Looking for opinions on Emotiva amplifiers
Comments
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Oh, they do. The +/- 3dB bottom end for the Pioneer is 55Hz while the KEF is only 79Hz.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Yep. Such poor excursion. I feel sorry for these SDA's but there it is. Also, this person needs to take better care of their plants.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoBjh_Qe_Wk afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
^^^ holy cr ap! Lol2 channel:
Bryston 4B3, Bryston BDA3, Cary SLP05, Shanling CDT1000SE with parts conneXion level 2 mods, Nottingham analogue ace space 294, soundsmith Carmen MKii, Zu DL103 MKii, Ortofon MC 20 MKii, Dynavector XX2 MKii, Rogue Audio Ares, Core power technologies balanced power conditioner, Akiko Corelli power conditioner with Akiko Audio HQ power cable, Nordost heimdall 2, Frey 2, interconnects, speaker and power cables, Focal Electra 1028 BE 2, Auralic Aries Femto, Black diamond racing cones, ingress audio level 1 roller blocks, JL Audio E110 with Auralic subdude, Primacoustics room treatments.
Theater:
Focal Aria 926,905,CC900, SVS PB ultra x2. Pioneer Elite SC85, Oppo BDP93, Panamax M5400PM, Minix neox6, Nordost Blue heaven LS power cables. -
Josh, wrong thread.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Oops. Seven minutes too late too.afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
I recently purchased an emotiva xpa-2 gen 2 and parasound 2250 v2. The Emotiva is a nice amp, but bright for my tastes. If you have a live room and bright speakers this will not be an amp that will please you. It seems to overemphasize the mid to upper midrange and the highs. When I play some of my vinyl it almost sounds like I am playing the cd version of the LP.
This Emotiva amp would probably mate well in a very dampened room with carpeting, but ceramic tile, wood floors, etc. won't do it any favors. I would also recommend you mate it with a preamp that de-emphasizes the mid to high range. As far as the low range on this amp goes, I find it to be pretty neutral. It doesn't "thump" or dig real deep, but it is also not weak or thin. I prefer my parasound which is a little deeper, but my Emotiva is still doing duty, just not in my main listening room. That is the parasound's home.
One other important thing with the Emotiva is that it is sensitive to loads under 4 Ohms. My recapped SDA SRS (4 Ohm originally, but slightly lower now) speakers would somtimes put the amp into shutdown on certain songs. "One Night in Bankok" was one of the songs. I definitely would steer clear if you will be running speakers of 4 ohms or if you are playing music that consistently drops your speakers below 4 ohms. My parasound handles these lower loads without an issue and has switch for lower impedence.
If cost is your main factor, then emotiva may be for you, but if you can save up a bit more coin, you might be happier with parasound.
Living Room
Parasound Model 2250v2 amplifier
Parasound P5 preamp
Turntable 1 - Technics SL-1210Mk2 turntable with Shure V-15 Type III cartridge
Turntable 2 - Dual 1229 turntable, Dual AS-12 45 RPM stacker, Shure V-15 Type III cartridge
Schiit Mani Phono Preamp for Turntable 2
Oppo UDP-205 CD/SACD USB and FLAC duties
Technics RS-1500US reel to reel
Polk SDA SRS (2nd Gen) fully modded -
Back when I was looking for an upgrade to my Carver tfm45 to power my 2.3s I had considered some of the bigger Emo's. I did my research and found they weren't all that highly thought of in the land of all things Polk. The price was reasonable, warranty was good, they were new yada yada etc. Thankfully this time I listened, stayed away from them, and bought a big used Mcintosh amp instead. I've been happy ever since that day several years ago so much so that I added a second big used Mac amp (bridged 2500's) earlier this year. No I may not have first hand experience with Emo amps but with all the negative comments about them from the more knowledgeable members I decided that was knowledge that I did not need.
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"When I play some of my vinyl it almost sounds like I am playing the cd version of the LP."
Very true. If you were using their CD player, the only thing that would give it away
was the background noise.
I found the Emo was missing info compared to my B&K 2220.
That is when it left the house for good. -
The brightness and over emphasis that they tend to exhibit is because of the short cuts they need to take in the design in order to hit a price point. Also it makes the amps sound more dramatic, which gives them a "wow" factor initially, but after a short time they just become annoying. Sort of like the girl who puts too much make up vs. the more natural beauty.
Finesse, smooth, open, effortless, natural are all words that don't apply to the Emo house sound.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
deucekazoo wrote: »I do hate to admit it but I have a friend who has a Emo amp and he brought it over to test with my SDAs...let's just say I couldn't wait to get the Parasound back in it's place. Just my opinion however short it is.
What did your friend think?
Also what were the differences between the two?
What did you not like about it compared to the Parasound?
I have fairly stock 1985 vintage SDA2 speakers with dual SL2000 tweeters placed horizontally as the outboards are dimensional tweeters and are hooked up, the rest of the system at the time was my Onkyo TX-NR717 AVR as the pre and a Marantz CD6004 spinning discs. XPA-2 v HCA1200II.
He and I both came to a similar conclusion, the Parasound was much more lively in it's presentation, more musical and warmth as compared to the Emo. Also the Emo produced very shrill and extremely phasey highs with my speakers and my friend also noticed this. A very forward presentation indeed is made by the Emo whereas the 1200II was more relaxed and let the music sound like well, music. One thing I did notice a lot more than he did was how shallow the image was. We also sampled both amplifiers on his KEF LS50 speakers and well, to wrap this up, he sold the Emo soon after and is the proud owner of a serviced and recap'ed HCA-1500A and loves it.
