This pair has had the following upgrades installed at the factory: Upgrade to KT120 Tubes. Wiring w/ Cardas wire. Upgraded caps top line Mundorf silver/gold. Upgraded to Vishay resistors. Chassis modifications for lowering board height to fit standard cover with KT120 tubes. Fully matched sets. Upgraded Cardas binding posts. Upgraded Cardas XLR inputs. Upgraded PSU and DC Heater PSU. NOS Mullard tubes, Driver and output.
Triode Wire Labs 7 Plus
Power cords for the amps.
Duende Criatura 19-22 mm
For the NOS tubes.
Herbie's UltraSonic RX
For the KT120s
Emotiva XPA-1
2 Mono Amps running in 8 ohms (500w/ch)
Emotiva XPA-2
Stereo amp, just for the wide speakers (300w/ch)
Emotiva XPA-5
5 channel amp, for surrounds and center (200w x 5 ch)
They (the monos) sound better in every way, better clarity, better sound at lower and higher volumes, better separation, lower heat, etc. I highly recommend them over the XPA2, I should have made the right decision from the beginning... I have the XPA2 "sleeping" in my rack...
Music 70%, movies 30%. I don´t have much experience with other amps, only and Emotiva XPA2 and the XPA1´s. The monos are far better sounding amps. Maybe in a future, I´ll be trying another amps, but by now, I´m pretty happy with the Emo´s.
Aaronknock, the center speaker is on the floor but it has brass feet only in the front, and the sound is really in my face. I feel safer with a speaker this big and heavy on the floor.
Thanks again. I have to upload some new photos with the Bryston combo in place and the new Epson projector.
Used to be a little too "alive", but after adding some bass traps (DIY), in the side walls and behind the speakers, it really improved. There are still some vibrations, when the bass gets really deep, from windows and some shelves. I'm looking for a solution for these problems.
I've asked about overheating to the Emotiva tech department and they told me it was going to be ok. By now, everything is ok. Anyway, I havethe mono amps (the most used) above the others.
