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Extron XPA 1002 Plus Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 2 1.2%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 22 12.9%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther

    Votes: 102 60.0%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 44 25.9%

  • Total voters
    170

amirm

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This is a review and detailed measurements of the Extron XPA 1002 Plus class D amplifier. I am told used ones go for just $50 to $60 on ebay.
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Review stereo amplifier class D.jpg


Having been designed for the custom integration market, the unit is quite compact and runs very cool. I like the signal and limiter/protection LEDs which are nicely replicated on the back as well:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Review stereo amplifier back panel class D.jpg


Programmable gains with various control and trigger circuits complete a picture. And oh, my favorite, included AC power supply is there as well.

If you are not familiar with the brand, Extron made its name in video switching, becoming the de-facto standard for many years. I did not know they had gotten into amplification. I am told very high quality parts are used in there and as such, when they pulled out of commercial installs, there is good bit of life left on them.

Extron XPA1002+ Measurements
Let's start with our dashboard:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


Oh wow, where did this good performance come from? Combination of noise+distortion as shown in SINAD is well above average:
Best stereo CI amplifier review.png


SNR is good for class:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus SNR Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


It is stable almost out of the box:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Warm up Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


Frequency response unfortunately shows some load dependency:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Frequency Response Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


It is not too extreme though.

Crosstalk is above average:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Crosstalk Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


Multitone shows very low distortion where our hearing is sensitive but does rise fair bit with frequency:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Multitone Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


Output power is right on the company specifications (which is some of the most detailed I have seen from any company):

Extron XPA 1002 Plus Power into 4 ohm Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png

Extron XPA 1002 Plus Power into 8 ohm Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


Regulated switching power supply doesn't allow any headroom so what you get above, is all you have:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Max and Peak Power into 4 ohm Measurement stereo amplifier class D.png


I was very surprised how well behaved the design is in our frequency vs power sweeps:
Extron XPA 1002 Plus Frequency vs Distortion vs Power into 4 ohm Measurement stereo amplifier ...png


Conclusions
What a pleasure it is to see such competent amplifier performance from a sleeper like this. I see 200 watt version of it on ebay right now at same ridiculously low prices. If that one performs as well, it will be the buy of the century. The amp is feature rich, compact and cool running. Its protection circuit works well and unobtrusively as well.

I am happy to put Extron XPA 1002 Plus on my recommended list.

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Rja4000

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Interesting !
I see "new" price around 700€ in Belgium
Second hand around 100€ :)

I was just looking for an amplifier around 100w / 8 ohm...
 
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ROOSKIE

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Thank you.
Any chance of running any tests bridged? The amp is bridgeable be interested in the performance there.
 

Final

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Very Nice amp and review. A look at their website also indicates dedication to quality. However not that straight forward to connect to preamp an speakers in a HIFI home system. What kind of connectors is this? How do you connect to a preamp with RCA or XLR Out? What kind of termination on loudspeakers?
 
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amirm

amirm

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Thank you.
Any chance of running any tests bridged? The amp is bridgeable be interested in the performance there.
Oh, I took all the wiring harness off to take the picture. So will be a big pain to do that now.
 
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amirm

amirm

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However not that straight forward to connect to preamp an speakers in a HIFI home system. What kind of connectors is this? How do you connect to a preamp with RCA or XLR Out? What kind of termination on loudspeakers?
They are just screw terminals. The mating part is provided with the amp. So you have to supply bare wires. I did that with a pair of XLR cables and adapter for my speaker cables that I had made. This is common/standard in custom installation setup. So a bit inconvenient.
 

uwotm8

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Thanks for a review! Looks nice but it's not a home audio amp and I'd rather get some Aiyima Chi-Fi for the same or lower price at least to have set of normal connectors. Extron is fine for it's "pro" purposes.
 

ROOSKIE

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Thanks for a review! Looks nice but it's not a home audio amp and I'd rather get some Aiyima Chi-Fi for the same or lower price at least to have set of normal connectors. Extron is fine for it's "pro" purposes.
Should note that this is better in measured performance from most of the Chi-Fi stuff and has a built in power supply. No sure why the wiring harness bothers you but oh well. I get it, to each their own. I kind of like the wiring harness as I DIY my wires so I'd save a few bucks that would have been spent on a set of speak-ons or bananas...
 

