Official Emotiva XPA-5 Owners Thread - Page 15

Emotiva is the seller on Amazon so it is still direct from them. Just using Amazon as a store front to collect the money.

now i feel like a knucklehead. I couldn't tell that those were RCA inputs above the XLR jacks. Thanks!

Why don't you go to the Emotiva site and download the manual? Might help...

So what, in your opinions would be a good upgrade for my Yamaha RX-V861? I don't need anything brand spanking new as I have read many people love their Denon 4311Ci as well as the Marantz AV7005 pre/pro. I am not against getting another AVR, especially as many people talk so highly about XT32 and the Marantz doesn't have that. I have never used YPAO so I am not familiar with using any built in EQ. Besides these two older but very formidable options, what other opinions in the sub $1500 range do you suggest?
Edited by flashman03 - 1/2/13 at 4:04pm

Well I received my XPA-5 today and as luck would have it, it goes into protection. I called Emotiva and talked to someone (who was nice) but I guess the techs go home before the rest of the crew. The guy on the phone tried to help me trouble shoot it but I had just removed my LPA-1 an hour earlier so I pretty much knew the cables and speakers were fine. To make a long story short I plugged the LPA-1 back in and it worked like a charm. I should have just left well enough alone and stayed with the LPA-1 in the first place.

I got mine picked up today too, just don't have my cables yet to hook it up. I thought it would be double boxed but mine came in just the outside box. Surprising to me but the box is in good shape so I am ok with it. Can't wait until I can get it hooked up.

Sorry to hear that, but I'm positive the guys at Emotiva will correct this issue for you.

Well that is odd. Are you sure is only one box? Did you open it already?

No...I am just stupid. Assumed since it was only one box because I could see what I thought was the amp through the handles.

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Just finished hooking up my xpa 5 a couple hours ago. Sounds awesome so far. I'm super happy. Can't wait to through in one of my fav blue-rays.

Glad to hear it was just a false alarm............

So, when your interconnects will arrive?

Congrats!

Oh, and don't forget to also play some of your high quality songs too! You will fall in love once more with them thanks to the new amp........

Cheers!

I talked to Keith at Emotiva today and he gave me a few things to try, but he also wanted me to try a cheap set of RCA's to connect the amp to my AVR. It appears that one of my RCA's were a little to critical for the amp, it worked fine with my LPA-1, but it kept putting this one into protection. To make a long story short, I have it wired with a couple sets of cheap RCA's and threw the others in the garbage. I'm going to buy a new set of RCA's tomorrow to replace the cheapies that are on it. It looks like the circuitry on the newer amps is a little more sensitive (which is a good thing) than the older ones. Anyway it's hooked up and working fine!

Glad to hear that. So, what interconnects are you planning on buying?

Glad to hear that they got you sorted out, and that you're now up and running!

Just got my XPA-5 today. Double shipping box. The interior has upper and lower foam supports to protect the product. There was a power cord and a switching cord. I'm waiting for my Pre/Pro, and my speakers. Then I'll set up. I'm happy with the protection from the factory. There was a bit of damage to the lower portion of the outer box, but the damage was only cosmetic to the box, and didn't penetrated to the amp.

I was given the green light for an Integra DHC 80.3. That will be a huge improvement over my 4 year old Yamaha. I am excited because with once I can pay for that, I won't need to purchase anything else... well, a new blu-ray to do more than my PS3. I am going OPPO with that based on all of the fantastic reviews and exceptional resell value if I need to ever do that.

Got my xpa 5 yesterday. Love it so far. Except it made me realize my midrange on my studio 100 is defective. Everything sounded awesome watching bluerays in dts master. Like I said in my paradigm post I now know what taking the blanket off your speakers mean. I popped in Adele live at the Abby in pure direct at -5dbs and it was obvious something was wrong with the midrange. Hopefully get that fixed fast. So I can't enjoy the emotiva

I'm not sure what I'm going to buy yet. I plan on going by Fry's today and if they don't have anything I might order them from Monoprice.

I'm using the Monoprice interconnects without issues. Really happy with the look, performance and price on these interconnects.

But yeah, check the ones that Fry's has in store, if the price is right you can buy them and hook you amp right away. Worst case scenario, you can return them and buy the ones for Monoprice.

Looking forward to read you initial impressions on the amp driving your speakers.

Some super quality products can be purchased from morrowaudio.com and bogdenaudio.com

The interconnects are about $50.00 per pair and the quality of workmanship is outstanding. They are noticeably better than Monsters, and super inexpensive stuff. I noticed a difference in sound when added. Morrow has a 25% sale on some of their products right now.

