Emotiva XPA-2
Listing ID: lisbbdg5 Classified
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Listed · 332 Views
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Ending: 12/12 at 09:04 AM ET
New Retail Price:$800.00
$300.00
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| Condition | |
| Payment methods |       |
| Ships from | Hooksett, NH, 03106 |
| Ships to | United States |
| Package dimensions | 23.0" x 23.0" x 10.0" (88.0 lbs) |
| Shipping carriers | USPS, UPS or FedEx |
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This amp is the XPA-2 gen 1. The original class A, A/B amp that runs in class A mosfets up to 17 watts. The below review was posted shortly after its debut.
Emotiva XPA-2 Introduction
A little over a year ago I spoke to the Dan Laufman, President of Emotiva, about making a balls to the walls two channel power amplifier for under $1k that would utilize a single massive power supply instead of mono block construction like the RPA-1. His reply was “no I can’t do it for $1k, but I can do it for around $800.” I dared him to make it happen and thus the XPA-2 was born.When the preliminary specs were leaked to me, I scratched my head in wonder of how they could make such a high power amplifier that bellies its asking price. If this thing measured well, it would redefine the budget amplifier market and bruise the ego of pricey and more prestigious brands. When the 80+ lb XPA-2 arrived at my door, I was eager to hoist it up the flight of steps in my reference room, despite a battered back with five bulging discs. The show must go on, no matter the personal sacrifice, as my curiosity far outweighed my common sense of asking for assistance. I was determined to find out what level of quality one could expect from this monster budget amplifier. But, if you wanna know the scoop, you’re gonna have to read the entire review. No instant gratification will be awarded in a one sentence summary here.
Set-Up
The XPA-2 is one hefty amplifier to lug around. When moving it between my rack and test gear, I found it easier to turn it upside down and slide it across my carpet for which my back thanked me. The ergonomics of this amp is quite excellent. The front panel has the classic Emotiva illuminating power switch which glows amber when in standby mode and blue once powered on. The power LED’s illuminate blue when the channels are on and the power meter illuminates blue up until the last couple of dots which illuminate red indicating possible amplifier clipping. The built in fault projection, designed for short circuit conditions or amplifier overload will make all of the LED’s of the respected fault channel blink red which can be reset by simply power cycling the front power button. I only ran into this situation on the bench and NEVER during real world listening tests.Everything on the back panel was clearly labeled, especially with respect on how to bridge the amplifier. The bridged input and + and – speaker terminals were clearly labeled, a lesson Denon could learn in their POA-A1HDCI 10CH amplifier. There is a 5-12V trigger and toggle switches to turn on/off the LED indicators and power meters as well as switching between bridged and balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA input connections.
XPA-2 back panel view
Emotiva XPA-2 Design Overview
The XPA-2 is a traditional class A/B design whereas the RPA-1 and MPS-1 are multi-rail class G design schemes. Both are sound designs whereas the A/B’s tend to be a tad more linear at the expense of efficiency. Despite the fact that Class G designs have come a long way, virtually eliminating diode rectification issues thanks to the usage of Schottky diodes with lower forward voltage drops, Audiophiles still prefer traditional class A and class A/B designs. I can understand Emotiva’s move back to the class A/B design in this capacity and, as you will later discover in this review, they took care in squeezing out as much efficiency as possible while also ensuring the amplifier runs cool during large power emands.Unlike past Emotiva amps which have traditionally been mono block constructions with independent power supplies for each channel, Emotiva instead employed one large central power supply for all channels. This design philosophy is carried through for all XPA series amps such as the 3 channel XPA-3 and 5 channel XPA-5. While the advantage of truly mono block designs often is superior channel to channel isolation, you can achieve very good, and often nearly equal results having a single centralized power supply but with one huge advantage - more headroom available to any single channel since each channel now has the ability to tap from one larger supply. This is the methodology I usually prefer as I am all about headroom in amplifiers.
