XPA 3 OR XPA 5 for this setup

PolkGuy98

I have 2xRTI A9s, CSI A6, 2x FXI A6s currently running off of a Onkyo TX-RZ810. Would like to upgrade to either an Emotiva XPA 3 or XPA 5. Depending on 2nd or 3rd generation they run up to 250 RMS per channel. An XPA 3 could run the 2 RTI a9s towers and the center CSI a6. If I went with the XPA 5 and powered all 5 speakers would that damage the FXI A6 surround speakers?? They are rated to handle up to 150 watts each and 200-250 RMS is overpowering them.

Or I could just run the surround speakers off the Onkyo AVR ( rated at 130 watts with 2 channels driven) and the other 3 off the XPA 3. Also, how would that sound without all the speakers being amplified by the Emotiva. Any help with this is appreciated, thanks.

F1nut

An inherently bright amp driving inherently bright speakers isn't the best idea.

Clipdat

Even with dynamic transients, you're not going to get close to 150 continuous watts being pushed to a surround speaker. They won't be "damaged" by being used with an amplifier that puts out 200-250wpc.

PolkGuy98 wrote: »

If I went with the XPA 5 and powered all 5 speakers would that damage the FXI A6 surround speakers?? They are rated to handle up to 150 watts each and 200-250 RMS is overpowering them.

mlistens03

You could use a 10,000 watt amplifier on a pair of 10 watt speakers, and you wouldn’t blow them up as long as you are not pushing them too hard. The way that watts work is that lets say you have 90 dB efficiency speakers. If you were to give them 1 watt, they would put out 90 dB. (quite a lot when you think about the fact that 85 dB can damage your hearing if listened at that level for extended periods of time!) if you want it to be twice as loud, you would turn up the volume until it is at 93 dB, or 10 Watts. If you wanted it to be half the original volume, you would turn it down until it is at 87 dB or .1 Watts. All 3 of these would be considered by me to be ear blistering. For me, I usually listen between 75-80 dB in my room, so most likely around .0001 Watts. Sometimes I can push my system (or really, my ears) and get the 10 watt light to flicker on my Technics, but only on bass heavy rap songs with the bass cranked.
All this to say, wattage doesn’t really matter. That extra wattage can really only help, rather than hurt, because the headroom provided by the extra power will make it sound better.
I agree with F1 though, bright amps and bright speakers won’t mix well. They will most likely sound pretty bad together. Maybe look for used Parasound or NAD amplifiers, which I think would sound pretty good with them.

mark090852

I would recommend the XPA-3 Gen 3 for the three front speakers. Just continue to use the Onkyo AVR for the surround speakers. You'll save $400 bucks to use for other things and won't notice the difference in the surrounds at all.

cfrizz

All speakers enjoy additional power, including the surround speakers, you will notice a difference. Get the 5 channel and enjoy.

mrloren

Welcome to the board We will spend all your money for you.

Question, What are the movie/music percentages you will be enjoying?

I've heard Emotiva amps can be a bit on the bright side. I own a BasX-A300 and enjoy it a lot, it's not bright sounding at all. Years ago I tried an XPA5 with RTi8/CSi5 and then too it was not bright or brighter than what my Sony ES made them speakers. Could also be my family room with all the stuff in it toning it down.

With the above said, if you play 60% on movies I would go with the Emotiva XPA5 GEN 3. If money is not a problem go Parasound. Or you can roll the dice and try the Monoprice amps. Good reviews on them, then again nobody on this forum has admitted to trying them.

Toolfan66

Honestly you won’t go wrong with either option, go with what your wallet allows..

I have been rocking the XPA-3 in my HT since 09-10 with no issues..

PolkGuy98

65% music. Ive decided I want to get a 5 channel amp. Turning up music really loud in a 5.1 setup is ok to use the center and surrounds as well as long as all the speakers are amplified?
Ive been looking at used Parasounds. Lots of HCA 2205A still kicking around.. aren't these units 20+ years old? Seems like a gamble to buy considering they still go for $1000+. I see they have individual gains for each channel, would my surrounds have to have the gain lowered (compared to the rest of the speakers) if wanting to play really loud?

RobbyKY

Your first thoughts are basically similar to the set-up I have in the HT room. RTi-A9, CSi-A6 powered by an Emotive XPA-3 and then use my Marantz SR5012 to drive the overhead ATMOS and rear RTi-A3's. A PSW125 takes care of the low frequencies. The Marantz drives the overheads and rears just fine so the XPA-5 might be overkill if you have 130wpc available from your receiver. Think my unit is only rated at 100wpc.

Mine is used for maybe 95% movies with an occasional concert video watched as my 5% "music" although I never use it for just pure music listening. Sources are always DIRECTV or BR disc on an Oppo player. Watched the "Last Waltz" on it just last night (lord I miss Levon Helm) and it sounded well balanced. Totally agree with F1nut, can be bright from CD sources but don't really notice during movies.

The A9/XPA-3 combo was not so pleasing to my ears when I first bought and did some initial 2-channel listening using 4' AQ Type 4 speaker cables with Evergreen IC's. Told myself a crossover rebuild might help later so moved forward. My HT room is large, basically above a 3-car garage, with some wall treatments & wired with Belden cables and seems to have lost that annoying characteristic once all was finally installed permanently. IC's are now AQ Victoria's with a 0.6m Vodka HDMI between DIRECTV box and the Marantz. Watched all three Maze Runner offerings last Saturday with the kids and loved every second of the audio.

cfrizz

Don't over think it too much. Get the 5 channel, recalibrate all of your speakers then enjoy the awesome sound. As for it being played too loud, your ears will give out before the amp does, so use common sense when applying volume.

The benefit of having a powerful amp is that it allows your speakers to operate to their full potential no matter where the volume is at but especially at lower volume, which the majority of receivers cannot do.