Emotiva XPA HC-1 Amplifier Review

[TonyJZX]

i get this too

i'd much rather have the ncore things but emotiva isnt there yet and their audience isnt there yet in the class D train... they're not even on the platform

and so its probably easier to sell a/b huge monoblocks rather than the same thing in class d, but half the size

i think out of the companies off the top of my head.... like marantz mcintosh and nad it took some kind of culture upheaval to go to class d on some of their lines

 

[PeteL]

Why waste your valuable listening experiences with AB amps anymore? Properly engineered Class D is now a better option in nearly every measuring category and usually a much better value. I still use an AB amp for my passive subwoofer and it sounds great, so they're still quite relevant for many users depending on the application. AB hasn't yet made it into in the obsolescent or EOL category yet, obviously. Innovative Class D designs from Purifi, Hypex, Infineon, etc. are undeniably dominating the topology scene right now and it might be sooner rather than later before AB is passé.

Personally, While I would not trade my NC500 Monoblocks for this, In term of value I am not fully sure Class D is there yet. Close. If I was let's say looking at the sub 400 bucks stereo amps, I would think that there are options in AB from Yamaha, Onkio, Outlaws and others that appears much better behaved than those cheap TPA chip amps. When I look at all these around 1k$ 100WX11 channels or so AVRs, I believe there is no way you could get that with Class D with decent performance. Good Class D still comes at a price. This here is not what I would call an amazing value, but it's pretty much the price of entry for so much power, regardless of the topology, but really in the lower end segment, If I was on a budget, the lines are much less clear.

 

[DACslut]

Personally, While I would not trade my NC500 Monoblocks for this, In term of value I am not fully sure Class D is there yet. Close. If I was let's say looking at the sub 400 bucks stereo amps, I would think that there are options in AB from Yamaha, Onkio, Outlaws and others that appears much better behaved than those cheap TPA chip amps. When I look at all these around 1k$ 100WX11 channels or so AVRs, I believe there is no way you could get that with Class D with decent performance. Good Class D still comes at a price. This here is not what I would call an amazing value, but it's pretty much the price of entry for so much power, regardless of the topology, but really in the lower end segment, If I was on a budget, the lines are much less clear.

If there was a rare chance I might go down the AB Monoblock road, I wouldn't mind taking a chance on this setup:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804663630366.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

 

[Rottmannash]

All power transistors are mounted directly mounted to the heath-sink. What problems do you see?

I assume you mean "heat" sink?

 

[PeteL]

If there was a rare chance I might go down the AB Monoblock road, I wouldn't mind taking a chance on this setup:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804663630366.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

They sure are pretty

 

[sealman]

I am currently still using an XPA-2 Gen 2 driving Klipsch RF-7ii and very happy with the audio produced. I also run a Topping E70 / A90 headphone setup with very high resolution.

Old setup and cutting edge setup are equally enjoyable for me.

I do wonder about going to a Hypex amp ($750) to replace the the XPA-2 but having a hard time figuring out if it would be money wasted.

Lol it depends on if you throw your back out picking up the Emotiva amp in which case it would be money well spent!

 

[TonyJZX]

they reckon its only 21lb so its not that big a deal

but again pound for pound there's way better in digital

 

[sarumbear]

I assume you mean "heat" sink?

Yes

 

[Count Dacula]

So we went backwards from ADCOM?

 

[Cogito]

My XPA-2 Gen.2 has been a flawless performer for the past 8 or 9 years now. 74 pounds of effortless power and control.

In my opinion, Emotiva's power amps have suffered ever since they transitioned over to switching power supplies (Gen. 3). On paper, they sound like a wonderful idea (Saves Emotiva a ton in freight costs too), but in practice, they have been inconsistent and rather lackluster from what I've seen. Too bad...

 

[Kimbrough Xu]

I have a question, most of the players and AVRs have dual RCA outputs, include for center speaker and subwoofer, so is it convenient to connect to the single RCA input of Emotiva XPA HC-1?

 

[nemesis.ie]

Conclusions
The Emotiva brand is one of budget prices but with high performance. Alas, after testing many of their products, the right message here is budget prices with slightly below average performance. Company really needs to retool their products and bring up the objective performance up a notch or two. Then they will have a winning formula. As is, we see products like HC-1 here which underperform more than half the amplifiers ever tested (over 400). Fortunately it is very powerful so likely sounds OK.

