Rotel RB1582 mk2 vs Emotiva XPA2 gen3

The Emotiva XPA2 gen3 is cheaper than the Rotel RB-1582 Mk2 amp. This Rotel amp is very good especially for the money. I have listened to this same RB 1582 Mk2 amp paired with the Rotel RC-1590 preamp/DAC driving the B&W 805 D3 before at the store and they sounded very good together. Rotel amps usually pair well with B&W speakers.

Not sure about the Emotiva XPA2 Gen3 amp as I've never heard it before so can't comment on that. I would think that the Rotel RB-1582 Mk2 amp will be better and more musical more refined than that Emotiva XPA2 amp. The Emotiva XPA2 Gen3 is a class D design amp and uses switching power supplies whereas the Rotel RB-1582 Mk2 is a linear class AB amp and uses linear toroidal transformer analog power supply. 

What's your preamp and front end source components? 

As it would have it, I have owned both (and still have the Emotiva). The emotiva currently powers my home theater setup and drives 805D3s. The Rotel wasn’t much of an improvement over the emotiva and the emotiva was 5 channel so more useful. Sold the Rotel. It wasn’t until I upgraded a bit more that I found out that neither was great. Very good. But not great. If you can stretch your budget there are a lot of other great options, especially here on Audiogon. Off the top of my head, I’d suggest the PS Audio S300. What’s the top end of your budget?

Correction: The Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 3 is NOT A CLASS D AMP. However, it does use a switching power supply. I am intimately familiar with this amp as I have rebuilt and upgraded two of the DR models (I have one of them up for sale here on audiogon). It is a Class AB amp, but uses a Class H power supply with two different voltage rails.

If you are looking at a stock Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 3 and a stock Rotel RB-1582, I would probably choose the Rotel because of the completely linear power supply and likely much better internal parts. The stock Emotiva is good for the money, but it does have some problems. The sound is a bit bright in the high frequencies and the bass is somewhat hollow sounding. The Rotel would be a lot smoother, but it would also be warmer sounding.