Emotiva equipmet, how good is it?

I echo the sentiments here.  All the Emotiva stuff I've heard is mid-fi at best.  Bright, tinny and hollow.

It's funny how many people will chase "giant killers"... every few months there's a new one to empty their wallets when they would be better off to invest in quality gear and enjoy it rather than chase the bargain.

My experience with the Emotive DACs has been very positive. Not at all bright or thin sounding. I purchased 3 Emotiva XDA-1 DACs about 8 years ago for my 3 systems. I had them for over 3 years and during that time compared them to other DACs at similar prices but preferred the Emotivas. I replaced the XDA-1 with 3 XDA-2 DACs about 5 years ago and have been using them since. The XDA-2 was a definite improvement over the XDA-1 with a fuller, richer, warmer sound and the resistive ladder volume control so it could be used as a DAC and preamp. I would characterize the XDA-1 as neutral to slightly bright and the XDA-2 as neutral to slightly warm. Over the last few years I have auditioned several DACs costing 5 to 6 times the price of the XDA-2, but I preferred the XDA-2.

Regarding the blue LEDs, they have a dimmer button so they can be dimmed to barely noticeable. In fact the LEDs on my other components are brighter than the dimmed Emotiva LEDs.

Get mine, get mine! Get what I got and validate my decision.  ;^)

But seriously, I looked into the Class D suggested by @rar1 an was amused to find this in one of the reviews:
" I bought a pair of Totem Dreamcatcher speakers two weeks ago and the next day the right channel went out on my vintage Yamaha CR 1020 receiver. ....... This Class D Audio amp is a keeper."

I  had an Emotiva XDA dac.  It was the brightest and thinness sounding piece of crap I ever heard.  You get what you pay for.  The worst were the very bright and ugly led’s. It could burn holes in your eyeballs.  Never again, I got conned

My experience was similar to yours for the XDA-1.  Somewhat thin and bright sounding which made it harsh at higher volumes.  

Emotiva said it had lossless volume when it first came out so I bought it for preamp duties.  But when I auditioned it the volume ramped up so fast from zero to 15(out of 80 steps or so) that it was too loud at this point depending on the music being played.

Emotiva did fix this, by changing the firmware, but then they public ally admitted  that it didn’t have lossless volume, which makes it useless as a pre.  Which is the reason I bought it.   And this is on top of it being bright sounding.

it became clear to me that they didn’t really know what they were doing.   Their flagship 2 channel pre was delayed two or 3 years and with one delay announcement Lonnie said that when paired with the XDA, the soundstage collapsed, so they needed to rework things.  

Either they didn’t have control of the design process, or worse still, they did with the screw ups being directly their fault.

at the end of the day, Dan L. Is a businessman first, making deals and cutting costs.  He doesn’t design anything and pays people mostly in China to design and make whatever at a certain price point.

i prefer Schiit Audio these days because the founders design their own stuff, and obviously know what they are doing.  The dacs, headphone amps and amplifiers all work as intended with no surprises after the fact.  I’d advise the OP to put them on the short list as well.

Interesting how some people find the Emotive XDA-1 bright, but I never did. I would say it was brighter sounding than the XDA-2 but never harsh or too bright. I cannot stand a bright sound or any speakers with a harsh high end. For instance Klipsch speakers come to mind. Several of my friends have them and I cannot listen to them for a long period of time before fatigue sets in. In fact many speakers with a metal dome tweeter, I find to be too bright for me. 

I did audition a couple of the Schitt DACs a while back but I preferred the Emotiva XDA-2.

By the way the XDA-2 does have a lossless volume control so it can be used as a preamp but the XDA-1 does not and should never be used as a preamp.  

FYI to the OP, the XDA-2 is long out of production. Their current dac may be better.

LJG, you must understand, when Emotiva was selling the XDA-1, they were calling it a digital preamp, and marketing it as such. Doesn’t that seem just a little wrong headed??  Also, you dismiss Schiit Audio but have obviously not tried more than one or two models or versions of their DACs,  or else you would have at least mentioned one such model.

they currently offer 7 separate models.  The multibit stuff they have is amazing to me.   When I tried the entry level Modi Uber, I immediately realized it was superior to the XDA dac.  So I upgraded to the Bifrost Multibit and the detail it gives with warmth is something Emotiva could never achieve.  Ymmv.