Thank you.Polk S10, S8, S4
Polk RT8
Polk Monitor 7s
Working on getting SDAs -
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"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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I had a UPA-200, then an XPA-3. I no longer own them. Running a Parasound now.TV: 65" Samsung QLED 4K
Fronts: Energy RC70 --- Center: Energy RC-LCR
Front Heights: Polk RC65i --- Rears: Polk RC85i --- Sub: Power Sound Audio XS15
Pioneer VSX-1120K --- Parasound HCA-1000A --- Oppo BDP-103
Vincent Audio SA31 preamp --- Teac UD301 DAC
AIYIMA Tube T7 preamp --- Nobsound 12AX7 tube preamplifier -
I had a UPA-200, then an XPA-3. I no longer own them. Running a Parasound now.
Seems to be a trend going on in this thread.....Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
In all honesty the first amp I bought was a Emotiva. I sent it back and bought a used Sunfire Signature and never looked back. I now have Parasound, Adcom, B&K, and lastly a McCormack.Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
I hear a lot of good things more and more about the McCormack amps. What's a decent next step up amp from them?
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Polkie2009 wrote: »I hear a lot of good things more and more about the McCormack amps. What's a decent next step up amp from them?
Pass labs?Polk Lsi9
N.E.W. A-20 class A 20W
NAD 1020 completely refurbished
Keces DA-131 mk.II
Analysis Plus Copper Oval, Douglass, Morrow SUB3, Huffman Digital
Paradigm DSP-3100 v.2 -
Pass labs will lead to the Big H amplifiers.
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That's because emotiva is a gateway drug. Some never move on, while for others....
I view Polk much the same way and I don't mind saying that as a dealer. Great products at great prices, but they are by no means a high end player. They are a company for the average joe, much like emotiva. The sda line is the exception.
I still have all of my Emo's and they are in service in some capacity but I do have the Monoblocks doing frontline duty and they sound very good (I actually bought those after I got a couple of really nice Parasound amps). Compared to what? I don't know but I aim to find out. -
U harshing my buzz.
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rednedtugent wrote: »Pass labs will lead to the Big H amplifiers.
Yea, I was thinking the Pass Labs amp are way up there in price and quality over the McCormacks. -
rednedtugent wrote: »U harshing my buzz.
You should hear em, I really doubt that you would flat out hate them. -
I must have relapsed, maybe I need rehab or just a little taste?That's because emotiva is a gateway drug. Some never move on, while for others....
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I don't hate Emo. I like the peeps in Tennessee as well.afterburnt wrote: »rednedtugent wrote: »U harshing my buzz.
You should hear em, I really doubt that you would flat out hate them.
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Polkie2009 wrote: »rednedtugent wrote: »Pass labs will lead to the Big H amplifiers.
Yea, I was thinking the Pass Labs amp are way up there in price and quality over the McCormacks.
Wouldn't know, can't afford to move there, but I do love the McCormack.Pio Elete Pro 520
Panamax 5400-EX
Sunfire TGP 5
Micro Seiki DD-40 - Lyra-Dorian and Denon DL-160
PS Audio GCPH phono pre
Sunfire CG 200 X 5
Sunfire CG Sig 405 X 5
OPPO BDP-83 SE
SDA SRS 1.2TL Sonicaps and Mills
Ctr CS1000p
Sur - FX1000 x 4
SUB - SVS PB2-Plus
Workkout room:
Sony Bravia XBR- 32-Inch 1080p
Onkyo TX-DS898
GFA 555
Yamaha DVD-S1800BL/SACD
Ft - SDA 1C
Not being used:
RTi 38's -4
RT55i's - 2
RT25i's -2, using other 2 in shop
LSI 15's
CSi40
PSW 404 -
afterburnt wrote: »
I've been to their offices in Tennessee a few times, it's surprising how much gear from other manufacturers they have to compare with. From what I understand, it's a lot of personal gear they've collected over the years. Some of it is fairly high end, too. Dan, Lonnie, and the whole crew seem to really be true audio nuts.
I think @DSkip hit the nail on the headThat's because emotiva is a gateway drug.
I doubt think they feel they are making the be-all-end-all but they certainly have helped many a person take the leap from an AVR to true separates and offer pretty stellar warranties for their price/market.God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8 -
I run an XPA-5 for HT and it's been nothing but wonderful for that purpose. I initially found it lacking on 2 channel, bright and lean as has been stated on this thread over a dozen times, but when I swapped in the ONIX CDP I'm currently using, it made a huge difference. Night and day from the other CDPs I ran through it. Guess the synergy came into play. SACDs through a Marantz pre/pro sound pretty sweet too.
All that said, to my ears it doesn't touch my meager Parasound/Adcom 2 channel combo. In my mind, Emotiva multichannel amps play in the HT realm and do a good job of it.Lexicon RT-10, Parasound P5, McCormack DNA 0.5, Polk SDA CRS+, SVS Sub
Schiit Modi, Luminous Audio Axiom II, McCormack DNA-1, Digital Phase AP 2
Marantz AV7701, Emotiva XPA-5, Paradigm 11se Mkii, DCM Time Windows, NHT 2C, SVS Sub
Spares - Kenwood C1 Pre, NAD 2200PE, Polk Monitor 10B, Polk Model 11, other odds and ends
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USt8SgHAQ0E
