hooked up the R50s to my Emotiva XPA-2 (or, difference with better amplification.)

el_duderino

Now the R50s are pretty sensitive overall.

I had a Yamaha RXV-359... standard 5.1 el cheapo receiver. Wanted hdmi so I got a Pioneer 820K (apparent low budget champ)

The R50s never sounded amazing on the Yamaha but depending on what you were listening to, they could sound pretty good. I remember watching Inception and being blown away by the sound while some older movies just sound lifeless (The Undiscovered Country)

The Pioneer is just awful garbage, compared to the Yamaha, and the R50s are having a miserable time. all highs and tiiny mids, the sub doesnt do enough to cover the gap.


And so I carted down the Emotiva (250+W x 2ch) and hooked up some 2channel love....

I know people here hate emotiva stuff but for the price i am very happy with it.

Anyway.... the sound blew me away. Room acoustics are miserable and the r50s are entry level, but they sound fantastic... he sound really filled up.

Say what you will about the emotiva (sound signature wise- which for me is fine) but it's got some real muscle, like a big v8. Just effortless power and the r50s could use it.

So, if you have a crap HT receiver and are not happy with your sound, get more power. You will be amazed what your "crap" speakers can sound like.

So now I need to find if I can use this POS receiver as a preamp. The 820K is probably fine for tiny htib speakers but not much else. Video qual is perfect however.

Toolfan66

You do know if your using the amp with the receiver your using the receiver as a pre amp??

Glad it worked for you, but I'm not bitting..

Larry.

RuSsMaN

All Polks respond very well to better electronics, but the entry level offerings, like your R50's can produce very suprising, if not staggering results.

No hate for Emotiva here, I've yet to hear them, so I'm not going to judge. Sounds like you found audio Nirvana in the mean time, but don't stop there. Try some other separate amps and see what differences you do or don't hear. The R50's might be 'entry level', and dismissed by a lot of people, but looking at the quality of the components, and spending time listening - they are a real diamond in the rough. Certainly not the last word in resolution, detail, or soundstage - but nonetheless, a TON of speaker, for just a little scratch.

Cheers,
Russ

mdaudioguy

The XPA-2 has power... no doubt about that. It would probably make lots of speakers sound better than those receivers, especially noticeable at low volume.

gold01ca

agree with Russ 100% on the R50's,
when I had them hooked to Pioneer 1018AHK, didn't sound like much but when plugged into 1975 Pioneer SA 9500 amp, well its like night and day! they sounded amazing!
nothing like good clean power.

Glen

BigA524

I decided to get the emotiva xpa-3 for my RTi10s. Let you know what happens when I get it.

PSOVLSK

I agree

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110018

polkfarmboy

Good statement above...The r50 is awesome for very little scratch and the emotive is awesome for very little experience

comfortablycurt

el_duderino wrote: »

So now I need to find if I can use this POS receiver as a preamp. The 820K is probably fine for tiny htib speakers but not much else. Video qual is perfect however.

How did you have it hooked up? Were you using a separate 2 channel preamp as well?

el_duderino

I hooked up the DVD player to a DAC and the dac to and old rotel preamp.

Agreed about the value proposition. I paid 80$ apiece for my R50s a few years ago!

I do not trust myself to hear sound differences between amps if theyre not night and day. Room acoustics are terrible so minute differences are lost.

However the difference between "100wpc x 5" (you know because 100x5 is not 500, but 240 as written on the back panel.) and a 90lb gorilla with 1500W max consumption is super obvious.

I hope to get a nice Tenchics 100wpc integrated from the 70s to run the r50s in stereo. They deserve better than **** movies.