Emotiva Gear and B&W

[Tweir]

Does anyone have any experience with this gear? The specs look interesting and they seem to have a good line up for amps, mono, stereo, 3 channel, 5 channel, 7channel. If so what b&w's do you have and how do you feel the gear stacks up to Classe, McIntosh, Rotel, Bryston, Krell. Is this a company to look at or not so much??

[Tweir]

Here is the link to the company.

http://emotiva.com/xpa1.shtm

I found something interesting on their specs for the 2 channel amp the
xpa-2

On the xpa-2 the main page of this product I see
the THD spec at .007 and then you go to the owners manual and find on page 9 the THD is now at .03 and further
reading you will find on page 21 the THD has now jumped to 1% and then again on page 21 is also listed as .04 %.

[emig5m]

I have the XPA-5. My opinion probably wouldn't mean much to someone with Classe gear because I've never owned that level of stuff (and never will) but can say it didn't add any color to the sound of my Yamaha so it is at least a neutral sounding amp that sits in the middle of your processor and speakers and amplifies the sound. I would say check out their forums because there's a few over there with 800 series and Emotiva gear. I say if you can comfortably afford Classe, Krell, etc.. level gear why even worry about the lesser budget brands like Emotiva?

[Tweir]

I find it interesting that the level of performance they are offering for the price. More
and more lately the name is being brought up by clients and they seem to
think it performs on the level of Classe, and McIntosh and personally it has never been a company I have heard about till a week ago. At this point I don't have much of a defense since I have not heard it and can only go on company specs. Their gain is pretty high on the amps they say most of their clients
coming from an a/v reciever that has a limited output the extra gain helps. Also have seen some crazy THD numbers normally only seen on the high end gear. The frequency response that I have seen is better then the new Denon 10channel amp. But to me that does not say much! I have respect for Denon but do not feel it brings everything out of the 800 series like the McIntosh and Classe brands.
I can not find anything out on the owner other that he has been in the field for 30years but they do not say who he worked for. Did he work for a high end company and thought he could do it better? Or is this his first venture into making amps and electronics. I also know they are made in China like Rotel. But really just trying to validate the response that it is at
Classe and Mcintosh level or just hype.

[Hdale85]

Well they supposedly own the factory in China which I'm not sure if Rotel does? I know they have full control over everything that goes on there as they make frequent trips to check on things every few weeks. I have owned several of their amps and they are definitely top notch. I know it's hard to believe based on the price but honestly I'd have a hard time believing there is much out there that could out perform something like their XPA-1's and certainly not for less then 3-4 times the price. I listened to some of those Nuforce mono blocks up against my RPA-2 and honestly didn't see the need to spend that much more on the nuforce's. I really felt that my RPA-2 was better but that's personal preference and also I'm probably not the best judge as it was my gear but I can honestly say it at least performed at the same level.

With their 30 day trial there really is no reason not to give them a try. Their customer service is amazing and on a level that no other company provides. You can call any time to talk to the owner or even the guy that designs all the gear! What other company can you say that about? Heck Lonnie the designer will answer any questions about the technology behind the amps and everything. Honestly they are a great bunch and offer an incredible product at an incredible price in my opinion.

Just so you know they have licensed some of their platforms to Parasound an amp for sure and I think there was a preamp platform...not completely sure. Lonnie has worked for other companies in the past audio wise but not sure what they were either.

Also there are some people that try them out and maybe due to synergy or other reasons have liked their previous gear better...at the same time though there have been some that gave up Mcintosh, Classe and some other high end gear in favor of Emotiva. If you go on the forums they are very open about everything and do not push their product on anyone. If it's not for you they are perfectly fine with that and don't make any excuses or try and cover up your review. Sometimes they'll even talk with you to find out what the problem was or what you disliked and see if there isn't something they can do about it.

