Extron XPA 1002 Plus Amplifier Review

[Doodski]

For me it’s a plus - phoenix are easy to wire, simple to attach/detach, and don’t degrade the signal. Most importantly I don’t need to buy RCAs or speakons (money saved).

All of the above are definite plusses and additionally the connections are gas tight for lonegevity.

 

[tsanguine]

Well, in fact, as an end consumer you can't program Extron equipment without an Extron Certified license, otherwise the software won't open. While the Extron Global Configurator Pro and GUI Designer are kinda "friendly" to use, you most definitely need some sort of certification or at least some knowledge of Extron programming to get things right.

View attachment 217105

You are correct. It's all relative and Extron is pretty easy. It's drag and drop, they offer trainings all the time and they are pretty inexpensive relative to the other offerings.

All of the above are definite plusses and additionally the connections are gas tight for lonegevity.

I love that you can quickly unplug everything and pop in a new unit. We've had a couple batches of Extron hardware fail. While it's frustrating, Extron does a great job and has even replaced multiple items for us outside of warranty. My favorite was when we had a number of A/V Switchers that had bad power supplies. Instead of forcing us to send them all back to them they send us the power supplies and let us open up the shell and replace them. Never had an A/V company trust it's users enough to do that. Made everyone happy and got fixed faster and cheaper because of it.

 

[nagster]

I was surprised that the Phoenix connector was called junk.

For most RCA connectors, the hot is connected first. Furthermore, the state where only hot is connected frequently occurs.
The conductor is exposed
There are many poor contacts
Easy to come off
There is a lot of variation in the termination work, and it takes time and effort.
There are no standards, and every manufacturer manufactures about, so there are various dimensions.

RCA connectors have no technical and reliability advantages.

 

[sarumbear]

Since this amplifier has a lineup of products with high impedance output of 70V / 100V, it is mainly used for paging "in-house broadcasting" in buildings, factories, schools, etc. This type of product is usually not suitable for audio applications, but the 4Ω / 8Ω models are also excellent for audio applications.

Isn’t “in-house broadcasting” an audio application?

 

[tsanguine]

Since this amplifier has a lineup of products with high impedance output of 70V / 100V, it is mainly used for paging "in-house broadcasting" in buildings, factories, schools, etc. This type of product is usually not suitable for audio applications, but the 4Ω / 8Ω models are also excellent for audio applications.

We use 70v in almost every classroom since we don't care about stereo sound in the classroom. We want everyone to hear the same signal at roughly the same volume. Being able to run 70v and thereby daisy chain the speakers makes it a lot easier for the integration and wiring. When you install 10 ceiling speakers in a classroom, not having to worry about a stereo image simplifies everything so much.

 

[vegaceruleancycling]

Thanks @amirm for reviewing this amp, it's nice to see after the poor performance of the Ashly ne8250.

Fun bit of information about the amp you tested - it was sealed up in a non-ventilated wall for 2+ years driving building lobby speakers 24/7, not even mounted to anything. That proper break-in period must have contributed to its high fidelity.

 

[Hipster Doofus]

Wow. what a thrill to discover a amp for such a great price…I need 2 amps for my linkwitz speakers which are bi-amped ….I almost bought 2 PA5 but that was a bit much for my forth listening set up which I never play.

thanks again

 

[Kevinfc]

What’s fascinating to me isn’t that the old stuff he tests is so crappy regardless of what it originally cost, but instead, how good the cheap stuff has become. Speakers are a different matter, but the advances in solid state are extraordinary.

 

[kencreten]

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Extron XPA

Great review, thanks. My problem with reviews like this is I end up almost having to buy something on principle, whether I need it or not! Heh. I bought a Topping headphone amp from one of Amir's reviews, and couldn't be happier with it, and I didn't need that either.

 

[Rottmannash]

We use 70v in almost every classroom since we don't care about stereo sound in the classroom. We want everyone to hear the same signal at roughly the same volume. Being able to run 70v and thereby daisy chain the speakers makes it a lot easier for the integration and wiring. When you install 10 ceiling speakers in a classroom, not having to worry about a stereo image simplifies everything so much.

This is probably a dumb question but what is the advantage of 70V in this setting? The ability to link in series (or parallel?) many speakers w/o volume loss?

 

[amirm]

This is probably a dumb question but what is the advantage of 70V in this setting?

Same reason power company uses high voltage for transmission. It reduces transmission line (long speaker wire) losses.

 

[tiramisu]

What a nice little find. The 2 channel version would fit very well into my 19" rack.

 

[GWolfman]

A little sleeper product here (only if considering used pricing)! Not too shabby.

 

[tsanguine]

This is probably a dumb question but what is the advantage of 70V in this setting? The ability to link in series (or parallel?) many speakers w/o volume loss?

For me that's the biggest one. I just need one two conductor wire that goes back to our teaching lectern and each speaker is daisy chained (series) off of the first in the drop ceiling. The fewer the wires the better. Especially when it's a retrofit and there is no nice conduit to use. There are only three of us to manage and maintain 200 classrooms across eight or so campuses so we'll take every shortcut we can get.

 

[tsanguine]

This really reminds me of the Monoprice Unity. I thought that Amir had reviewed one of them but I'm not finding it. I thought I had talked about sending one to Amir at one point. I have the 100 and 200.

Monoprice Unity 450 Watt Bridgeable Power Amp - Monoprice.com

This 2‑channel class D power amplifier features a stereo speaker output with support for 4‑ohm and 8‑ohm speakers. It can deliver 150 watts per channel into 8‑ohm loa

www.monoprice.com

 

[tiramisu]

Used pro gear is probably not all that appealing to the "I want the best-looking enclosure with the best marketing" crowd but this works for me in my dungeon. Will be looking around at other used pro gear.

 

[Kevinfc]

Used pro gear is probably not all that appealing to the "I want the best-looking enclosure with the best marketing" crowd but this works for me in my dungeon. Will be looking around at other used pro gear.

It’s pretty easy to re-case an amp if you want to make it more apealing

 

[Bruce Morgen]

To use this with unbalanced (e.g. RCA) input, would one jumper the "-" input terminal to the terminal one labeled with the ground symbol like the way a typical RCA-to-XLR adapter is wired?

 

[Sharpi31]

This really reminds me of the Monoprice Unity. I thought that Amir had reviewed one of them but I'm not finding it. I thought I had talked about sending one to Amir at one point. I have the 100 and 200.

Monoprice Unity 450 Watt Bridgeable Power Amp - Monoprice.com

This 2‑channel class D power amplifier features a stereo speaker output with support for 4‑ohm and 8‑ohm speakers. It can deliver 150 watts per channel into 8‑ohm loa

www.monoprice.com

View attachment 217208

I have both, and opened up the cases. The internals are very different and the Monoprice uses cheaper caps etc. Just in case anyone theorises that Extron are OEM for Monoprice ;-)

 

[Sharpi31]

I have an XPA1002 (older version without ‘Plus’), and also one of these…… (£100 on eBay, but I’ve seen them go for £60)