pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 what amp for my speakers? rc-64iii and rf-7iii monoliths are backordered but i have some patience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 36 minutes ago, pdasterly said: what amp for my speakers? Not enough information, my friend. What AVR do you currently have? What Emotiva or Monoprice are you considering? For what use, music, movies, TV, etc? Any plans to upgrade to Atmos or 5.1, 7.1 in the future? And of course, what is your budget? I run my RF-83's and RC-64 in 3.0 with a Marantz SR6011 AVR so if you choose to run your RF-7 and RC-64 in 3.0 that would still be an outstanding front sound stage but you can save some money by not buying features in an AVR or amp you won't be using. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 1 minute ago, wvu80 said: Not enough information, my friend. What AVR do you currently have? What Emotiva or Monoprice are you considering? For what use, music, movies, TV, etc? Any plans to upgrade to Atmos or 5.1, 7.1 in the future? And of course, what is your budget? I run my RF-83's and RC-64 in 3.0 with a Marantz SR6011 AVR so if you choose to run your RF-7 and RC-64 in 3.0 that would still be an outstanding front sound stage but you can save some money by not buying features in an AVR or amp you won't be using. rx-a2060 and soon to either 3080 or 3070 https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/xpa-3-gen3 or https://emotiva.com/collections/amps/products/xpa-dr3 or https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15594 50/50 music/movies i have 5.2.4 now, 7.2.4 is the reason for avr upgrade, budget is 2K for amp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 2 hours ago, pdasterly said: 50/50 music/movies i have 5.2.4 now, 7.2.4 is the reason for avr upgrade, budget is 2K for amp That helps, but I'm not sure how much I can help you because I'm not familiar with the specific gear you mention. Let's review: You have some nice stuff and you want to upgrade to some nicer stuff. You seem to like like Yamaha and you are looking at a couple of Yamaha models that clearly can support the Atmos setup you want, the AVR being in the $2K range and the power amp for the L/C/R being having a $2K cap. You can get some serious electronics in that price range. You are looking for some advice on power amps. I own the XPA-5 gen1 but I have never heard the Monoprice. I think some others can weigh in on specific AVR's that will support your 7.2.4 but because I have never heard the Yamaha's I can't give you an informed opinion. I do have the Marantz 6011 which supports 7.2.4 but I don't run Atmos but you're not asking about other brands of AVR. Let me put in a shout out to @teaman who is our resident Emotiva guru. He might give you some insight into the two Emotiva amps you referenced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 5 minutes ago, wvu80 said: That helps, but I'm not sure how much I can help you because I'm not familiar with the specific gear you mention. Let's review: You have some nice stuff and you want to upgrade to some nicer stuff. You seem to like like Yamaha and you are looking at a couple of Yamaha models that clearly can support the Atmos setup you want, the AVR being in the $2K range and the power amp for the L/C/R being having a $2K cap. You can get some serious electronics in that price range. You are looking for some advice on power amps. I own the XPA-5 gen1 but I have never heard the Monoprice. I think some others can weigh in on specific AVR's that will support your 7.2.4 but because I have never heard the Yamaha's I can't give you an informed opinion. I do have the Marantz 6011 which supports 7.2.4 but I don't run Atmos but you're not asking about other brands of AVR. Let me put in a shout out to @teaman who is our resident Emotiva guru. He might give you some insight into the two Emotiva amps you referenced. monoprice monolith is made by ati, at1800 to be specific Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Dave....You ranggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg............... Pdasterly, I have to admit I am not too familiar with the Gen 3 Emotiva. They went to a switching power supply where as I am more of a trusted and true toroidal supply lover. There are a couple of Klipsch Owners Facebook members that have your exact set up. They also have the Gen 3 XPA series amps. From what I have heard and seen posted there is not much difference, if any moving to the higher powered DR models. Not sure how much power you would need for the RC-64 iii and RF-7 iii but I know from experience the more power I give my KLF-30's the more they come to life. Would you entertain going the used route? My advice with a $2k budget would be to go with three used XPA-1 mono block amps. There are several for sale on Ebay and in the Emotiva forum, some with remaining warranty (which I would aim for). The XPA-1 amps on my KLF-30 are amazing. They sound great with my XPA-2, whether in Gen 1 or Gen 2 form but the XPA-1 really puts control of the woofers and mids in your hands. Let me know what you think about that option. Tim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, teaman said: Dave....You ranggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg............... Pdasterly, I have to admit I am not too familiar with the Gen 3 Emotiva. They went to a switching power supply where as I am more of a trusted and true toroidal supply lover. There are a couple of Klipsch Owners Facebook members that have your exact set up. They also have the Gen 3 XPA series amps. From what I have heard and seen posted there is not much difference, if any moving to the higher powered DR models. Not sure how much power you would need for the RC-64 iii and RF-7 iii but I know from experience the more power I give my KLF-30's the more they come to life. Would you entertain going the used route? My advice with a $2k budget would be to go with three used XPA-1 mono block amps. There are several for sale on Ebay and in the Emotiva forum, some with remaining warranty (which I would aim for). The XPA-1 amps on my KLF-30 are amazing. They sound great with my XPA-2, whether in Gen 1 or Gen 2 form but the XPA-1 really puts control of the woofers and mids in your hands. Let me know what you think about that option. Tim thanks for fast response, are you refering to the xpa-100 pair on ebay, i prefer a single unit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 21 minutes ago, pdasterly said: thanks for fast response, are you refering to the xpa-100 pair on ebay, i prefer a single unit No, the XPA-1 amps. 600 watts into 8 ohms. 1000 watts into 4. There is a pair of Gen 1 right now listed for $980 starting bid and no bids yet. The Gen 1 will have the higher 32 db of gain (which I prefer) These things are absolute beasts and will bring out the best of your speakers. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Emotiva-XPA-1-Monoblock-Power-Amplifiers/112923068037?epid=2256085425&hash=item1a4abd4685:g:bPgAAOSw5lJayXIA I believe there are several Gen 1 XPA-1 also available on the Emotiva forum. I would have to look to be sure they are Gen 1, as you would want the gain to match. I know for sure there are several Gen 2 listed in the Emotiva forum for sale, just not sure how many. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 I've never heard the Monoprice amps but if they're anything like ATI, I'd go that route. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, CECAA850 said: I've never heard the Monoprice amps but if they're anything like ATI, I'd go that route. https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/monoprice-monolith-7-channel-amplifier-review.107041/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 6 minutes ago, teaman said: No, the XPA-1 amps. 600 watts into 8 ohms. 1000 watts into 4. There is a pair of Gen 1 right now listed for $980 starting bid and no bids yet. The Gen 1 will have the higher 31 db of gain (which I prefer) These things are absolute beasts and will bring out the best of your speakers. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Emotiva-XPA-1-Monoblock-Power-Amplifiers/112923068037?epid=2256085425&hash=item1a4abd4685:g:bPgAAOSw5lJayXIA I believe there are several Gen 1 XPA-1 also available on the Emotiva forum. I would have to look to be sure they are Gen 1, as you would want the gain to match. I know for sure there are several Gen 2 listed in the Emotiva forum for sale, just not sure how many. why would i need 3, i assume to bi-amp the speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, pdasterly said: why would i need 3, i assume to bi-amp the speakers? Because they are single channel mono block amps. One for each channel. If you are space restricted however, the XPA-1 won't be for you. I use XLR interconnects for all of my amps and I don't believe the Monolith offers that option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 i guess i got confused, the back of amp has 4 speaker posts 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 33 minutes ago, teaman said: Dave....You ranggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg............... I knew you could provide the level of detail that I could not. 25 minutes ago, pdasterly said: thanks for fast response, are you refering to the xpa-100 pair on ebay, i prefer a single unit If you want a single unit you might also consider the XPA-5 along with the XPA-3. The price range for the XPA-5 gen 1 is in the neighborhood of $600. Tim will update that price if I am off on that estimate. I paid about half that for mine. Running the XPA-5 into 3 speakers as I do produces a substantial improvement of low end oomph versus running into five speakers. I don't know the exact numbers but I would guess the front three are getting closer to 350 wpc instead of 200 wpc into five channels. The speakers don't play any louder but there is a LOT more dynamic headroom. You could also take the extra two channels and bi-amp the fronts plus have one to the center, which I have not done...yet. Here is an article on the XPA-5 Gen1. http://www.highfidelityreview.com/emotiva-xpa-5.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, wvu80 said: I knew you could provide the level of detail that I could not. If you want a single unit you might also consider the XPA-5 along with the XPA-3. Running the XPA-5 into 3 speakers as I do produces a substantial improvement of low end oomph versus running into five speakers. I don't know the exact numbers but I would guess the front three are getting closer to 350 wpc instead of 200 wpc into five channels. You could also take the extra two channels and bi-amp the fronts plus have one to the center, which I have not done...yet. Here is an article on the XPA-5 Gen1. http://www.highfidelityreview.com/emotiva-xpa-5.html By the way, if going this route you would have more power than the Monolith plus get both amps for less than the Monolith on the used market with remaining warranty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, teaman said: By the way, if going this route you would have more power than the Monolith plus get both amps for less than the Monolith on the used market with remaining warranty. decisions decisions smh, they are more than the monolith but big increase in power 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 14 minutes ago, pdasterly said: https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/monoprice-monolith-7-channel-amplifier-review.107041/ I'd be really tempted to go that route if I were buying new then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 4 minutes ago, pdasterly said: decisions decisions smh, they are more than the monolith but big increase in power The big problem with used Emotiva XPA-x amps is that they are hard to find on the used market, and when you do find them they sell fast. @teaman does a pretty good job of knowing where and when they come available. The other problem is they are BIG. My XPA-5 weighs about 80 pounds making shipping an expensive proposition. I drove 4 hours one way to pick mine up a couple of months ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teaman Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 Just now, wvu80 said: The big problem with used Emotiva XPA-x amps is that they are hard to find on the used market, and when you do find them they sell fast. @teaman does a pretty good job of knowing where and when they come available. The other problem is they are BIG. My XPA-5 weighs about 80 pounds making shipping an expensive proposition. Definitely big and heavy. The Monolith is in the same territory though as far as size and weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdasterly Posted April 11, 2018 Author Share Posted April 11, 2018 i have plenty of space on my rack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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