[Tweir]

That is what I am hearing too! That everybody that tries the 30day demo keeps them because they sound so good. I just need to find a friend in the market for rotel like
the rb1091's 500 watt class d for 1499.00 each and get him to do the 30 day on
the emotiva. Probally the xpa-1 for 1600.00 for the pair. That is 500 watt at
8ohm and 1000watt at 4ohm. Then give them a run for their money...

[Hdale85]

Hah looks like you posted before you got to my edit But I did add more info there. I know I go on about Emotiva a lot on the forums and it probably discredits me some but I feel they are truly a fantastic value and really not much to lose by trying them out.

[Tweir]

These days I am tired of seeing people spend there money on high end and it is for nothing. Example McIntosh the MVP871 is a 4800.00 Denon DVD2930ci any of
you that own one push the power button and the first thing is says is DVD 2930.
This is a 850.00 dollar player that they charge 4800.00 for. Look at the specs between the two the denon has the better specs. A company like Classe however they make all the own stuff, they use the basic componets like DAC's and scalers from
other company's but they start from scratch. Also Mcintosh is coming out with the
MX150 for 12K tell me what is does for 4K more then the ssp800? My guess nothing..

But I respect a company that makes their own gear see a hole in the market and goes for it.

[Hdale85]

Yeah a lot of companies do that sort of thing. Isn't it McIntosh that has that new TT that's just a project or something but they charge a lot more? That company has kind of gone to hell....

[Tweir]

The mt-10 is 9k and one of the guys that works at the factory commented he
did not recognize the product since he had never seen it in the day to day operations at McIntosh labs.

[audioqueso]

Does anyone have any experience with this gear? The specs look interesting and they seem to have a good line up for amps, mono, stereo, 3 channel, 5 channel, 7channel. If so what b&w's do you have and how do you feel the gear stacks up to Classe, McIntosh, Rotel, Bryston, Krell. Is this a company to look at or not so much??

If you're willing to wait, I'm ordering an XPA-5 in a week or two and comparing it against a McIntosh. :E

It will be interesting to see how it compares to something of that caliber. And I will testify that McIntosh really did bring out the best out of my 805's compared to anything else I've tried.

I would say check out their forums because there's a few over there with 800 series and Emotiva gear.

I agree, but also advise to take everything with a grain of salt. There are a LOT of fanboys there. Just read any thread about the UMC-1, and see how many people whine and complain about something that isn't even out yet.
There are about 5 members that are B&W 800 series owners (5 as far as I know and have contacted). I've asked all of them how they feel about the Emotiva. They seem to like it. Some of them say it will do for now. Some of them loves it. One of them 800 owners went from a really high-end rig, to Emotiva.

Well they supposedly own the factory in China which I'm not sure if Rotel does? I know they have full control over everything that goes on there as they make frequent trips to check on things every few weeks.

FYI, it doesn't work that way. When something is said to be "made in China", it's like sub-contracting. A foreigner is not allowed to own the land in China (that means the structure as well). Even if you pay for the construction of the structure, the goverment owns it. It's like buying a car on a loan. You may own the car and everything, but the title is held by the bank. One can have full control over what is done, but and it's still all your money being spent, but it's just in China. When something is "made in China", it doesn't mean that the US company just gave some blueprints to some guy in China, and it gets done. It's just labor and hardware support. I recently had to setup a new platform other there for my company, so I just learned all these new rules about "made in China".

I listened to some of those Nuforce mono blocks up against my RPA-2 and honestly didn't see the need to spend that much more on the nuforce's. I really felt that my RPA-2 was better but that's personal preference and also I'm probably not the best judge as it was my gear but I can honestly say it at least performed at the same level.

I agree. The small Nuforce amps did wonders to my B&W 600 series, but when I tested the RPA-2 with my 805's, it wasn't as amazing as the jump the 600 series had. Nuforce just seems to have better synergy with the 600 series.

