AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Question about Emotiva
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Question about Emotiva

post #1 of 12
1/4/13 at 4:58pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys, how u all doing?

so in pursuit of further improving my home theatre system, im reading these great reviews about the Emotive XPA 3 and XPA5.

as u all know, i have a definitive technology 5.1 system, i have bp6 for the front left and right , CLR2002 for the Center channel and BP2X's for the surrounds. my subwoofer is the SVS PB12 NSD. and my receiver is the onkyo NR818.

now, is it true that adding an xpa 3 will really improve the sound quality even more?

i checked on definitive technology website, it says that my front main speakers (the bp6's) have a power handling of 20 - 175 watts per channel. what does that mean? i mean iv read that the emotiva has 300 watts per channel, so does it mean that my speakers wont be able to handle the emotiva at all?
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 12
1/4/13 at 5:06pm
Quote:
now, is it true that adding an xpa 3 will really improve the sound quality even more?
You've got a pretty solid AVR, so unless your speakers are "power-hungry" and/or you run your system at very loud volume levels in a very large room, the XPA-3 will most likely not improve the sound quality.

It's not "night and day", the way lots of folks seem to think it is. I have a UPA-5 in my set-up (w/ a Marantz SR6003), and a buddy of mine with a similar set-up has an XPA-3 (w/ a Denon AVR-4310), and neither one of us has the amp for POWER or SOUND QUALITY - we have them more for "peace of mind" and "nice to have". If that's what you want the amp for, go for it. If you're expecting miracles, you'll be disappointed.

IMO only, of course, and YMMV. smile.gif
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 12
1/4/13 at 5:48pm
Thread Starter 
got it, thanks man.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 12
1/5/13 at 1:03am
The XPA-2 is 300 Wrms/ch. The XPA-3 is 200 Wrms/ch. I wouldn't bother with an external amp unless you go to 7.1 or beyond. I figure the Onkyo is good for 80w x 7 and probably close to 100w at 5 channels. The only thing you will probably accomplish is give yourself a bit more headroom and take most of the amp load off the receiver. You probably won't hear much of a difference at normal volume levels.

I think the main benefit I got out of mine going from 146w x 5 to 400w x 5 is the addition of 4 more speakers ( to 9.x ) that are now powered by the receiver. Most of the time the XPR-5 isn't breaking a sweat but Total Recall was a pretty aggressive mix which required ear protection in some places at reference levels. I doubt I'm using 25% of the receiver's available power now.
Edited by jevans64 - 1/5/13 at 1:09am
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 12
1/5/13 at 4:33am
In your situation I don't see the benefit to using an external amp with BP6's and 2002 front stage. If you had less efficient speakers that required more power I would so go for it, but it's very unlikely you will notice any significant difference with your setup.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 12
1/5/13 at 5:31am
Not to high jack this thread but I am considering the same upgrade although I have psb image b6 front with c5 center. Would those benefit from an external amp?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 12
1/5/13 at 6:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jevans64 View Post

The XPA-2 is 300 Wrms/ch. The XPA-3 is 200 Wrms/ch. I wouldn't bother with an external amp unless you go to 7.1 or beyond. I figure the Onkyo is good for 80w x 7 and probably close to 100w at 5 channels. The only thing you will probably accomplish is give yourself a bit more headroom and take most of the amp load off the receiver. You probably won't hear much of a difference at normal volume levels.
I think the main benefit I got out of mine going from 146w x 5 to 400w x 5 is the addition of 4 more speakers ( to 9.x ) that are now powered by the receiver. Most of the time the XPR-5 isn't breaking a sweat but Total Recall was a pretty aggressive mix which required ear protection in some places at reference levels. I doubt I'm using 25% of the receiver's available power now.
I have a Denon AVR 4520ci as my preamp and the Emotiva XPR-5. 5 channels are ran off the XPR-5 and surround backs are ran off of the 4520ci... I have not been overly impressed with the XPR-5's output compared to my previous 7.1 setup using a Denon AVR 5805. 170 x 7 all channels driven. Any feedback would be most appreciated.
Reply
Reply
post #8 of 12
1/5/13 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Schmidt View Post

I have a Denon AVR 4520ci as my preamp and the Emotiva XPR-5. 5 channels are ran off the XPR-5 and surround backs are ran off of the 4520ci... I have not been overly impressed with the XPR-5's output compared to my previous 7.1 setup using a Denon AVR 5805. 170 x 7 all channels driven. Any feedback would be most appreciated.

If the Klipsch in your sig are the ones you are running on this system, then you probably didn't even need to go beyond the 4520ci. The info at Klipsch say they are in-wall rated at 150 Wrms. Headroom made a difference to ME because my main 5 speakers can all take over 400 watts. My towers can take 1000 watts each. I'm sure my front speakers would sing if I put each of them on an XPR-1 but then I'd have to wear earplugs.