KxDx

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Very Nice amp and review. A look at their website also indicates dedication to quality. However not that straight forward to connect to preamp an speakers in a HIFI home system. What kind of connectors is this? How do you connect to a preamp with RCA or XLR Out? What kind of termination on loudspeakers?
Speakers use Phoenix connectors, which are easy to find on PE or ebay:


I'm currently using a Sonance amplifier in the living room that has those same outputs.

As for the inputs, I'm not sure. Perhaps Amir could show a picture of the connector...?
 

uwotm8

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No sure why the wiring harness bothers you
Using junk-grade speaker connectors and/or adaptors as well as input bothers me as far as many home audio users I have a bunch of nice (and not so nice) 3.5 mm and RCA cables, and banana-terminated wires as well. Again, for intallation purposes that amp is OK. It's also okay as as DIY kit to reinstall into proper case with all "home edition" connections, some soldering and you're fine. Just talking about use cases:)
 

Vict0r

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€55 on the local Craigslist here!

Found this one too for absolute peanuts.

Schermafbeelding 2022-07-08 om 10.05.08.png

Schermafbeelding 2022-07-08 om 10.05.54.png


The remote on this mini power amplifier cracked me up:
Schermafbeelding 2022-07-08 om 10.08.34.png

Schermafbeelding 2022-07-08 om 10.08.26.png
 
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ROOSKIE

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Using junk-grade speaker connectors and/or adaptors as well as input bothers me as far as many home audio users I have a bunch of nice (and not so nice) 3.5 mm and RCA cables, and banana-terminated wires as well. Again, for intallation purposes that amp is OK. It's also okay as as DIY kit to reinstall into proper case with all "home edition" connections, some soldering and you're fine. Just talking about use cases:)
Hmm, well I don't think that Phoenix connectors are junk at all. Where did you get that idea?
A phoenix connection is likely better than a banana but of course both are better than required.
I do understand that you don't want to cut your wires but I could care less about doing that.
There are also adapters that can be purchased for little $.
Per the reviews here there is nothing to be gained by nice RCA cables.

Anyway not trying to talk you into this personally just laying out some info in case anyone is interested but is not familiar with these connector types, which are not junk.
 
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amirm

amirm

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But I do not understand, more power in 8 Ohm than 4 Ohm? How is it that?
It is a minor thing due to graph/measurement. Company specifies 100 watts in both 8 and 4 ohm. The latter likely has a limiter to keep power dissipation low.
 
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amirm

amirm

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As for the inputs, I'm not sure. Perhaps Amir could show a picture of the connector...?
I just taped and packed the amp. It is a very common input connector for commercial installs. I will see if I can find a picture....
 
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amirm

amirm

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Found a picture:

1657270344419.png


It is the nice blue one. There is a common ground and dual differential inputs. I just desoldered the ends of two XLR cables and then screwed them in there with common ground.
 

uwotm8

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There are also adapters that can be purchased for little $
And these are real junk mostly. Unfortunately
I don't think that Phoenix connectors are junk at all. Where did you get that idea?
Well, Amir just posted these
Definitely not what I'd like to use in my main system, not even to mention what a fun will be using that with some thick solid wires such as AQ.
At the same time, everything looks perfect if we're talking about custom install and connecting, say, some ceiling speakers with a 10...20m 0.75...1.5 mm2 wire. I think it's the way it meant to be used.

P.S. Phoenixes also remind me PC Molex connectors which I deeply hate (cuz most of them are ultimate garbage) - maybe that's the reason too...
 
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PeteL

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I find that a little unfair to judge on the value of the amp based on used price on ebay. It is a current product, not discontinued, especially when the conclusion and recommendaation is highly about value. As with most install products it's not available to consumer channels and pricing is not easily found, but for the sake of comparison. We don't know how used products performs, the price we see now may be just because an installation has just been decommissioned and the enterprises want to liquidate, it could be many factors, it may change next month. It cost many times that new altough Extron is normally good value and fair price.
 
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