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Anybody own Emotiva gear? For the price it looks impressive. I'm thinking about possibly getting one of their 5 channel amps and processors. My buddy has their CD player and is impressed.
I've heard a lot of good things about emotiva. For the price, it is supposedly great quality. I do not currently own any of the gear, but have read up on them a good bit. The XPA-5 seems to hold it's value very well so if you end up not liking it, you should be able to recoup some of your cash.
Thanks. I can't find much bad press about these amps. They seem like a great value for the money. I may pull the trigger later this year. I'm also looking into speakers. I'm thinking about either the Salk SongTower, SVS Ultra Tower, or GoldenEar Triton.
Hey doopstr, I just bought an XPA-5 to power my Polk Audio LSi surround sound set. I will be hooking it up over the weekend and I will let you know how I like it.
Take it for what it's worth, but I just happened to read a large review thread on AVSForum a couple of months ago of many speakers, which included the SVS Ultra Towers: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1468211/ne...-april-13-2013
Would you consider factory refurbished speakers? The Polk Audio store on eBay sells LSiM 707 towers for $1,700 each: http://www.ebay.com/itm/LSiM707-BLACK-Tower-Floostanding-Speaker-Polk-Audio-EACH-/230982409744?pt=Speakers_Subwoofers&hash=item35c79fde10
Initially I hooked up my XPA-5 with interconnects that were extra long. I figured it would be easier to manage with longer cables. I looped the extra length of the cables together. Turns out that added a lot of background noise to my speakers. So I got shorter ones and that reduced the background noise to almost nothing.
Anyways, the speakers with the amp sound great! Clear and crisp. Dialogue is much easier to hear, which was one of my complaints with my previous Polk Monitor speakers. Music (especially classical, Brazilian, jazz, etc.) sounds amazing. I can only imagine how much better the LSiM speakers sound than these.
I did have my LSi speakers connected directly to my Denon AVR for a few days until I received the XPA-5, so I do have some direct comparison. Honestly, they sound pretty similar with and without the XPA-5 at lower volumes. But they can definitely get louder without any harshness with the amp. My LSi's are 4 ohm, so the XPA-5 can put out 300 W per channel (it is 200 WPC with 8 ohm speakers).
HOWEVER, Emotiva recently came out with their 2nd gen XPA-5! Basically right after my return period ended. It is supposed to provide an even lower sound floor because of reworked pathways. It looks a bit sleeker also. Oh well
There will probably be an increased amount of 1st gens available second-hand as people upgrade to the 2nd gen.
That's for the update. I ended up going with MartinLogan's Electromotion line. I'm actually surprised that my Pioneer AVR can drive this gear without heating up. I will probably upgrade to an external amp though as my AVR isn't rated to drive lower ohm speakers.
That's for the update. I ended up going with MartinLogan's Electromotion line. I'm actually surprised that my Pioneer AVR can drive this gear without heating up. I will probably upgrade to an external amp though as my AVR isn't rated to drive lower ohm speakers.
Good luck with your Emotiva!
Thanks Enjoy your MLs!
Regarding your AVR, I was also surprised that my Denon seemed to power my speakers fine. But I figured it will just cause components to fail faster. I also read that using an amplifier (AVR or otherwise) to power speakers which have an impedance lower than the amplifier is rated for can cause the speaker driver voice coils to overheat and fail. So, there is the chance of damaging both your AVR and your speakers. Now will it happen tomorrow or in 5 or 10 years or never, who knows? But using an appropriate amp is added peace of mind (especially for expensive equipment). TBH the main reason I got the XPA-5 wasn't for the added power, but simply to properly power my speakers.
04-12-2013, 12:35 PM
Basically right after my return period ended. It is supposed to provide an even lower sound floor because of reworked pathways. It looks a bit sleeker also. Oh well 
Enjoy your MLs!
