Emotiva amplifiers review/experience?

Thank you!

I note that Dave 72 has lots of very strong views about Emotiva.

But, might I ask, have you ever seen, touched or heard one?

Just sayin'

I have been an audiophile since I was 15 and today am 49. And, for all audiophiles out there, I can assure you 90% that the problem is not the emotiva amps or any amp. It is basically the way the whole system is connected. You see if you really want to get that sweet, effortless, delicate sound, without listening to the electronics or transistors, but the music itself, you have to follow very simple rules.

When you make connections from one component to another, let's say from your source to the preamp and from the preamp to the power amp; you have to make sure that all the components are NOT grounded, if the signal is unbalanced. In other words, if you send an unbalanced signal from your CD player with regular RCA unbalanced cables to a grounded preamp or amplifier, the ground from those components will make the entire system sound like crap. I learned that the hard way. I returned so many nice equipment in the past due to poor quality sound until I found out what was causing the problem. You see, grounds makes your system noisy if you use unbalanced signal. Not only will add noise, but static and an overall up front presentation that will cause fatigue within minutes. But, if you remove the ground pins from each component by using a simple groundless adapter, your whole system will sound sweet, delicate and natural. You'll hear only the music. Now, on the other hand, if you have a balanced signal coming from your source, connected to a balanced preamp and power amp as well, then you can leave everything grounded. And of course you will get that sweet balanced sound again.

So, again, if are going to go with a balanced signal, keep everything grounded. But, if your have an unbalanced signal coming from your source, make sure you remove all the grounds from each component. If you notice, most manufacturers like Marantz and even Emotiva are not adding the ground pin on their equipment any more. Take a look at their new line of preamp/processors, DAC's and amplifiers and notice that most of them are not grounded, even though they do provide balanced input and balanced output. For example, emotiva latest DAC(Stealth DC-1) is ungrounded compare to the XDA-2. Same with the XPA-2 amplifier.

Another important factor, make sure you have right polarity on your AC line. The large ping on the AC outlet should always be the NEG, and the small, the POS. And, always have a 20 amp AC line dedicated to your audio system only. DO NOT connect anything else to it. For example, if you connect your router, modem or any other device, it will cause interference and add noise to the line and into your system because they all have annoying transformers inside. Even a simple table lamp, with a florescent light bulb, will add noise to the AC line if it's connected to your system AC outlet. Only connect your source, preamp and power amp to it, and of course, ungrounded.

Another device that makes your system sound cold and lifeless are AC power conditioners. I have tried several of them through the years and every time I buy one I end up returning the unit. For some reason they seem to remove all the air from the music. Personally, I don't like them, even though they do protect your equipment from voltage spikes and damages.

Anyway, going back to the connections, I prefer to start with an unbalanced signal, ungrounded all the way to the end. Why? Simply because when the signal finally reach the speakers; you end up with a positive and negative cable only without a ground. So, it makes more sense to me to keep everything unbalanced, ungrounded from the beginning.

Therefore, when people talk about Emotiva poor sound quality compare to other high end brands while others find them very sweet sounding, delicate and powerful, to me it all comes down to the connections or the setup.. And the same principal applies to any amp. --HR

Removing the ground pin is a safety hazard! Try collecting on an insurance policy if it's found out your electronics all had their ground connections tampered with. Also, as an electrician, I've never heard of someone having their AC line polarity reversed. I suppose if some DIYer has added some plugs the wrong way it's possible, but that would be pretty rare.

Henry, in your last paragraph you forget that all people do not have the same skill in listening, the same hearing, the same preferences or the same room acoustics. But at the end of the day, Emotiva made some compromises to bring their products to market, and it shows. Sure their amps can sound better than an AVR, but is that saying much?

My friend, I guess you totally misunderstand what I said. If what you said would've been true, about removing the ground pin and having problems with the insurance, then how come most electronics from many respected manufactures DO NOT add or employ their ground ping in their audio systems? Like I mentioned before; take a look at some of the Marantz processors as well as their power amps and home theater receivers. They all come with the positive and negative polarity only, no grounds. Even my Sony S790 blu-ray player, a simple player that I use mostly for movies, does not come with the ground pin. And if that would've been a safety issue, how come most appliances around the house do not comes with the ground pin such as lamps, toasters, cell phone chargers, etc. And by the way, I never mentioned anything about reversing the AC polarity. In the contrary, what I recommended was to make sure you had the right polarity, the small pin(+) positive and the large (-)the negative. And by the way, I also have my background in electronics as an audio/video technician. I went to TCI School in N.Y. City, back in the 90's. Furthermore, I worked for a mayor company repairing and replacing flat panel TV's for Circuit City and Best Buys. I also design my own speakers. So, the advised that I am giving you does not comes from an amateur.