Emotiva XPA-DR2 Gen 3 - Differential Reference Driving Surround Speakers

[@purplerider2362]

After pondering about a year lie so. And doing tons of research I have finally pulled the trigger. And ordered this. I’m really excited about this.

[@ripewave]

How is the Emotiva amplifier working out? -Jon

[@Brandosway]

@purplerider Did you end up with the Dr-2?

[@purplerider2362]

@@Brandosway yes! I’m pretty happy with my purchase. I have some hivi 3.1a diy speakers and a klipsch 1200 sub. Thing is amazing. I’ve also had it connected to some klipsch R820f towers. Even tho they are very sensitive. They get the most when u put max power to them. I replaced them with those diy speakers. I built them myself and upgraded the crossover to sound more flat. They are 4ohm so they love the power the amp puts out. For a preamp I went simple. With an emotiva basX pt-100. And I have a cheap little fosi audio tube buffer to add some distortion and warmth. I love the way it sounds. I’ve also had it connected to some Bose 301s III. And some cheap little bostons. And other speaker jugs I’ve built. Such as the c-notes, tritrix mtm TL towers, overnight sensations. ( overrated) and some older me woods that were five way speakers. It made all of them sound their best. Even the crappy Kenwoods sounded pretty darn good. Definitely worth the money.

[@Luis-ob4xq]

Congratulations John ! Great video !

[@ripewave]

Thanks for the encouragement - glad you enjoyed.-Jon

[@007Sembhi]

Hi John I have Basx A3, A4 and A7 along with the mc1 . I have also bought the Marantz cinema 50. Will I benefit from the Emotiva Xpa 3. Am I missing something. Love your videos.

[@chebrubin]

Can't wait to try the new Emotiva Plus G4P processors fully differential from processor through the Reference Differential balanced topology, What would be better if the new processors had dual channel DACs [aka Digital IO Dual Differential] .

[@lbudt29]

So pure direct mode is a stereo reference mode. I learned something, and that is the mode I like with a bit of help from a signal correction processor, the BBE 882i enhancement and some good cables.

[@ripewave]

Adding in some pro gear to enhanced the sound - nice. I will have to look at the BBE sonic maximizer more closely. -Jon

[@chebrubin]

@@ripewave I am adding the Douk Audio T8 HiFi Vacuum Tube 5-band EQ Preamp Equalizer XLR x 2 between my processor and Emotiva XPA-DR3 Differential Reference™ Three-Channel Power Amplifier. Easily the most important amplifier product Emotiva makes is the Differential line. It is needed to power B&W and Polk R700 towers. Most reviewers don't tell you massive differential balanced XLR power is needed for powering these demanding speakers.

[@ripewave]

The manufacturers don’t either. Polk and many others under state the power requirements. Yes, they will play, but will be constrained. While minimums are fine, they need to up the “recommended” power. Also - you are the second to mention the Douk tube amp. Must be something special about that one. -Jon

[@jb.2986]

Nice job Jon. Not sure if it helps but it sure does look cool as all those amps sequence on and off. It’s also nice to have all that reserve power when cranking it up. Btw, have you thought about room treatments?

[@ripewave]

Thanks for weighing in. This enhancement was the result of several years of planning. Glad you appreciate the look of these stacked up. I have yet to give any thought to room treatment. Using the kids toys, wall-to-wall carpet etc to dampen reflections for now. Any thoughts? -Jon

[@psyphonyxaudio]

Interesting new type of content. More of a How it's done. =) I like it! The editing is a bit raw for time and sound.. but it's not bad.

[@ripewave]

Glad you enjoyed this unique approach. Sorry about the editing. For this type of install video I am so anxious to get it up and running, but need to document the process at the same time as a one man operation. I guess that what makes it real. Still I strive to improve. -Jon

[@psyphonyxaudio]

@Ripewave Audio ..Absolutely. I do a lot of prep before I start and just stream or record live. Editing itsuch a painful, time-consuming process that I cant afford to do with a fill time job.. and when videos or brands dont pay me anything for my effort. 🙂...Reasons why I appreciate you so much.

[@ripewave]

Thanks for the encouragement and raising awareness of your own channel. I will be checking it out - just subscribed. Lots of long nights producing the videos - 2nd job for me as well. -Jon

[@psyphonyxaudio]

@Ripewave Audio ..We are in service to our passions. :-) Kudos to you! My instagram is far more active than YT.. easier during my spare time. Eventually I'll try to load audio show content. Montreal Audiofest is this coming weekend.!! Very exciting!

[@ripewave]

Nice!

