steve sullivan

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.33 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I COMPARED A EMOTIVA XPA-2 TO A PARASOUND HCA 2200. THE TWO HEAVY WEIGHT AMPS PERFORMED IMPRESSIVELY. THE PARASOUND HAS A SMOOTHNESS IN THE MIDS WITH STRONG BASS AND GOOD DETAIL. THE EMOTIVA HAS NEUTRAL MIDS AND STRONG BASS. AND GOOD DETAIL. BOTH AMPS HAVE LOTS OF POWER.
I USED A SONIC FRONTIEIRS L1 PREAMP AND CAMBRIDGE 500 CD . SOUND CHOICE CUSTOM 3-WAY
SPEAKERS WITH A 12' WOOFER AND BIAMPED TWO 15' SUBWOOFERS WITH A QSC 3002 AMP.
THE EMOTIVA DROVE THE SPEAKERS WOOFERS TO THEIR LIMIT OF 10 MM EXCURSCION DURING A
LISTENING TEST TO A CHRIS DUARTE INSTRUMENTAL. THE EMOTIVA HAS THE BEST AUTHORITY IN THE BASS AND IT SOUNDS VERY GOOD. I THINK THE EMOTIVA XPA-2 IS THE BEST VALUE IN AUDIO HISTORY.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
Emotiva XPA-5 Review not XPA-2

I owe debt to the founder, employees, and manufacturers of Emotiva. Their XPA-5 has single handedly blown me away! The price is a scoff. They are giving you people great musical and home theater amps.
The XPA-5 has belittled all my previous amps and receivers.

First it beat a B&K AV5000. A B&K amp as powerful as the XPA-5 would cost $2200+ and if B&K hasn't gotten alot better in the sound quality respect, the Emotiva amp would embarrass it. Not just beat it but kick its rear. B&K wasn't that bad even, especially in bass, the highs were grainy and unclear.
It blows away a Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX. This receiver took me away from ever buying any other Pioneer Elite Receiver. Pretty much turned my stomach to receivers altogether. It originally listed at $1000. It's real value is as a processor only. The amp section wasn't worth hearing.
It beat out a Yamaha receiver I never liked. Power from the Yamaha was impressive but sound quality was horrible. I'll never gamble again on a Yamaha.

So how does the Emotiva XPA-5 sound?
Very neutral amplifier. SPEAKERS: INFINITY BETA 50 and BETA C360 which have been a bright speaker.
Because of my speakers sonic signatures I still had to bump down the highs (4k, 8k, 16k), upper bass(125,250), and thanks to the Infinity PS-12 sub being such a low hitter I turned down the 40 hz band. 40 lowest the rest even. Boosted bands 60, 500, 1k, and 2k. All are within 5 db. 1k is set highest the rest even.

Clearly, the xpa-5 is a more musical amp than I've ever heard. Also the biggest, most ruggedly built, heavy, and pleasing to look at. I'd predict this amps real value stands 5 times what it costs. Easily 3 times it's humble costs. I don't know of any true competition Mark Levinson and Bryston are way out of price range, even used ones you have no guarantee of.
Emotiva has won this war and made me a true believer in their products. If you can't believe this is true you ARE missing out or way overpaying.
HT is well rounded too. Obvious to me, if the music is handled smoothly well, movies, given enough power, can sound enjoyable at least. The XPA-5 sounds silky smooth and exciting on movies. Well detailed and superb vocals, male and female. The bass is low, quick and precise. The only muddy bass now is from my stand alone powered subwoofer, which is hardly needed and hardly used anymore.
The only bad things I can say about the XPA-5:
*Give it a grace 30 hours of break in period. At first, I thought all the money went on looks and the weight must have just been the use of heavy materials. The sound is bright at first but in time it all smooths out.
**Input jacks are somewhat weak and fragile. The only weakness I feel Emotiva needs to relook. Be sure to unplug connections before moving the XPA-5 any at all. I already pulled a input jack out of it's hole. Emotiva quickly replaced the amp and assured me they would take care of me.
***A very complex set of protection triggers. My dual headed rca's are getting crosstalk, interfering with the signal quality and the amp shuts down. Be sure to use single headed rca's or have some on hand just in case your cheaper connects have signal interference.

dm1010

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
So let me preface this review with a couple of notes. First I'm not a professional reviewer, work for Emotiva, or a scientist. I'm not using scientific measurements, only my subjectivity. I listened to cds that I am very familiar with and have been listening to for years.

