Discuss Mirage OS3-FS with Emotiva XPA-3 in the Manufactured Speakers | Subwoofers forum.
Hello, A while ago I bought 2 Mirage OS3-FS (front) and 1 OS3-CC (center) for my home theater. I have ...

**ovillegas** · **03-02-12, 10:21 AM**

Hello,

A while ago I bought 2 Mirage OS3-FS (front) and 1 OS3-CC (center) for my home theater. I have a Yamaha RX-V765 for a receiver.

I am newbie when it comes to amps and speakers (I bought the mirage speakers

), so I was wondering if it was worth to add an Emotiva XPA-3 to my front speakers (2 front and center). Currently my receiver outputs 95w discrete per channel (or so Yamaha says) and the speakers are (rated?) for 175w. The website says:
Frequency Response 52 Hz - 20 kHz +/- 3dB
Nominal Impedence 8 Ohms
Power Handling 175 Watts
Recommended Amplifier Power 10 to 175 Wwatts
Impedance 4 Ohms minimum

I understand Emotiva XPA-3 outputs 200w.

As stated above, is it worth the $600-$700 to add the emotiva to my setup in terms of sound difference? I don't want to spend the money if the sound difference will be barely noticeable.

**Zeitgeist** · **03-02-12, 10:54 AM**

Quote:

ovillegas wrote:

Hello,
As stated above, is it worth the $600-$700 to add the emotiva to my setup in terms of sound difference? I don't want to spend the money if the sound difference will be barely noticeable.

Whether it's noticeable is highly subjective. I think most will say that dynamics are improved by a dedicated amp.

Will it be an improvement? Yes. Audible? Possibly.. Is the $600-$700 money well spent? I think so.
Emotiva makes some great amps. My feeling is that it's a good investment - and may easily outlast the speakers.

**ovillegas** · **03-02-12, 01:58 PM**

Thanks for the input.

Seems like I will give it a try. My current issue is that the speakers sound very clear when I'm listening to music at low volume (night time listening volume), I can distinguish every sound on the music. Once I turn the volume up (not blaring loud), the sounds start overlapping and does not sound very clear. I'm not saying it sounds awful, but it seems that the high range gets too mixed up with the mid range.

**Zeitgeist** · **03-02-12, 02:02 PM**

First impression to me sounds like the AVR might be running out of some steam. I think the Mirages are pretty nice - so I can't see how they are the culprit. I know that sort of muddy behavior your talking about.

If you don't like the Emotiva, you can always return it - and you're just out the cost of shipping.

**Jungle Jack** · **03-02-12, 03:30 PM**

Hello,
As Emotiva's use a good deal of gain, I think you will really notice the difference at low volumes. This was done both to impress new owners and to ensure it works with the broadest spectrum of AVR's. Some more High End amps require the Preamp Voltage to be a bit higher to get full power.
Cheers,
JJ

**spurdarren** · **03-02-12, 04:03 PM**

I noticed quite a difference on my Klipsch speakers with the addition of a XPA-3. It really made them a lot more dynamic. My Onkyo seemed to have plenty of juice but I wanted to try an external amp. Very happy I did.

**Jungle Jack** · **03-02-12, 05:04 PM**

Quote:

spurdarren wrote:

I noticed quite a difference on my Klipsch speakers with the addition of a XPA-3. It really made them a lot more dynamic. My Onkyo seemed to have plenty of juice but I wanted to try an external amp. Very happy I did.

Hello,
While a big proponent of Outboard Amplification, with Speakers as efficient as yours, I truly think you are noticing the high amount of Gain from the Emotiva. Klipschs can play at Reference Levels with but a handful of Watts. Primarily by virtue of their Horn Loading, Klipschs are legendarily efficient. They even use the fact that their Speakers require so little power in their Marketing as being ecofriendly.

Regardless, it is wonderful to have an Amplifier for in the future, as you might decide to use Speakers that are far less efficient and drop to a much lower impedance. All I can say is after listening to the original Klipsch Horn being driven by an ultra low power SET (Single Ended Triode) Tube Amplifier that outputs under 10 Watts at around 100db's, I have always admired just how efficient Klipschs truly are.
Cheers,
JJ

**eljay** · **03-02-12, 07:57 PM**

Quote:

ovillegas wrote:

... is it worth the $600-$700 to add the emotiva to my setup in terms of sound difference? I don't want to spend the money if the sound difference will be barely noticeable.

Based on my (admittedly limited) experience - me adding a UPA-5 to my system, and my buddy (who has the same front three speakers) adding an XPA-3 to his system - you'll notice a difference at louder volume levels, but it won't be "night and day".

IMO, you'd be just as well served by a gently-used UPA-2 for your mains (w/ your AVR handling the center and surrounds), or a UPA-5 or older LPA-1 for your front three and surrounds (w/ your AVR handling rear surrounds, if any).

As always, YMMV.

**spurdarren** · **03-03-12, 11:53 AM**

Quote:

Jungle Jack wrote:

Hello,
While a big proponent of Outboard Amplification, with Speakers as efficient as yours, I truly think you are noticing the high amount of Gain from the Emotiva. Klipschs can play at Reference Levels with but a handful of Watts. Primarily by virtue of their Horn Loading, Klipschs are legendarily efficient. They even use the fact that their Speakers require so little power in their Marketing as being ecofriendly.

Regardless, it is wonderful to have an Amplifier for in the future, as you might decide to use Speakers that are far less efficient and drop to a much lower impedance. All I can say is after listening to the original Klipsch Horn being driven by an ultra low power SET (Single Ended Triode) Tube Amplifier that outputs under 10 Watts at around 100db's, I have always admired just how efficient Klipschs truly are.
Cheers,
JJ

Actually I have read that the 7II's do have a fair amount of impedance drop. On the Klipsch forums and another forum site that I will not name.

**Jungle Jack** · **03-03-12, 12:17 PM**

Hello,
With an insane 101db efficiency, the RF-7's are a very easy Speaker to drive. I think this is a wonderful thing. The Avantgarde Uno is one of the best Speakers I have ever spent extensive time listening to as my Uncle owns a pair. It uses a huge Horn and is also over 100db efficient.

The RF-7's are an excellent Speaker with a very well braced Cabinet. I have never read that it had large impedance drops and is 8 ohm Nominal. If you have a friend with a non Emotiva Power Amplifier, I highly recommend hooking it up as the large amount of gain used by Emotiva gives the impression of unlimited power as it plays so much louder at low levels than pretty much every Amplifier I have owned or spent time with. That being said, aside from the XPA-1 and XPA-2, the other Emotiva's do not have notably large Transformers and Capacitance Banks. The XPA 1,2, and 5 actually all use the same 1.2 kVA Toroidal Transformer and the XPA-2 actually has the same amount of Capacitance as the 5 Channel XPA-5. The XPA-3 uses an 850 VA Toroidal Transformer and 45,000uf Capacitance.
Cheers,
JJ