Emotiva XPA - 1 mono blocks.

Thanks Lcherepkai I hear so many different reviews of these amps! I haven't seen a lot in my price range 1,200.00 mostly very old amps that mostly are due for new caps and etc to sound their best again when it comes to the big name amps.

While at the price of the XPA 1's I wouldn't be looking for them to sound like the omega buck amps none of which I have ever owned. I been more in the Rotel, Adcom, Parasound leauge of amps and many say the XPA 1's are on par with this group and better than a lot of them?

I have also read many write ups where the folks who have owned the mega bucks amps have said that while the mega buck amps do out class the XPA 1's they don't outclass them to the point of justifying the sometimes 4k and higher price differences.

I have also read where many audiophiles believe the philosophy that it's all about the front end and that the amp only amplifies what it's feed?

Either way buying amps is a difficult process here in Columbus Ohio as all the dedicated audio stores have closed up or have went the way of home theater! The closet audio stores are about 2hrs. away in Cleveland and Indiana. So theres not a lot of room to demo an amp in my set up which leaves me to online reviews and a huge guessing game of trial and error and hoping if i don't like a piece i can resale without taking a loss!

I have no experience with the XPA-1, I had the XPA-3, which is a different animal and on par with the XPA-5. I owned it for 3 years paired with their XDA-1 as preamp. I was never completely happy and couldn't figure out why, mind you it was my first serious attempt at a dedicated 2 channel system and I did a lot of reading on the internet which can actually be a bad thing, because there is bad advice out there.

I found the XPA-3 on par with the Adcom amp it replaced, which disappointed me since it was a later entry level model Adcom(5300). The sound got harsh at higher volume levels and there was distortion in the vocals when an "s" was pronounced with some tracks. I couldn't really tell if anything else was wrong, as my recent experience was mostly my home theater.

So I finally bought a different amp, a Parasound A21. The distortion disappeared, but I also got improved imaging and more accurate bass, which I didn't know was missing. I got rid of the XDA-1 and finally replaced it with a Parasound preamp, the P7. Another improvement, more analog in the room sound was achieved

The XPA-1 is a different animal though, it should be better than their multi-channel amps. I'll make a suggestion that gave me a good improvement also. Audioquest Type 4 speaker cables, if you're using the typical 10 or 12 gauge stranded copper, I was surprised to find a more focused clear sound from the solid core cabling. Well recorded music will reward you as well, everything can have an effect!

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Junkie, the ultimate test is how the amps will sound in your room with your equipment. Every opinion out there is using totally different equipment than you...in a totally different room. The only way to see is to try the amps yourself. Opinions are all over the place. Some love the amps and some don't think much of them. Let your own ears be the judge.

Be sure and get back to us with your review when you get your amps. If you like the amps...don't be afraid to say so. No one can tell you what you hear. Ignore the highbrow audio snobs and the Emotiva fanboys and be honest with yourself. Are you buying new or used?
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Mitch a set of used ones. The will be combined with a Musical fidelity cdpre 24 and Dunlavy SC 4 speakers with MIT MH-750 big wire speaker cables.

Junkie, the Emotiva amps should be a pretty good match for your speakers. The XPA-1 has quite a bit of capacitance and current capability. This should result in a fairly "authoritative" bottom end.

The X series of Emo amps do exhibit a bit of sibilance when new, but this diminishes with use. And since you are buying used this should not be an issue.

The best advice we can give you is to get 'em into your room/system and give them a fair listen. For the money you spent, I doubt you could do much better. And since you bought used, the depreciation has already occurred. You should be able to sell them for about what you paid should the need arise....

-RW-