Hello T Cobe
As always thank you for input! Yes it's been a while. I still have the Marsntz SR 5008 AVR and amp was recommended by a an installer. No I have not listened to it but again I thinking like you said,this amp should sound very good. I did look at other amps and my other alternative for the dollar will be Emotiva EPA Gen3 or a Marantz and a Rotel which is a lot less money. At this time I'm not taking that huge leap to the Maestro M9. That's serious big bucks. If I can ask you what is your opinion with the other amplifiers I mentioned? In the future I want a home theater setup in the basement not to big about 450 square feet.

Jose,

I've heard Marantz and Rotel. Both are good. I would go to your local dealer and audition what they have available. What is your goal for the external amp? Do you plan to stay with your AVR long term as a processor? Is the amp mostly for music and for use with your T3s? If so, there are a number of integrated amps with home theater bypass worth considering. Hegel, PeachTree, and Parasound would be at the top of my list to audition. If you want 5 channel or 7, you should be able to audition several options at your local dealers. NAD, Marantz, Anthem, Rotel, and Parasound would be on my short list but there are so many options.

All that said, I am obviously biased and highly recommend Emotiva. Between my ERC-3 CD player, XSP-1 preamp, and dual XPA-1Ls I've invested approximately $2,500 for an outstanding 2-channel setup with balanced home theater bypass. This has allowed me to keep my home theater gear in an adjacent room while my two channel setup is in the center of my listening room. This allows for premium cables and short runs to keep costs out of the stratosphere. Now I'm in the process of upgrading my cables and enjoying the process.

The Gen3 XPA amps received a significant upgrade in technology over the Gen2. I will be adding a second 5-channel XPA to my setup once I start incorporating height channels. I think that tells you which direction I would choose but I certainly wouldn't say it's the only or even best way to go. I just haven't found the sound quality of the premium brands at boutique stores to be worth the additional cost; however, we all have to assign our own value to our purchases. If cost were no object, I'd probably go with Hegel or McIntosh but cost is a factor for most of us.

I think your best bet is to shop around and listen to as many alternatives as you can. I would consider s processor in your equation. Using an AVR will have its compromises. I think a dedicated processor and external amp would be your best long term solution. I have been very happy with my Anthem AVM60. It was a huge upgrade over my Integra AVR. Next to my T1s, it is my second favorite home theater purchase. The signal you feed the amps and the speakers that you use are probably more important than the actual amp. Shop around and let us know what you find.

Cheers,

T Cobe

T Cobe,
Wow! You are wealth of knowledge and lots of experience my friend. I will follow your recommendation and go to the dealer and listen to the different amps. I am about 50/50 when it comes to movies and music listening. For now I want to use my AVR unit and I know the processors. At the moment I want more clean and a boast of power and once I start working on the basement I will more and likely upgrade to a proscessor. I did read about the Emotiva amps and they have great reviews plus you can't beat the price. I will let you know what I decide to do.

I have my heart and eyes set on an Emotiva XPR-5 Gen 2 (not XPA-5), but they are difficult to come by. Do I really need 500x2 or 400x5? No, but on the other hand, I think it would be the last amp I would need to buy.

Murphyslaw1978,

If anyone can make use of that much power, it would be you!

I think the new XPA Gen3 amps incorporate a significant amount of the XPR technology and are more powerful than the Gen2 XPA amps. They're not as powerful as the XPR, but I'd bet the sound quality is similar. I'm a little surprised by the lack of reviews on the new Gen3. I'd like to see a few write ups before I'd want to commit, but I'm leaning that direction for my future Atmos expansion.

Good luck finding an XPR. If you do get your hands on one, please post a review on how it sounds with your system. Posting a WTB on the E forum may yield an offering... You're in a pretty large metropolitan area. Happy hunting!

Cheers,

T Cobe

T Cobe wrote: Murphyslaw1978,

If anyone can make use of that much power, it would be you!

I think the new XPA Gen3 amps incorporate a significant amount of the XPR technology and are more powerful than the Gen2 XPA amps. They're not as powerful as the XPR, but I'd bet the sound quality is similar. I'm a little surprised by the lack of reviews on the new Gen3. I'd like to see a few write ups before I'd want to commit, but I'm leaning that direction for my future Atmos expansion.

Good luck finding an XPR. If you do get your hands on one, please post a review on how it sounds with your system. Posting a WTB on the E forum may yield an offering... You're in a pretty large metropolitan area. Happy hunting!

Cheers,

T Cobe

Yeah, given how many folks follow Emotiva on the forums, you'd think there would be review after review from the online mags. Even some of the Gen2 models weren't tested the way I would have hoped. The XPR-1 and XPA-2 models, along with some of the UPA lines were, but given how long they have been out in the marketplace, I still would have expected more testing (XPA-5 and 7 for example).

I'll have to try to ask some of the AVS moderators and writers to test out the Gen3s and put them on the bench. There are new Monoprice amps building these ATI-like monster 7-channel amps (Monolith) for $1500, which is a great deal. That amp has been already reviewed and tested (it seemed to perform well and sound good). So Emotiva, in my opinion, could only have a leg up on Monoprice if it chooses to create power well above the 200w range. Otherwise, and until folks review them, the Monoprice looks like it could be a better deal.