# Emotiva XPA problem



## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I have two XPA-1 monoblocks powering my front PSB Synchrony ones speakers. The right speaker monoblock keeps going into protection mode.

Anyone else have these problems with XPA amps?

I read on Emotiva's website where one person who is now really unhappy with Emotiva did and had to pay $100 out of pocket to send it in. I'm hoping this isn't the case.

Any suggestions?


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I guess I should provide more details.

The speakers are crossed over at 80hz. Right channel has problems, left block no problems. They're both biwired exactly the same way. I haven't changed anything. I just started having this issue today. 

I only have the volume up about a quarter of the way and the amp starts having these issues. Plays until a transient, then sometimes pops, sometimes doesn't, and shuts off and starts flashing at the main led power button.

Highly dissapointing so far.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

I have an XPA-2 powering two 10" Titanic subs. Some time while watching Inception the other night the amp went into protection mode with one channel flashing. I didn't notice until the end of the movie as the amp is behind me, and it powers two 10" subs, but not the 15" sub.

When I powered it off and back on, the problem seems to have gone away, although I have not tried anything with heavy bass again.

I will keep an eye on it and report back.

Paul


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

I have another XPA-2 and an XPA-3 that are performing without a problem, but if I had to point a finger at a place where the Emotiva XPA amps are a little weak, I would say it is in their self preservation circuitry.

Paul


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## Anthony (Oct 5, 2006)

What speakers are you driving? Sounds like they might have a nasty impedance dip or low impedance point that's drawing a lot of current during a transient and overheating.

Another problem could be a stray wire that is almost touching/shorting. During a transient, the voltage can spike momentarily, which could cause an arc and then the shutdown/protection. This is pretty easy to check. Also check with a multimeter the resistance of the speaker and wire (disconnect from the amp first). This will show a short, but not necessarily a low impedance problem.

Good luck.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

In my particular case they are Titanic 10" in a .6 cu. ft. sealed enclosure. I think these are fairly stable at 4 ohms. My connectors are banana plugs with no stray wires to be found.

Paul


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

The only real problem i have had with Emotiva amps is the indicator LEDS not working (they would come on then shut off), i sent those 2 back, was gonna give up on Emotiva then they had this sale again so i bought 2 XPA-1's and an XPA-5, the 5 is lent out to my brother in-law being that i do not have room in my rack for it and i want it to be in use so i'll be informed if a problem arises. 
Last night i came in the house and was jamming and about the 6th or 7th led was not working, have to call Emotiva to see if they can take care of it. When i had problems with my first round of emotiva's there customer service was great they took care of shipping and handling and even sent out a new unit but it ended up having the same LED issue so they paid to have that returned.
There customer service is what made me go back to them as well as the sale.


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I'll check it with my multimeter, I haven't gotten around to that yet.

I doubt it's the issue, but why not. I'll check it out.

As for the impedance, the left speaker would typically do the same thing if that were the case, but I have thought of it and checked out the impedance curves measured by stereophile magazine. About 1.5khz and 70hz shows a dip down to about 3 ohms. Should be no problem considering I've had them pushing a lot harder for longer for the last 6 months.

Regardless, thanks for the replies and the ideas. I've contacted Emotiva and I'm sure they'll suggest switching out left and right amps. I'll try that this weekend, we'll see.

I'm hoping for the best, but prepared to ship my amp back I think...


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

bambino said:


> The only real problem i have had with Emotiva amps is the indicator LEDS not working (they would come on then shut off), i sent those 2 back, was gonna give up on Emotiva then they had this sale again so i bought 2 XPA-1's and an XPA-5, the 5 is lent out to my brother in-law being that i do not have room in my rack for it and i want it to be in use so i'll be informed if a problem arises.
> Last night i came in the house and was jamming and about the 6th or 7th led was not working, have to call Emotiva to see if they can take care of it. When i had problems with my first round of emotiva's there customer service was great they took care of shipping and handling and even sent out a new unit but it ended up having the same LED issue so they paid to have that returned.
> There customer service is what made me go back to them as well as the sale.


Did you have to pay for shipping to send your amp back?


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Jason_Nolan said:


> Did you have to pay for shipping to send your amp back?


No, there customer service was great. They handled everything other then me have to pack the beasts back up and print off the return invoice off the computer.:T


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
I am truly sorry to read of the issues described about Emotiva Amplifiers. I have personally never owned one, but know many satisfied customers. Moreover, I have only heard great things about Emotiva's Customer Service.

What is interesting is that both the XPA and UPA Series are both being discontinued. I am not sure if it is directly a result of Emotiva's acquisition of Sherbourn, but Emotiva is going to be offering what seems to be a completely revamped lineup sooner than later.
Cheers,
JJ


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Jungle Jack said:


> What is interesting is that both the XPA and UPA Series are both being discontinued. I am not sure if it is directly a result of Emotiva's acquisition of Sherbourn, but Emotiva is going to be offering what seems to be a completely revamped lineup sooner than later.
> Cheers,
> JJ


That is both good news and bad, i am hoping they will still be able to satisfy customer needs of there current lineups.
I am now looking forward to seeing what the new products will be, exellent i'm sure. I know there professional lineup looks very promising:T


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Hi JJ, i was curious to where you heard the news about Emotiva discontinuing the XPA & UPA lines, i was conserned about us current owners of there products and the gentleman on the phone said there was no plan to discontinue either lineup:T. He also stated that they have some new awesome products coming in the next couple months but wouldn't share as to what they are. :foottap:


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I still haven't heard back from customer service.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
Emotiva Forums has a large discussion page about it. It started out with a guy being told that the UPA-7 was being discontinued and snowballed from there.

