Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
SatKartr #223241 10/01/08 05:53 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
aficionado
OP Offline
aficionado
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
So I pulled the trigger on the FO M80s and chose Bill Me Later, which may help keep cash available for all of the other costs when I buy/install the rest of the system. If I could afford everything I would order everything today but this will give me a month or two or three to pay for it all without having my credit cards maxed out, that's not a good thing.

I think I'm going to go with an Emo XPA-2 to start (I was going to go with the XPA-3 but they more or less talked me into the XPA-2 when I called, and I think they have a return policy too). The other option would be to start with the XPA-5, which supposedly is good except the electronic design and parts on the XPA-2 are superior.

I just have to find how long it will take for the Emo to ship because I may want to delay ordering it until the M80s are set to ship, or perhaps not, I could just demo the amp with current speakers and try not to blow them up.


"If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
SatKartr #223246 10/01/08 06:25 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
Hey SatKartr, post back here after you get your emo and axioms hooked up. I've been thinking about adding the xpa-5 although I use a Denon 3808 and everyone tells me that should be enough. I thought the xpa-2 and xpa-5 were built from the same materials so I guess I missed something if the xpa-2 is supposed to be superior. What is the diffence?


"Real Gun Control Is Hitting What You Aim At" - can't remember
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
edmondwolfman #223250 10/01/08 06:58 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
aficionado
OP Offline
aficionado
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
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.


"If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
SatKartr #223254 10/01/08 07:19 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
Sounds good. I've read reviews on the XPA-5 and they are very highly rated. I always wondered why a 5 channel didn't cost more than a 2 channel amp, all things considered. I am considering the xpa-5 because I like the idea of 200 w/per into 5 channels and I would need 2 or 3 xpa-2s to drive all channels and I just don't have room for more than a single unit. I've read where some ordered a 5 and a 2 to drive their 7 channel systems. This is a lot of fun isn't it if I had the room and didn't have to deal with the WAF (wife approval factor) I could let my imagination run wild
I've also been looking at the Marantz amp but they cost about 3 times as much and have only 140W per although it is an 8 channel amp. Wonder if a Marantz amp at $2400 and 140W into 8 channels sounds any better than the Emotivas at $800 and 200W into 5 channels As I mentioned, I use a Denon 3808 rated at 130W per but some say that a dedicated amp just sounds better than a receiver. I would use the pre outs on my Denon and still use the Denon for all the advanced signal processing.

After checking out the Emotiva site again I see they have the MPS-2 7 channel amp for $1699. That would probably be closer to the xpa-2 in quality. That would make sense to me, a well built multichannel should cost more than the equivalant 2 channel

Last edited by edmondwolfman; 10/01/08 07:30 PM.

"Real Gun Control Is Hitting What You Aim At" - can't remember
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
edmondwolfman #223259 10/01/08 07:34 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
aficionado
OP Offline
aficionado
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
Yes the only reason I am thinking about the XPA2 is to go with a 2 plus 5 setup, and another reason I am doing this in stages is a bit of misdirection/sleight of hand regarding the WAF, if I don't add everything all at once I am hoping to appear less insane, we'll see how it turns out, past experience suggests it may be a workable strategy, hence also only one sub in the first pass.

I would also love to hear your experiences if you go add an XPA5 to your setup with the Denon as pre/pro, that would be very interesting.


"If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
SatKartr #223262 10/01/08 08:00 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135

I work it like you do. I ordered my Axiom M60s and VP100 and then a couple of weeks later I ordered an HSU ULS-15 sub that I had my heart set on ($1300) and when it arrived I told my wife that it was part of the original speakers that I ordered but it had been on "back order" Worked so well that I'm thinking about getting the QS-8s soon under the same premise ;\)