I realize the XDA-2 is out of production, besides the OP was asking about Emotiva amps. I only stated my experience with an Emotiva product because he was curious about quality of their products. 

I did not dismiss Schitt DACs, I only said I tried a couple a while ago and heard no better sound quality with them. The XDA-2 and the Schitt DACs were very similar in sound quality. I never said they were bad. I only tried them because my son was auditioning different DACs and asked me if I wanted to compare them to my DAC before he sends them back. I really don't remember the models, I would have to ask my son.     

When I purchased the XDA-1 they cautioned me that the volume should be kept at maximum, I believe, and only use a preamp for volume control or sound quality would be degraded. I believe it said that in the manual. I did not realize they were marketing it as a preamp also. Maybe that was before I bought mine. However,  the XDA-2 can be used as a preamp because it uses a resistive ladder volume control, which does not degrade the sound quality.

Anyway, I just wanted to describe my experience with one of their products.

I had a pair of XPA 1L trying to power my Maggie 1.7 speakers after about 7 returns to the factory for service I switched to a Parasound integrated it was a dramatic improvement in quality, and musicality and never a problem.

Yamaha is so underrated. The integrateds are great, the 801 especially. Check accessories4less, they often have them refurb on sale.

As a 2+ year owner of a XSP-1 Gen 2 preamp I have nothing but praise for this pre-amp. I picked it up new for 15% off the then current price direct from them. The pre adds or subtracts nothing from the sound,  It works very well with with my reconditioned Carver M500t amp. The pre did not remove any of the warm somewhat tubey sound from the Carver. I credit that to the Direct Short Path Analog Mode the pre has. It has a great remote. My speakers are Magnepan 1.7's are they sound better than when I was using the preamp section of a Vintage H/K receiver. It has matched well with anything I have hooked up to it and the sub woofer controls are extensive and appreciated. Your mileage and opinions may vary. Have a Happy Holiday season.

I just switched out my Krell KSA-200s with xpa-1 gen 2 mono blocks and there are no negatives to my ears. The Emotivas have no noise, which the Krell had a slight hum and could be heard from several feet away with the volume at zero. They also suck a lot leas power and to me sound more open. I’ve owned other Krells, Musical Fidelity (A300’s three times and what a great little integrated), Peachtree Audio 220se (awesome class d), PS Audio Stellar 700 (kinda disappointing but still good) and many more I have forgotten in my 50 years of audio love.

I think it’s the speakers that make the system. Currently running Focal 1038be’s ($13k new and very revealing) supported with an Oppo 105d and a Marantz 8801 pre/pro. The synergy I’ve found is excellent. Past speakers running the gamut of Martin Logan, Paradigm Signature and Studio Refs, and some cheapies. It’s all in the speaker.

Can’t stand audio snobs and Audiogon tends to have quite a few.

Since about 2010, I've owned various pieces of Emotiva gear. Overall,  they represent great value. In my opinion,  the Amps are best suited for home theater, as I have no desire to upgrade my amps due the sheer power and bass presence they present. It is in two channel performance where they show their limitations. Hop this helps. Good luck.

Owned a XPA-2 for a while (for a planned Home Theatre, which never eventuated). My higher end Amps showed up the XPA-2 limitations in 2 Channel. For a Heavy in Weight Amp, it's a little lightweight in Performance. Lacks Slam and Grip on Bass, Cymbals are like they are being Tapped instead of Struck. They are what they are, and if you're on a tight budget they can fill the void till funds permit something better. Or they will do the job if you are more "casually" into audio, unlike many on here who are always looking to up the ante in Performance.

"XPR amps were slightly soft and cold sounding due to the stock fuses they had in those amps..."
So I have an XPR amp that's been in a box for several years.  Should I break that thing out and change fuses?