[@xmj6830]

Hi Jon, would it be a good idea to power the stand alone front speakers (R & L only) with the XPA-DR2 while powering the surrounds and heights with the XPA-* Gen3? So that when you're in stereo mode for music, you've got the best sound out from your speakers. My setup is currently 5.1.4 and I was thinking of a XPA-DR2 along with a XPA-7 Gen3 (all with the 200W RMS power amps) Thanks

[@MarlonBrndo]

@xmj Jon didn't answer you, but that set-up sounded good to me. Did you finally end up with your idea

[@3184Patrick]

Looking good! I have kids Lego in my home theatre also lol.

[@ripewave]

Thanks - it is good to know I am not alone with my multi-purpose space. -Jon

[@babawonga4687]

A warm welcome to you all. John what do you think about using a combination of 2x DR2 gen3 for the right and left front channels and connecting with the speakers in "bi-amping" but in DR2-L + DR2-R configuration ? Each amp works almost like a monoblock with bandwidth separation. Will you take up the challenge ?

[@ripewave]

Interesting concept. I typically reserve recommending bo-amplification for those with two amps that are otherwise underpowered for the speaker and they don’t want to purchase new amps. In this case the XPA-DR-2 is more than capable of handling the full range of the speaker using just one channel. I could try. I just got another DR-2 in to power my front wide speakers. Currently I have two monoblock XPA-1 Gen 2s powering my front Left and Right speakers. I could keep those in place but have them drive just the bass and the DR-2 could handle the upper frequencies. Then I could reverse to see what sounded better vs. the normal pair of monoblocks. -Jon

[@babawonga4687]

@@ripewave Jon thank you for your response. I suggest that from one DR2 GEN3 amplifier you power the right channel in such a way that the first channel of the same amp feeds the "HF" and the second channel feeds the "LF" of the same speaker. Connect another set of DR2 GEN3 similarly but to the left channel.

[@babawonga4687]

This combination will balance the overall loads on the amplifiers between each other, I mean the DR2 GEN3 of the left channel and the DR2 GEN3 of the right channel. The proposed combination can make a big difference with large speakers using several bass drivers in one column.

[@ripewave]

Perhaps I will try it both ways and compare. I see you are dedicating one amp to low frequencies and the other to high frequencies. -Jon

[@8474Starscream]

Awesome setup I have the outdoor surrounds running straight into Marantz and the Definitive 🎬 into Emotiva XPA-5 GEN3......#creativesolutions

[@ripewave]

Keeping the sonic experience high outdoors - nice! -Jon

[@Megamare1]

hi Jon , I may have missed it in the video but would you please let me know which speaker you are measuring at 3:23? Thanks

[@ripewave]

These are the Polk Audio Lsi15 towers. I purchased in 2006. These has since been replaced by Polk twice as two newer generations have been introduced - the Lsim and Legend series (available now). -Jon

[@Kerwonderful]

Great video, thank you.

[@ripewave]

I appreciate the feedback- glad the content was helpful. -Jon

[@alltechgeek]

Is it a good idea to use Emotiva DR3 with 450wpc on 8ohms for Klipsch 8000f with a power rating of 150 continuous and 600W peak. Is it overkill to have DR3 for those speakers will it damage the speaker overpowering with DR3? Please advice

[@ripewave]

An overpowered amplifier is less likely to damage a speaker then an under powered amplifier. The underpowered amp will go into clipping which will damage the speaker. Klipsch are typically very efficient so you may not need the extra power and less likely to experience clipping. -Jon

[@alltechgeek]

@@ripewave thank you for clarifying Jon.

[@glengatt3941]

So is still a good amplifier the dr2, and it's not really fair to compare a monoblock , with a stereo amplifier, the power supply of a mono block have drives 1 channel,the stereo amp power supply have to drive 2 channels

[@ripewave]

I compare sometimes dissimilar products to determine if there is value to move from say a stereo amp to a mono block approach. -Jon

[@RyanBetker]

19:50 and cover the bare spare wire ends with electrical tape, right? 😁

[@ripewave]

Sounds like the right thing to do. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@johndyson4109]

DON'T be FOOLED just buy ROCKVILLE RPA-16 amplifiers... $400 a pop.. Put a good signal into them and your all set.. Oh I'm sorry if you can hear the cooling fan while it's trying to work.. I have 4 of them inline.. with 4 Rockville PBG-18s and 4 RSG-15.24 towers. Plus 4 JBL Party Box 710s.. Don't waste your money! Don't be fooled. The RPA-16s are NON-switching class H amplifiers..enough said..

[@ripewave]

I will need to explore - thanks for suggesting. -Jon