How good is Emotiva 2 channel gear??

People who spend a lot of money on amps prefer to avoid these threads. I've had a lot of SS amps, from Carver to Rotel and recently Odyssey and currently a Manley Stingray II.

The TRUTH is that it all sounded good without exception. The Stingray sounds best, but it's never a night & day swing. Recently I got to try a XPA-3 and had to admit that it did very well for home theater and music. By "very well" I mean that I would have no issue using it with my Definitive Technology/SVS theater system. For more exotic gear that can bring out the smaller nuances you might want the "higher" end power, but 75% of audio is about personal perception and folks rarely agree on what's best. I think a 300 Oppo CD player sounds better than the 1500 dollar Jolida I had. Go figure.

Most likely you will be impressed and happy with an Emotive amp, even if some people snub it's mid-fi range along with Rotel, Parasound, Outlaw and many others that simply make good music.

Cheers,

Bob

ive had both upa-2 and xpa-2... great power and low/high extension, bass is probably the strong point, very tight and controlled... however, the midrange was severely lacking in my opinion, sounded very dull and lifeless... not very musical imo, better suited for HT use

Mid range can be lifeless on a LOT of good amps when mated to the wrong pre-amp. And most processors are simply weak for musicality. Connected to a Rogue pre-amp the Emotiva does just fine for music. In fact I'm currently about to break in the Emotiva 3 channel model to compare to the well regarded Odyssey.

Cheers,

Bob

I eneded up purchasing the XPA-2. For me the XPA-2 is an amazing value for the price. However, I do agree with a lot of what Robbob posted. I am currently using an NAD c350 integrated as a pre amp. I have not noticed any dull or lifelessness in the midrange. What I have noticed is the sheer transparency in the recordings that I did not hear with the previous amp which shall remain nameless. I listened to "Joe Henderson's Greatest Hits" on Bluenote, "The Popular Duke Ellington", "Duke Ellington:Piano Reflections", "Jim Hall & Pat Metheny", "Sam Cooke at the Copa" and finally, "Billie Holiday: The Decca Years". Also, I do need to mention some tracks by Allison Krauss and Union Station, such "Down By The River to Pray", and "Baby,Now That I have Found You". I have listened and re-listened to these recordings over and over for a minimum of 8 hours a day since buying the XPA-2. If there are any problems in the midrange I didn't notice.(Note: My cable situation is precarious at best.) In fact I am astounded by all that I had not heard in these recordings before!!!!! The XPA-2 is the real deal. It delivers quality in spades and some.

I recently got to test the UPA-1 monoblocks from Emotiva and they gave the Odyssey Stratos Extreme a close run for the money. I prefer the extreme to anything from Rotel, Wyred 4 Sound or Parasound and quite a few others. So bottom line is that Emotiva is very much the real deal.

I also ordered their new processor after hearing one against an Onkyo that cost twice as much. Appears that the bugs are now worked out. I'll post a review after I run it for a few days.

Rob