I can't recommend the Emotiva XPS HC-1 amplifier. It is an OK amp but we are not here for OK products.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

I discovered the + and + on mine were swapped (opposite of older Emotiva amps too), Emotiva didn't care.

I'm now using them as amps for subs so not a problem (other than a very expensive way to do it). Everything else is now Purifi via @Audiophonics which rock!

 

[DUTCHSMOKE]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Emotiva XPA HC-1 Monoblock amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $879.
View attachment 289893
As the name indicates, this is a single channel power amplifier. I have a soft spot for monoblocks and the HC-1 hits it. I especially like the power button which has buttery action and nice orange color when you hit it. Alas, then it switches to the cold, trademark blue color of Emotiva. Wish they would switch to that orange!

Note that the amplifier is *very* deep, probably three times as deep as it is high. Back panel shows nice inclusion of XLR input which is what I used for testing:
View attachment 289894

The design of the amplifier is Class AB with dual power supply rails in order to keep power consumption low at lower powers. It did that as the amplifier barely generated any heat during my testing. I was not a fan of the protection circuit though as when it clicked in (during 20 kHz sweep), it required power switch in the back to be toggled. I like self-resetting protection circuits and if that is not possible, have the front panel be used for that purpose.

If you are not familiar with my amplifier measurements, I highly suggest watching this video on amplifier measurements.

Emotiva HC-1 Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our usual 5 watt dashboard using XLR input:
View attachment 289895

My eye quickly went to the high distortion products which sadly lands the HC-1 at well below average of all amplifiers tested:
View attachment 289896

Even though SINAD is distortion dominated above, noise performance at 5 watts is not anything to write home about either:
View attachment 289897
I like to see an amplifier above budget prices to clear 16 bit hurdle of 96 dB at 5 watts. Or else, sensitive speakers may spit out noise.

Frequency response is essentially flat in audible band and good bandwidth:
View attachment 289898

Multitone test patter shines a familiar light on the amplifier when it comes to distortion:
View attachment 289899

In an attempt to have more common measurements with other sites, I decided to run the 19+20 kHz intermodulation distortion (although I don't know what power others use):
View attachment 289900

Spray of intermodulation products around our dual tones don't paint a pretty picture.

Let's run our power sweeps:
View attachment 289901
View attachment 289902

We do have a lot of power but alas, that comes at the expensive of noise+distortion. Allowing for 1% THD distortion, we do get a lot of power:
View attachment 289903

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Emotiva XPA HC-1 Monoblock amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $879.
View attachment 289893
As the name indicates, this is a single channel power amplifier. I have a soft spot for monoblocks and the HC-1 hits it. I especially like the power button which has buttery action and nice orange color when you hit it. Alas, then it switches to the cold, trademark blue color of Emotiva. Wish they would switch to that orange!

Note that the amplifier is *very* deep, probably three times as deep as it is high. Back panel shows nice inclusion of XLR input which is what I used for testing:
View attachment 289894

The design of the amplifier is Class AB with dual power supply rails in order to keep power consumption low at lower powers. It did that as the amplifier barely generated any heat during my testing. I was not a fan of the protection circuit though as when it clicked in (during 20 kHz sweep), it required power switch in the back to be toggled. I like self-resetting protection circuits and if that is not possible, have the front panel be used for that purpose.

If you are not familiar with my amplifier measurements, I highly suggest watching this video on amplifier measurements.

Emotiva HC-1 Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our usual 5 watt dashboard using XLR input:
View attachment 289895

My eye quickly went to the high distortion products which sadly lands the HC-1 at well below average of all amplifiers tested:
View attachment 289896

Even though SINAD is distortion dominated above, noise performance at 5 watts is not anything to write home about either:
View attachment 289897
I like to see an amplifier above budget prices to clear 16 bit hurdle of 96 dB at 5 watts. Or else, sensitive speakers may spit out noise.

Frequency response is essentially flat in audible band and good bandwidth:
View attachment 289898

Multitone test patter shines a familiar light on the amplifier when it comes to distortion:
View attachment 289899

In an attempt to have more common measurements with other sites, I decided to run the 19+20 kHz intermodulation distortion (although I don't know what power others use):
View attachment 289900

Spray of intermodulation products around our dual tones don't paint a pretty picture.

Let's run our power sweeps:
View attachment 289901
View attachment 289902

We do have a lot of power but alas, that comes at the expensive of noise+distortion. Allowing for 1% THD distortion, we do get a lot of power:
View attachment 289903

Rail switching design ("Class H") shows distinct change in performance as that happens:
View attachment 289904
Notice how distortion is lowest around our 1 kHz testing and increased when you go lower or higher in frequency. The latter is kind of expected but not the lower.

