Extron XPA 1002 Plus Amplifier Review

[Tod]

In terms of eliminating the source of the noise, it might be worth replacing some of the other caps on the unit which may have aged, In particular, the caps highlighted in red below. If that does not work, the use of appropriate resin (the stuff that is used in the area highlighted in blue) might dampen the sound.

Hi,
I've bought 3 of these used from eBay - one is silent, one makes a sort of whine when idle, and the third makes the ticking noise.
The ticking seems to be coming from the capacitor circled in this pic. I've not had the lid off the other one yet to see where the whine is coming from.
Planning on replacing the cap when I get round to ordering a replacement.

It hasn't exploded yet.

I have three XPA 1002s. Two are silent, one has a very feint noise when idle.

As I understand, these amplifiers are designed to be locked away in cupboards or installed within recesses of buildings. For those of us less handy with a soldering iron, wouldn’t the problem be solved by simply putting the amplifier in a box?

 

[acoustic1]

wouldn’t the problem be solved by simply putting the amplifier in a box?

Agreed, this is definitely one way to deal with it. They are made for being tucked away somewhere... but I like watching the signal LEDs when i'm listening to music

it might be worth replacing some of the other caps on the unit which may have aged

My experience with desoldering that one capacitor has put me off trying it with too many more. The cap put up a fight and may have needed more heat than my little 25w soldering iron was giving out. The amp I was working on was only dated 2015, so you'd think the caps would still be in good order.

use of appropriate resin

I have tried pinching and pressing at the cap and, while the sound does get a bit quieter, it does not reduce significantly. I'd be surprised if the resin would solve the problem. Might be worth a go though, if you had some to hand. It might be that the cap is transferring vibration to the PCB which acts as a sound board, which the resin may not help.

 

[GLTRV]

Having gone through this thread, I've just ordered an XPA 1002 plus to replace a busted Topping PA5 while I try to repair it.
It looks like a good reliable budget option that is more powerful at 8 Ohm than +-$100 class D amps from Chinese companies.
Also, it has balanced inputs, which is really nice.

I have fixed my PA5 a few hours after ordering the XPA 1002 plus. It will make a nice backup.

 

[acoustic1]

I replaced the cap in the ticking amp and it made no difference at all! Big waste of time...

Perhaps I was too hasty. Having refitted the casing it does seem like the ticking from the new capacitor is noticeably quieter. It also now only ticks for a while after being turned on, then the tick turns to a whine, but a fairly quiet one that I can live with.

Either way, these amps are a fantastic way of getting very good performance for not much money 2nd hand.

 

[acoustic1]

Bonus Feature!!!

Another benefit of these amps is that you can control the level of several amps at once using a single potentiometer.
This is perfect for maintaining the best possible gain structure through the system. I use a DCX2496 run as hot as possible, with the gain trimmed on each XPA1002 amp to suit driver sensitivities and all controlled with a single pot in an old printer switch case. Wired up as per the Extron manual.
Use a linear taper 10k pot - a logarithmic pot is all wrong, with no change in volume until right at the end of the knobs rotation. And it doesn't need to be a fancy audiophile pot either.

 

[Rrobot]

Perhaps I was too hasty. Having refitted the casing it does seem like the ticking from the new capacitor is noticeably quieter. It also now only ticks for a while after being turned on, then the tick turns to a whine, but a fairly quiet one that I can live with.

Can confirm mine (non plus) has the ticking noise as well. Pretty annoying once you know it's there but if I stick it at the bottom of the rack maybe it'll be ok. That's pretty cool about the single potentiometer. I'd consider buying another one to run a bridged pair but am concerned it might tick even louder!

 

[Plan9]

To just use these XPA amps to run a stereo pair of speakers is not as complicated as it first appears.
The reason we have to search for the little plastic terminal blocks that plug into the back is because when the "pro" installation monkeys remove them for an up-grade, they don't take the time and care to perserve them. Or perhaps reuse them when possible.
The 2002 you linked is a little different than the 2001 I am using and uses different pin configurations, but they are avail. Here's the ones you will need.
Inputs would be;

Phoenix Connector Phoenix Contact PCB Screw Terminal Block 3 pin 3.5mm Set of 6 | eBay

Phoenix Connector. 3.5mm Pitch. PhoenixPluggable Connector.

www.ebay.com

The speaker out-puts would be;

(6) 2 Pin / Pole - 5.08mm - Pluggable Connector - Terminal Block - Phoenix Plug | eBay

Pin pitch : 5.0mm / 5.08mm. 2 Pin - 5.08mm Connector.

www.ebay.com

The nice RCA adaptors Rooskie linked will not work on the 2002.
After you get the the terminal blocks in hand, one end of an RCA cable needs to be lopped off and stripped down to bare wires so it will go into the terminal slots. It sounds harder than it is and yours would be more simple yet as there is no cross-channel balancing. The biggest prob. I had concerned my fat fingers.
Here's a YouTude vid that sort of covers what we are talking about;

Here's the users guide for the amp;

https://mans.io/files/viewer/2307711/1

I've learned a couple of tricks on doing this and if you buy it, let me know and we can go over them.
<<<<<Also, Amir mentioned programmable gain, trigger settings, etc. Is software needed for a simple stereo setup?>>>>>
No programming other than flipping the High-pass (@ 90 Hz) switches on if want them. Gain is two screws if the back, I run mine full up, but it has half the power of the 2002. The trigger is for big system installs where the unit is unaccessible. It turns itself off after idling for a while and comes on w/ an auto function.
Besides sounding great, these things are tough as nails. You can't hurt it by crossing wires as it has very good protection. I would imagine the vast majority of used ones are fine. Plus the vendor you linked has a return policy.
The price looks good, so I would say go for it.
You do understand you will need something to control the volume? And if your source is digital (No point in using this amp if it's not), it will need a DAC in front of it. I'm using a receiver with pre-outs, so I have a built-n DAC, tone controls, balance, along the Vol. But my speakers are good enough that don't really need the tone controls, so a external DAC like the Topping SU-6 would work as well. I suspect the Revel 12's would be the same.

Hello moto, just received a clean Extron xpa2003c with the 8/4 ohm taps. I understand how to modify the RCA cable ends with jumpers but my only, newbie to these amplifiers question is: As there are 3 3pin/pole inputs (with blue connectors) on the back, do I put one RCA cable to #1 blue input connector and the other RCA cable to the second blue input connect for stereo? Thanks for any help as I'm looking forward to trying this amp out!

 

[greiner0009]

I have 5 xpa1002 and 3 xpa 2004 all in bridged output. I am feeding an unbalanced rca from a consumer integra avr. I am I correct to assume my -10dbv consumer line level is under feeding this amp and therefore bot getting max power? Or is it smart enough to compensate. I am running a 50w rms 4ohm aura bass shakers off the xpa1002 per channel (feed from minidsp .9v) and I am trying to figure out my gain struture to not blow the 50w rms shaker with 100w rms channel.

I see amhir tested with balanced, so I assume he feed a pro +4 dba signal to get 100w rms per channel.

How may watts should i expect with a consumer signal?