Emotiva UPA-2 - Pulling Trigger in 24 HRs - Help Me, I'm Scared!

[Mr Peabody]

That should rock, looking forward to hearing your impressions.

[audio amateur]

Cool dude! What's the ETA? and when are you buying the Revel's?

With that combo, I reckon you could play somes tunes at serious party levels!

[rob_a]

The XPA-2 is a great amp. You should not have any problems!

[nightflier]

This my friend is a brilliant idea!

...for acknowledging the source.

[Ajani]

Cool dude! What's the ETA? and when are you buying the Revel's?

With that combo, I reckon you could play somes tunes at serious party levels!

ETA is around next Friday (since apparently neither the UPA-2 nor the XPA-2 are in stock until Tuesday).

The Revels won't be purchased for at least 2 months (since I want to pay cash and not on credit + the decision to upgrade from the UPA-2 to XPA-2 meant using some of the Revel cash)... So I'll have to use some 'other' speakers I have (that I won't mention out of audiophile shame) with the XPA-2 until I get the Revels...

EDIT: Of course this assumes Revel won't release a replacement for the F12 in the next 2 months (which is quite possible since they are 5 years old now)....

I should be able to thoroughly p!ss off all my neighbors with that combo...

[frenchmon]

ETA is around next Friday (since apparently neither the UPA-2 nor the XPA-2 are in stock until Tuesday).

The Revels won't be purchased for at least 2 months (since I want to pay cash and not on credit + the decision to upgrade from the UPA-2 to XPA-2 meant using some of the Revel cash)... So I'll have to use some 'other' speakers I have (that I won't mention out of audiophile shame) with the XPA-2 until I get the Revels...

EDIT: Of course this assumes Revel won't release a replacement for the F12 in the next 2 months (which is quite possible since they are 5 years old now)....

I should be able to thoroughly p!ss off all my neighbors with that combo...

Ahhhh Come on Ajani....what speakers are they? It cant be to bad....I'll tell you what...I heard some of the best speakers today that I have ever heard in my life, and you wont believe what they where....I still cant believe what they where....they where some Klipsh speakers..they where the Klipschorn...each speaker had three amps driving them....the bass was driven by a 350 watt mono Jeff Rowland amp, the mids by a 250 watt Jeff Rowland amp and the tweets by a 100 watt Jeff Rowland amp...the electic was on its own dedicated line, going into some power distributor in his rack ....two mono Esoteric DACs, a $6500.00 Esoteric CDP some fancy Accuphase thingy that had all kinds of knobs and a few other pieces of gear that I could not even began to tell you what they where, maybe MrPeabody could tell you...and all the while the guy had his two key boards intergrated into his rig so that he could play along with the music...I mean he interjected himself in the CD that was playing in the CD player....and all that was integrated with his computer....oh and he also integrated all that with his second system up stairs in his family room that had two Marantz Reference mono block amps ($15,000 pair) and preamp driving some 8feet tall Dynaudios.($8,000) the guy had over $100.000 worth of audio gear. My little system is a mere toy compared to what MrPeabody and I saw today...so don't be ashamed of what you have.


frenchmon

[Mr Peabody]

I would say Ajani is a closet Bose guy but I'm sure they are too warm for him

[Ajani]

Oh my back! My back!!!!

EDIT: I picked up my XPA-2 today...

Pics to come soon... after I get back from the chiropractor...

[Mr Peabody]

You haven't plugged it in to anything yet?

[Ajani]

You haven't plugged it in to anything yet?

I've hooked it up to the Benchmark DAC 1 and a pair of speakers more shameful than Bose... Normally I think these speakers sound awful, especially the bass which is boomy, indistinct and just plain nasty... I almost had to pinch myself when I heard the Bass on these speakers with the XPA-2, the description a reviewer for the XPA-2 gave, came to mind immediately: "tighter than a g-string on a fat girl"... If the DAC1/XPA-2 can make unlistenable speakers sound almost acceptable, I can't wait to hook it up to some good speakers and see what it can do!!!

