Emotiva Amplifiers for Vantages (and Stage)

[vnttg]

I am currently having a 5-channel Emotiva XPA-5 (200W@8, 300@4) to power my Martin Logan Vantages and ML Stage center - using my Integra receiver DTR 70.1 140W per channel as processor who is also driving my surrounds ML Sources and Vignettes). My sub is Grotto.

My previous amplifier was 2- channel Parasound Halo (125@8, 225@4). Actually I first bought the Parasound to replace the Emotiva, but after a few days, ended up switching it back because I found the Emotiva was more powerful and fuller sound than the Parasound.

I am now thinking of buying the XPA-2 (500W@ 4 ohm, and 300W@ 8) to drive the Vantages. The XPA-5 (300W@4, 200 watts@ 8 ohm) will then drive the rest of the ML speakers.

My prerference is 30% movies and 70% music. Mostly music from the 60's , 70', some 80s. I do listen to intrusmentals, like guitar, cellos, violins, light classical and so on. My volume never goes beyond -10db.

Do you think it would truly make a big difference in sound if I do such combination? Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[|Tch0rT|]

FWIW I personally wouldn't think it's worth it but I haven't owned either. The XPA-5 when run in 2 channels puts out around 450w @ 4ohms. I asked some people who owned both the XPA-2 and XPA-5 over at AVSforum in an Emotiva thread if they noticed a difference in sound between the two they said there was not in 2 channel mode. Do you feel like your movie watching experience is lacking? You could always sell the XPA-5 and get an XPR-5 hehe.

 

[Toppgunn]

I agree that you should not notice any difference in sound characteristics by running XPA-2 and XPA-5 (same name brand). You might just have to play around with the channel levels as it seems the XPA-2 puts out a bit more power.

Emotiva amps are great for the price. I personally did not like the Emotiva sound, I prefer my Sunfire. The Sunfire amps give you tons of flexibility to hook up your system. You have the option to run your panels as tubes or solid state.

I'd say one of the best things about Sunfire amps is their weight, size and ability to run cool no matter how long or loud they are driven. By the way the Sunfire amps are stable down to 1/0 ohms!

I did a side by side test of my brothers XPA-3 and my Sunfire 200x5 hooked up to Aeon i's. With Emotiva the Aeon i's had to been bi-wired. Sunfire allowed me to bi-amp the aeon i's.

At loud volumes, with the treble turned up the Emotiva went into protection time after time. Sunfire had more control over bass and sounded sweet with the tube connections for the panels.

Sunfire kept going no matter what was thrown at them. I have been running my Quest Z's with the Sunfire Amps for sometime now and no issues. I have yet to put my Sunfire into protection.

You have to been the judge:

Emotiva - not stable under 4ohms, really big, runs warm/ hot, great price
Sunfire - stable to 0/1 ohms, small, runs cool, balanced inputs, allows you to piggyback channels to other amps/ channels, more flexibility in connectivity

 

[runnin17]

I cannot speak for the XPA2 or XPA5, but I do have a pair of the XPA1's that run my Spires. They have been very solid amps for me. I have not experienced the instability in the treble and I know my XPA1's have worked perfectly below 4ohms. They are really big though. The XPA1's do not really run that hot IMO, slightly warm. Also with the XPA1's they do have balanced inputs. Just some info on them.

 

[Rich]

Do you think it would truly make a big difference in sound if I do such combination? Thank you in advance for your advice.

I would think it would make a difference. How big that difference would be is another question. I would think that you would get an improvement in headroom on louder tracks played at higher volumes, maybe less distortion at the peaks, sharper transients, and better handling of high frequencies. But overall, I would think the basic sound signature wouldn't change that much. Whether that improvement would be worth the cost is up to you.

 

[vnttg]

Thank you all so much for your advice. I do not play loud, especially with the type of my preferred music (Bob Dyland cannot scream anyway!). Perhaps I may keep the same set up as it is now. But, the newly discount price of the XPA-2 is so tempting.

 

[topofroc]

Just wanted to add my my experience - I used a pair of Emotiva UPA 1 monoblocks to drive my ML Vantages for about 8 months. The sound was good and imaging was OK.
I was generally pleased, until I listened to anything with a significant high frequency presence. There was clear squeaking and distorting as the ohms dipped. This wasn't at loud volumes either. I ignored it for a while, but eventually boxed the UPA1s up (going on A'gon soon) and replaced them with a 35 year old McIntosh MC2200 I bought off craigslist for $600. The Mac has 4 and 2 Ohm taps, so it's stable as a rock with the Vantages. Highs are clear and sweet. Imaging greatly improved. I really couldn't be happier with it. My amp search, for all practical purposes, has ended.

Overall - The UPA1s were OK, and the XPA2 is a much more robust amp. If you like the XPA5 you already have, you'll probably be quite happy with it.
But if you've got some time before you pull the trigger, I would suggest checking out some vintage Macs (YMMV)