New Emotiva Reference amps

[blackraven]

Check out the new Emotiva reference series amps. They need a dedicated 20 amp line and only come with a 20amp power plug.

Reference Series | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifier

It seems like they are just putting out all these ultra high powered amps. Why don't they cut the power to 150-300wpc and put the money to higher qulaity and better sounding amps. It seems like they equate power with quality. It seems like they like the wow factor of 600 and 1000wpc amps. I'll still take my 250/400wpc Parasound A21 over one of those amps unless they get glowing reviews from a reputable reviewer.

You would think that any one having difficult to drive speakers needing 600-1000wpc would want to buy a higher quality amp. I could not see buying one of these amps to power an $8k pair of Salk Veracity HTR-3's rated at 84dB. So what niche do they fill?

[Feanor]

Check out the new Emotiva reference series amps. They need a dedicated 20 amp line and only come with a 20amp power plug.

...
It seems like they are just putting out all these ultra high powered amps. Why don't they cut the power to 150-300wpc and put the money to higher qulaity and better sounding amps. It seems like they equate power with quality. It seems like they like the wow factor of 600 and 1000wpc amps. I'll still take my 250/400wpc Parasound A21 over one of those amps unless they get glowing reviews from a reputable reviewer.
...

I'll confess despite Magneplanars' supposed power hungryness, I doubt I need more that 100 wpc in my room at my listening levels.

One recent Emotiva amp that does intrigue me though, is their XPA-1L monoblock, HERE, which is pure class A to 35 watts. Above 35 watts, a high switch over, it becomes A/B and delivers up to 500 wpc @ 4 ohms (!!).

[blackraven]

I agree with you Feanor, I rarely need more than 100wpc for my 1.6's but what I notice with the higher powered amp is better dynamics due to the increased headroom. I think thats why a 100wpc NAD amp sounds nice with Maggies as those NAD amps can put out tremendous instantaneous power to go along with its soft clipping feature. My maggie dealer likes to pair the lower end models NAD. Of course he will also pair them with $15K amps as well.

[harley .guy07]

I do understand that pure class A is always amps run in this way. The Emotiva amp seems to be a higher bias than the other Emo amps and that is what they are basing there main difference from their other amps. Pass always says how his amps are biased as far as how many watts they go up to before switching, and some of his even upper level amps don't switch over at all but they are very pricey designs that are way higher priced than mine. I would not be surprised if this amps sounds a little better than Emotiva's other amps at lower volumes but depending on the components and build quality would determine how much and they would by no means hang with some of the Pass or other designs that are high biased.

[E-Stat]

Check out the new Emotiva reference series amps.

Ironically, they are essentially multi-rail power supply (class H) pro amps.

Like Feanor, their new XA30.5 clone would be more interesting to me.

[harley .guy07]

Yeah that is the one that intrigues me as well (1L) that seems like the only one that they really seem to want to improve the sound quality of and not just make more power. But with Emotiva's reliability issues with some of their stuff I would be Leary of this amp since class A runs warmer. I would wait until a few people buy it and see how it performs and how reliable it is. Being a new Pass Labs owner I doubt that it could even come close to Passes class A stuff but it might sound descent.

[E-Stat]

But with Emotiva's reliability issues with some of their stuff I would be Leary of this amp since class A runs warmer.

As for me, I've owned their 1kW XPA-5 amp and UMC-1 processor for almost two years with no problems. Both are used daily in the HT.

I would wait until a few people buy it and see how it performs and how reliable it is. Being a new Pass Labs owner I doubt that it could even come close to Passes class A stuff but it might sound descent.

Agreed. Having a problem-free Threshold amp that recently celebrated its 32nd birthday, I'm not convinced that the Emotiva stuff will fare as well. I took off the cover of the amp to look at its build quality and while clean and nice, it even smelled like a mid-fi product. Nevertheless, it performs well in its current duty and the value statement is quite convincing.

[Mr Peabody]

I enjoy having extra watts under the hood, nothing says crescendo like a hardy power supply, ample current and lots of output devices .

E-stat, how does your set up sound when music is played? The couple pieces I have seem to be void of musical textures, that's the only way I can describe them, just missing engagement. However, for movie soundtracks this might not be a big of an issue.

[E-Stat]

E-stat, how does your set up sound when music is played? The couple pieces I have seem to be void of musical textures, that's the only way I can describe them, just missing engagement. However, for movie soundtracks this might not be a big of an issue.

I don't use the HT system for music. The amp is clean, but not particularly dimensional.

[TheHills44060]

So what niche do they fill?

Emotiva markets their amps to the uneducated and those who most desperately want "separates" at the lowest cost no matter what the quality.

[Feanor]

Emotiva markets their amps to the uneducated and those who most desperately want "separates" at the lowest cost no matter what the quality.

So ... you're the perennial Emotiva basher, but we knew that.

[TheHills44060]

So ... you're the perennial Emotiva basher, but we knew that.

Get it right...the perennial Emotiva Amp basher ;-). I have never commented on any of their other products as I have no first hand experience with them. I really do not care for their amps.

