What is Best for Me? 2 x UPA-1 or one XPA-2?

[mtrycrafts]

...

An Emo sales guy said that the UPA-1's would be help tame bright speakers. Others have said they are very musical. (I don't think mine are bright)

I am pretty sure that Emo guy is wrong. Ask for the frequency response of his amp. I am willing to bet that it is ruler flat like most well designed amps. So, how can it tame a bright speaker? Which specific frequency or bands it is trying to tame? By how much?

As to your speaker, it doesn't show its distortion component, only its frequency response at what appears to be 1 watt. How will it do with a 100 watts in there when it is asked to reproduce 108 dB spl???

 

[mibson]

Ive seen the light!

I recommend one of these:

Crown XLS 1500 | Sweetwater.com

I just thought, Id be a fool not to buy one of ese XLS1500s! The price!? And I can blind test it with myself and friends against my: Yamaha RX-V1, UPA-2 and my Brothers Plinius!

At worst, I use the XLS1500 for somthing else!

 

[walter duque]

I just thought, Id be a fool not to buy one of ese XLS1500s! The price!? And I can blind test it with myself and friends against my: Yamaha RX-V1, UPA-2 and my Brothers Plinius!

At worst, I use the XLS1500 for somthing else!

Did somebody give you these speakers or did you actually pay for them. Or have times changed?? You have me puzzled. It's like you own a car for 50K and you want to know which $50.00 tires you should buy, help me out on this one.
Why not just buya Behringer.

 

[GranteedEV]

If you ulmately figure that a $400, Class D Pro amp isn't 'hi fi' enough for the T8s, you'll have no difficulty selling it to some random DJ. Then you can buy two of these amps with FREE SHIPPING

Marantz Reference Series MA-9S1 Monoblock power amplifier at Crutchfield Signature

 

[mibson]

Did somebody give you these speakers or did you actually pay for them. Or have times changed?? You have me puzzled.

I dont understand? I got these speakers used for $4000 in mint shape. I had a budget with the ex for $5000 for a surround system. I got the T8s and the UPA-2 instead....

I planned to build my entire system slowly. I knew the UPA-2 was not a long term amp for my mains.

I found a Yamaha RX-V1 for only $240, so I got it, amazed by the sound difference when it runs my T8s compared to the UPA-2....But RX-V1 does seem to have much less effective power (however not on paper).

I had a massive flood and fixed the house myslef, so I have insurance money comming.

Time to get the surround going....

 

[walter duque]

I dont understand? I got these speakers used for $4000 in mint shape. I had a budget with the ex for $5000 for a surround system. I got the T8s and the UPA-2 instead....

I planned to build my entire system slowly. I knew the UPA-2 was not a long term amp for my mains.

I found a Yamaha RX-V1 for only $240, so I got it, amazed by the sound difference when it runs my T8s compared to the UPA-2....But RX-V1 does seem to have much less effective power (however not on paper).

I had a massive flood and fixed the house myslef, so I have insurance money comming.

Time to get the surround going....

When the time is right, if you have your system calibrated , which I am sure you have, take it to 0db then +3db then to +6db and let me know if your are comfortable at that and let me know how it sounds and what you feel at that level. Do you have anything left or are you out of juice?? In reality, aren't you disappointed considering the money you spend on them speakers?? Don't sound like 7k speakers, do they??

 

[mibson]

When the time is right, if you have your system calibrated , which I am sure you have, take it to 0db then +3db then to +6db and let me know if your are comfortable at that and let me know how it sounds and what you feel at that level. Do you have anything left or are you out of juice?? In reality, aren't you disappointed considering the money you spend on them speakers?? Don't sound like 7k speakers, do they??

Honestly Im confused. Calibrated? nothing more than my ears and testing between using an equalizer and flat.

My Yamaha RX-V1 is at full volume when it says 0bd, its in negative db....

The highest the RX-V1 goes and sounds great is about negative 25 db on its display....

 

[walter duque]

Honestly Im confused. Calibrated? nothing more than my ears and testing between using an equalizer and flat.

My Yamaha RX-V1 is at full volume when it says 0bd, its in negative db....

The highest the RX-V1 goes and sounds great is about negative 25 db on its display....

There is no way these speakers sound great with a 110 watt AVR. It seems like you're trying to fool yourself>

 

[mibson]

There is no way these speakers sound great with a 110 watt AVR. It seems like you're trying to fool yourself>

I mean it sounds great when compared to the UPA-2! Obviously! That is all I have to compare right now. Have you even read my posts? I looking to upgrade to a better amp. You are not helping at all..

 

[walter duque]

I mean it sounds great when compared to the UPA-2! Obviously! That is all I have to compare right now. Have you even read my posts? I looking to upgrade to a better amp. You are not helping at all..

Well I am out of this one on your request. You won't hear from me again, that's for sure. Just trying to help. If you would be living in my neck of the woods I would loan you one of my amps that'll set them speakers of yours on fire, just a matter of speech. You got some bad a$$ speakers there that's for sure, I wish I had them. They need a bad a$$ amp. And that's it for me on this thread. Thank you... for not listening.

 

[baniels]

As to your speaker, it doesn't show its distortion component, only its frequency response at what appears to be 1 watt. How will it do with a 100 watts in there when it is asked to reproduce 108 dB spl???

That's a good point. I don't have any distortion data. I will see if I can get that.

Is this leading to a point that unless I want to listen that loud I ought not be looking beyond the receiver I already have?

 

[Pyrrho]

I have a pair of PSB Platinum T8 speakers. I love the UPA-2 I have but it is not quite enough when I want to crank it up.

