference.

It all depends on your application. If you are listening in a GIANT room and playing it LOUDLY, the bigger amps may make a difference.

But for most of us playing in a 300 - 400 sq ft room, it will most likely not make any difference at all.

Those Emotiva amps look great though.

Rule of thumb:

Unless distortion takes place, amps & preamps (no EQs, Tones, DSPs), CD players, & DACs all sound the same.

Processors (EQs, Tones, DSPs) and speakers sound differently from one another.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Another useful point is the fact that an external amp. helps a lot getting the burden out of the AVR and that means the AVR will run a lot cooler

Not necessarily.

I've heard from enough people that some of the Onkyo receivers run HOT regardless of the external amps.

 

[Soundman]

I would have to agree with the OP's assessment, but I wouldn't regret the purchase. The name of the game is headroom. That amp should be able to power your front 3 speakers in just about any room, and should be able to power just about any speaker you throw at it. If anything, it's going to give you peace of mind knowing that your speakers are being properly driven with plenty of reserve power so your receiver can do what it does best, process stuff. Congrats on the purchase. I'm jealous.

 

[avliner]

Not necessarily.
I've heard from enough people that some of the Onkyo receivers run HOT regardless of the external amps.

You're right...

forgot about the Onkyos... some say they're just like ovens though

 

[Adam]

Thanks for the first impressions. I only bought an external amp because I was experiencing distortion at high volume levels (louder than I typically listen) with my previous receiver and my NHT speakers. It did make a difference at those loud levels, but no discernible difference at regular levels (because I didn't have any problems at those levels with my receiver).

If it isn't an improvement, I say send it back. I know that I'm not saying anything that you aren't already thinking - just throwing in my two cents.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm jealous.

Well, what you are waiting for SOUNDMAN?

Order yourself the XPA-5 already!

 

[Matt34]

It also depends on the efficiency and sensitivity of your speakers as well.

n your case the Paradigm Studio 60's are rated above average at Sensitivity: 89dB anechoic, 92dB in room

While Adam's NHT 1.5s are rated at Sensitivity: 85db

 

[Soundman]

Well, what you are waiting for SOUNDMAN?

Order yourself the XPA-5 already!

Hehe. Maybe at some point, but I have other pressing matters at the moment. I'm still in the process of getting the theatre room treated and a few odd end things. I've also had other expenses come up (car, house, etc)that have sucked this projects funds up. Eventually, I may move the LPA-1 to surround duty, or move it to the game room and get an XPA-5 for the theatre room. Again, this isn't really top priority at the moment.

 

[Soundman]

It also depends on the efficiency and sensitivity of your speakers as well.

n your case the Paradigm Studio 60's are rated above average at Sensitivity: 89dB anechoic, 92dB in room

While Adam's NHT 1.5s are rated at Sensitivity: 85db

This is soo true and another reason for it not to be top priority for me right now. My mains are pretty efficient at 91.5db and my center still above average, i believe at 89db.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

Studios or at least the 100's dip in to the 3 ohm range so at high levels an amp is a good idea.

My AVR doesn't do a good job with the 100's at all. The EMO, the 2500 and the Rotel all power them just fine.

This is soo true and another reason for it not to be top priority for me right now. My mains are pretty efficient at 91.5db and my center still above average, i believe at 89db.

 

[sharkman]

I recently purchased the XPA-3 as well and have it in a two channel set up replacing an Adcom 5300. Not that much different at medium to low levels, but when you open it up it easily trounces the Adcom, making my Paradigm Sig 60s sing.

To the OP, who hasn't come back to offer a second comment yet, I would suggest letting his ears get somewhat accustomed to the new set up. 200 watts into a center channel speaker will add nicely to the dialogue of any movie.