With their 30 day trial there really is no reason not to give them a try. Their customer service is amazing and on a level that no other company provides. You can call any time to talk to the owner or even the guy that designs all the gear! What other company can you say that about? Heck Lonnie the designer will answer any questions about the technology behind the amps and everything. Honestly they are a great bunch and offer an incredible product at an incredible price in my opinion.

Agreed. It doesn't hurt to try if you're in the states. I'm not.. so trying out their product for me will cost me $350 in shipping cost if I don't like it.

These days I am tired of seeing people spend there money on high end and it is for nothing.

Exactly why I am comparing it against a McIntosh. I've tried stuff from Rotel to Parasound with my 805's. Sure, it's always had an improvement, but nothing really gave as big of a jump of improvements as the McIntosh did. Yes, I've read so many times about McIntosh this, and McIntosh that... but once I tried it, it really did make that much of an improvement. So the comparison will show... is it really worth the price, or can a product from a company like Emotiva really give the big players a run for their money.

Soon I'll hear how the Emotiva compares against McIntosh. :fight:

[Tweir]

I can agree with the 805's and McIntosh! That was the first time I realized how much
info that a 2-way speaker can give you. Of course the 804,803d,802d, do many things
better but there has always been something magical about that little speaker on McIntosh! I first heard the 805s on a ma6500 with a mcd205 and could not
stop listening to it.

I am curious to see what your impressions are with the Emotiva, post a good review
when you can.

[Hdale85]

Yeah I know about China's ownership thing. That's why I said supposedly. But just because it's made in china doesn't mean it's made like everything else made in china. They really do take a lot of care in making sure its all done right and to their standards. They have scraped and started from scratch on many products because it was not to their standards. The subs have taken so long to come to market because they decided it wasn't good enough and started over on them. Some companies do not go this far though and that's why I think a lot of people get worried when they see China on it.


While the XPA-5 is a very nice 5 channel amp it's really not built the same as the XPA-2 The XPA-2 is over built quite a bit while the multichannel amps are modular designs (at least in the XPA series except the XPA-1's which is like 1 XPA-2 but working in a fully differential setup for a mono block).

[Tweir]

While we are talking about China. From B&W you have all of the new 600 series, and the new CM series, in wall and in ceiling speakers with the exception of the
sig8nt,cwm8180,lcr8,sig7nt made in the UK. Everything from Rotel is made in China as well.

[Tweir]

Emotiva 5.1 stack all in 5k.

XPA-1 X3
UMC-1 X1
ERC-1 X1
XPA-2 X1

[Tweir]

McIntosh all in 5.1 at 37k.

MC501 X3
MX136 X1
MVP871 X1
MC252 X1

[Tweir]

Classe all in 34,500k.

CA-M400 X3
SSP800 X1
CDT300 X1
CA-2200 X1

[Tweir]

LAST POST TONIGHT!

Rotel vs Emotiva!

[Tweir]

The amps!

[KahunaCanuck]

I had 2 XPA 5s running biamped into my 803D/HTM2D/805S 5.1 system. I am now running a McIntosh MC303 for the centre & surrounds, with MC 501s running the 803Ds. the XPA5s were great amps, and of course, cannot be beat for the bang for the buck factor. Are they as good as the Mcs? In my opinion, not even close. I have nothing bad to say about the Emotiva's and really like their company, customer service etc, but I noticed a large difference in the sound from my system. I did not of course try their XPA1, 2 or 3. I also didn't do double blind comparisons and in no way say this is a scientific test. In the end, I prefer the Mcs in my system, even for the price difference...ymmv. :^x

[Hdale85]

That's why I said I think the amps that would come close to McIntosh and Classe is probably going to be the XPA-1's or maybe the RPA's and possibly the new amps that are replacing the RPA's.

That Rotel CDP looks weak....no shielding at all. Not very impressive looking at all.

