A1UC Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 I currently own a emotiva xpa-2 and was wondering if there would be a diffrence in sound switching to a parasound 2250 I would be driving a pair of klipsch rf-7ll Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willland Posted September 18, 2011 Share Posted September 18, 2011 First, either amp will have no trouble driving your RF-7II's. The Parasound 2250 is one quality amp. So is the Emotiva XPA-2 but just less expensive. The Parasound may have a lower noise floor and lean to the warmer side of neutral which some(me also) perceive as more musical. If it were me, I would stick with the XPA-2 unless you are planning on going all Parasound and finding a good priced 3 or 5 channel amp. If you are keeping the XPA-3 in the equation, keep it all Emo. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txinliner Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 i had a upa 2 and liked it considerably but if i had the cash i would get the parasound. Dont let anyone tell you that there is no differance in the sound of amps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted September 24, 2011 Share Posted September 24, 2011 Another vote for Parasound! Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinjuku Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I own amps from 4 different manufactures: Crown, Behringer, Adcom, Parasound. My 2.0 is a pair of Curt Campbell Statements and source is a computer with a regulated linear DC power supply (no switch mode)and an EMU 1212M pro-audio mastering grade sound card. I welcome people to come over any time and compare the Parasound to my cheapie, clearance Crown XLS402d ($179) Would I pesonally go out of my way to pick up a Parasound A21 or 2250 vs an XPA-2? Based on experience, no. I had an XPA-3 years ago for a long weekend. It held it's own quite nicely. Then it went to a customers house. For the cost of the A21 I would pick up two XPA-1 (fully differential, balanced back to front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 If you were buying one or the other for similar money, Parasound.If you were thinking of changing and paying more I'd say hold what ya got.The difference in a prepro or quality avr pre section is WAY more than you will ever hear from similar amps.The source and what processes it is the most important after room and speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 You won't really hear a difference between the Emo and the Parasound. New forum poster Jinjuku is right (welcome to the forum!). I would go so far as to say that strictly in the value department, and even compared to some of the pro-sumer amps, Emo amps are tough to beat. Going for more has more to do with 'luxury' considerations (matching component brands/aesthetics, longer warranty periods, etc.), but that has nothing to do with sonic performance. And that's not a dis of Parasound, their amps seem pretty well engineered to me. Maybe they pay their workers more than Emo. Then again, for our Klipsch we're typically only using a watt or two. I believe some Parasound amps run class A for the first several watts, so with Klipsch they may be running in class A for everything we ask of them. I often wonder if there is a perceptable difference in such a case. It would be interesting to see distortion figures in the sub 1 watt range for both. If there's any crossover distortion hidden in there, that's where it will be most apparent and just happens to be where we spend most of the time with our Klipsch speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinjuku Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Thx for the welcome. Both amps I believe are driven A for the first few watts. So I don't think a sub 1 watt crossover measurement would yeild much information. It would potentially be buried in the driver distortion. I personally can't find my way to purchase a $1300 2250 vs a XPA-2 at $800 or a $2300 A21 vs two XPA-1's at $2k. Money saved is better spent on Music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Money saved is better spent on Music[Y][Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Youthman Posted October 21, 2011 Moderators Share Posted October 21, 2011 I love my Parasound amp and although I have not heard an Emotiva amp, I would think you would not be able to hear $500 better performance from the Parasound. What I can say is you probably will be able to hear a difference but there is no way for me to say which would sound best to your ears. Some amps sound warm, some neutral etc. Each of us have a different taste. I'd say go for the Emo and save money to use somewhere else in your system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onawav Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Did you end up picking up an amp? I'd like to pick up an XPA-2 with the Emotiva Holiday Sale (when back in stock). I'd pair it to my RF-7IIs. My only concern is that the XPA-2 has a high gain structure (32db) and the RF-7IIs are so efficient. I've heard you run the risk of creating a hissing sound when pairing such a high-gain amp with such high-efficiency speakers. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1UC Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Im going to go with 3 upa-1 mono blocks for the front stage and upa-2 for the surrounds which I have . XPS-2 is a overkill for that speaker, I had one. tHE UPA-1 would be just right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I'd like to pick up an XPA-2 with the Emotiva Holiday Sale (when back in stock). I'd pair it to my RF-7IIs. My only concern is that the XPA-2 has a high gain structure (32db) and the RF-7IIs are so efficient. I've heard you run the risk of creating a hissing sound when pairing such a high-gain amp with such high-efficiency speakers. Thoughts? I tend to think that high gain amps with high sensitivity speakers act like a compound microscope focused on whatever is fed into the amp. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that the whole 'junk in, junk out' effect is perhaps more apparent in such a system. If you're front end is nice and quiet, Emo amps should be just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUBALES Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I love my XPA-2 with my RF-7II. Over kill? I wonder what will be to gain from a UPA-1 I love other peeps perception on sound.. its fascinating. sure glad I spent about a year listing to other brands B4 I made my dicision. Maybe I'm just a klipsch junky. My ears love them.. Always have Always will I would say the one thing i gave a shot in the dark with was Emotiva... As far as gain.. I have no floor noise what so ever (unless you are about 3 inches from the speaker) Are you still trying to tame your horns???? Room treatment, speaker placement, EQ settings!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUBALES Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I'd like to pick up an XPA-2 with the Emotiva Holiday Sale (when back in stock). I'd pair it to my RF-7IIs. My only concern is that the XPA-2 has a high gain structure (32db) and the RF-7IIs are so efficient. I've heard you run the risk of creating a hissing sound when pairing such a high-gain amp with such high-efficiency speakers. Thoughts? I tend to think that high gain amps with high sensitivity speakers act like a compound microscope focused on whatever is fed into the amp. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that the whole 'junk in, junk out' effect is perhaps more apparent in such a system. If you're front end is nice and quiet, Emo amps should be just fine. Very True Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A1UC Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 A friend of mine has 2 UPA-1 , He let me use them last weekend and my RF-7s sounded better to me . Now what sounds better to one might not sound better to another , and for the XPA-2 I will change my words about being an overkill , To myself its an overkill thats why I sold mine . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 A friend of mine has 2 UPA-1 , He let me use them last weekend and my RF-7s sounded better to me . Now what sounds better to one might not sound better to another , and for the XPA-2 I will change my words about being an overkill , To myself its an overkill thats why I sold mine . Makes sense to me. Dual mono > stereo. No crosstalk results in a better stereo image. Also, per the Emo site, the UPA amps actually have better distortion specs than the XPA. Could it be that the high gain/high efficiency speaker allows you to hear the difference? Doubtful, but maybe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I need a new amp, and I have been reading a lot about emotiva... I wanted to go with two U1's monoblocks for 2 channel. then I started reading about what happens to the amps at 4ohm loads. UPA1 THD+N ratio @ 8ohm = 0.007337 % THD+N ratio @ 4ohm = 0.279648 % that is a huge factor increase. as a matter of fact, the more I looked, the more the whole emotiva line had this giant factor increase at 4ohm loads... EXCEPT the X1's(XPA). XPA1 THD+N ratio @ 8ohm = 0.003260 % THD+N ratio @ 4ohm = 0.004995 % ^now those are really great number... I guess I just have to save more cashish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSUBALES Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 I need a new amp, and I have been reading a lot about emotiva... I wanted to go with two U1's monoblocks for 2 channel. then I started reading about what happens to the amps at 4ohm loads. UPA1 THD+N ratio @ 8ohm = 0.007337 % THD+N ratio @ 4ohm = 0.279648 % that is a huge factor increase. as a matter of fact, the more I looked, the more the whole emotiva line had this giant factor increase at 4ohm loads... EXCEPT the X1's(XPA). XPA1 THD+N ratio @ 8ohm = 0.003260 % THD+N ratio @ 4ohm = 0.004995 % ^now those are really great number... I guess I just have to save more cashish. OH boy the XPA-1 are awesome thats 2000 bucks of thunder... The XPA-2 8ohm=.0196 4ohm=.075 Not bad for les than half the price... If you got the room and Kesh go for it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Bum Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 UPA1 THD+N ratio @ 4ohm = 0.279648 %[Wow, that's worse than my twenty year old NAD.[:|] I recently replaced the power supply caps and some relays for $70, and on the bench she measured 0.04% THD into 4 ohms, at output considerably higher than it's 'rated' power. I was actually considering an Emo as a replacement, but now I'm glad I opted to fix the old amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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