BTW which Yamaha are you running? I was looking at your Paradigm studio 60s before I went with the Signatures and the Paradigm rep recommended a separate amp for them because although they are an 8 ohm speaker they dip down quite low and are difficult for most receivers to supply adequate power. Any time I've read up on Yamahas they do poorly when bench tested with 5 or more channels, sometimes doing less than half their rated power.

 

[nibhaz]

Studios or at least the 100's dip in to the 3 ohm range so at high levels an amp is a good idea.

My AVR doesn't do a good job with the 100's at all. The EMO, the 2500 and the Rotel all power them just fine.

I hear you on the 3 ohm dip as my 604s have one as well.

My receiver has a pretty solid amp section and handles them well for 99.9% of my usage. But I know that 30-45 min of bass heavy music at near max volume (-3 to 0db) will throw my receiver into protection mode. Just knowing that this can happen makes me want an external amp, but for my real usage it’s totally unjustified.

At $519 it’s pretty tempting.

 

[JDawg]

BTW which Yamaha are you running? I was looking at your Paradigm studio 60s before I went with the Signatures and the Paradigm rep recommended a separate amp for them because although they are an 8 ohm speaker they dip down quite low and are difficult for most receivers to supply adequate power. Any time I've read up on Yamahas they do poorly when bench tested with 5 or more channels, sometimes doing less than half their rated power.

I have a Yamaha RX-V1800. I've been at work all day so I haven't had much time to listen to it some more. I don't really regret buying it since I'll be keeping this amp for many years and it should have no problems driving any new speakers I get in the future. It's a nice looking amp and it looks nice with the rest of my equipment. Its just that I was expecting more based on what everyone was saying so I just had to try it out for myself. I will try listening to it some more tonight with some music and a movie.

 

[radridd]

Not necessarily.

I've heard from enough people that some of the Onkyo receivers run HOT regardless of the external amps.

This is true. My 876 emits just as much heat even though the internal amps are not being used. I have read somewhere the heat source is actually from the video processor. Who knows?

 

[PENG]

This is true. My 876 emits just as much heat even though the internal amps are not being used. I have read somewhere the heat source is actually from the video processor. Who knows?

Even when the amps (including the preamps) are not powering the speakers they are still on and therefore the bias current (to keep the transistors on and ready) will still produced a lot of heat. At normal listening levels for most people, only a few watts are consumed on average, so the amp won't run noticeably warmer than it is when idling.

 

[JDawg]

I finally had a chance to sit down and listen to the amp last night. I think music sounded a little more clear or more detailed than before. It could just be that I'm hearing things I want to hear. I also watched some Battlestar Galactica since I'm watching the entire series on blu-ray and I'm familiar with how it sounds before adding the amp. I'm not sure how to describe it but I think the dialog sounded more defined. So I think the amp does make a small improvement in my case but I don't think its a big enough improvement that I would spend thousands of dollars on amps. Like I said earlier though, I could just be hearing things I want to hear or just never noticed before. I would've been perfecly happy with my setup before but now that I have one I'm still keeping it. Luckily there's Emotiva otherwise I would never consider paying 3 times more for other amps for what could be a small increase in audio quality.

 

[Knucklehead90]

This is true. My 876 emits just as much heat even though the internal amps are not being used. I have read somewhere the heat source is actually from the video processor. Who knows?

Video processor do put out a lot of heat. I had an Onkyo SC885 preamp processor that it threw nearly as much heat as some of the many AVRs I've owned over the years.

As for adding an amp to an AVR I would encourage anyone thinking of adding one for the front sound stage - or for all channels - to think about how loud they listen to music and movies - and be honest. That big shiny amp with the glowing LEDs sitting in the rack looks great but unless you have 4 ohm speakers with low dips in impedance you may be better off buying new speakers if you are looking for better sound quality. External amps do not give you better SQ under normal listening levels unless you have a very weak AVR - and most weak/cheap AVRs don't have preamp out jacks. Such a conundrum! That is an add-on reserved for the more expensive AVRs - and most of those don't need the help.