Official Emotiva XPA-5 Owners Thread - Page 6

whatever. lol good luck in firing every person that makes a minor mistake in life.

I have a UPA-7, has anyone "upgraded" from a UPA-7 to an XPA-5? and if so what are your observations?

Good luck on telling everyone who has a damaged Emotiva that they are wrong and shouldn't say anything...glad it worked out for both of us.

You are running out of power with an XPA-5?

Remind me to wear hearing protection if you invite me over for a movie

I watch his youytube channel and I believe he has klipsch speakers like me so I doubt he is running out of power...pobally wants a LOT of head room!

I agree, I love the product but over the phone customer service should be worked on a bit.

Guys,
I just purchased an Emotiva XPA-5 to power my JBL LS40, LS center and Paradigm ADP370.
I noticed that there's hissing(not hum or buzz) sound coming off the speakers when I'm not playing anything.

I already tried removing all the inputs(RCA) to the XPA-5 and still I can hear the hiss from about 2 feet away.

I also tried disconnecting all my equipments and household appliances from the wall outlet but still the hissing sound is present.

Could this be because of my AC power source? Can a power line conditioner eliminate the hiss?

Thanks in advance :-)

All external amps hiss, it's normal. At 2 feet away, what is your volume at?

We'll it's not cost affective to place techs on the basic csr phone line. I think emotiva should have a escalation system and if the basic csr can't assist, then a tech should be the next level.

No, they don't.

"Hissing" is a sign of one of the following:

(1) noise getting into the system from upstream of the amp (Only solution there is to find it and kill it. Sometimes it's as simple as removing a cable and reconnecting it, or swapping one out. Other times, a source needs to be replaced.);

(2) bad amp-speaker matching (e.g. very high-gain amp with very sensitive speaker);

(3) poor amplifier design generally.

I'll add another possibility to the post above. A fourth possibility could be a problem with the amplifier itself.

So you're going to sit there and tell me every amp hooked up has absolutely no hissing? Lol, ok

Please re-read my earlier post with an eye to actually understanding it, OK. And then read below.

Yes, a well-optimized system will have no audible noise, even very close to the speaker.

If an amp hisses, something in the system is off. It could be a source upstream of the amp. (Though if it hisses with no sources, that's obviously not an issue.) It could be a wire issue. (Unplug and replug before replacing; also consider routing for both line- and speaker- level connections. It could be an equipment matching issue. It could be a problem with the design or build of the amp.

With Emotiva amps, I suspect the culprit more often than not is upstream equipment-amp-speaker matching. They have very low input sensitivity* - and quite a high gain. So any upstream noise will be amplified as if it were signal (and signal levels will be low), and higher gain is generally speaking going to be noisier than lower gain.

The Emo amps seem like excellent product, especially considering the prices. I've heard them twice, once on a lowish-efficiency system (low noise, worked great) and once on my 96dB/W/m reference mains (yeah....no; compared to the amps built into a Denon AVR-4308ci I had no sonic advantage once levels were matched, and lots more noise). But one has to understand the design tradeoffs that go into them, just like anything else.

*In one respect, the low input sensitivity is a marketing gimmick: it makes buyers think they "sound better" than other amps, simply because because for a given input they get quite a bit louder than most other amps. However, the low input sensitivity also makes them quite useful to drive active speakers with crossover/EQ handled by a DSP with low output levels, such as the unbalanced miniDSP.

In your quoted sentence it should say "high sensitivity" instead of "low sensitivity" or the statement wouldn't make sense.
The Emotivas have high input sensitivity to deal with the rather lowish output of AVR preamp outs.

I always get those twisted around for some reason. So, "high sensitivity" means lower voltage in required to get full output? Mental block, I guess.

Though I'm not sure that AVR pre outs are as low in output as you think. My Anthem, for instance, specs its pre outs at 4Vrms, I think. The Denon 3808 and 4308 had pre outs in that range, too. Plenty of people drive pro amps directly off them without needing a bump box.

The poster appears to prefer superficial disruptive posting. To each his own.

