Anyone have experience with the Emotiva XPA-DR series? (Differential Reference amps)

Landmonster

So I will be in the market very soon for a high powered 3-channel amp. This would be used to power a Polk LSiM front stage.


I would really like 250+ watts per channel, but even 300+ would be fine


Does anyone have any experience or knowledge of the new Emotiva XPA-DR3 (or DR2)? Here is a link: https://emotiva.com/products/xpa-dr3

They look like a relatively new product. It looks like a substantially beefier version of the XPA-3 gen3. It provides 450 watts RMS x 3 channels, into 8 Ohms, and supposedly had better quality sound.


According to Emotiva reps, the DR series is the best quality amps they are capable of making. Emotiva has stated that a DR series amp powering the front 2 or 3 channels, along with an XPA-5 powering the rest of your speakers, is the most stellar solution that they can provide from their products.

How this would compare to something a Parasound or "higher-end" brand, I don't know.





Questions

1. Has anyone used one of these DR amps in person?
2. Does this provide noticeably superior sound to the XPA-3?
3. How would this amp compare to other branded competitors in ~$2000 price range? (Parasound, Outlaw, Monolith, ATI, etc)
4. Is there anything in this $2,000 range that would obviously be a better performer?

Thanks for any thoughts or input on this.

pitdogg2

ATI makes Outlaw, Monolith and many others of higher quality names and of course their own ATI branded amps. They are a manufacturer pure and simple. They have the manufacturing capabilities and many others use them.

Parasound is the better amp of those named. In the past the Emotiva was a brighter sounding signature. For home theater Emotiva can be a bigger bang for the buck. Definitely not the end all be all though.

Landmonster

I understand Emotiva in the past may not have been as good. That's why I'm asking about the current top-of-the-line series from Emotiva.


Would you venture to guess that a used Parasound would still trump the Emotiva differential reference series?

tonyb

Hard to say without hearing it first. I'd look for a few reviews to get a handle on the sound signature to see if it would compliment what your looking for.

mrloren

I have the XPA3 G3 and like it, does my system well. I would like a Parasound but even a used A31 was almost twice what I paid for my new XPA 3. For me on my budget it was a coin toss between the XPA and Monolith.

One thing to think about is your going to be hooking up how many amps, AVR, sub, TV and what not, hope you have more than a 15A circuit. Only so much juice to be had there.

dolbyd

I have the DR3 on my front speakers. It is an upgrade from the XPA2 G3 I have on the rear A9s. It has a smoother sound and has the headroom I was looking for when watching movies at a higher volume. The Gen3 amps are also a lot more neutral from the previous generations. They will work with the LSiMs.
The A9s like a lot of power and it is a good fit for my system. I also would have gone Parasound if money was no problem but I like the amps I have.
I also need an excuse to have a higher end setup for the basement later.

Now that being said you will need a Pre/Pro to run the DR3 at its rated output. No receiver will have the Preamp voltage needed. XLR only.
The Marantz Pre/Pros have the output from the XLRs at 2.4V. The DR3 needs 2.1V Min for rated output. A receiver is 1.0-1.2V on most units.

mrloren is also right about the circuits. I have a 20amp circuit for the DR3 alone.

tonyb

dolbyd wrote: »

The Marantz Pre/Pros have the output from the XLRs at 2.4V. The DR3 needs 2.1V Min for rated output. A receiver is 1.0-1.2V on most units.

mrloren is also right about the circuits. I have a 20amp circuit for the DR3 alone.

You bring up a very good point, often overlooked. Receivers typical line out voltage being much lower than an amps required input voltage. I ran an amp off my receiver for years, until I added a pre amp which woke up that amp like night and day.

Could be why some say they don't hear that much of a difference when adding an amp, or that they have to crank the volume to get any benefit. Check the specs on both amp and receiver/pre amp to see if it's a good match.....voltage wise anyway.

Geoff4rfc

I have the DR3 running off of a pre using XLR's. I've run XPA-2's and an XPA-3 off of a receiver for years and had excellent results.

My Integra AVR DTR-70.4 has an RCA output rating of 1V/470 ohms with a maximum RCA output of 5.5V/470 ohms.