Now In! Emotiva XPA-2 G3 $900, 300×2
Emotiva is now shipping the G3 (Generation 3) versions of its XPA series of power amps. Made in the USA, XPA-2 has a new multi-channel power supply. The weight in the amp has come down while maintaining classic Emotiva muscle.
You can buy it in the following configurations:
$900: 300×2, 36 lbs
$1100: 275×3, 39 lbs
$1300: 260×4, 43 lbs
$1500: 250×5, 47 lbs
$1700: 225×6, 50 lbs
$1900: 200×7, 53 lbs
We have XPA-2 G3 on display. Its power is stupendous. Musicality and detail are barely down from the top dogs in our industry, regardless of price. What a value! An American built power amp with loads of muscle at inexpensive pricing! 5 year warranty.
Quad 11L Signature Speakers, $600pr. (12 1/8h, 7 7/16w, 9d)
The Quad 11L provides an attractive, real wood mahogany finish. With any luck, she’ll accept it in HER living room or den, so YOU can enjoy the sound.
Make no mistake, the Quad S-1 ($1200pr) we introduced last month with ribbon tweeter is choice number one. But at half the price, the 11L gives you more than half the performance.
Quad has always been known for a large, coherent sound stage. The 11L has a 5” Kevlar woofer and soft dome tweeter in a substantial cabinet to accomplish this. One of Quad’s tricks is to use two different wood materials in the cabinet. The difference of the two materials helps control cabinet resonance. The crossover is uniquely expensive for the price point, helping the drivers integrate so well.
The richness of the bass and smoothness of the middle and top end will impress you. We hope the cosmetics will help you seal the deal with HER!
Peach Tree Nova 300 $2300, 300×2 into 8 ohms, 450×2 into 4 ohms (4 1/2h, 14 1/8w, 13 1/4d)
Last month Peach Tree introduced its first North American built product, the Nova 150. With ground breaking low levels of noise and distortion, Nova 150 has been warmly received. 150X2 drives the vast majority of most speakers very well. When listening to Nova 150 you can’t miss how CLEAR acoustic music in particular sounds!
But… as Milwaukee native Liberace said, “Too much of a good thing is WONDERFUL!” That brings us to the Nova 300.
Peach Tree will be shipping the Nova 300 any day. As you guessed, it is a stronger brother to the Nova 150 and has 300×2 of horsepower. With 300×2 into 8 ohms and 450×2 into 4 ohms (heads up Maggie and Bryston speaker owners!), there is NO speaker the Nova 300 won’t drive comfortably.
Nova 300 has the same features/connections as N150. With double the power, any speaker will be more under control. Better yet, you can get more octane out of some challenging speakers.
First and foremost, if you want more PUSH out of strong speakers like the Bryston Model Ts or Magnepan MG-3.7i, Nova 300 is a natural. Drive a four cylinder car, then drive the same model with a 6 or 8- and that’s the kind of difference you’ll have going to Nova 300.
Further, don’t forget about the speakers of yesteryear. For those of you who have old dogs, excuse me, classic speakers… most of them had complex crossovers and tough impedances to drive. Your old power amp, regardless of wattage rating, isn’t getting through to these speakers nearly as well as Nova 300 will.
Whether you have B&W 801s/802s, Matrix 3s, Bose 901s, Kef 107s/105s, or any other hungry hippo from the mid 90s or before, Nova 300 will make them sound better than you can imagine. Having oodles of power with scant levels of distortion is the trick. Well, actually, it isn’t a trick at all. It’s just solid engineering that will take speakers that are performing now like a car with bad shocks. Tighten things up with a Nova 300 and enjoy!
A test we do with integrated amps … is to challenge their ability to drive a low impedance.
We hook them up to multiple pairs of speakers, or to a pair of speakers and a subwoofer with speaker level inputs. The Novas and NADs are solid into tough impedances and play on. Most integrated amps shut right down with the second set of speakers or piggy backing of a sub! By the way, our affordable NAD integrateds play the low impedances well too!
Arturo Toscanini
Toscanini was tough on himself, and peers. While waiting to come on for a performance he complained to cellist Gregor Piatigorsky, “You are no good. I am no good.” Piatigorsky begged him to cease, claiming he would be a wreck on stage if Toscanini didn’t stop. Toscanini waited a couple seconds and then said, “We are no good- but the others are worse! Come on, let’s go.”