Seems like a bit much to spend on interconnects, but to each their own. I'd probably go with something like these and not think twice.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10236&cs_id=1023603&p_id=2681&seq=1&format=4#feedback

I'm on the fence about getting the XPA-5. I think space is my biggest concern right now. The manual for this amp recommends 3 inches space on each side and 6 on top. I have the 6 on top, but about a half inch on each side. Looking at photos of the amp, it doesn't appear to have vents on the sides. Anyone else have a tight fit on the sides with theirs?

Just making a suggestion. Wires can cause heated arguments.

The guy at Emotiva told me to stay away from the exotic/expensive cables because of how some of them are grounded. The cables I had on my LPA-1 were Acoustic Research directional cables and they worked fine with the LPA-1 but they didn't work with the XPA-5. Out of 5 cables it looks like 2 of them were causing a problem so I just decided to change all of them out. I'm either going to buy a set from monoprice or just get a reasonable set locally if I can find them today.

On the amp clearance I can tell you that my LPA-1 sat in an open from cabinet with about 2.5 inches above it and 3-4 inches ont he side and it never really even got warm. Now the XPA is in the same place and after watching TV with the volume at about -12 to -14 from about 3 hours this amp is warm but far from hot. I'm going to drill 6 holes in the top of my cabinet and install the black inserts you see on a desk in it and that will definately give it enough cooling. I'm sure this amp is running a litle warmer due to a larger power supply but like I said it's far from getting hot. Here's a picture of the cabinet so you can get an idea of how the LPA-1 was installed for 5+ years.

I have a Adcom GFA555II 2 channel and a GFA2535 3 channel power amp from the 90s. Would a XPA-5 be much better sonicly? Thanks

Power amps, at least class A/B ones, have not improved in many years so no, the Emotiva amp would not "sound better," unless there is something wrong with the Adcom's due to aging.

You might consider, that the impedance load of the speakers might have an influence on the capabilities (and SQ) of the amp.

From the little I know about amplifiers, including Emotiva and Adcom, I would say that either handle typical speaker loads, including 4 ohm, well. Amplifier design has changed little for decades except for non-class A/B amplifiers.

I posted this answer to your question over in the main Emotiva thread, but I'll copy it here as well in case anyone follows this one and not the other:



As fate would have it, I own and use all of the amps you mentioned. The Adcom 555 II is a very nice amp..I bought it in the 90's and never used it much until a few years ago. I've had it hooked to a pair of Magnepan 1.7's and it sounded wonderful. It's currently being used in bridged mode to drive a Magnepan CC3 center channel speaker in the same system as the Magnepan 1.7's. I use a vintage Threshold S500e to drive the 1.7's now. The Adcom GFA2535, which is a 4 channel or three channel configurable amp , sounds very nice as well, but doesn't have anywhere near the power of the XPA-5. It's rated at 4 x's 60 watts per channel in 4 channel mode OR 2 x's 60watts per channel and 1 x's 200watts per channel in three channel mode. (all at 8 ohm load). In non bridged mode, it is rated at 90 watts per channel times 4 at 4 ohms.

That 200 watt bridged channel has limitations. For example, I tried using it to drive that Magnepan CC3 center channel speaker and it didn't like that load one bit. It would overheat and sound strained. The bridged Adcom 555II sounds far better and runs cool. I am using that 2535 now, at least two channels of it, to drive my rear speakers in that system..a pair of Magnepam MMG's. It works just fine in that application. In non bridged mode, the 2535 has no problem handling 4 ohm loads.

I use my XPA-5 in my main system built around Thiel 3.6's, to drive the surround channels in a 7.2 configuration. It's a very powerful amp and sounds great. I don't think it sounds any better than the Adcom 555II though, they are both fine quality pieces of gear. Within it's power limitations, the Adcom 2535 is a fine sounding amplifier..HOWEVER...it is a 60 watt per channel amp at it's core. Bridging one of the sides to gain a 200 watt rating into a single channel works as long as the speaker you are driving is 8 ohms. If it's less than that, that bridged channel will have issues. Even within that limitation, I don't think that bridged 2535 channel could be considered the equal of a channel of the XPA-5.

Emotiva does not their amplifiers for < 8 ohms in bridged mode, nor do many others (I do not know about the specific Adcom's mentioned). It effectively halves the load to each amplifier, making for a difficult load.

I have a pair of those too. They'll make an amplifier work, given the impedance is under 3 ohms for most of the range. They do like an amp that can deliver the goods at lower impedances.