[Ajani]

Ok, I still haven't gotten batteries for my camera yet ... i'll try to remember to do so tommorrow and take some pics... This amp looks a lot sweeter in person (I wonder if that is the right word?) than in the pics I've seen of it online....

A couple of points:

1) This is the first time these unmentionable speakers have ever sounded decent...

2) High volume is clean to levels I'm unwilling to listen at (for more than a few seconds to test the amp's capabilities)...

3) Low volume is equally sweet (which is not something I generally associate with ultra powerful amps)... As much as enjoyed my Rotel RB-1080, I must admit that it sounded worlds better when you cranked the volume....

4) Assuming the specifications on my speakers are correct, then the amp can easily drive difficult speakers... my speakers are rated at 3 ohms (and while I don't trust the brand to give honest specifications, I can't see why they'd claim that their speakers are difficult to drive)....

[Mr Peabody]

The XPA-2 looks like a beast on paper with 24 output devices and it's transformer. It's on my list to try if I get a purpose for one. The XPA-1 looks like basically a bridged XPA-2, each 1 has it's own 24 output devices and if memory serves the power supply is even larger.

Ajani when your gear gets broken in I'm interested to see if the highs are harsh or fatigueing. Although the ERC-1 is a great player and not harsh, in some set ups it can be a bit brash but it's more a upper midrange thing. The ERC has settled in and sounds pretty good linked to my Krell integrated though, better than any CDP that price should.

[frenchmon]

Ajani...PM me with the name of those speakers....The suspense is just killer!

frenchmon

[kexodusc]

I think he should just blurt it out...how bad it could it be? I never make fun of anyone's speakers. I'm always impressed when people can get mileage out of otherwise unwanted gear.

I'm gonna guess vintage 1980's Pioneer or Sony...the kind with the tone controls on the front baffle!

[Ajani]

I think he should just blurt it out...how bad it could it be? I never make fun of anyone's speakers. I'm always impressed when people can get mileage out of otherwise unwanted gear.

I'm gonna guess vintage 1980's Pioneer or Sony...the kind with the tone controls on the front baffle!

Good guess, but not quite there...

The initial plan was to resurrect my late 90s Technics SBLX70 Speakers (3 way with 12" woofers)... but I couldn't deal with the hassle of moving them from my parents' house on the other side of the island.... So I'm using the next best thing: Panasonic Mini system speakers... I rent a furnished house, and included was the mini system - so I just hooked them up to see that the Emotiva was working....

And I know this will kill any audiophile credibility (that I imagine that I had) but I'll be damned if $2,100 worth of electronics hasn't made the Pany speakers sound decent... hooked up to the mini-system they sound boomy, with no midrange and piercing highs... but with the Benchmark/Emotiva combo I can honestly say that they sound like a cheap entry level pair of audiophile speakers... Which I thought would be impossible.... I've actually listened to the setup all day and enjoyed it... (maybe it's time I quit hanging around HiFi sites and see a therapist).... The bass actually sounds clean and no longer has the one note boom like a car sub... I can even hear some detail in the mids... and the highs don't irritate the hell out of my ears....

[Mr Peabody]

Well I hate to tarnish an otherwise fairly smooth running thread but I have mentioned on AR a few times the importance of source components and if the signal isn't retrieved and maintained throughout the chain nothing you will do at the end will allow you to hear that lost part of the signal. I believe you may have found this out and reinforced my position. Yes, there is a tremendous difference between speakers, as I have been sitting and playing Klipsch in place of my Dyn's I certainly understand that. But those in search of sincere quality audio need to understand the importance of beginning with a good source. I do have to commend a few here at AR who have improved their front ends since I've been hear. Something about that last sentence just doesn't sound right oh well.

I had a similar experience as yours Ajani many years ago. I was sitting and talking to the guys in the service shop who used an old pair of Kenwood speakers on the test bench. I heard them many times and never much to speak of. One of them brought in a Mac tube amp and hooked it up to those speakers and I was in amazement. Not only was it some of the best sound I've heard up to that point but it was coming from those cheap speakers.

