Under Powered?

valkyrie00

My apologies but I am obsessing with the power to my RTiA9's. I have an Emotiva XPA-5 running my A9's, Csi A6 and the Fxi A6's. 200 WPC seemed like a solid number when I purchased the A9's knowing they are power hungry, however I have done a lot of research and it seems as though they may be a little underpowered... I am in no way dissatisfied with the way they sound, but I only have two ears. Those of you that have experienced the same thing please chime in.

Oldfatdogs

I am in no way dissatisfied with the way they sound, but I only have two ears.

But their your ears if it sounds good to you that's all that matters.
I'm sure others will chime in.
Dan

zane77

I used the XPA-5 to power mine until I got the XPA-2, I did notice a little fuller bass and midrange with the increased power. But I thought the XPA-5 did a pretty good job.

Geoff4rfc

I'm with Zane! I noticed the same thing when I went from the XPA-3 to the XPA-2. Where I noticed it the most was with 2ch listening.

nhhiep

well, that thing rated at 500W and you give it 200. yep, I think so. well underpowered

tonyb

nhhiep wrote: »

well, that thing rated at 500W and you give it 200. yep, I think so. well underpowered

Those manufacturer suggested watts mean diddly squat.

Just feed them lots of current, don't pay attention to watts per say.

nhhiep

tonyb wrote: »

Those manufacturer suggested watts mean diddly squat.

Just feed them lots of current, don't pay attention to watts per say.

True, but the question here is Watt, not current.

falconcry72

valkyrie00 wrote: »

...I have done a lot of research and it seems as though they may be a little underpowered...

Where did you do this research?

I'm with tony. Quantity of what's doesn't mean diddly. It's QUALITY of power that matters. Those A9's really are not a hard load to drive at all. Your XPA-5 has all the QUANTITY of power you need... whether it has all the QUALITY you need is a different story.

falconcry72

nhhiep wrote: »

well, that thing rated at 500W and you give it 200. yep, I think so. well underpowered

You have no idea what you're talking about. Don't lead people astray.

lanchile

falconcry72 wrote: »

Where did you do this research?

I'm with tony. Quantity of what's doesn't mean diddly. It's QUALITY of power, and current that matter. Those A9's really are not a hard load to drive at all. Your XPA-5 has all the QUANTITY of power you need... whether it has all the QUALITY you need is a different story.

I must I agree with you and Tonyb. But, there are not too many people that understand this.:sad:

cfrizz

Once again the bias is on the side of big money spent. If it's relatively cheap it can't possibly be a "quality" product.:rolleyes:

Valkyrie, you are giving your speakers plenty of power with enough reserves to meet most likely any situation. Unless you dislike what you are hearing or simply have a burning need to spend even more money a second time on yet another amp, just sit back and enjoy your system.

valkyrie00

Please let me qualify my remarks around my "research". My research basically consisted of reading various board entries from various sites and looking at people who own the A9's. Several of the one's I read stated they sounded better with a higher rated amp than 200 WPC that my Emotiva is putting out. As stated, I am quite happy with the way they sound, but if that's the only way I've listened to the speaker than I will never know any better. On another note, I have also read on several boards people who dislike Emotiva products. Ironically, I have read very few negative reviews from people who actually own the amp...

I may be wrong, and I'm sure there are several here who will chime in, but for what you can spend on a home theater and what is truly practical to the non-professional are night and day. For me value and performance are what matter. Can I justify spending $10,000 on an amp, no. Could I spend $10,000 on an amp, yes. My objective was to find a balance between value and performance. I realize some audiophiles on this board and others may make the argument that a $10,000 amp will sound $9,200 better than my Emotiva for my purposes but I doubt it.

falconcry72

valkyrie00 wrote: »

Please let me qualify my remarks around my "research". My research basically consisted of reading various board entries from various sites and looking at people who own the A9's. Several of the one's I read stated they sounded better with a higher rated amp than 200 WPC that my Emotiva is putting out. As stated, I am quite happy with the way they sound, but if that's the only way I've listened to the speaker than I will never know any better. On another note, I have also read on several boards people who dislike Emotiva products. Ironically, I have read very few negative reviews from people who actually own the amp...

I may be wrong, and I'm sure there are several here who will chime in, but for what you can spend on a home theater and what is truly practical to the non-professional are night and day. For me value and performance are what matter. Can I justify spending $10,000 on an amp, no. Could I spend $10,000 on an amp, yes. My objective was to find a balance between value and performance. I realize some audiophiles on this board and others may make the argument that a $10,000 amp will sound $9,200 better than my Emotiva for my purposes but I doubt it.

