As I mentioned earlier in this thread, there is another person I've been talking to on AV123, and he is having the same issue with his Denon 2807, MPS-1, and 4ohm Ref 1's.

I think the amp was just engaging its protective circuitry as I approached its limits. Based on my figures, 119 dB would require 256 watts. The MPS-1 is rated at 300 watts into 4 ohms. I was taking my measurements from 13 feet away, as I moved closer to my m80's, I was easily reaching 120dB and beyond during peaks.

ps: I did have my hearing buds in to protect my ears.

Below is some more information I found on Audioholics review by Gene. I will be following up with Emotiva.

" Later on the bench I discovered that the MPS-1 was engaging its soft clipping circuit at around 37-38Vrms into 8 ohm loads and while driving 4 ohm loads the MPS-1 delivered about 31Vrms into 4 ohm load unclipped (note the RBH T-2 System has 4 ohms impedance). However, as I increased the signal level just below clipping, I was able to achieve 33Vrms at 1kHz but the amp shut off when frequency was brought down below 60Hz. It was apparent the sensitivity of the soft clipping circuit / limiter needed some tweaking. I informed Emotiva of my findings and they quickly resolved this issue, sent me a new sample and I didn't observe this problem thereafter"

And This: "I was able to achieve a maximum unclipped power of 175wpc into 8 ohms with Vin=1.65V Vout=37.39V unbalanced and about 255wpc into a 4 ohm load with Vin = 1.42V and Vout = 32V. Once I exceeded these measurements, the clamping circuit kicked in rounding off the signal and dramatically increasing distortion. Based on this, I would rate this amp to be a 175wpc into 8 ohms and 270wpc into 4 ohm, not 200wpc / 300wpc 8/4 ohm respectively like Emotiva rated in their literature."

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