# 2 channel amp



## Pigman (Nov 21, 2012)

Hi, I have a Denon AVR987 which provides plenty of power to the rest of my system, except for my front speakers. They are Polk Audio RTI a9's. Elsewhere on here and other reviews I have read about my speakers, I have come to understand they would benefit from a power upgrade. I was looking at the Emotiva XPA-2, which delivers 300wX2. First of all I would like a recommendation, is the Emotiva a good choice? I wouldn't want to spend too much more than the price of the Emotiva. And second, would I then need to power the rest of my speakers with an external amp or would the Denon be able to balance things out?

Thanks for the input!

Allan


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## Bullfar (Apr 4, 2012)

Hi, other good option that you can see is the Butler amps TDB series: 2250 (2x250w or 1x800w), 3150 (3x150 w) and 5150 (5x150w). Regards.


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## Pigman (Nov 21, 2012)

The Outlaw would be getting out of my price range, I would like to keep it under $900, and like I said I really just want to drive my 2 fronts, I believe I have plenty of power for the rest of my speakers. The Butler is WAY out of my price range. If there are no amps in my price range other than the Emotiva, I was hoping to get some opinions on it. How does it sound? Does it do a good job? Would my $800 be well spent?

Thanks again for the input.


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## BruceW (Feb 5, 2013)

I like the XPA-1 over the RPA-1. It sounded cleaner to me. Same speakers in the same positon at the same time in an A/B switching.


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## Pigman (Nov 21, 2012)

Well after reading those reviews, I am thinking Emotiva it is. Now then, where is my tax refund....


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## Sevenfeet (Feb 2, 2009)

What's driving your center channel? Is it the Denon? I ask because I have a home theater setup where my Denon 3805 would normally be powering my five speakers except that I have a Parasound 2200 with John Curl mods driving the fronts. At 200 wpc of dedicated power, it's awesome, but it ignores the fact that the center channel is the most used speaker in a home theater setup and deserves a power upgrade more than anything. Have you considered the Emotiva XPA-3 instead? It puts out 200 wpc versus 300 wpc of the XPA-2, but it allows your center channel to come to the dance and really shine. Then your Denon can still power the rest of your surrounds that usually don't need that much power anyway most of the time.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Considering the sub you have, if you are running your system with all speakers set to small and 80Hz global crossover it is very unlikely you are stressing the AVR, therefore in my opinion adding an amplifier has little chance of curing your dissatisfaction with the Polk RTi 9 speakers.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

+1 for emotiva,,,, I have an XPA-3 and I am going to get the UMC-200


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

+1 on making sure the center has power


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## Pigman (Nov 21, 2012)

Actually I am not too disappointed with the power to the center. It seems to be doing fine. I have just read, for stereo performance the rti a9's(rated up to 500w) would benefit from a little more power. I think they sound great. One nice upgrade from my Polk M20's. So that is why I was looking for the XPA-2. That being said maybe I should consider the XPA-3. I imagine it would still be quite an upgrade in power over my Denon. It is rated at 110 per channel, but I understand that published numbers are usually not what the avr is putting out. I dunno. I guess I'll wait a bit. I don't have the cash right now anyway, but soon I will.


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

My two cents, adding more power to my left & right speakers was a good thing. Everything worked fine with my Denon 3805 but I can certainly tell a difference with the power the Acurus A250 provides. Not really in the areas that everyone proclaims for separate amps, dynamics, headroom, separation, volume, clarity, sound stage et al; but just in control. My speakers are 4 ohm, 88dB (2.83V @ 1 Meter) and have 12" woofers. The Acurus really helped with control of the bass. Your Polk's are more efficient and have smaller drivers so you may not see a lot of benefits with an external amp, but then again....
Any of the aforementioned amps will suite your purpose but you may want to consider the used route or borrow an amp to see if it would really make a difference in your set-up before you lay down $900 - $1000 dollars.


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## 8086 (Aug 4, 2009)

nova said:


> My two cents, adding more power to my left & right speakers was a good thing. Everything worked fine with my Denon 3805 but I can certainly tell a difference with the power the Acurus A250 provides. Not really in the areas that everyone proclaims for separate amps, dynamics, headroom, separation, volume, clarity, sound stage et al; but just in control. My speakers are 4 ohm, 88dB (2.83V @ 1 Meter) and have 12" woofers. The Acurus really helped with control of the bass. * Your Polk's are more efficient and have smaller drivers so you may not see a lot of benefits with an external amp, but then again....
> Any of the aforementioned amps will suite your purpose but you may want to consider the used route or borrow an amp to see if it would really make a difference in your set-up before you lay down $900 - $1000 dollars.*


Good Advice :TT

I will second the idea of borrowing something before you buy.

*Two Hundred Watts per channel should be plenty of power to drive 99.9% of all speakers on the planet, including Martin Logan. I would suggest going for the XPA-5 (or XPR-5, if you can Afford it) and give all 5 channels an equal bump in current.*


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

Excellent points above. I love Acurus and Aragon. Acurus when introduced was truly amazing as they are Made in America and were being sold for the same prices as amplifiers made in China. In addition, Acurus amplifiers offer stellar build quality. There is a reason both Acurus and Aragon amplifiers usually sell rapidly on Audiogon. While thrilled that Indy Audio Labs has revived both brands, the difference in price compared to the Mondial Designs era is huge.

I do want to point out that the Emotiva XPA-3 is currently $100 off and is now $599. As has been mentioned prior, the center channel is truly a linchpin for an excellent HT experience.


