# Emotiva amp specs...



## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

I am looking at buying the XPA -5 barely used from an individual, and looking at the specs it says S/[email protected] and at .1percent [email protected]/1meter. Isn't 97 kind of low on the noise floor? Would I have to turn down the gain on my sub to keep any hum from being introduced? And in doing so, not get the full wattage from my sub amp? I was told years ago when looking at specs on amps, to keep it to .01 percent which is not audible to the human ear. I would like someone to she'd some light on this matter, please.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi, The XPA5 is a great amp however I have a concern. The XPA5 is a multi channel amp designed for full range running 5 independent channels @ 200watts each. It is not designed to be bridged. 200watts is not really enough to power s sub correctly to begin with.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

I wasn't going to power a sub with the emotiva amp. I. already have a QSC RMX 2450 doing that


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

I am going to use it(the emotiva) for my main channels. I was just talking about the sub being it is in the audio chain, looking at the noise floor.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Ok, understood. Then the xpa 5 is a great choice. You have adjustments in the receiver for each output (the same as for the speaker levels) You should be just fine. It is much more dependent on the sensitivity of your speakers not the amp.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

It all depends on how much you want to spend.
For something that retails for $899 the Emotiva has good specs.
The Outlaw 5 channel amp has better specs, but it is about twice the price and it is still an inexpensive amplifier. After that the prices just keep climbing.
The spec on the XPA5 that makes me hesitate is the 34dB of gain, along with reports of hiss during quiet passages or between songs. 
I have a mid range AVR rated at about 100 watts / ch, and there is no hiss unless the volume control is turned almost all the way up with no source input. Even listening at very loud volume there is no hiss between songs or if there is silence in a movie.
If an external amp was added (power output doubled) I would be completely dissatisfied if there was audible hiss at my current listening levels.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

That is because of the .1 percent total harmonic distortion . Like I was told In car audio, if you have .01 percent or lower you don't have any hiss in silent parts with the volume turned up.


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## zane77 (Mar 26, 2013)

I have an XPA-5 installed in my system and it is very, very quit, I don't think you have anything to worry about


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

waculjr.903 said:


> That is because of the .1 percent total harmonic distortion . Like I was told In car audio, if you have .01 percent or lower you don't have any hiss in silent parts with the volume turned up.


Hiss and distortion are not synonymous with each other.
It is highly unlikely that you could distinguish the sound between two amplifiers with .01% distortion and .1% distortion.
Don't get me wrong, I would want the .01%, but in the real world the speakers will be a much bigger contributor to distortion compared to the amplifier by orders of magnitude.
Hiss is caused when the noise floor is amplified to an audible level.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

waculjr.903 said:


> I am looking at buying the XPA -5 barely used from an individual, and looking at the specs it says S/[email protected] and at .1percent [email protected]/1meter. Isn't 97 kind of low on the noise floor? Would I have to turn down the gain on my sub to keep any hum from being introduced? And in doing so, not get the full wattage from my sub amp? I was told years ago when looking at specs on amps, to keep it to .01 percent which is not audible to the human ear. I would like someone to she'd some light on this matter, please.


Hello,
The THD is still quite low, but Emotiva's employ a higher amount of gain than most other amplifiers. This is a design choice made so that they are compatible with the highest number of AV Receivers. Many AVR's have a less than stellar Preamp Stage that can in some instances not have enough voltage to get the full output from an amplifier. My Aragon 8008bb truly suffered during the 5 years I owned Onkyo's continuously whereas purchasing a Denon AVR-4520CI a few months ago made a huge difference.

This is an extreme example as the 8008bb retailed for $2800 and very few would be pairing it with an AVR and it was honestly more aimed at the 2 Channel market.
Best,
Jack


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

That sheds a new light on the subject that I was totally unaware of. Thanks a lot .


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Jungle Jack makes a very good point about the gain being a design choice and he gave a very legitimate reason for that decision.
In the home theater arena there's not anything that competes with Emotiva amps because they cost so much less than anything else that has comparable output power.
To stay in the same price range you have to look at pro gear which has its own issues in the consumer HT market.


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## steve1616 (Apr 6, 2009)

I think it should also be pointed out that the hiss only matters when you are not playing music, and you are a foot away from the speaker. High sensitivity speakers can make the same amp have a hiss that didn't on low sensitivity speakers. I have a very nice amp that makes a small hiss when nothing is playing and I put my ear close to the speaker. Fortunately for me, I like to listen to music at normal volumes, and at normal volumes the only hiss that you will hear is completely in your head. I think you will be happy with any emotiva amp.


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

i have an xpa-3 and i am very happy with it. yes you can spend more... for .01% but is it worth double the money.... unless you just have the money... they you should look at some bryston amps


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

Cool! Now I don't have to just hope everything works out right. I appreciate you all telling me about your experience with your own amps. Thursday I head home from work and I will be taking a little buying trip and pick this baby up. Thanks again guys!!!


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

waculjr.903 said:


> Cool! Now I don't have to just hope everything works out right. I appreciate you all telling me about your experience with your own amps. Thursday I head home from work and I will be taking a little buying trip and pick this baby up. Thanks again guys!!!


Congrats. Adding an Emotiva really makes a strong initial impression owing to the gain structure. It really should embolden you front stage.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

steve1616 said:


> High sensitivity speakers can make the same amp have a hiss that didn't on low sensitivity speakers.


I am using an XPA-5 to power my Klipschorns, which are about as high sensitivity speaker as is on the market. The Emotiva does produce a slight hiss that would be inaudible on less sensitive speakers. That is certainly due to the higher gain. I drive it with my Denon AVR-A100 (Anniversary edition of the 4311). 

