The Emotiva XRCA cables were only 0.5 meters long and it was just too damn short

I just sent them back to Amazon today.

I called up Emotiva and setup a return/exchange for my XPA-3 (got a month ago) to upgrade to an XPA-5 (so I can power my surround SS3's with it too ) . I also ordered 4 of their XDRCA (can be used for digital coaxial and analog RCA per them, they are phasing out the regular XRCA) in the 2 meter variety.

When I got the really short XRCA cable I did see that the premium RCA I had from monoprice was the same thickeness and felt similar to the Emotiva cable. Therefore I will keep my existing Monoprice Premium RCA's and use them for the NON-T1 channels.

Sorry this is getting long. I will use 2 of the Emotiva XDRCA cables for the T1 channels on the amp and 2 of them for the LFE input going into the T1's.

Hopefully by next Wednesday-Thursday I will have this all upgraded (including the XPA-5 )

P.S. I had a hum issue that I traced back to the coaxial cable going into my Verizon Fios Cable Box. I ordered a Ground Loop Isolator on amazon (you run your coaxial through it and supposedly it solves the issue). I am hoping that everything will be rocking and rolling with clean power and no hum very soon

Have a Nice Weekend Everyone!!

aribraun,

Good call on the XPA-5. I'm very satisfied with mine. I look forward to hearing your impressions on the amp and Emotiva cables. Emotiva just extended their sale through the end of July so I'm hoping to purchase my second XPA-1L to round out my 7 channels. happy listening.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hey Guys,
Sounds like a LOT of progress is being made, I hope it pays off in sound quality for you.
Still waiting to hear from Steveo.
God Bless, Wayne

Hi Guys! Ok I sorted the cables out. I have to say the QED XT40 has already made a huge difference. I tested some songs out today on Apple TV and the new cables really opened up the sound and made the songs even clearer than I have heard in my system. Unfortunately I haven't had much time to do heavy listening but I can for sure tell a difference. Now I am a convert on cables making a difference I really saw how cheap and nasty my old cables were compared to these new ones which are a lot more thicker.

We are watching old shows on Netflix and even my wife said it's clearer and sharper and you can hear the background noises more. Remember this is a streamed show on Netflix. Can't wait to hear bluray!

Also I did test again in pure direct and it does sound better than before but I still like my eq settings better. Please note I have changed the eq settings since I posted my last one. Basically I have kept the midrange at level and simply increased the bass and treble curves above the 0 line. I am getting much better sound. I might be doing this to fill in the missing data on mp3s. It's like if I am in a car or basically anywhere I always increase the bass and treble so it could be personal preference. Pure direct to my ears is still no where near "fantastic" not at least compared to my eq settings for music yet.

Due to this doubt on the Apple tc I went back to the dealer today to pay for the xxl I had on free trial and I couldn't help but test out the Sony Hapz1 mp3 player. Basically it's a 1 Tb hard drive that can upscale songs to dsd streams and basically play all formats. I will go through the process of converting cds to flac or aiff for this unit. The good news is reviews say it can even make mp3s sound a lot better which suits me cause so much of my library is on mp3.

Either way I am hoping for much better sound than my apple TV running through hdmi. I have even learned from the cable experience and even bought a pair of $100 rca cables which look a lot better than the stock rca that came with the unit. I have come this far I am not going to get tripped up again on poor cables. The rca cable looks good. Way better than the standard stock black cable rca and a up step from my $20 rcas I am using to connect the xpa5 to the rx1040 Yamaha.

My wife was awesome and in the shop she was convincing me to buy the unit and said I have come so far and we should fix up the source so I bought it after some heavy haggling with the dealer and am now copying all my existing 200 gb of songs to the drive. It's a long process so I haven't even plugged the hapz1 into my system to do some tests.

I am expecting (hoping?) the rx1040 to sound great in pure direct with this player now. If it doesn't it narrows it down to my Yamaha, my room or it simply says I prefer the eq sound. I should hear a difference tomorrow coupled with the new cables and report back.

I heard some speakers today playing through the hapz1 with the Sony integrated amp and it sounded fantastic. There was no eq settings and I didn't feel I needed them so I am looking to see of this until can provide me with that experience.

If it doesn't I will seriously consider looking at integrated amps with ht bypass and simply use the Yamaha for movies and use the integrated amp for music.

OR I could replace the Yamaha with a marantz av8802 and run music and movies from that.
What would you guys do? Buy something like a krell s 300i (which I heard last weekend) and use the Yamaha for movies or would you consider the av8802 for movies and music? I heard a dedicated processor or integrated amp would be a better way to go for music instead of the sideways step to a marantz av8802.

Anyway once again for ry for the long post but I saw a couple of requests for an update. Always love to hear feedback and suggestions. I would alos like to hear if anyone here is using the song hapz1 or even haps1 with their systems and what their thoughts are. Here is the link to the z1 store.sony.com/hi-res-music-player-with-...-catid-All-Res-Audio

Also Aribraun well done on the xpa5! I got the same unit so we are 5 channel 200w brothers now along with many other good members in the forum in fact some guys are sporting even heavier amps from the emotiva line. Any xpr owners in the house? We can even buy the xpr line here in Australia they are too heavy.

Steveo,

I'm glad you're getting things sorted out! That's great news. Quality cables do make a difference.

I've contemplated the same thing regarding an 8802A or a lower lever 7702 mkII with a separate stereo preamplifier. In my thinking, the 7702 should be extremely close for surround sound/home theater. I don't believe the 8802 would be as good as a separate 2-channel preamplifier. I believe you could get a refurbished 7702 with factory warranty for around $1300 and a good tube pre-amp for under $2k and have much better stereo sound. In particular, Rogue Audio and Prima Luna have some well regarded pre-amps.

If you kept the Yamaha and go with an integrated amp, there are also some GREAT options. A lot more tube options as well as some premium solid state models such as the Krell you pointed out and my personal favorite: Hegel. Once I get my amps sorted out, I may consider their P20 but the cost is a bit steep at around $3k but a professional review rated it better than his reference Audio Research LS15 and that is quite a statement. The Hegel H160 sounds absolutely fantastic with the T1s. It is solid state but is very popular with tube lovers due to its warm sound in the mid-range without rolling anything off at the top or bottom. I'm not a salesman... I promise!

Cheers,

T Cobe