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
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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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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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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