I came across this thread a year after the fact. But here is my take after 10 months of owning the Emotiva XPR-1.
Motivation: I built a house last year and wanted a secondary system for a Home Theater application, a dedicated cinema room for the family. It was my way to listen to music in my primary music room in peace.
Opinion: I've been a hobbyist for almost 25 years, my primary music room has well over $70K worth of top brands in hi-fi world and audio royalty (Audio Research,Cary,VTL, Ayre, Theta digital,Parasound, VPI turntables, Wadia digital, Apogee, Quad, Canton Ref. speakers, Stax headphones, etc.)
Result: A few months after I installed the HT system, my family and friends were telling me how fantastic the home theater sounds (none are audiophiles) so i began to audition the system for music and I now completely agree with their instinctive assessment. The Emotiva big amps impressed me so much that I replaced my Anthem amp with Emotiva 3 channel amp for the surround sound!
Normally, I would not have considered such low cost gear as a serious contender for high fidelity sound, however, I'd say these amplifiers are as musically satisfying as any other top gear I have had the pleasure to own in my systems.
The good news is that the music reproduction technology has now evolve to a point that the budget gear can and do sound awesome. I was contemplating upgrading my Totem speakers however, the music reproduction is now so perfectly sublime that I don't want to risk interrupting the balance of the system. BTW, by elevating the Emotiva mono amps I'm by no means diminishing the quality of the top amplifiers but emphasizing the value proposition of Emotiva.
I admit, I've never been part of the crowd who believes there is a "ghost in the machine" that alters reality, or an audio jewelry enthusiast; but I'm someone who has been committed to supporting excellence in music reproduction.
There are drawbacks to the XPR-1, the mono amp's enclosure has an inferior and substandard quality. Every expense Has Been spared to make them as cheap as possible. I'd have been perfectly happy to drop an extra grand or two for better aesthetics. All in all I highly recommend these mono amplifiers.
Music is the answer,
Mak
My HT Gear:
Pre/pro: Krell S1200
Oppo BDP 105
Emotiva XPR-1 mono
Originally Anthem MCA30 and later replaced by Emotiva XPA-3 multi-channel!
Apple TV/laptop music server
Totem Forest and Totem surround speakers, plus Velodyne 15" subwoofer
JVC DLA-X75R
Richard Gray 1200 Power Conditioner
Dedicated 20 AMP line into the home theater
Over $2k worth of interconnect cables/wires
Motivation: I built a house last year and wanted a secondary system for a Home Theater application, a dedicated cinema room for the family. It was my way to listen to music in my primary music room in peace.
Opinion: I've been a hobbyist for almost 25 years, my primary music room has well over $70K worth of top brands in hi-fi world and audio royalty (Audio Research,Cary,VTL, Ayre, Theta digital,Parasound, VPI turntables, Wadia digital, Apogee, Quad, Canton Ref. speakers, Stax headphones, etc.)
Result: A few months after I installed the HT system, my family and friends were telling me how fantastic the home theater sounds (none are audiophiles) so i began to audition the system for music and I now completely agree with their instinctive assessment. The Emotiva big amps impressed me so much that I replaced my Anthem amp with Emotiva 3 channel amp for the surround sound!
Normally, I would not have considered such low cost gear as a serious contender for high fidelity sound, however, I'd say these amplifiers are as musically satisfying as any other top gear I have had the pleasure to own in my systems.
The good news is that the music reproduction technology has now evolve to a point that the budget gear can and do sound awesome. I was contemplating upgrading my Totem speakers however, the music reproduction is now so perfectly sublime that I don't want to risk interrupting the balance of the system. BTW, by elevating the Emotiva mono amps I'm by no means diminishing the quality of the top amplifiers but emphasizing the value proposition of Emotiva.
I admit, I've never been part of the crowd who believes there is a "ghost in the machine" that alters reality, or an audio jewelry enthusiast; but I'm someone who has been committed to supporting excellence in music reproduction.
There are drawbacks to the XPR-1, the mono amp's enclosure has an inferior and substandard quality. Every expense Has Been spared to make them as cheap as possible. I'd have been perfectly happy to drop an extra grand or two for better aesthetics. All in all I highly recommend these mono amplifiers.
Music is the answer,
Mak
My HT Gear:
Pre/pro: Krell S1200
Oppo BDP 105
Emotiva XPR-1 mono
Originally Anthem MCA30 and later replaced by Emotiva XPA-3 multi-channel!
Apple TV/laptop music server
Totem Forest and Totem surround speakers, plus Velodyne 15" subwoofer
JVC DLA-X75R
Richard Gray 1200 Power Conditioner
Dedicated 20 AMP line into the home theater
Over $2k worth of interconnect cables/wires