The Denon AVR 5805 was a beast of a receiver. I had a 5803 and the 5308ci I replaced it with was anemic compared to it but that was the trade-off to get updated processing and HDMI.

Are you even tapping the XPR-5 beyond 3 or 4 LEDs? I haven't clipped my XPR-5 yet but I've gotten up to 8 or 9 LEDs on my Surrounds since they don't have a powered sub in them and are 4-way, 1", 5",8",& 12", rated at 450 Wrms. My L/C/R have powered subs, so they peak at about 7 LEDs at -10 dB from reference.
Edited by jevans64 - 1/5/13 at 10:27pm
Reply
Reply
post #9 of 12
1/5/13 at 10:32pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Schmidt View Post

I have a Denon AVR 4520ci as my preamp and the Emotiva XPR-5. 5 channels are ran off the XPR-5 and surround backs are ran off of the 4520ci... I have not been overly impressed with the XPR-5's output compared to my previous 7.1 setup using a Denon AVR 5805. 170 x 7 all channels driven. Any feedback would be most appreciated.

Having that large of an amp is too often overkill. Your in-wall Klipsch are 91db efficient and your AVR should be able to drive them to reference levels without clipping if you are like most and do not listen at reference levels - the AVR would have served you just fine - as you've discovered. That is one hell of an amp though. Gives you bragging rights over your buddies!
Reply
Reply
post #10 of 12
1/5/13 at 10:39pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Knucklehead90 View Post

Having that large of an amp is too often overkill. Your in-wall Klipsch are 91db efficient and your AVR should be able to drive them to reference levels without clipping if you are like most and do not listen at reference levels - the AVR would have served you just fine - as you've discovered. That is one hell of an amp though. Gives you bragging rights over your buddies!

Only reason I added an external amp to begin with is because I was going from the receiver's maximum 7 channels to 11 channels. Needed at least a 4-channel amp for that. Went to EmoFest with the intention of just getting an XPA-5 but there wasn't a fantastic deal on those, so I got the XPR-5 since it was sitting right there in the foyer saying, " Take ME home, Buddy!! " biggrin.gif Got a fantastic deal on it.
Reply
Reply
post #11 of 12
1/6/13 at 6:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jevans64 View Post

If the Klipsch in your sig are the ones you are running on this system, then you probably didn't even need to go beyond the 4520ci. The info at Klipsch say they are in-wall rated at 150 Wrms. Headroom made a difference to ME because my main 5 speakers can all take over 400 watts. My towers can take 1000 watts each. I'm sure my front speakers would sing if I put each of them on an XPR-1 but then I'd have to wear earplugs.
The Denon AVR 5805 was a beast of a receiver. I had a 5803 and the 5308ci I replaced it with was anemic compared to it but that was the trade-off to get updated processing and HDMI.
Are you even tapping the XPR-5 beyond 3 or 4 LEDs? I haven't clipped my XPR-5 yet but I've gotten up to 8 or 9 LEDs on my Surrounds since they don't have a powered sub in them and are 4-way, 1", 5",8",& 12", rated at 450 Wrms. My L/C/R have powered subs, so they peak at about 7 LEDs at -10 dB from reference.
At +10 on the master volume of the AVR I get 5 or 6 led's on the XPR-5. At normal listening volume -35 to -25, I don't see the led's at all. I would assume when you say reference level you mean MV at 0. Even though all my inwall speakers are Klipsch and they are very efficient, the 4520ci didn't power them very well compared to the 5805. That is why the XPR-5 was added. What will I gain by adding front heights? Thanks for your insights!
Reply
Reply
post #12 of 12
1/31/13 at 9:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Randy Schmidt View Post


At +10 on the master volume of the AVR I get 5 or 6 led's on the XPR-5. At normal listening volume -35 to -25, I don't see the led's at all. I would assume when you say reference level you mean MV at 0. Even though all my inwall speakers are Klipsch and they are very efficient, the 4520ci didn't power them very well compared to the 5805. That is why the XPR-5 was added. What will I gain by adding front heights? Thanks for your insights!

 

Are you're sure that's calibrated? Normal listening at -35 to -25...and you turn it up to +10? That'd be asking for 115dB peaks from the speaker. That would require 3,000 watts! You don't have that much amplification, and the speakers can't take that, and the box and drivers are physically incapable of that. So something's off here. 

 

If for some reason you do want such levels, the speaker KL7800 is entirely the wrong speaker to achieve such. You need to look to 98-100dB sensitivity speakers with 12" woofers, not to mention the massive subwoofers you'd need to reach 128dB peaks.

Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Speakers

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Speakers › Question about Emotiva