Is the xpa-5 really 19" deep? Daaaaaamn.. I'm gonna have to cut the back out on my console. Can someone verify this depth? Also, do you guys think I will hear a difference going from my denon 4311ci to this xpa-5 powering my energy veritas 5.1 system, 6.3, 5.2c and VS rears.

My 6.3 specs. http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en...pecifications/

5.2c specs http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en...pecifications/

VS rears. http://www.energy-speakers.com/na-en...pecifications/

I have the svs pb13 ultra subwoofer, I'm guessing upgrading to the xpa-5 amp will not have any effect on this right?

We are too much alike. All the good stuff. I use the denon 4311. I ran it 9.1 without amps. I have a emotiva upa 7 I haven't connected lately. I have a emotiva xpa 5 connected to the 5 main speakers in a 11.4 system. Different speakers though. The upa has been tested as slightly cleaner than the xpa with lower noise floor also. I paused tv in and turned receiver full volume. With the xpa5 I could barely hear hiss from tweeter one foot away. Two feet away disappeared. This speaker playing would do 105db at 1 foot easy. Not a problem. Some amps probably are cleaner. Not worried about it. I can play the denon very loud without the receiver or amp getting very hot. Makes ventilation problems a thing of the past.

So would you say its a worthy upgrade from the 4311 to the xpa-5 or a waste of money?

Forgot to mention I have dual sv pb12+ subs. As long as you don't need to play super loud in a large room or want to add several more drivers then no you should be fine with the 4311. Those are very efficient speakers (93db). And you have an active subwoofer. I have mostly inefficient 4ohm mtm speakers that cost less, but handle just as much power as the V-6.3. And I have bad ventilation.

Does anyone have any problems with the XLR pots on the amp being flimsy and the xlr cable being very loose in it? I've been having problems with 2 of the 5 xlr outs, where the cable will pretty much just fall out, it's not tight at all (tried 5 different brands of XLR's). This makes for a 6dB or so loss until it make the proper connection. What a pain in the but, I know I can use rca but I shouldn't have to. I'm getting replacement XLR pots from emo (after 4 emails grrr) and will take it apart and do it myself.

Anyone else come across this? I know of 2 others that have but I'm wondering if it's more wide spread.

No problem with my XLRs and Neutrik connectors but I am using RCA now.

Emotiva's higher gain makes them a bit more sensitive to the AVR's noise floor. Optimum (lowest) noise floor usually means putting the most gain early in the signal chain and not at the end. That said, I can hear some hiss with my ear right at the speaker but none by a foot or two away. It also depends upon your speakers, natch.

I just used my xlr mic cables to check mine. They are nice and tight. Curious to what kind of cables you have been using?

i posted this in the insanely enormous emotive tech thread and only got one thought, so maybe better love here...


ok ive searched for a couple of days on this and read that the XPA-2 capacitance is in a parallel/series configuration. does this hold true for the XPA-3 and the XPA-5 as well, resulting in the lower total capacitance but higher voltage rating to the rails? if so, does that really negate the need for higher capacitance since the caps discharge and recharge faster?

I don't know the topology. Capacitance does not determine the rail voltage; the rail voltage determines the voltage rating of the capacitors. Series or parallel or any combination, charge/discharge rate is set by the power line frequency (for conventional power supplies) and the load (audio output). One or the other does not cahrte/discharge "faster" relative to audio rates. Other than more capacitance is usually better, the relationship between capacitance and sound quality is often tenuous unless you have very little capacitance. Large amounts of capacitance provide a "stiffer" voltage rail, meaning less sag during large, long peaks but also less dynamic headroom. I would not choose an amplifier based upon its capacitance (unless it was very, very low).

I have a BJC, Monoprice, GLS audio, phantom cable and a DIY I made. All are a sloppy fit in 2 of the 5 pots. The rest of the pots are perfect. 1 of the 2 I taped the outside and crammed it in there and it works but the other won't work no matter what. You have to jiggle it around in there to make a proper connection but it comes loose all the time.

I Won't have this amp much longer as I'm going all Class D, but I also don't want to sell it with a faulty XLR pot as I'd be pissed if someone sold it to me like that, so I'd rather have it fixed before I sell it. I'm in Canada and shipping back to emo would be a waste of money.