What happened when I added an emotiva xpa gen 3 to my setup

Hmm12

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Hi,

I thought this might be useful.

I wanted to share my opinion on what happened when I added this power amplifier to my system.

My setup consists of a marantz 6011 used as a pre Pro, 2x svs pb16 and at the time ma Silver 6 and matching centre.

When using those speakers with the marantz I was always left slightly underwhelmed, found the sound to be on the thin side, lacking dynamics and I found the speakers to very cold sounding. This was very evident when playing at anything above -10db. That's quite loud but I do like to push my system. I felt that the ma just couldn't keep up, the sound was really piercing and uncomfortable to listen to for extended periods. This has led me to not like my speakers for a long time. I always liked the idea of adding a power amplifier but didn't quite know what benefits I could expect. I took a gamble and bought a decent amp, and I thought the difference it made was very noticiable.

For starters, I was able to listen at much higher volumes and the speakers did not sound strained or piercing anymore it was crazy! At -10db it sounded effortless! I was really amazed. When nearing 0db the system started to sound harsh, but I think this is more the case that the speakers weren't able to handle anymore power, rather than the amp being unable to give out any power.

The difference weren't just audible at higher volumes, there were audible difference at any given volume. Especially when running them in pure direct, the bass was a lot more punchier and fuller.

Unfortunately due to space constraint and wanting the two subs at the front I had to get rid of the floor standers as I needed to get speakers that can be placed on top of the subs. So I ended up with the apex setup 5 speakers with the a40 centre. With those the difference weren't as obvious between avr and amp as the silvers but still audible.

I am thinking of making a video to compare the sound difference between avr running the Apex vs power amp, as in a a/b comparison using a decent mic. As this is something that would have made my purchase a lot easier if I found a comparison like that, I know that you can't fully appreciate this over a video, but at least it will give an idea. Let me know if anyone is interested in this please.

Soon I will be changing my speakers to either m&k 300s or xtz m8s, I would have thought that the difference with those speakers will be massive between an avr and power amp driving them but il report back when I get these.

I hope this was helpful.
Ham
 
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100% agree with Adam. The arendals are phenomenal, they sound better the louder they get. You personally won’t be able to go louder than the speakers, that’s how good they are!
 

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