I have just purchased from Emotiva the RSP-2 Preamp,XPA-2 stereo amp and their ERT-8.3 Reference Tower Speakers and after 5 days of breakin in the whole system all I can say is "WOW", "Unbelievable","REMARKABLE".
I used to own a Parasound Halo system consisting of their famous stereophile class A rated JC1 Monoblocks,their A51 5 channel amplifier,A21 Stereo amp and their C1 processor and I used to think that after trying the FPB Krell's and other High end amps or Preamps I though that there was nothing else better than the Halos within that price range over $15K plus.
I sold my system last year because of lack of time due to my job. I felt that there was no reason to keep such a nice system in my house since I was not using it. So I sold it here on Audiogon and decided that later on I will get more or less the same system when I have more time to be able to enjoy it.
Well the time is here now and I started looking to put together a very nice system again and the first thing that came to mind was Parasound Halo Line again. That was until I came across the Emotiva Products website.
I spent quite amount of time reading about their products specially their preamps and amps. I did a side by side comparison of the Parasound Halos amps and the Emotiva amps. The Emotiva amps seem to be much better amps than the Halos exept for the fact that the Halos are THX certified and used a MOSFET driver stage and JFET input stage as opposed to Emotiva using a Triple Darlington with ON semiconductor output stages. Besides the Emotiva amps offer more power than the Halos.
I know what most of you all will say. That's just in the specs! It's the sound that matters! Yes, you are right and I will get to that in a minute.
Being quite familiar with the Halos since I owned them for almost 2 years and was very happy with their warmth and neutral sound I think that qialifies me to make a very good comparison.
Now going back to the Emotiva RSP-2 Preamp and their XPA-2 stereo amplifier. As I said before after giving them around 5 days of a good break-in period of about 16 hours a day I decided to sit down for a good listening session.
First let me say that the RSP-2 is one of the most analog sounding preamps I have ever come across. In the past have auditioned or owned many Preamps such as ,BAT tube Preamps,Classe,Proceed,Parasound Halo,Rotel,Adcom,McIntosh and Musical Fidelity and none of these Preamps have sounded as analog as the Emotiva RSP-2 Preamp. How these people at Emotiva do it its beyond me. Besides being a great sounding preamp it is a beautiful unit. It has so many features that it is hard to believe that for the price of $699 you can get features that you can only get at Preamps costing over 3 to 6 times more. The performance of the Emotiva RSP-2 Preamp is so good that you can only get this kind of performance in preamps costing way over $3K+ or more. I highly recommend this Preamp. It's really that good. in fact I had my eyes set on a Parasound JC2 Preamp and I am so glad that I didn't buy. Now I am extremely happy with my Emotiva RSP-2.
Now the XPA-2 Stereo Amplifier. What a beautiful looking unit! The Sound? Oustanding! Warmth,Neutral,Extremely Analog Sounding.Not a hint of brightness. Powerfull! Powerfull Powerfull! It has the same sound as the Halos JC1's but with more extension and more dynamics of the FPB of the Krells and still analog sounding. Between the Emotiva RSP-2 Preamp and the XPA-2 Amp it is a marriage made in heaven. It's the perfect combination.
And the ERT-8.3. Reference Speakers. Do not let the price fool you. These speakers delivered one of the most natural and clear sounds that I have only be able to hear in speakers costing over $5K+. I have owned them so I know that it will be impossible to hear a pair of $1600 speakers sound this good. But how wrong I have been. These are truly Reference Speakers.The bass extension is remarkable.I don't even need a subwoofer.Emotiva rates these speakers at Frequency response: 45hz-20Khz +/-2db byt trust me these speakers go way lower than 45hz.
Emotiva is coming out with a new Reference CD player, the ERC-1 and I have put myself on their waiting list. I know that it will be an outstanding Cd player.
Emotiva has put together a "True Reference" Line of products that proves that you can still obtain "High End Performance" without paying "High End Prices". I used to be one of the many believers that had the mentality that you needed to pay top money to get a top high end performance equipment. Guess what? Not Any more.
Emotiva has proved me wrong and.. I Stand Corrected"
Best regards to all,
Carlos Reyes
Queens, New York.