Emotiva claims the XPA-2 has a total of 120,000uF of power supply capacitance. Even if all 12 of these 50V 15,000uF capacitors were wired in parallel, it would add up to 180,000uF, NOT 120,000uF so I am not sure where they got this figure from. What Emotiva isn’t telling you, is that these caps are NOT all wired in parallel like most amplifiers. They can’t be parallel connected because this amplifier is rated at 250wpc into 8 ohms requiring at least 71V caps to achieve this power rating. Instead, Emotiva is wiring them in a series-parallel combination so that the total effective power supply capacitance is ¼ what it would be if they were all wired in parallel, but provides a potential of 100V storage to drive the rail voltage up high enough to meet their power goal. Thus this amplifier really has an effective storage capacitance of 45,000uF, NOT 120,000uF which is still very adequate for this amplifier. According to their website, the power transformer is rated for 1.6kVA while their user manual states 1.2kVA. Considering the max power consumption is 1500 watts, I’d tend to think the 1.2kVA rating is the correct one yielding a power factor of around .8. This is quite a massive power supply for a multi-channel amp, let alone a 2 channel amp costing well under $1k. I’d call shenanigans on their specifications, but considering what this amplifier offers for the money, I’d instead chalk it up as typos on their website which they can now go back and review.
A peek under the hood reveals why this amplifier is so heavy. It’s got a lot of metal, heatsink area that is. Coupled with 12 output devices per channel and the aforementioned power supply, this is a solid receipt for stable high power delivery. I was simply amazed by the construction quality and that it utilized such massive tapered heat sinking. This is not something you find in amps at double the price demonstrating Emotiva has really put together a fine wine on beer budget pricing.If for some reason you can’t get enough juice to your speakers with this amp, it is also bridgeable. The XPA-2 is rated to 1kwatt when bridged into an 8 ohm load but the manual clearly states to NOT bridge this amp when driving 4 ohm speakers. For those power hungry nuts driving inefficient 4 ohm speakers, you may want to consider stepping up to a pair of XPA-1’s which are fully balanced and differential from input to output and have nearly 3 times the power reserve (10 x 12,000uF parallel topology) of an XPA-2. Note in most cases you’d probably be ok running this amp in bridged mode for a 4 ohm speaker, but I respect Emotiva offering a word of caution for those tempted to hook up even lower impedance speakers in this configuration mode. About the only criticism I could make on the cosmetics of this amp are the cheesy LED power meters which I thought died away in the late 80s. Apparently Emotiva isn’t always up with the latest trends but at least they made them defeatable. Personally I’d love to see the LED meters replaced with big analog glass VU meters and have them charge an extra $100 for this feature.
Emotiva XPA-2 Listening Tests
All listening tests on the XPA-2 were conducted in 2-channel mode using the RCA level connections between it and my reference receiver, the Denon AVR-5805mkii. The transport was my Sony CDP-CA8ES CH changer and my reference speakers were the RBH T-30LSE towers. All of the cables were furnished by Impact Acoustics Sonicwave series digital interconnects and 10AWG speaker cables. Whenever relevant, I did my best to directly compare the fidelity of the XPA-2 to my Denon AVR-5805 receiver which to date is the best receiver I’ve ever tested and listened too. The comparison wasn’t instantaneous since I had to first adjust the volume level down almost 4dB due to the unusually high gain structure of the XPA-2 when switching between the AVR-5805 and XPA-2 amplifiers.
CD: Fourplay – The Best Of Fourplay
What good is a listening test without throwing in a little Fourplay to warm things up? Track #5 “The Chant” is a song I often use to separate the men from the boys in loudspeakers. The bass energy of the kick drums will either reward you with an adrenaline surge or have you covering your ears from the horrible sound of woofer bottoming right before it plays for the very last time. Of course this isn’t a problem for my reference speakers but I wanted to see just how well the XPA-2 could deliver the juice to get the 4 10” subwoofer drivers in my T-30LSEs moving. Needless to say, the XPA-2 delivered the goods. I heard excellent sustain and decay of the kick drums at all power levels. When I pushed the power meters to the red, the XPA-2 didn’t falter. Instead my lights dimmed in and out with each bass transient since I initially didn’t have the XPA-2 plugged into one of my dedicated 20A lines. Make no mistake, the XPA-2 is ready to play hard if you are. 