I am quite curious to see the direction Emotiva goes. Even Internet Direct, their Prices were amazing while still using an relatively large conventional Power Supply as opposed to using a Switching Power Supply which is usually less costly.
Cheers,
JJ


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

I'll have to find that in there Forum it has my curiousity going wild.


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

My email back to Emotiva regarding their amplifier is below. I went through the process of elimination while typing, so you can see how I eliminated the variables as I went along. See below:

Hello, Emotiva Support,



1) I did what you said and first switched the interconnects. The outcome from this was the same problem, the Right amp shut off.



2) I made the interconnects correct. I left all the power cords and 12V jumpers in the same place. Then I switched amps. This time the other amp (Previously left) on the right side cut off this time. So obviously it's not the amp, but I'll attempt to eliminate more variable below.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Next I tried the following with the right amp on the left side and the left amp on the right side, i.e. I didn't change anything else after discovering the right amp wasn't the problem.



a) I switched the 12V jumpers to the opposite side. Result: Still the right side went into protection.



b) I switched the power cords. Result: Right side went into protection again.



c) I switched the speakers along with the speaker wires to see if it is a problem with the wires adding more resistance on the other side. Result: * Left side went into protection!*

So, HTS, my next plan of attack is to switch the wires. If that's not the problem then I have an issue with the speaker. Not exactly good news if so.

Just an update on what happened for any that are interested.


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

After switching out everything now including moving the speaker to the other amp with the wires and it followed the speaker and wires, the problem is the speaker.

I tried switching out the wires from one speaker to the other and the problem still followed the speaker.

I need to find my Multimeter if I can, but I'm certain it's the speaker.

We'll see how well PSB's service is. I hope they're ok.


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

Anyone with PSB service experience?


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

Yeah, something is definitely wrong with that speaker. When I measure the good speaker I get 3.5 to 3.8 ohms.

On the bad speaker im getting 0.2 ohms.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

Are the speakers still under Warrenty? I agree you certainly have a bad speaker.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

It looks like the amp did what it was supposed to do and protected itself without any damage to the amp. That makes me feel better about my amps.

I've had no experience with PSB service, but I can say that Emotiva service is better than I have found with many other places. It is far superior than you have a right to expect for the price of their equipment.

Good luck with PSB.

Paul


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I bought them off Audiogon at a good price new from someone that said they were authorized. We'll see, I hope so.


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## aceinc (Oct 24, 2006)

This is a good thread, but you might edit the first post, and mention that the problem ended up being the speaker, so that someone shopping for Emotiva doesn't read it, without following the whole thread and decide not to buy Emotiva because of the "problem."

Hate to cause a good company to lose a sale when it wasn't their fault.

Paul


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Jason_Nolan said:


> Anyone with PSB service experience?


Hello,
I have never needed repair with any PSB Speaker I have owned or with a PSB Speaker I recommended to a friend or family member. What is wrong with your Speaker Jason?
Cheers,
JJ


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

Jack,

Good question. I would love to find out as well. I've had audiosystems for going on 16 years now and this is the first problem I've ever had in the home.

If you read on page 2 I measured with a multimeter and the good speaker measures around 3.8 ohms, while the bad speaker measures 0.2 ohms, which is exactly why my amp was shutting down on any kind of transient. To much current flowing through the amp (V=I/R) with the resistance being so small.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Hello,
It seems highly unlikely that it is anything other than the Crossover Network. What is surprising is how young and of such high quality the speakers are. How long have you had them and were they purchased new?

I am quite confident that PSB will offer excellent Customer Service. While I have never known anyone to need repair on their PSB's, they have been quite helpful when I have called them in the past when I was completely torn whether to purchase Stratus Gold i's or Stratus Silver i's many moons ago.

I really am sorry to read of your problems and hope that you are up and running asap. I love those speakers and it must be quite frustrating not to be able to enjoy them. In the meantime, I would move the surrounds to the mains provided they are fairly large.
Cheers,
JJ


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

I bought them October 10th, 2009. It's just really odd, because it's not like I was cranking them one day and I started having problems, it just started happening out of the blue. They're new, but they came from a dealer selling them on Audiogon. We'll see how it pans out.

I wish I knew what it could be, but it's not like those speakers can be operated on by yourself anyway. If anything happens, they have to go back. There's not access to anything on them.

I already have moved my Synchrony B's from my back channel surround up to the fronts, but thanks for the suggestion.


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## Jason_Nolan (Jul 4, 2008)

Well, to any interested, I hooked back up the bad speaker, put my ear to each driver and sure enough, I have a blown woofer. Well, it's not putting any sound out anyway. Since they use 3 woofers and overlap the sound for the most part, I didn't realize anything was missing running it into 7.1.

I've contacted Lenbrook American group and am awaiting reply.


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## bambino (Feb 21, 2010)

At least you have narrowed down the problem, hopfully now you can get quick resolve.


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