CA 551R passing through to the CA 851A? (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

Now that link was helpful...

Steven, if you haven't been driven away screaming, Emotiva has frequent sales. I got my XSP-1 for $769. Just keep that in mind if buying used. The stuff is built like tanks, and very large. It can take some planning to make room for. If you do decide to give this a try, a used USP-1 might be safe. If you don't hear an improvement, you may not want to go beyond that. It just depends on how concerned you are about money. There is a 30 day trial on new gear, but I don't think that gains you much unless it is something you clearly end up not wanting.

 

[JohnRice]

why do you have 2 cd players both the Marantz SA-8004 for SACD and Emotiva ERC-3 for CD ? surely one would do also when watching movies do you hook your system up to an avr?
i assume you keep this set-up of yours separate and hook up an avr when watching movies?

​and finally should the speakers be the most expensive part of the equipment?

do i spend most of the budget on speakers? i see your speakers cost a lot more than the rest of your equipment

Steven, sorry I missed this question as this thread flew off track.

I said that I have two players because the Emotiva does a better job with CD, while the Marantz is great with SACD. Also, the Marantz is an expensive piece of gear and I didn't want to wear it out playing CD, so I save it for SACD. In my opinion, the speakers should take up a larger portion of the budget. That's just a general rule. Good speakers are expensive.

 

[stevenn21]

yes im going to get either the USP or the XSP gen 2 of course i would prefer the xsp-1 gen 2 but first im going to buy an amp im going to get the
ROTEL RB1582 POWER AMPLIFIER
i know its powerful but i will be careful with it then i will save up and i will upgrade my L&R and put my bx2's at the rear for surround.
who knows i might be happy with the SQ at this point but if not
then in time if im not totally happy with the SQ i will get the XSP gen 2.

just like you Jhon i am upgrading my system over time and feel the above course of action is probably the best way to go amp then speakers then preamp.



as i said earlier im pretty attached to my 551r and my ca bd player so this means if i get the xsp-1 gen2 i dont have to buy a separate hifi system. and the SQ should improve.

so first i will get the amp and use it like Sam suggested and in time i will look towards getting the preamp. like John suggested.

 

[JohnRice]

Sounds like a good course of action. You can't use the XSP until you get the amp, unless the receiver has power amp inputs, which would be rare.

 

[gene c]

I bought a USP-1 a couple of years ago and was astonished at how good two channel analog music could sound. I then made the mistake of buying a UMC-1 (I think that's the model number). It was finicky, quirky and over-all a PITA to use. So, I threw out the baby with the bath water and sold both of them. I now use a receiver (Marantz 7005/BDP-7006/cd 4003 and Integra OPT-1 301 disc dvd player) in Pure Analog for all my stereo listening and while not quite as good as a stereo pre-amp it's still much better than digital (IMO) and is much easier to operate then the UMC-1/USP-1 + amp combo. The OPT-1 is surprisingly good as an analog cd player. The 4003 somewhat disappointing. But it looks good in the rack.

Maybe a good used Parasound 2100 someday.

 

[JohnRice]

I understand the UMC-1, at least the early ones, had some infuriating firmware problems and probably some significant hdmi handshake issues. I think that was Emotiva's first venture into that kind of component and they learned some very difficult lessons.

 

[stevenn21]

my L&R are quite far from my system 12ft and 14ft will i need a balanced amp?

 

[JohnRice]

Steven, keep in mind, this is a matter of very small, possibly not even audible differences. With that distance, you have two basic choices. A short cable run to the power amp and long run to the speakers, or, if you can, you have a long cable run to the power amp and short run to the speakers. The ideal option, and again, we're talking very small differences, is a long, balanced cable run to the power amp and short run to the speakers. You wouldn't get the benefit of the balanced cable run until you got a pre-amp with balanced outputs. Of course, if you can't put the power amp near the speakers, probably between them, then the ideal option isn't possible. Do you need a balanced amp? No. If you got the XSP-1, then you might as well have one, though. BTW, to make things even more confusing, most amps with balanced inputs only have balanced inputs, then the signal is inverted, summed and is the same as an unbalanced input. The benefit is in the connection and cable only. This is different from amps which are fully differential, as Emotiva names it, where the dual, balanced signal continues through the unit. The XSP-1 is fully differential. The Rotel amp you linked probably isn't, and neither is the Emotiva XPA-2. The XPA-1 and XPA-1L are. There is a theoretical difference, and it would give lower distortion and noise. Will you hear the difference? I don't know.

