Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp Preview

A

admin

Audioholics Robot
Staff member
Our only real complaint against the Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp is the number of inputs. With only one, the little amp is a little hamstrung. But with it being rated down to 4 ohms, and with 60 watts at 8 ohms, this looks to be the perfect amp for the discerning Audioholic with difficult to drive speakers for their office, bedroom, or outdoor area. At $200, it is the perfect amp for a Zone 2/3/4 situation where it will be fed from a receiver or processor. If you've been looking for a solution for your Zone 2 woes, or perhaps just want to do something with those extra speakers, the Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp may be just what you were looking for.


Discuss "Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp Preview" here. Read the article.
 
its phillip

its phillip

Audioholic Ninja
Looks great for a desktop. Pity there isn't a sub out like there is on the orb though. Overall a much nicer looking and probably much more powerful unit.
 
dkane360

dkane360

Audioholic Field Marshall
Looks great for a desktop. Pity there isn't a sub out like there is on the orb though. Overall a much nicer looking and probably much more powerful unit.
Agreed, they could've really made this unit stand out with a few more features. Maybe they'll come out with a matching set of small components, as the competition in that area is pretty slim.
 
S

scott911

Full Audioholic
seems like the perfect item for an audioholics contest / giveaway -
don't you think emotiva? :)

- I like it - integrated power supply, real speaker outputs.


I'm assuming the rca outputs could serve the needs of a subwoofer as long as the sub had a filter, right?
 
haraldo

haraldo

Audioholic Spartan
This is an incredibly cool looking product, and how they can do it for this price is beyond me.... Performance is probably beyond anything at many times this unit's price tag.....
To add to wishlist of features is an integrated DAC with s/pdif or usb input :p
 
K

kevon27

Annoying Poster
This thing looks so cute.. If one is not worried about size, the upa 2 will be a better choice for a few dollars more.
 
F

Flyinace2000

Junior Audioholic
This seems perfect. EMP released new surround speakers this week so i ordered a pair on black friday to replace my current rear speakers, EMP Bookshelf. This amp will be perfect to power them for the bedroom. Paired up with an Airport Express we could have the perfect combo for airplay.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Looks cool. Beefy power supply for a small amp, which I am sure is why it is stable to 4 Ohms. Two inputs would have been nice, but it would seem the target audience for this would actually want something like a USB input instead. Nice specs for that price.
 
dkane360

dkane360

Audioholic Field Marshall
Looks cool. Beefy power supply for a small amp, which I am sure is why it is stable to 4 Ohms. Two inputs would have been nice, but it would seem the target audience for this would actually want something like a USB input instead. Nice specs for that price.
As Haraldo mentioned earlier, a USB input, optical input, headphone out and adjustable sub out would make this unit killer. I would buy it in a heartbeat.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Our only real complaint against the Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp is the number of inputs. With only one, the little amp is a little hamstrung. But with it being rated down to 4 ohms, and with 60 watts at 8 ohms, this looks to be the perfect amp for the discerning Audioholic with difficult to drive speakers for their office, bedroom, or outdoor area. At $200, it is the perfect amp for a Zone 2/3/4 situation where it will be fed from a receiver or processor. If you've been looking for a solution for your Zone 2 woes, or perhaps just want to do something with those extra speakers, the Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp may be just what you were looking for.


Discuss "Emotiva mini-X a-100 Stereo Flex Amp Preview" here. Read the article.
A power amp only needs one set of inputs. They should have just called it a power amp which it is. I would have left out the volume control and saved a little more.

That looks to be a good product and ideal for replacing a receiver's power amps at reasonable cost.

I hope they do well with it. If it proves reliable they deserve to.

If they do well with it, make a five and even a seven channel version. That will increase the demand for pre pros. At those prices, even if you bought a Marantz 7005 pre pro you would till be cheaper than the higher end receivers, and I bet further ahead.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
As Haraldo mentioned earlier, a USB input, optical input, headphone out and adjustable sub out would make this unit killer. I would buy it in a heartbeat.
If they added everything, they wouldn't be able to this that price point IMO, but it does seem like USB would have made this one a huge hit with that kind of power. Perhaps it indicates a future product to go along with it?

A power amp only needs one set of inputs. They should have just called it a power amp which it is. I would have left out the volume control and saved a little more.

That looks to be a good product and ideal for replacing a receiver's power amps at reasonable cost.

I hope they do well with it. If it proves reliable they deserve to.

If they do well with it, make a five and even a seven channel version. That will increase the demand for pre pros. At those prices, even if you bought a Marantz 7005 pre pro you would till be cheaper than the higher end receivers, and I bet further ahead.
I don't think this is intended to replace or suplement their existing amp line up. The volume control is the key difference here, and it isn't necessary for a dedicated amp IMO.
 
dkane360

dkane360

Audioholic Field Marshall
If they added everything, they wouldn't be able to this that price point IMO, but it does seem like USB would have made this one a huge hit with that kind of power. Perhaps it indicates a future product to go along with it?
I'd be willing to pay a little more for the added flexibility. If I had to pick one feature though, I'd agree on the USB.
 
baniels

baniels

Audioholic
With USB input, sub-out with a few xover choices, this would be a perfect amp for a desktop setup. I'd trade 20 or so watts for those features.

I wonder when they'll publish the test data for this amp.
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
A power amp only needs one set of inputs. They should have just called it a power amp which it is. I would have left out the volume control and saved a little more.
I think it's intended as in integrated for people running simple stereo setups (IE TV or PC sound card line outs)

I could see myself finding some good use for it.
 
B

bikemig

Audioholic Chief
Just add a dac/headphone amp with a variable out and you will have multiple inputs and a pretty cool set up for a computer based playback system.
 
sholling

sholling

Audioholic Ninja
As Haraldo mentioned earlier, a USB input, optical input, headphone out and adjustable sub out would make this unit killer. I would buy it in a heartbeat.
+1, with those additions it would be the perfect integrated amp for an audiophiles office or home-office.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
+1, with those additions it would be the perfect integrated amp for an audiophiles office or home-office.
Then you might as well build a receiver. Those options would require processing and a pre amp stage.

Basically that unit is a pair of power amps with a volume control at the input.

I think they should not have called it but a power amp with input trim/attenuation, which is what it is.

What they should do is make a companion two channel preamp, with digital precessing and bass management. It should have some HDMI inputs so it can be used in small two channel AV systems. For an awful lot of rooms, most probably, that is what systems should be anyway.

The you would have the option of buying one or the other and both as a matched pair.

I'm all for separating power and pre/pro. I think the simple pre/pro could have a substantial market, there is an absolute dearth of units like that. A unit like that would be very useful and a welcome addition.
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
This is an incredibly cool looking product, and how they can do it for this price is beyond me.... Performance is probably beyond anything at many times this unit's price tag.....
To add to wishlist of features is an integrated DAC with s/pdif or usb input :p
You can actually get a 2 channel amp board for around 50 bucks these days. The transformer might be the most expensive thing in the unit. Amps are getting smaller and with a more efficient driver deployment we could make speakers fully active. Maybe even wireless. I'd love to see a fully wireless active speaker made.
 
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