I don't agree Emotiva markets to the "uneducated", their specs given are as thorough as any one out there and more so than most, to my knowledge they have always fulfilled their spec claimed.

Good point Peabody. I just think that many of their amplifier buyers don't know and don't care what the specs mean.

[E-Stat]

I just think that many of their amplifier buyers don't know and don't care what the specs mean.

Given that most of them in no way relate to the audible performance, I don't care about them for the most part either. Having said that, I do look for some specs to avoid.

1. Amps with extremely low THD (0.00x something) with correspondingly high damping factors. That clearly means the designer has taken the easy way to generate impressive numbers on test tones via NFB which sacrifices its ability to respond in the time domain. I find them amusical sounding.

2. Amps with extremely low input impedance - say <20k ohm which makes them harder to drive, especially with tube preamps.

One metric I do find important (usually absent) is power supply stiffness in joules. All the best amplifiers in my experience have large power supplies with nearly 1 joule per watt (or more).

[amphandle]

TheHills4406, You are making uneducated statements about a product you know nothing about and is not helpful to others in this respect. I own many different audio equipment that cost many more times the cost of Emotiva and the brand is made of quality and well manufactured from start to end. They are infact so good that I've bought several of their top line pre-amps, amps, and CD-Player because of the sound quality surpassing some of my more expensive gear. You do sound like a perennial Emotiva Amp basher when you make such an uneducated comment when you have no first hand experience with their products. There are many educated people who have made wise decision to give Emotiva a chance with their products, you may not really care for their amps but other people do!
Please try and be more helpful with your comments to help others learn what their products are like so they can make decisions based on educated knowledge of their products who have first hand experience using Emotiva. Thank You!

TheHills4406 said:

Emotiva markets their amps to the uneducated and those who most desperately want "separates" at the lowest cost no matter what the quality.

Get it right...the perennial Emotiva Amp basher ;-). I have never commented on any of their other products as I have no first hand experience with them. I really do not care for their amps.

[Mr Peabody]

I would certainly be interested in knowing which "more expensive" brands Emotiva outperformed in your opinion.

TheHills4406, You are making uneducated statements about a product you know nothing about and is not helpful to others in this respect. I own many different audio equipment that cost many more times the cost of Emotiva and the brand is made of quality and well manufactured from start to end. They are infact so good that I've bought several of their top line pre-amps, amps, and CD-Player because of the sound quality surpassing some of my more expensive gear. You do sound like a perennial Emotiva Amp basher when you make such an uneducated comment when you have no first hand experience with their products. There are many educated people who have made wise decision to give Emotiva a chance with their products, you may not really care for their amps but other people do!
Please try and be more helpful with your comments to help others learn what their products are like so they can make decisions based on educated knowledge of their products who have first hand experience using Emotiva. Thank You!

TheHills4406 said:

Emotiva markets their amps to the uneducated and those who most desperately want "separates" at the lowest cost no matter what the quality.

Get it right...the perennial Emotiva Amp basher ;-). I have never commented on any of their other products as I have no first hand experience with them. I really do not care for their amps.

[TheHills44060]

TheHills4406, You are making uneducated statements about a product you know nothing about and is not helpful to others in this respect. I own many different audio equipment that cost many more times the cost of Emotiva and the brand is made of quality and well manufactured from start to end. They are infact so good that I've bought several of their top line pre-amps, amps, and CD-Player because of the sound quality surpassing some of my more expensive gear. You do sound like a perennial Emotiva Amp basher when you make such an uneducated comment when you have no first hand experience with their products. There are many educated people who have made wise decision to give Emotiva a chance with their products, you may not really care for their amps but other people do!
Please try and be more helpful with your comments to help others learn what their products are like so they can make decisions based on educated knowledge of their products who have first hand experience using Emotiva. Thank You!

Did you not read my entire post amphandle!?!? You said 3 different times that i know nothing and am uneducated about Emotiva. I clearly stated that I HAVE experience with their amps just not with any of their other products like dacs, preamps, speakers, interconnects, etc... Those other pieces of equipment may be the best on this Earth, I wouldn't know. Good lord learn how to read before you call someone out.

I'm elated you are pleased with your Emotiva purchases however I have not had the same experience in my opinion. YES my opinion. Am I not entitled to one simply because it doesn't match your own? I know that when I am researching a product I want to hear the good and the bad completely unfiltered but my own ears are the judge and jury. People like you who get offended because someone doesn't like a piece of kit they have really needs to get out of the house some more and smell the concrete. Sure I would love to have a high quality and musical sounding piece of gear at reduced prices, who wouldn't? I hoped Emotiva was the ticket back then but for me their amps were utter disappointments no matter what price point they were at. I threw several speakers at them from PSB, Martin Logan, Vandersteen, Castle Acoustics, Cervin Vega and no dice. Not to mention they are total eyesores as well. In the end I moved on and there are others who share my point of view and others who don't which is perfectly fine and expected.

Its a phenomenon that so many Emotiva owners (not all) consistently get bent out of shape so easily. I don' know whether to laugh or to pity those folks. Thank you!