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## 8086 (Aug 4, 2009)

Jungle Jack said:


> Excellent points above. I love Acurus and Aragon. Acurus when introduced was truly amazing as they are Made in America and were being sold for the same prices as amplifiers made in China. In addition, Acurus amplifiers offer stellar build quality. There is a reason both Acurus and Aragon amplifiers usually sell rapidly on Audiogon. While thrilled that Indy Audio Labs has revived both brands, the difference in price compared to the Mondial Designs era is huge.
> 
> I do want to point out that the Emotiva XPA-3 is currently $100 off and is now $599. As has been mentioned prior, the center channel is truly a linchpin for an excellent HT experience.


Aragon amplifiers were super nice, but no longer made and expensive as back in the day. Oh, Klipsch bought Aragon and killed the whole product line; its all the more reason why I am not a big fan of that company. Why did they even bother to spend the money on a company, just to do nothing with it?

If he can't afford a good 5 channel, then I totally agree the XPA-3 is a real win over the XPA 2 especially since your center channel does most of the work.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

8086 said:


> Aragon amplifiers were super nice, but no longer made and expensive as back in the day. Oh, Klipsch bought Aragon and killed the whole product line; its all the more reason why I am not a big fan of that company. Why did they even bother to spend the money on a company, just to do nothing with it?
> 
> If he can't afford a good 5 channel, then I totally agree the XPA-3 is a real win over the XPA 2 especially since your center channel does most of the work.


Aragon and Acurus are back. Albeit it way higher prices. I was just writing about Indy Audio Labs finally bringing them to market as they purchased both brands from Klipsch several years ago.

Here is a link to Indy Audio Labs "Webstore":http://www.aragonav.com/web-store
They actually have a pretty large dealer network as well. The new Acurus A2005 costs $3500 which is crazy compared to what they used to sell for. The Aragon 8008 sells for $4400 which is not too bad as the 8008bb sold for I believe $2700 if memory serves when I purchased mine.


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## 8086 (Aug 4, 2009)

Jungle Jack said:


> Aragon and Acurus are back. Albeit it way higher prices. I was just writing about Indy Audio Labs finally bringing them to market as they purchased both brands from Klipsch several years ago.
> 
> Here is a link to Indy Audio Labs "Webstore":http://www.aragonav.com/web-store
> They actually have a pretty large dealer network as well. The new Acurus A2005 costs $3500 which is crazy compared to what they used to sell for. The Aragon 8008 sells for $4400 which is not too bad as the 8008bb sold for I believe $2700 if memory serves when I purchased mine.



$3500 sounds about right when you adjust for inflation. In 1996, the 8008 amplifier sold for $1999. Things today cost roughly double or more what they did back then. Though, like Wharfedale and some other great HiFi brands of yesteryear; something tells me that the Aragon brand just wont be the same great brand going forward as it was in the past.


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## jevans64 (Dec 24, 2012)

Pigman said:


> Hi, I have a Denon AVR987 which provides plenty of power to the rest of my system, except for my front speakers. They are Polk Audio RTI a9's. Elsewhere on here and other reviews I have read about my speakers, I have come to understand they would benefit from a power upgrade. I was looking at the Emotiva XPA-2, which delivers 300wX2. First of all I would like a recommendation, is the Emotiva a good choice? I wouldn't want to spend too much more than the price of the Emotiva. And second, would I then need to power the rest of my speakers with an external amp or would the Denon be able to balance things out?
> 
> Thanks for the input!
> 
> Allan


Maybe I'm missing something but how are you going to connect the amp to the receiver? That Denon has no preamp outputs.

Are you looking at a receiver upgrade as well? Something with preamp outputs?


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

jevans64 said:


> Maybe I'm missing something but how are you going to connect the amp to the receiver? That Denon has no preamp outputs.
> 
> Are you looking at a receiver upgrade as well? Something with preamp outputs?


The AVR-987 has preamp outputs. From what I remember it has both those and MCH Analog Input as well.
I believe this AVR is a clone of the AVR-2807.


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## Pigman (Nov 21, 2012)

Yes it does have pre amp outputs.


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## jevans64 (Dec 24, 2012)

Pigman said:


> Yes it does have pre amp outputs.


Right. I was looking at a very small picture of the back and completely missed them. LOL

You're set then. I borrowed an Emotiva XPA-5 ( 200w x 5 ) from a friend to try out and it didn't make a bit of difference against my Denon AVR-5308ci, which was measured by HT Labs to deliver 142w x 7. The amp sections in pre-2008 Denon receivers were pretty-much top-notch and actually delivered close to their rated power at 5 and 7 channels. The stuff Denon builds today is pretty-much from China with the exception of their top receiver, like the 4520ci.

While the AVR-2807/987 may not do an honest 110w/ch it should get close.

As far as the Emotiva XPA-2 or XPA-3. The XPA-2 might give that extra headroom you are looking for but Emotiva does 32 dB of gain on the older XPA-x series. They have some new XPA-xxx stuff, I think just XPA-200, that is at 29 dB of gain and some of the more expensive amps do 23 or 26 dB of gain. Most folks with the older XPA-x amps report they hear some " hiss " when nothing is playing through them or with muted volume but really can't hear anything when actually using the amps. They reserve 29 dB of gain for their XPR series but they should have a 250 watt monoblock XPA-1-L that would probably have 29 dB of gain plus 30 watts at Class A.

I think my plan would be to get an XPA-2 to start off with to power the front two. If you decide you want to get a new AVR or pre-pro, then pick up an XPA-5 for a solid 7.x setup and use the receiver's amp section to power additional surround speakers. Emotiva's next sale will probably be their Summer Sale in June/July around Independence Day then another around Labor Day and at EmoFest. They just had a secret sale that ended on 2/15 and they still had refurb/scratch-n-dent XPA-3, XPA-5, XPR-1, XPR-5 when it ended. The XPR-5 refurbs were $1299 at EmoFest, which is when I got mine.


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