Emotiva XPA HC-1 Amplifier Review

[sarumbear]

It appears to contain rather a significant amount of fresh air in that large box...

Why are there two heath-sinks do you think?

 

[Matias]

But Emotiva’s customers are at least smart enough to know that class D sounds like trash.

Yeah, sure, nice blanket statement about all class D amps out there. And because hearing closer to the original recording is bad, and adding tons of distortion on top is higher fidelity. Very reasonable and wise from your part, I am sure others will learn much from it.

 

[Colonel7]

Outlaw 2220 is such a nice value and well engineered for a straightforward monoblock. If you need the extra power just get a hypex

 

[AaronJ]

Yeah, sure, nice blanket statement about all class D amps or there. And because hearing closer to the original recording is bad, and adding tons of distortion on top is higher fidelity. Very reasonable and wise from your part, I am sure others will learn much from it.

Sarcasm can get lost on the internet.

 

[TonyJZX]

yeah you guys are right... one of the 250w hypex monos would clown this

dont they also have some in the 400w range now? probably get a pair for not much more than this OR I dunno.... buy a stereo ncore and have closer to sota without the problem of going monoblock but without the advantages and all the disadvantages?

 

[Geert]

Why are there two heath-sinks do you think?

One for the power stage, and one for the switching power supply (which probably contains some extra circuitry for the modulated supply rails, according to Emotiva the amplifier is Class H).

Rather small heatsink for a 500W amp (unless I'm mislead by the overall size of the amp).

 

[Aperiodic]

Re the power vs distortion measurements, how do you drive both channels on a monoblock?



There are valid arguments for monoblocks but it seems like the foundations aren't there in this case. For instance, if you put XLR inputs on an amp that isn't quiet to begin with, you are probably doing it fror marketing reasons, not performance reasons. Seems like they are selling the sizzle here, not the steak.

 

[DonH56]

Why are there two heath-sinks do you think?

One for the power stage, and one for the switching power supply (which probably contains some extra circuitry for the modulated supply rails, according to Emotiva the amplifier is Class H).

Rather small heatsink for a 500W amp (unless I'm mislead by the overall size of the amp).

What @Geert said -- one for the power supply, one for the amp itself.

Emotiva says class H but it is actually class G here in the USA. It switches between two different rails vs. using a tracking (variable) power supply. Confirmed by Keith on the Emotiva forum, somewhere -- I am too lazy and uninterested to go find it again.

 

[sarumbear]

What @Geert said -- one for the power supply, one for the amp itself.

Emotiva says class H but it is actually class G here in the USA. It switches between two different rails vs. using a tracking (variable) power supply. Confirmed by Keith on the Emotiva forum, somewhere -- I am too lazy and uninterested to go find it again.

Does that mean we assume the DC supply is regulated? Otherwise, two different DC levels would be simple to achieve with tapped transformer and two sets of rectifiers. You won’t need a heath-sink for that.

 

[Geert]

Does that mean we assume the DC supply is regulated? Otherwise, two different DC levels would be simple to achieve with tapped transformer and two sets of rectifiers. You won’t need a heath-sink for that.

In theory class H means more or less regulated (maybe not necessarily very accurate), but Amir's measurements suggest switched between 2 voltages. Can't tell with 100% certainty.

Tapped transformer would make sense with a linear power supply, but maybe they came up with another solution because of the use of a switched power supply. Again difficult to be certain.

 

[PuX]

The Emotiva brand is one of budget prices but with high performance

maybe that's what they want the customers to believe, but from what I've seen in your reviews, all their products are trash.

 

[sarumbear]

maybe they came up with another solution because of the use of a switched power supply.

Ah! I missed the lack of the mains transformer. Indeed it is a switched PSU. The reason for a heath-sink is more of an oddity then. Changing the DC output would be pretty easy on a SMPS and can be done very efficiently. There are no heath-sinks on Class-D PSU units.

 

[sarumbear]

Here is a picture of the SMPS. Pretty complex unit. I wonder why the complexity?

 

[shuppatsu]

It appears to contain rather a significant amount of fresh air in that large box...

Power stage PCB.

View attachment 289905

Those are some massive heat sinks. I’m not sure how they are supposed to work though. They don’t appear to be touching anything and they dissipate the heat inside the case. I suppose there are vents by the fins, but still it seems like a poorly engineered, inefficient design. At least for a PC builder like me. It’d be nice to see some heat pipes.

 

[DonH56]

Does that mean we assume the DC supply is regulated? Otherwise, two different DC levels would be simple to achieve with tapped transformer and two sets of rectifiers. You won’t need a heath-sink for that.

It is a switching power supply (SMPS) per Emotiva, yes regulated, and high-power supplies can burn some heat even for switchers. I've seen a number of them that require heat sinks, though often it is just a small piece of metal that is tied to the chassis so the chassis serves as the biggest part of the heat sink. I do wonder if there is a conventional lower-voltage rail in there given what looks like a transformer in the middle but do not know.

Class G switches between (among) two or more static supply rails. Class H continuously tracks the signal and varies the power supply rails accordingly. Emotiva's literature says "class H" but it is really class G. (I think G and H are flipped in Europe? Not sure, been some years since I delved into them, and IIRC a British engineering friend said that.)

 

[TimoJ]

@amirm please correct title Emotiva XPA HC-1 Amplifier Reivew

 

[dtaylo1066]

A plethora of better choices our there for almost $800 per channel, though most with less power. Hypex, anyone? And, personally, I don't need 300 watts per channel.

For a while I thought Emotiva an interesting brand with a lot of promise, but based on this review and some other experience, I think there are better choices available for amps, preamps and DACs. I cannot comment on their speakers.

 

[Koeitje]

yeah this is not competetive with what Class D can do anymore.

Anymore? Isn't this a newish model though? The Hypex NC400 mops the floor with this and that is almost 10 years old by now (I think, I see reviews from 2014).

 

[xaxxon]

The miracle didn't happen again.
Twice as expensive (for 2 channels) Benchmark is incommensurably better (but it also has a power almost 4 times lower).
However, with such an output power, one should not expect a miracle.
Just a solid device, it will work well with powerful low-sensitivity speakers.
I don’t think that the user audience will be massively dissatisfied with it, monoblocks are bought mainly not for desktop speakers, and this is essentially a budget monoblock.

> power almost 4 times lower

ahb2's should really be thought of as monoblocks

That's why I have 5!

 

[xaxxon]

Monoblocks that aren't good are just silly. If you're not chasing the last .05% then there's no reason for the inconvenience.