CD: Ann Hampton – Callaway
This is another CD I brushed the cobwebs off and was rewarded yet again with a great sounding recording. Track #1 “Time After Time” got me in touch with the seductive voice of Ann Hampton and how she could transform a Cindy Lauper classic by adding a distinct and classy jazzy feel to it. Track #4 “Old Devil Moon” revealed a tightly focused piano with lifelike dynamics and realism. I felt as if I was transported into a piano bar making me appreciate just how well a 2-channel recording could sound when played back on excellent loudspeakers and amplification. I typically don’t sit through this entire CD as it’s a bit too laid back and relaxed for my often fast paced schedule during the day, but I found myself lured into its sonic excellence which the XPA-2 did a bang up job of captivating.
C
D: Sting - Soul Cages
Although this is a rather old CD, I recently rediscovered how superior the fidelity is on it. It’s a fully digital (DDD) recording. Unlike most CD’s today, it actually has great dynamic range with an immensely wide soundstage thanks to some special processing mixed into the recording. On Track #1 “Island of Souls”, the triangle sound panning from left to right was intoxicating. The bass was very crisp and tight on the XPA-2. In fact, I subjectively felt the XPA-2 delivered a bit more slam and presence in the bass department than the amps in my AVR-5805 receiver. The guitar of the far left seemed to extend beyond the plane of the speaker and the cymbals had a very airy feeling to them. Sting’s vocals were anchored dead center and everything just sounded terrific. I subjectively felt the AVR-5805 was a bit warmer in the presentation but the XPA-2 sounded a bit bolder and more in your face.
In track #3 “Mad about You”, the acoustical guitar was crystal clean and it was obvious to me that the XPA-2 was right at home playing this track at low and high listening levels. Track #6 “Saint Agnes And The Burning Train” proved that the Emotiva amp was right at home delivering the sonic nuances of every pluck of the acoustical guitars. This song was a real pleasure to listen to and I just lost myself in the moment forgetting I was trying to do a critical listening test for a review. It was hard for me to decide if I preferred the sound of my AVR-5805 amps or the XPA-2s. Both sounded similarly good with a slight edge to smoothness and finesse going to the AVR-5805 but boldness and dynamic punch going to the XPA-2. Considering the AVR-5805 is a nearly a 100lb, $6k receiver, I consider this a rather flattering testament to the design of the XPA-2.
XPA-2 or RPA-2? Which One is Right for You?
At the Audioholics Forum Get-Together last summer, Emotiva showed up with an array of new loudspeakers and electronics. I had a brief chance to directly compare the two in a not so ideal listening environment on their new tower speakers. The sonic differences were subtle (as is the case with all well designed amplifiers operating within their linear region) but interesting to note nonetheless. Overall I found both amplifiers excelled sonically, but felt the XPA-2 was simply more lively and bold while the RPA-2 favored a more delicate presentation with less graininess at low power levels. Either amplifier will serve a two channel system quite well and it’s really a matter of taste and application to determine which amplifier is right for you. If you favor home theater and sustained loud listening levels, than the XPA-2 is probably more your bag, while if you favor sipping a brandy listening to an old Michael Franks record, I’d lean towards an RPA-2.Emotiva XPA-2 Measurements and Analysis
I did some quick spot-checking on the XPA-2 amplifier gain structure to ensure it could be properly driven with a wide assortment of preamps or receivers. My personal criteria for amplifier gain structure is that it should be able to hit full power when driven with 2Vrms. The XPA-2 blew this notion out of the water with an unusually high voltage gain of 32dB (un-bridged) and 38dB (bridged). After confirming this twice via my measurements, I pinged Emotiva technical support and they informed me this was purposely done for end users using a budget receiver many of which tend to clip above 1Vrms output. I can certainly appreciate this as I have found this to be the case with many receivers even in the $1k price range. The XPA-2 reached its full power with only 1.2Vrms. Although the penalty of having such high gain is also higher noise, the XPA-2 remained very quite and yielded a SNR of 105dB at 319 watts (unweighted) which translates down to about 80dB at 1 watt. Emotiva informed me that part of the reason for such good SNR measurements is that all of the voltage and current gain is done in last stage of the amplifier.I also suspect Emotiva boosted the gain to make their amplifiers sound more impressive (remember the predilection for people to associate louder with better) when a newbie hooks up their amplifier for the first time. Personally, I’d prefer to see a +3, 0, -3dB toggle switch on the backpanel for those who have preamps with plenty of drive to further lower the noise floor.
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