Let's try to steer this one away from a "debating the merits of Emo" thread.

My point above is that your speakers are not under powered. Period. A higher quantity of watts will not necessarily yield a better sound, as it's not the quantity of watts that matters.


The fact that you're considering buying a more powerful amp to achieve better sound is indicative that you're trying to spend more money on an amp. One way to do that is to move up the Emo chain. Another way to do that is to try a different brand. I would try a different brand if I were you, not because I dislike Emo, but because you won't know what brand you like until you try several. Every brand sounds different. Nobody here is talking about $10k amps except you.

I would be perfectly happy with that XPA-5 if I were you (I should know, I owned one for a while and was quite pleased with it)... but if I got the itch to experiment (which I get quite frequently :biggrin:) I would try a different brand, just to learn about what's out there.

chiptouz

Valkyrie00,

Have you looked at the Emotiva XPR series? If you decided to buy something bigger let me know. I might make an offer on your XPA-5.

cfrizz

falconcry72 wrote: »

Let's try to steer this one away from a "debating the merits of Emo" thread.

My point above is that your speakers are not under powered. Period. A higher quantity of watts will not necessarily yield a better sound, as it's not the quantity of watts that matters.


The fact that you're considering buying a more powerful amp to achieve better sound is indicative that you're trying to spend more money on an amp. One way to do that is to move up the Emo chain. Another way to do that is to try a different brand. I would try a different brand if I were you, not because I dislike Emo, but because you won't know what brand you like until you try several. Every brand sounds different. Nobody here is talking about $10k amps except you.

I would be perfectly happy with that XPA-5 if I were you (I should know, I owned one for a while and was quite pleased with it)... but if I got the itch to experiment (which I get quite frequently :biggrin:) I would try a different brand, just to learn about what's out there.

This sums it up quite nicely so there is no need to beat this decomposing corpse. You have done your research here and all over the net. So either buy another amp or be happy with what you have. But your speakers are NOT underpowered.

tonyb

If the OP's interest is bang for the buck, striking that ever elusive balance between performance and price, we are all about that. The brands many use here that fit that description and sound good doing it, B&K, Rotel, Parasound, Adcom, and a few others but those are probably the top 4 used around here anyway.

Tube amps can offer a different flavor too and give you the option to taylor the sound by swapping tubes in and out. Cheaper units that sound good can be had from the likes of Yaqin, Dared, Grant Fidelity......used there are plenty of higher end brands from Bat, ARC, VAC, Cary, VTL, Cayin, and a bunch more. Do your homework, read up to get a better understanding and more insight to what will fit your needs and sound preferences.

Monster Jam

Oldfatdogs wrote: »

But their your ears if it sounds good to you that's all that matters.
I'm sure others will chime in.
Dan

With all due respects, I thought this post was the end credits to this thread.

fokakis1

valkyrie00 wrote: »

My objective was to find a balance between value and performance.

I noticed a greater improvement in sound quality by treating 1st reflection points (esp. the front wall) than I did from increasing wattage. Both helped, but acoustic treatment made the bigger difference, and at a lower cost (for me = better value and performance).

WLDock

fokakis1 wrote: »

I noticed a greater improvement in sound quality by treating 1st reflection points (esp. the front wall) than I did from increasing wattage. Both helped, but acoustic treatment made the bigger difference, and at a lower cost (for me = better value and performance).

I really want to try this myself as I have seen some acoustic panels for cheap on craigslist nearby.

theshawn

fokakis1 wrote: »

I noticed a greater improvement in sound quality by treating 1st reflection points (esp. the front wall) than I did from increasing wattage. Both helped, but acoustic treatment made the bigger difference, and at a lower cost (for me = better value and performance).

This brings up thoughts on this subject. How many experiment with various speaker positions or sound deadening/enhancing/acoustical tweaks before deciding their speakers aren't performing correctly? How many insist on speaker placement that is nice aesthetically in any given room but doesn't correlate to optimum performance for that particular speaker so we then think it's the speaker or amp power that's lacking?

Imo, valkyrie, find a way to bring a higher current higher wpc amp and test it with your speakers. If you notice a distinct difference you have your answer and can start searching for an upgrade. It could be just the constant feeling of wanting to improve your system which is part of the disease lol. You only have two ears as you say (and they are YOUR ears not someone elses), if you love the way your current setup sounds why the feeling you're missing something?

Forums like these are great for info, but can feed the monster too imo. Is it because you really aren't satisfied with your sound or because coming to audio forums like this you feel like you shouldn't be?