[Glenee]

I owned B&W 802D's and ran them on some MC501's great combo. I had 805S and MC252 again great combo. I ran 805S on XPA-5 worked with interconnect's Great Combo. Put XPA-1 on 802D's tried different interconnects Great Combo. Ran 805S on XPA-1 Van Den Hul Interconnects Great Combo. I am not a Big enough Ole Boy to set here and tell you the McIntosh wasn't better. I'm just saying that the XPA-1 is a very good Mono. I have 3 of them now all across the front. Guess what GREAT COMBO. I also own their little $399.00 CDP nice unit.

[beden1]

Do any or all of the Emotiva amps turn on/off automatically when a signal is present, like my sub woofers do with their D amps? I'm looking to replace some amps in another system.

[Glenee]

They have the 5 to 12 Volt triggers. They do not turn on and off by signal like a sub woofer. The only Amp i ever owned that had something like that was a Crown K Series. It would go to sleep with no signal for about 40 seconds and then when a signal was present it would kick on.

[MikeFL52]

Do any or all of the Emotiva amps turn on/off automatically when a signal is present, like my sub woofers do with their D amps? I'm looking to replace some amps in another system.

The Anthem P5 (& P2 I assume) does this. Three options: manual, signal & trigger.

[KahunaCanuck]

My Outlaw monos do the same thing as the Anthem...

[chasmanchu]

I am truly amazed at the price to value ratio of the Emotiva products. I have been driving my 802D’s with Emotiva’s now retired RPA-1 for a couple of years now and have no complaints. I was originally just going to use this amp as a stop gap measure but after paying less than seven hundred dollars for such a powerful, nice sounding amp I am hard pressed to replace it. Most of the amps on the recommended short list for the 802D’s run anywhere from six or seven thousand to over twenty thousand for mono blocks. I also used their now retired RSP-1 preamp for about a year and was very pleased with it as well. When I did upgrade to a different preamp I was pleasantly surprised by the resale value of the emotive preamp. Plus all my dealings with emotive have been very pleasant. The staff is friendly, helpful and efficient.

[beden1]

My Outlaw monos do the same thing as the Anthem...

How are your Outlaw monos holding up? I had purchased their stereo receiver for my daughter last year, and it needs to go in for service.

The outlaws do come on/off on demand?

Thanks

[KahunaCanuck]

How are your Outlaw monos holding up? I had purchased their stereo receiver for my daughter last year, and it needs to go in for service.

The outlaws do come on/off on demand?

Thanks

They have been excellent. I have pressed them into duty on my dining room and patio speakers, leave them in sensor mode and they kick on when I feed them a signal...work great and excellent versatility being a mono and such a small form factor.

[beden1]

They have been excellent. I have pressed them into duty on my dining room and patio speakers, leave them in sensor mode and they kick on when I feed them a signal...work great and excellent versatility being a mono and such a small form factor.

Thanks for the info. I'm looking to replace a three channel amp that I have powering my front speakers in a family room HT system in our primary home. I have my B&W/Classe system in another house.

For this system, I'm looking for something to help make it idiot proof, and totally automatic for my family (auto on/off with signal). I would also like to get very good quality power, if possible from these D/Ice amps.

Any suggestions welcomed.

[sandalsocks]

If you're willing to wait, I'm ordering an XPA-5 in a week or two and comparing it against a McIntosh. :E

It will be interesting to see how it compares to something of that caliber. And I will testify that McIntosh really did bring out the best out of my 805's compared to anything else I've tried.

Any updates on your comparison's? I'm deciding an upgrade path and you seem you have the perfect test bed.

[audioqueso]

Nope. I haven't ordered it yet. I meant to call last night (your Friday), but didn't. I'll have to wait till Monday.

So if I order Monday, I should have it by Wednesday (overseas... so I have to use 2-day air). That means, I really won't be testing until Saturday or Sunday cause I always burn-in everything for 100+ hours. Just my regular practice. Sorry.

[yourtoys7]

Has any one tryed their speakers?, I'm wondering how they'd compare to B&W...