"Real Gun Control Is Hitting What You Aim At" - can't remember
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
edmondwolfman #223265 10/01/08 08:07 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
aficionado
OP Offline
aficionado
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
That's an interesting point, I asked the Emo rep about the MPS-2 for HT, but he did not recommend it, he thought an XPA5 and XPA2 combo would be best, for the very reason I suspected: more power is available as needed for the channels that need it with the XPA-5 but not the MPS-2, because the MPS-2 is the same as 7 monoblocks, so you have 7 separate power transformers that are not as big as the one in the XPA-5 for example. What happens is that if all of the channels are not being driven at the same time, which they are most often not in HT, even more power is available to the one or two that need it than would be available with the MPS-2, which caps out at 300 watts per channel into 4 ohms. By comparison you could have a maximum of 500 watts into 4 ohms (1 channel driven) with the XPA-5 or 700 watts into 4 ohms with the Axiom 1400 amp.

I believe that's one of the reasons (other than the fabulous design) that everyone loves the Axiom 1400 amp, it has a huge power transformer and makes a lot of power available when needed to the channels that need it, not so you blow your ears out, but so the clarity/purity of sound can never be touched by even a hint of distortion.

The rep stated that although with the MPS-2 the channels are isolated better which is the advantage of a Class H design, there is minimal crosstalk given the design of the XPA-5, so it's almost a nonissue.

Kind of makes you wonder what application the MPS-2 would excel at.


"If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
edmondwolfman #223266 10/01/08 08:13 PM
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
aficionado
OP Offline
aficionado
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 612
That sounds exactly like something I would do/say, that strategy works, I hate to confess, but a man has to find some way to build his empire, otherwise we'd all be listening to home theater in a box!

BTW, how do you like the HSU 15? Is it as great as they say? Were you able to audition it first? Why that over the EP500 since they are roughly the same price?


"If you try to turn toward it, you go against it."
Re: You pays yer money and you takes yer chance
SatKartr #223275 10/01/08 08:52 PM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 135
 Originally Posted By: SatKartr
That sounds exactly like something I would do/say, that strategy works, I hate to confess, but a man has to find some way to build his empire, otherwise we'd all be listening to home theater in a box!

BTW, how do you like the HSU 15? Is it as great as they say? Were you able to audition it first? Why that over the EP500 since they are roughly the same price?


I am very limited on space where the sub could sit. If I had the room I would probably have gone for a couple of the HSU VTF-3 MK3s for around the same price.

I needed a sub to be a forward fire, it couldn't be too tall, wide or deep. I would rather have spent less because I know that many subs for less than $1000 sound really good but all the ones I looked at were too large for my "spot". The ULS-15 fit perfectly, was a forward fire and with the 15" and 1000W I thought it might be a sub I wouldn't have to upgrade and would deliver all the bass I need. It is indeed a great sub. It goes really low and is clean and tight. I don't regret getting the ULS-15 at all and in fact I love it I was having some problems getting my Axiom M60s and VP100 to sound the way I wanted them to at first. Some music sounded good but most of my music was what I would call harsh sounding, just too shrill through the treble range. I thought I had made a mistake purchasing them and I posted so in one of these forums. I also posted a screen shot of the equalizer graph for my FL and several people stated that they though that Audyssey had not calibrated correctly. Others suggested playing with the settings manually, dropping the high freq levels to 0 or below and adjusting others up to 0 as well as playing with the center width, depth, panaroma and tone controls. I've been tweaking on those for a couple of weeks now and the sound difference is like night and day. I am now satisfied that I made the right decision as my audio now sounds excellent

Oh yeah, another reason I went with the ULS-15 is that it comes with wireless. If it wouldn't have sounded great in the "spot" I had for it I could have place it in the back of the room or on a side wall and wouldn't have had to run cable. I have hard wood floors so the cable would have been very noticable and I know you understand the WAF from one of your previous posts

I also posted the question about the Marantz MM8003 vs. Emotiva XPA-5 over at the avsforum. I haven't had my ass chewed out in a couple of days so I gave it a shot. I'll probably be back in a few minutes completely chastised

Last edited by edmondwolfman; 10/01/08 08:58 PM.

"Real Gun Control Is Hitting What You Aim At" - can't remember
Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,940
Posts442,457
Members15,616
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 145 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4