As it is right now, you have to run long cables to the speakers, so just get some good 12ga speaker wire. Monoprice.com has it for a reasonable price. 14 ft. isn't extreme with decent speaker wire.

 

[schan1269]

If the amp you end up wanting, only has balanced and/or 1/4...There are RCA to XLR and RCA to 1/4 cables/adapters.

 

[stevenn21]

As it is right now, you have to run long cables to the speakers, so just get some good 12ga speaker wire. Monoprice.com has it for a reasonable price. 14 ft. isn't extreme with decent speaker wire.

i have just spent £150+ on some CHORD CARNIVAL SILVER SCREEN SPEAKER CABLE what gauge is that? i dont want to buy new cables again

 

[gene c]

It looks like 1.45 mm = 15 gauge.

http://www.bhbeads.com/wiregaugetomillimeterconversionchart.aspx

 

[JohnRice]

It should be fine, but you don't need to spend that much on speaker wire. You just want oxygen free copper stranded wire.

 

[schan1269]

That was £130 too much on speaker wire.

 

[stevenn21]

you live and you learn,
so if i buy the Rotel RB1582 Stereo Power Amplifier considering the equipment i already own and maybe the xsp-1 gen2 what is the absolute top price should i spend on speakers is £4000 over that price was looking at the ACOUSTIC ENERGY REFERENCE 3 SPEAKERS from superfi.
spoke to a guy on ebay selling his 1582 used he said he is upgrading to a pair of Vincent SP-998. i bet that sounds awsome

 

[schan1269]

Is there such a thing as...Amp/speaker ratio?The most impressive 2.0 I've ever sat in on...B&W Nautilus(the ones that look like a snail mated with a tuba) being rain with Classe amps.I think the guys set-up cost more than the S-Class AMG sitting in his driveway.

 

[stevenn21]

Is there such a thing as...Amp/speaker ratio?The most impressive 2.0 I've ever sat in on...B&W Nautilus(the ones that look like a snail mated with a tuba) being rain with Classe amps.I think the guys set-up cost more than the S-Class AMG sitting in his driveway.

yes it can get expensive for sure

is there such a thing as Amp/speaker ratio?

do you think i should spend more on the amp and less on the speakers?

whats your opinion?

 

[JohnRice]

There isn't a ratio, especially once you get into higher end stuff. If someone is looking to spend a total of $1,500 and plans to spend $200 of that on speakers and the rest on a receiver, then yeah, that's a bad allotment of money.

The general rule is, the speakers most define the sound of the system and can define the needs for an amp and some other electronics. If you decide on speakers that are 4 Ohm and 84 dB sensitivity, your amp needs are completely different than if you have a pair of Klipschorns. Still, that Rotel amp you mentioned will be excellent for 97% of speakers. However, if your speakers were something like either example I just gave, something else might be a better choice.

 

[JohnRice]

Is there such a thing as...Amp/speaker ratio?The most impressive 2.0 I've ever sat in on...B&W Nautilus(the ones that look like a snail mated with a tuba) being rain with Classe amps.I think the guys set-up cost more than the S-Class AMG sitting in his driveway.

I would guess, in that case, the speakers were ablout 5x the price of the amps? Just a rough guess. Not that it means anything. Since you said amps, I'm taking that as monoblocks.

 

[schan1269]

I would guess, in that case, the speakers were ablout 5x the price of the amps? Just a rough guess. Not that it means anything. Since you said amps, I'm taking that as monoblocks.

And 8 of them. The Nautilus has an exterior pre-amp crossover.

 

[stevenn21]

And 8 of them. The Nautilus has an exterior pre-amp crossover.

wow at what price bracket, and when does it get to the point where you cannot buy a system that sounds better than the one that came before it