I used a YBA CD2 as the trasport/dac, a Meitner PA6 as the preamp, Cardas neutral reference cable, and JM Lab Focal Electra 905 speakers.

The XPA 2 bests the Meitner STR50 I have owned for 6+ years in many ways.
Dynamics have much more impact. I have never heard the bass like that before. The bass was also more distinct and more coherent, not heavy but right. The highs were not harsh at all like I experienced from time to time with the Meitner. Also, the recordings I listened to had new life in them and sounded very exciting. Some cymbal crashes were startling and I actually said "wow". The Meitner always sounded very lifeless to me in comparison. Also, the speakers seemed 'faster', or had a better tempo, with that extra power - they could reproduce sounds more quickly. The decay was also more satisfying. It has more viceral impact and is less laid back than the Meitner.

The soundstage widened and the instruments were very well placed left to right with a nice front to back stage as well. All the sounds were separate from each other and placed in their distinct places.

The imaging was fantastic with voices dead anchored in the center. The Meitner was more washed out and blurred where the XPA was unwavering. All sounds were in the space they should be without any muddiness. There seemed to be greater resolution, detail, and separation with the cds I played.

Overall, I'd have to say that the XPA 2 is downright exciting. It is neutral and does not color what I was listening to. It has a low noise floor and ran silently. It has injected new interest in my music library! I highly recommend it. I have listened to Classe, Krell, Bryston, amongst others and the XPA 2 comes mighty close to that level of SQ. It has power to explore the depths of any music and yet maintain an intricate feeling of detail even when there are complex musical passages.

I had an extended 2 channel listening session last night with a new YBA preamp I bought (YBA 2), YBA cd player and the XPA 2. Talk about transparent and neutral. The soundstage was fantastic, the imaging was superb, and I kept saying "alright, just one more track". Gotta love that XPA 2

Now I'll have to see what it will do in my HT setup...
.
The XPA 2 is downright frightening with HT. I ran my NHTs full range to experiment and wow, what an incredible difference. The bass from that amp is staggering. It added so much visceral impact to the experience, not to mention detail. There wasn't a hint of strain, or harshness with any of the material. The sound quality is excellent. The Emotiva's neutrality speaks for itself. The XPA 2 is definitely a keeper.

vincedog3

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
The Emotiva XPA-2 is one of those products that breaks the rule, spend a lot, get a lot. You get this Heavy beast with very good build quality and stylish casework without over doing it. I bought mine during the 2008 holiday season sale and paid $699.00 shipped to my door. I thought was outstanding, and the Fedex guy thought it was even more outstanding that he didn't have to bring this big heavy double boxed 89 some odd pound box to my door. With hand truck at the ready, I carted this boxed beast to my place.

The XPA-2 was well packed, with owners manual that is velo bound and includes an I.E.C. power cable.

Once hefted and taken out of the box, I set this on the top shelf of my Studiotech stand. This amplifier is deep so on some stands that have a back panel might run into interference problems. As an estimate and my tape measure depth would be about say 21 to 22 inches real world depth including typical RCA interconnects and speaker cabling.

Lets talk about what's in back "the back panel". 12 volt trigger switch, mains power switch, bridging switch, balanced/unbalanced line input, 1 pair of 5 way "WBT" style binding posts, RCA/XLR line inputs, and I.E.C. Power Connection, and an pair of leds for power selection indications either 115 volts, and 230 volts,and lastly the Meter LED switch. As a note the XPA-2 has auto detection for the proper voltage and frequency for proper operation.

Front panel is a black brushed finished aluminum panel with an LED window arrays and status indicator, and the Emotiva standby orange to blue ringed power switch. The Front panel edge end caps are a silver brushed finish. From what I understand black end caps are available from Emotiva direct soon.