[KODG MAN]

Emotiva/B&W

Does anyone have any experience with this gear? The specs look interesting and they seem to have a good line up for amps, mono, stereo, 3 channel, 5 channel, 7channel. If so what b&w's do you have and how do you feel the gear stacks up to Classe, McIntosh, Rotel, Bryston, Krell. Is this a company to look at or not so much??

I ran the 3 channel emotiva amp with some 804s/805s/hmt2d center, ect it was a 12.2 system all new 800 series. The sound was fine B&W's love power & Emotiva has pretty darn good amps at very reasonable prices & the recenty came out with a pre-amp with dolby sound control. (thats suppose to be darn good also) Their customer service is excellent .

I however switched to a B&W 10.2 system w/802ds & the Htm2d daimond center. I aim using a Wyred4sound (up-graded) 5 channel Class D amp 10.2 channel class D pre-amp & I could'nt be happier. I would never go back to any class a/b /solid state amp again!

It is a long debat class a/b or class d. for my money class d is the way to go 85%+ effcient /dead quite operation & loads of power in a small cabinet that runs cool. Class A/B are 25%-35% efficient run hot as hell, weight a ton & 1/2.

Check out Wyred4sound (Cullen circuits) (great prices) I bought their Mini MC-3 (uses the latest B&O circuit board) liked it so much I sent it back & up-graded to the MC-5 & upgraded all the speaker binding post & RCA jacks to top of the line Nexgen. It is a Jeff Rowland amp w/out the jewlery show-off cabinet! (JR uses the same B&O circuit boards) & does have slightly better internal components according to some, (not me, I think wyred4sound puts their $ in the right place the internal components) but is 10+ times the price of wyred4sound amp (hidden gem IMO)

Classs D is the wave of the future, heck you are suppose to leave it on 24/7 it eats up next to nothing electricity wise/ runs cool , is small (maybe 20lbs.)easy to handle/ place in your rack /dead quite operation/crisp/clear/dynamic highs/mids & awesome bass. Just a much cleaner sound & so much more efficient (no way I will ever own a 150lbs. class a/b amps you could fry an egg on & have to continue to pay for every month via your electric bill!

My Wyred4sound Class D amp puts out 220 (w) @ 8 ohms per channel & is 90%+ efficient! Sounds out of this world w/the Daimond series B&W's!

Some people say class D amps sound flat? I think their confusing the distoration/noise of a class a/b for personality. The wyred4sound is put togher in such a way it sounds like a tube amp.

If you get a class D amp you will know what I mean, you will never go back to the old tech. of a class A/B Amp period. You will save a lot of $$ on your electric bill to boot!

If I did go the class A/B route it would be mcIntosh.


Kodg Man

[Hdale85]

Actually Class A/B doesn't run that hot generally. Class A runs hot as hell Also as far as Class A, A/B, D goes it's all personal pleasure.

[audioqueso]

Doug, what are you talking about??? Yes, Class A run hot, but what AB amp have you used that doesn't get hot to touch? Rotel, Parasound, ATI... amps that I've used or own.. they all get hot enough to hurt someone.

I tried a Nuforce class D amp with my 805's, but I just didn't find it as impressive as it sound with the 600 series. I really wanted to like the class D combo with my 805's, but it didn't work for me. I'm glad you like it with your 802Ds.

[audioqueso]

Well... made my call to Emotiva last night, ordered a XPA-5. So I'll start my comparison this weekend.

[Hdale85]

My XPA-3 never got hot, my friends XPA-2 never gets hot. Maybe a tiny bit warm but not even that really.

[audioqueso]

Cool (no pun intended)... I hope that will stand true for the XPA-5 as well since the XPA-3 is identical to the XPA-5 except for the number of amps and the psu. This will be the first AB I'll have owned and NOT be worried about kids touching it. We'll see how it goes.

[KahunaCanuck]

They don't get hot...mildly warm is it...and that is when you have it cranked.

