Emotiva amp for icons

[sully141]

Emotiva is having a sale so I figured maybe its finally time to get a amp, I called and talked to a rep from emotiva, he suggested 2 choices, 1. UPA-700, 80x7, and if i go with that and bi amp the towers, and then run my center and front surrounds off the amp, and then run my rears off the onkyo 809. or 2. XPA-3, 200x3, and run my surrounds off the onkyo. the xpa-3 cost $200. At first he was about the xpa3 then i asked him about bi amping the upa700 and then he changed his mind and said the upa700 would be the best way. Any words about their X Ref 12 sub.

[willland]

Josh,

If I were you I would seriously consider Carl's Adcom 5-channel amp that he has for sale in the Garage Sale section.

http://community.klipsch.com/forums/t/174524.aspx

Bill

[derrickdj1]

I used a 200 watt Yamaha M 70 amp for my VF 36's. At louder volvumes, they sounded better with the amp than on the avr. Those are some nice towers, I still have my VF 35's. I like the flower horn and front port on the Icon V speakers. The VC 25 is also a great center. Biamping probably is a waste of time.

[fuzzydog]

Any words about their X Ref 12 sub.

I have one of their subs and believe that it performs very well. It's small so it fits behind a chair in the corner of my family room. I checked their website today and it's no longer listed though so i'm wondering if it's discontinued.

You may want to check out the Klipsch RW-12D which is now on sale for $280. You could get two of them for the price of an X-Ref 12.

[sully141]

I was looking at the rw12 for 280, but I didn't know if the x ref will blow 1 or 2 of the rw12 out of the water, but I was also looking at the Outlaw subs. Its just hard to decide because specs are different on all of them. x ref is $620, Outlaw when on sale is $599, and then the Klipsch rw12 $280, Is it one of those things you get what you pay for.

[K5SS]

Two klipsch RW12's will out perform a single Emotiva sub, not even close. Now the Outlaw at $600 will play quite a bit lower than the klipsch subs but the duals will have a more even room frequency response. I would probably lean towards the Outlaw and add another when you are comfortable dropping another $600. I mainly use my system for movies though so the lower bass comer in handy;)

[sully141]

Thanks, what do you think about the UPA 700 bi amped to my towers idea? UPA700 to small so go with xpa 3?. Somebody said the upa 700 will give a better overall sound quality then just letting the onkyo do all the work.

[derrickdj1]

A good 2 or 3 channel amp will cover what you need really well. I use external amps for my fronts and center with the rest of the speakers on the avr. No reason not to use some of the avr's power. I notice better control of my VF 36's at higher volume with my external amp in the mix. I do think something stronger than 80 watts is needed for HT. Biamp is not that useful. I have tried vertical, horizontal bi-amping and bi-wiring and none of them made a big difference. Setting the speakers as small will better utilize the power for the system and relieved the avr of bass duty that a sub should handle. A good sub will bring the most out in your HT and music experience.

[SuBXeRo]

Thanks, what do you think about the UPA 700 bi amped to my towers idea? UPA700 to small so go with xpa 3?. Somebody said the upa 700 will give a better overall sound quality then just letting the onkyo do all the work.

I have outlaw audio 7125 which is 125 w X 7 and it pushes my rf-7s to extremely uncomfortable listening levels and they aren't bi-amped. Your biggest gain here is the fact that you have an outboard amp with a power supply designed way better than that of a regular class a/b receiver. With only 5 speakers, the upa-700 would do you good most likely.

What speakers do you have again?

What budgets are you working with here?