So with careful, patient setup the XPA-2 is ready to roll. I let the XPA-2 warm up for a few hours after the unboxing/unpacking, and found that the sound from the XPA-2 is huge. Big amp, big sound has something here for sure. My Magnepan MMGs just woke up with much more control, verve and energy.

The midrange is so much more detailed and alive than my older amplifiers were. My favorite for a while was a Vincent SP-331 Power Amplifier that is a Vacuum Tube, Solid State Hybrid amplifier. The Vincent had more richness in the midrange and treble, but just lacked the detail and surprisingly enough the oomph I needed to keep the Maggies going.

The Bass response from the XPA-2 is terrific in that it is so fast and controlled and tight. The midbass more of the same, and the midrange is very honest and neutral. The mid treble though was driving me crazy. Forward and hard sounding. I attributed this mostly to the new out of the box sound. I was partly right but even after continuous playing for weeks it still had that hard forward mid treble sound. I traced the problem to my 3rd party power cable and some interconnects. I landed on a Virtual Dynamics Power 3 power cable and all was right with the world. The Mid Treble went back to neutral where it belonged. Interesting how the XPA-2 didn't like my more expensive Nite 2 and Audition power cables from Virtual Dynamics.

The Treble is spot on like I like it. My front ends the preamplifier and Cd player are Vacuum Tube and they compliment the XPA-2 very well. I get the richness I want along with the speed and control and dynamics too.

The sound stage is very good too with great depth behind the Maggies with good stable placement of the performers, and fairly wide sound stage too. In comparison with the Vincent power amplifier, the XPA-2 matches the Vincent side to side, but the XPA-2 seems to have a deeper stage, at least in my setup anyway.

As time goes on, I like what new things I am picking up with the XPA-2 in especially low level detail. I just hear more here than I did with my Vincent Amplifier. It is not a startling difference, but just a tick or 2 better in that area.

I use different sources to play my music with, from Reel to Reels, to Cassettes and CD players and finally my Apple Imac 24 computer going to my USB dac. I want to get one of the Benchmark or Wavelength USB dacs at some point.

So with all these different sources I have my Jazz,Rock,Classical and some Folk, the XPA-2 is a good way for me hear for better or for worse what was recorded. My female vocals like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and more are well done with the XPA-2 with how open and articulate they sound with a coherence that is there without being pushy in the mid treble. The midrange always stays honest and clear with very little tonal coloration. Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett and other of the male crooners are well done here too. I have only a bit of a reservation in that I would like maybe a trifle bit more warmth sometimes, but not at the expense of the detail the XPA-2 is giving me now.

Instruments like guitar and piano are well done with speed and again articulation. Pat Matheny one of my favorites is incredible here with the strike of the string and decay and the ambience recovered with a very convincing realism. The Vincent sure would sound a bit warmer, but the XPA-2 just nails the attack and release of the notes better. Orchestra like my Stravinsky, Mahler and others have the power and excitement that their pieces promise, the XPA-2 has no problem with these at all. Those dynamic reserves the XPA-2 is very much appreciated.

So in the sonic score card so far the likes are a very neutral midrange, tight and fast bass response, and treble that is well extended without being painful. Sound stage that is wide and very deep, and dynamics and control that at least in my place is more than plenty. I have no desire for more power, this amplifier is it for me in that area.

Other casual observations would be how cool the operation of the XPA-2 is, and that it is silent without any of the power supply noise I used to get from my old Acurus or other old amplifiers I had. No buzzing, no anything, just silent cool operation no matter what.

So in summary, I am very pleased with what my money bought here with the Emotiva XPA-2. I couldn't imagine another amplifier in my system at least and my ears that gives so much, so very little. Even at the $799.00 regular price from Emotiva.com direct this amplifier is tremendous value. I have been telling friends about the Emotiva gear and how much gear you get so little money. So for as long as I have been doing audio and been involved with music all these years, this amplifier has to be one of the best finds I have had to date. For definitely the money, the XPA-2 is a great audiophile buy, and has me rethinking how much I can get with much less money. Highly recommended. V.C.

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