The Emo rep stated that the XPA-5 and XPA-3 incorporate the same electronics but the XPA-2 is on a "whole other level", when I asked him to explain he stated that for one the transistors are higher speed/faster so presumably capable of greater detail (e.g., faster transients, audio info more accurately spaced in time and therefore more clear and less likely to be smeared, if I understand the concept). He was also talking about I believe a lot more transistors and overall higher build quality in terms of parts used; the website also discusses greater physical isolation and superior shielding to lower the noise floor. His advice to me was that if I could afford the XPA-2 I would find it to be more impressive in terms of performance over the XPA-3.
The question is when does all of this become overkill because the XPA-5 looks like a great amp, however, between the XPA-2 and XPA-3 the cost difference is not that great so I am of course leaning toward the XPA-2.
I'll let you know how the setup sounds, recognizing this is all so subjective, hence the title of this post.
