Emotiva XPA-200 review


Before I get to the review heres my little setup: Onkyo TX-SR707 receiver, PSB Stratus Gold towers, PSB Stratus C6i center, NHT SB3 as my surrounds, PSB (not sure of model, bought them so long ago) but PSB in ceiling for rear surrounds, PSB Subsonic 6i subwoofer, NAD 515 5 disc CD player, and now as of today the Emotiva XPA-200.

First impression when I took it out of the box was how nice the amp looks. Hooked everything up, turned it on, let Audyssey calculate everything once again, and the first song I played was time by Pink Floyd. Immediately noticed the sound much cleaner. Turned it up a little bit and noticed the mid's are no longer muddy, but accurate, and the highs are even crisper than before. I did however, notice that all though the lows were no longer lost and muddy, but there isn't much bass at all to be honest. I was listening in stereo with NO sub on.
Next song was Africa by toto. one of my favorite songs to crank. so I did just that. And all though it is much better than before, more powerful/cleaner sound, it leaves me wanting more. For maybe a 6 or 8 ohm speaker in this power range this amp would probably be fantastic. Because at lower volumes it sounds very good. But just doesn't have the balls for these speakers.
I'm also comparing this to my other setup upstairs, which is a big room with high ceilings, compared to the room downstairs, smaller, low ceilings, and owens corning walls, stratus golds hooked up to a Rotel 1095 and Rotel 1066 processor. THIS is plenty powerful, extremely strong bass, crystal clear mids and highs. So, the two setups compared to each other is like night and day. For the money, I think this amp is great, looks great, sounds great, cranked it for over an hour straight and its just barely warm to the touch, but for these speakers, it doesn't have the juice to power em.
lombarski21
I'm not surprised, it's an amp built to a low budget price point. I checked the specs, it has a power supply of only 360 VA, and they expect to get 300 total watts out of it? Most of their line up is built with this philosophy. Better than the amps in a receiver, but that's not saying much.
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If it's new amp, he can return it.

Lombarski, spend a few more bucks and get the XPA2. It has more testicular fortitude than the amp you purchased. If you want more balls, you'll need to spend more money.

You get a 30-day free look when you buy those amps new, so there is no risk.
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Another option is to go for the XPR 2.
Great sound and all the power you will need with plenty of headroom .It will control those PSB Golds .

Lambeau
I thought about the xpa2, but at 500 watts rms at 4 ohms, got me worried as the stratus golds are only rated for 300. Not sure what I want to do yet. Not looking to spend as much money as my main setup, but would like a little more "oomf" than what the xpa-200 supplies.
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Lobarski...500 watts per channel is the maximum rating. You will never run those amps to their max...what you are looking for is headroom, power on tap to meet the demand of your current speakers.

My speakers are rated at 300 watts for the mid-tweeter and 500 watts for the bass. I have them powered by 1200 watt monoblocks. Those speakers will never see all 1200 watts...I'll never turn it up that high...but I will NEVER be short on power or run out of steam.

Your car will go over 100 mph, but you rarely go above 70 mph, and most of the time you don't exceed 40 mph...but you have the extra power on tap if you need it.

You can never have too much power.
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More often than not it is too little power that damages speakers, not the opposite.

Shakey
very good point Mich4t, never thought of it like that thank you! and thank you everyone else for the input! Ill def check it out Lambeau
I bought the XPA-200 via holiday promo deal when the amp came out - forgot what I paid but I recall about $150 below retail. I use the amp to power some home brew passive Usher subs and could not be happier with the performance for money spent. I also use the Emotiva Control Freak to dial in the bass supplimented to the main speakers. However, I'm not driving a difficult load with a single 8" per channel and I do not listen to crazy volume levels.
The 30 day trial is nice, but nobody ever mentions that if you want to return it, you have to pay out of your own pocket for shipping. That's 50 bucks or more depending on where you live.
Try it with a stand alone preamp. The Onkyo receiver's preamp section for music is the bottleneck.
I've heard your amp and a Hafler Transnova amp sound compromised with the signal going through the Onkyo.
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Runnin, ...you failed to mention that Emotiva gives free
shipping to your door. That's a tremendous show of good
faith.

Having the buyer pay return shipping after a 30-day trial is
only fair.

Also, there is no restocking fee. No one else in audio is
giving the combination of free shipping to your door and no
restocking fee for returns.
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Shipped to your door? Where else are they going to ship it to, EVERYONE ships to your door unless you ask for another option. Several companies will pay return shipping if you want to return it. Most of the 30 day trial companies also offer no restocking fee, it's the standard for the internet direct marketplace.

I'm not knocking Emotiva for not paying return shipping so much as I am knocking people who volunteer the 30 day trial info without telling about the return costs. It's simply a part of the details that one needs to know to make an informed decision.
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Runnin, I see how you conveniently left out the FREE shipping to your door. And of course they offer a 30-day free trial with no re-stocking fee.

Evmotiva's policy of free shipping and 30-day free trial is outstanding. For you to complain that they ask you to pay return shipping after they've shipped it to you free of charge....and given a 30-day free trial is petty, trivial and without merit.

I'd like to see you name the audio companies that give free shipping out the door, a 30-day free trial and paid return shipping if you don't like the product.
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Mitch, if you're going to push Emotiva, knock yourself out, but state ALL the facts to the people you are pushing Emotiva on. Otherwise you are misleading them. That means, tells them they have to pay to ship it back if unhappy. I can't make it any plainer than that.

And SVS has free shipping and free return shipping if you're not happy. They don't have a 30 day trial though. You'll have to make do with 45 days. Look it up.
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SVS..that's a good deal.

Well...you learn something new every day.

I see that Gallo also has free shipping both ways with a 60 day free trial.
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