Conclusions
The Emotiva brand is one of budget prices but with high performance. Alas, after testing many of their products, the right message here is budget prices with slightly below average performance. Company really needs to retool their products and bring up the objective performance up a notch or two. Then they will have a winning formula. As is, we see products like HC-1 here which underperform more than half the amplifiers ever tested (over 400). Fortunately it is very powerful so likely sounds OK.

I can't recommend the Emotiva XPS HC-1 amplifier. It is an OK amp but we are not here for OK products.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Emotiva XPA HC-1 Monoblock amplifier. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $879.
View attachment 289893
As the name indicates, this is a single channel power amplifier. I have a soft spot for monoblocks and the HC-1 hits it. I especially like the power button which has buttery action and nice orange color when you hit it. Alas, then it switches to the cold, trademark blue color of Emotiva. Wish they would switch to that orange!

Note that the amplifier is *very* deep, probably three times as deep as it is high. Back panel shows nice inclusion of XLR input which is what I used for testing:
View attachment 289894

The design of the amplifier is Class AB with dual power supply rails in order to keep power consumption low at lower powers. It did that as the amplifier barely generated any heat during my testing. I was not a fan of the protection circuit though as when it clicked in (during 20 kHz sweep), it required power switch in the back to be toggled. I like self-resetting protection circuits and if that is not possible, have the front panel be used for that purpose.

If you are not familiar with my amplifier measurements, I highly suggest watching this video on amplifier measurements.

Emotiva HC-1 Amplifier Measurements
Let's start with our usual 5 watt dashboard using XLR input:
View attachment 289895

My eye quickly went to the high distortion products which sadly lands the HC-1 at well below average of all amplifiers tested:
View attachment 289896

Even though SINAD is distortion dominated above, noise performance at 5 watts is not anything to write home about either:
View attachment 289897
I like to see an amplifier above budget prices to clear 16 bit hurdle of 96 dB at 5 watts. Or else, sensitive speakers may spit out noise.

Frequency response is essentially flat in audible band and good bandwidth:
View attachment 289898

Multitone test patter shines a familiar light on the amplifier when it comes to distortion:
View attachment 289899

In an attempt to have more common measurements with other sites, I decided to run the 19+20 kHz intermodulation distortion (although I don't know what power others use):
View attachment 289900

Spray of intermodulation products around our dual tones don't paint a pretty picture.

Let's run our power sweeps:
View attachment 289901
View attachment 289902

We do have a lot of power but alas, that comes at the expensive of noise+distortion. Allowing for 1% THD distortion, we do get a lot of power:
View attachment 289903

Rail switching design ("Class H") shows distinct change in performance as that happens:
View attachment 289904
Notice how distortion is lowest around our 1 kHz testing and increased when you go lower or higher in frequency. The latter is kind of expected but not the lower.

Conclusions
The Emotiva brand is one of budget prices but with high performance. Alas, after testing many of their products, the right message here is budget prices with slightly below average performance. Company really needs to retool their products and bring up the objective performance up a notch or two. Then they will have a winning formula. As is, we see products like HC-1 here which underperform more than half the amplifiers ever tested (over 400). Fortunately it is very powerful so likely sounds OK.

I can't recommend the Emotiva XPS HC-1 amplifier. It is an OK amp but we are not here for OK products.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

My
Rail switching design ("Class H") shows distinct change in performance as that happens:
View attachment 289904
Notice how distortion is lowest around our 1 kHz testing and increased when you go lower or higher in frequency. The latter is kind of expected but not the lower.

Conclusions
The Emotiva brand is one of budget prices but with high performance. Alas, after testing many of their products, the right message here is budget prices with slightly below average performance. Company really needs to retool their products and bring up the objective performance up a notch or two. Then they will have a winning formula. As is, we see products like HC-1 here which underperform more than half the amplifiers ever tested (over 400). Fortunately it is very powerful so likely sounds OK.

I can't recommend the Emotiva XPS HC-1 amplifier. It is an OK amp but we are not here for OK products.
----------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.

Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/

This was one of the better amps paired with Magnepan LRS and Topping PRE90 -- (for what it's worth) -- I don't think there is a a comparison in terms of current and the amp more likely to drive demanding speakers like Maggies vs Topping B200, which I tried.