And, of course, I did not need that much power, but it was *THERE* Plus, the system now has incredible headroom.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

My way of thinking is why make your gear stress and possibly damage something , Why not have plenary of power in reserve. So everything is nothing but quality and to have no fear of clipping your amps, over heating them and blowing speakers from distortion !


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

hjones4841 said:


> I am using an XPA-5 to power my Klipschorns, which are about as high sensitivity speaker as is on the market. The Emotiva does produce a slight hiss that would be inaudible on less sensitive speakers. That is certainly due to the higher gain. I drive it with my Denon AVR-A100 (Anniversary edition of the 4311).
> 
> And, of course, I did not need that much power, but it was *THERE* Plus, the system now has incredible headroom.


Whoa. K-Horns and a 200 watt per channel amplifier. I can only imagine what the peak SPL's must be when/if set to Reference Level considering a clock radio can drive K-Horns.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

Jungle Jack said:


> Whoa. K-Horns and a 200 watt per channel amplifier. I can only imagine what the peak SPL's must be when/if set to Reference Level considering a clock radio can drive K-Horns.


Actually, two XPA-5's and an Emo UPA-1 mono amp driving 4 K'horns, a Belle center, 6 Heresy IIIs, four Hsu ULS-15s and an old Velodyne FSR-18 in 11.2 in a 12x20x8 room. Headroom? Yeaahhhh Crazy, obsessed? Yep, that too.

Crazy thing is that we average about a watt per channel when wife is in the HT for nightly TV...:coocoo:


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## steve1616 (Apr 6, 2009)

hjones4841 said:


> I am using an XPA-5 to power my Klipschorns, which are about as high sensitivity speaker as is on the market. The Emotiva does produce a slight hiss that would be inaudible on less sensitive speakers. That is certainly due to the higher gain. I drive it with my Denon AVR-A100 (Anniversary edition of the 4311).
> 
> And, of course, I did not need that much power, but it was *THERE* Plus, the system now has incredible headroom.


At least you will never be wondering if you have enough power. I don't have the cleanest amp on earth either. I have a sunfire receiver, but it will power speakers that might want to make most amps fry. In the end, my ears aren't good enough to tell the difference in 1% of amp distortion, and neither are the golden ear boys when they are double blind tested.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I manage to get by nicely with 110W x 7 (20Hz - 20kHz, .09% THD @ 8 ohms, All Channels Driven)
Never hear anything that indicates the AVR is running out of steam.
Once in a while I think about an amp just because I like electronics, but I really don't think there would be any audible improvement.


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## steve1616 (Apr 6, 2009)

That spec honestly sounds pretty awesome for an AVR. Most AVRs are rated with 2 channels driven. I do agree with you 100% that your avr probably gives the same sound as a very expensive amplifier. I have measured the output to my speaker at insane volumes. I think it would surprise people just how little power you need to get to ear bleeding levels on even medium sensitivity speakers.


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## ewardjr69 (Feb 25, 2013)

I recently purchased a XPA-3 to run my front three and I am using my onkyo 3008 to run my rear 4. This is my first amp and I am very happy with the performance. Never thought I needed an amp but when I updated my speakers I didn't want them to have insufficient power. So far so good. I think Emotiva is a good value and I am happy with my setup!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

The Pioneer vsx23 uses class D amps however it would not be 110 watts all channels driven. it would still drop to around 95Watts (still very respectable)


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## steve1616 (Apr 6, 2009)

I think that is what is so awesome about Emotiva. Anyone can afford to upgrade. Most of us probably don't need the power that separates provide, but it is neat that Emotiva allows people on modest incomes to be able to buy the power that separates provide.


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## hjones4841 (Jan 21, 2009)

steve1616 said:


> At least you will never be wondering if you have enough power. I don't have the cleanest amp on earth either. I have a sunfire receiver, but it will power speakers that might want to make most amps fry. In the end, my ears aren't good enough to tell the difference in 1% of amp distortion, and neither are the golden ear boys when they are double blind tested.


An interesting thing happened in the midrange - more "articulate" with the Emo amps in the circuit. Can't explain it since the Denon's internal amps are rather good. But that was one of the first things I noted and it is there at all power levels.


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## waculjr.903 (May 27, 2009)

Well someone beat me to it. So I guess I'll have to wait till Emotiva decides to have another sale.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

hjones4841 said:


> An interesting thing happened in the midrange - more "articulate" with the Emo amps in the circuit. Can't explain it since the Denon's internal amps are rather good. But that was one of the first things I noted and it is there at all power levels.


If that is really true I wonder how great a McIntosh would sound since its specs are quite a bit better than the Emo.


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## Jungle Jack (Jul 28, 2009)

I often find myself wondering if the high amount of gain used my Emotivas is a primary reason for such conclusions. In addition to ensuring the widest compatibility, the gain also ensures that a new owner definitely notices the addition of the amplifier.

I do not think Mcintosh uses as much gain as Emotiva so if swapping between the two without level matching a user might actually be underwhelmed by the McIntosh. I actually first experienced this phenomenon when auditioning a NAD amplifier in my early twenties as I had brought home a number of different amplifiers some of which had much larger power supplies but much less gain.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I also have an XPA-5 and there is no noise that I can hear at any volume I chose to listen to...which truth be told is conservative. None the less, no noise and plenty of power for my Martin Logans and B&W's. I am not suggesting this is the amp to buy, only that is is very quiet.


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