[emig5m]

Mine gets hot. Where are you guys feeling for temp? The faceplate on mine doesn't really budge but on the top in the rear where the videocard looking things are (the amps?) gets hot for me. Not burn yourself hot like a Onkyo receiver, but on the "uncomfortable" side of really warm. And I run the AC just about 24/7 so it's really cool in here. My old Carver TFM-35x ran cooler than the Emo... But that was different speakers, different sensitivity, etc...

[Hdale85]

Hmm MY XPA-3 never got uncomfortable hot. I ran it pretty hard quite often as well. It was also on 24/7.

[KahunaCanuck]

I ran mine with the 803Ds, HTM2D & 805s....maybe your speakers are harder to drive? Do you have it enclosed? Mine sat on an amp stand.

[KODG MAN]

Emotiva Speakers

Has any one tryed their speakers?, I'm wondering how they'd compare to B&W...

I HAVE NEVER TRIED THEM, BUT READ SEVERAL PROFFESSIONAL REVIEWS. THE BOTTOM LINE IS THEY SOUND PRETTY DAMN GOOD! HOWEVER THEY GET LOW MARKS FOR THE UGLY LOOKS.

I CALLED & RECOMMENDED THEY TRY A CHERRY OR ROSENUT COLOR & POSSIBLE CHANGE THE BOX DESIGN & THE PREZ. RESPONSE WAS FROM RESEARCH THEY HAVE DONE, BLACK IS THE PRODOMINATE SPEAKERS COLOR & THAT THEY SEE DECREASED SALES AMONST ALL BRANDS WITH THEIR CABINET COLORS OTHER THAN BLACK.

SO BASICALLY HE SAID THEY ARE FOCUSING ON HOW THEY SOUND & NOT HOW THEY LOOK & THEIR MARKING IS FOCUSED ON THE LARGEST BUYING SEGMENT, WHICH IS BLACK SPEAKERS!

IF YOU CAN GET OVER THE LOOKS THE REVIEWERS SAID THEY SOUND AMAZING & ONCE AGAIN ONLY GAVE THEM POOR MARKS FOR THEIR LOOKS. I THINK THAT IS TRUE THEY LOOK RATHER PLAIN & UGLY, BUT I DON'T THINK THAT SHOULD MAKE ANYBODY NOT BUY THEM, UNLESS THEY ARE INTO COSMETICS OVER PERFORMANCE. OF COURSE W/B&W YOU GET THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, BUT AT A MUCH HIGHER PRICE POINT.

KODG

[KODG MAN]

Actually Class A/B doesn't run that hot generally. Class A runs hot as hell Also as far as Class A, A/B, D goes it's all personal pleasure.

I KNOWTHE EMOTIVA 3 CHANNEL AMP I HAD RAN SO HOT I HAD TO PUT IT ON A SEPERATE AMP STAND OUT OF MY RACK!

AS FAR AS CLASS A/B THEY STILL RUN HOT & ARE STILL HORRIBLY INEFFECIENT. 30%+

BUT YOUR RIGHT IT IS PERSONALTASTE. IMO YOU SEE MANY MORE COMPANIES PRODUCING CLASS D AS THE BENFITS ARE TOO GREAT TO PASS-UP.

I LIKE THE OTHER GUYS PIECE ON MCINTOSH, I THINK LIKE JEFF ROWLAND YOUR PAYING A LOT OF PREMIUM FOR THEITR NAME & CABINETS. IT IS UN-BELIEVABLE HOW MUCH COST GOES INTO THE CABINETS! SOLID BLOCK ALUMINIUM, ECT. ADDS A LOT TO THE PRICING THAT IS ALREADY MARKED UP SIGNIFICANTLY. THATS WHY I LIKE WYRED4SOUND & EMOTIVA PRODUCTS THEIR ON-LINE DIRECT SALES & THE SPECS MATCH UP WITH OTHER COMPARABLE CLASS A A/B D RECIEVERS & IN MANY CASES BEST THEM.

KODG