I purchased Emotiva UPA 1 amps to power my Magneplanar speakers (MGI imp and MMG). These amps have the same basic layout as your XPA 3 but with a beefier power supply (far more capacitance). They are a very good amplifier and have quite a bit of power and a modern very detailed forward sound. At first I was quite taken by this precise detailed sound but over time I started to miss the warm musical sound of my prior amps (Marantz 1200 and Creek 4330) so I started searching for a warm musical but powerful amp and settled on a Conrad Johnson MF 2300A. It has far more bass cojones than the Emotiva and is very musical and am very satisfied with this amp. It's much mellower than the Emo and to my ears far more like real music.
I found that with the Emo I was always futzing with cables, interconnects, speaker placement and so forth. Once I put the CJ in the system (over a year ago) I pretty much thought "sounds about right" and haven't really futzed with it. But the amp is 16 years old and just sent it to CJ for a refurbishing. I put the Emos back in the system and first thing my wife said is "it's brighter isn't it?". Well, yes it is not in a drive you out of the room way but definitely noticeable. So I put the MG I's back in since they have a mellower sound than the QR planars and it sounds pretty good but can't wait for my CJ to come back.
I found that with the Emo I was always futzing with cables, interconnects, speaker placement and so forth. Once I put the CJ in the system (over a year ago) I pretty much thought "sounds about right" and haven't really futzed with it. But the amp is 16 years old and just sent it to CJ for a refurbishing. I put the Emos back in the system and first thing my wife said is "it's brighter isn't it?". Well, yes it is not in a drive you out of the room way but definitely noticeable. So I put the MG I's back in since they have a mellower sound than the QR planars and it sounds pretty good but can't wait for my CJ to come back.