Would you suggest two UPA-1s OR one XPA-2?

I do have a large listening room that is effectively about 1000 sq feet, due to the fact that it is a 400 sq foot loft.

Im also willing to consider other amps but I think the value is hard to beat with Emotiva.

Im willing to save and spend more money but not sure if it is worth it....

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Assuming that both the manufacturer of the amplifiers and the manufacturer of your speakers are telling the truth, the XPA-2 would max out your speakers and give you 4.3dB louder than with your UPA-2. Crown has a nice calculator for this:

dB Power Ratio Calculator

And since your speakers are 4 ohms, use the 4 ohm values on the amplifiers.

In the real world, amplifiers from reputable companies can typically put out a bit more power than the rating, and speakers tend to compress the dynamic range when pushed to their limits, to it is likely to be less than that actually.

It would be louder, but not dramatically so.

As for spending more on an amplifier, that would be a waste of money, as once an amplifier is audibly perfect (which it can be without being measurably perfect) while driving the load presented to it at a given power output, any better performance (in distortion or whatever) is pointless.

 

[Pyrrho]

...
An Emo sales guy said that the UPA-1's would be help tame bright speakers. Others have said they are very musical. (I don't think mine are bright)

I am pretty sure that Emo guy is wrong. Ask for the frequency response of his amp. I am willing to bet that it is ruler flat like most well designed amps. So, how can it tame a bright speaker? Which specific frequency or bands it is trying to tame? By how much?

...

And if the Emo guy isn't wrong, then the amplifier is a piece of crap. An amplifier is not supposed to do anything to the signal except amplify it, and if it had an audible deviation from a perfectly flat frequency response when operated within its design limits, it is garbage. Even cheap amplifiers can manage to do that.

But yes, I expect the guy is just a lying ******* who is trying to make a sale.

 

[baniels]

To give some context to the Emo rep's statement:

I asked him: If the price was not part of the equation, would you ever recommend a pair of UPA-1's over the XPA-2? If so, why?

His quoted answer:

Absolutely, the UPA-1 is a great amp and works quite well for many different kinds of speakers. The UPA line is jet black quiet and has a very sweet and laid back sound, because of this I will often pair the UPA-1 with a forward or bright sounding speakers. I link to think of the UPA-1 as one slice of the XPA-3 or XPA-5. The XPA-2 is a more dynamic and detailed amp and offers a more current and voltage swing. That was a great question by the way. Please let me know if there is anything else I can do for you.

I wasn't really expecting sage wisdom from them. I'm just trying to feed myself as many perspectives and ideas on this as I can. That's just part of my decision process. That's what brought me to this thread (and to finally sign up here after lots of lurking).

The designer of my speakers has said their max power rating is 350-360 watts, for whatever that's worth. I guess I'm leaning back to the XPA-2, but I've got some time to swing yet. If there's a case for the UPA-1 (mono, but lower power), I'd love to hear it.

Thanks for the insight and help.

 

[Pyrrho]

To give some context to the Emo rep's statement:

I asked him: If the price was not part of the equation, would you ever recommend a pair of UPA-1's over the XPA-2? If so, why?

His quoted answer:



I wasn't really expecting sage wisdom from them. I'm just trying to feed myself as many perspectives and ideas on this as I can. That's just part of my decision process. That's what brought me to this thread (and to finally sign up here after lots of lurking).

The designer of my speakers has said their max power rating is 350-360 watts, for whatever that's worth. I guess I'm leaning back to the XPA-2, but I've got some time to swing yet. If there's a case for the UPA-1 (mono, but lower power), I'd love to hear it.

Thanks for the insight and help.

The guy is mostly speaking gibberish. More current and more voltage means more power, which is right enough, but the rest is drivel.

Curiously, both the manual and the brochure for your speakers at the manufacturer's web site state that the maximum recommended power amplifier should be 300 watts, and do not specify the higher power handling you mention.

 

[baniels]

I'm actually not the OP. See first post on the last page. I have different speakers, but the same question.

 

[PENG]

That's a good point. I don't have any distortion data. I will see if I can get that.

Is this leading to a point that unless I want to listen that loud I ought not be looking beyond the receiver I already have?

I would be interested to see his response but IMO to answer your question we need more information such as room dimensions, how loud do you listen, what kind of speakers you have etc.

Regarding choosing between the UPA-1 or XPA-2 if your concern is SQ they should be the same regardless of what that rep said but in terms of power there is no comparison. The XPA has a 1200 VA transformer vs the 300 VA (X2 for a pair). So the XPA is 4X larger when delivering power to one channel, or at least 2X larger even if it has two secondary windings, one for each channel.

If I had a pair of T8 I would definitely go for a 300WX2 into 8 ohms and 500W into 4 ohms such as the XPA-2. For receivers, you would need at least something like an AVR-4311 if you room is relatively small, such as less than 2500 sq. ft and you don't listen to classical music at live concert SPL.

 

[baniels]

Just be make it clear, I'm on this thread with the same questions as the OP but I have different speakers.

My speakers are Clearwave Dynamic 4TSE
Design & Specs
Impedance Measurement
Finished pics/Build diary

 

[walter duque]

Just be make it clear, I'm on this thread with the same questions as the OP but I have different speakers.

My speakers are Clearwave Dynamic 4TSE
Design & Specs
Impedance Measurement
Finished pics/Build diary

You build these yourself??

 

[baniels]

Yes. Forgive the grilles. My son is two and a half and carries a tornado in his back pocket.

You build these yourself??