[Ajani]

Well I hate to tarnish an otherwise fairly smooth running thread but I have mentioned on AR a few times the importance of source components and if the signal isn't retrieved and maintained throughout the chain nothing you will do at the end will allow you to hear that lost part of the signal. I believe you may have found this out and reinforced my position. Yes, there is a tremendous difference between speakers, as I have been sitting and playing Klipsch in place of my Dyn's I certainly understand that. But those in search of sincere quality audio need to understand the importance of beginning with a good source. I do have to commend a few here at AR who have improved their front ends since I've been hear. Something about that last sentence just doesn't sound right oh well.

I had a similar experience as yours Ajani many years ago. I was sitting and talking to the guys in the service shop who used an old pair of Kenwood speakers on the test bench. I heard them many times and never much to speak of. One of them brought in a Mac tube amp and hooked it up to those speakers and I was in amazement. Not only was it some of the best sound I've heard up to that point but it was coming from those cheap speakers.

Years of listening to you preach about the importance of a good source is what led me to start with the DAC1 when I began rebuiling my setup .... And this experience has cemented that point about the importance of the signal chain.... While I've certainly heard good results pairing quality speakers/headphones with cheaper electronics, this experience has been a real eye opener about the kind of results quality electronics can bring to even cheap speakers...

I honestly never imagined a pair or mini system speakers could sound in anyway decent... The traditional HiFi logic is to ditch the mini system speakers first and replace them with a PSB Alpha or Paradigm Atom.... Not to replace the mini system with a decent amp and source, before changing the speakers...

[blackraven]

Congrat's on your new amp Ajani. I'm sure it will be a killer with that Benchmark DAC/pre and the Revels your planning on buying. I'm looking forward to your review.

I'm thinking about a UPA-2 and one of those cheap chinese tube Pre/DAC from Grant or Pacific Valve to run with my MMG's in my basement system.

[manlystanley]

I had a similar experience as yours Ajani many years ago. I was sitting and talking to the guys in the service shop who used an old pair of Kenwood speakers on the test bench. I heard them many times and never much to speak of. One of them brought in a Mac tube amp and hooked it up to those speakers and I was in amazement. Not only was it some of the best sound I've heard up to that point but it was coming from those cheap speakers.

Great story! I'll need to keep that in mind.


Best Regards,
Stan

[Ajani]

Congrat's on your new amp Ajani. I'm sure it will be a killer with that Benchmark DAC/pre and the Revels your planning on buying. I'm looking forward to your review.

I'm thinking about a UPA-2 and one of those cheap chinese tube Pre/DAC from Grant or Pacific Valve to run with my MMG's in my basement system.

A UPA-2/Tube Pre sounds like an intriguing combo for a second system... Of course I'd prefer for you to use an XPA-2 in the second system so you could compare it to the Halo A21 (I'd love to know how close the XPA-2 comes to the A21)

[bfalls]

Ajani...PM me with the name of those speakers....The suspense is just killer!

frenchmon

It may not be what they are that's embarrassing, but where he got them. Maybe he's been hanging out in parking lots. I hear you can get good deals on speakers there at a fraction of the cost

[bfalls]

I borrowed a pair of Kenwood bookshelf speakers from my brother-in-law several years ago. I was impressed how good they sounded, especially from a company not known for their speakers. I've been very impressed with the power from my XPA-5 and have no complaints. Enjoy.

[frenchmon]

Ajani...this guy had some custom wood work done to replace the aluminum ones on his gear...what do you think? I think it looks good.





frenchmon

[Ajani]

Ajani...this guy had some custom wood work done to replace the aluminum ones on his gear...what do you think? I think it looks good.





frenchmon

Definitely not something I'd do, but it does match his equipment rack....

Seems strange to save money by buying Emotiva and then going all out on Racks and custom wood trim... but to each his own, I suppose...

[TheHills44060]

wow that's the single worst allocation of audio funds i have ever seen period.