hi y'all, I am reviewing the main differences between the emotiva UPA-1 amp and the emotiva XPA-1L amp. the UPA-1 amps were my first emotiva amps and I liked them a lot. I figured I would "trade up" for some XPA-1L amps hoping to get an even better sound. the UPA-1's turned out to have better bass than the XPA-1L's. more on that in a min. the XPA-1L's had a clearer and crisper upper mid range and treble. also there was more 3-D stuff going on, I reckon they call this imaging. there was more layers to the music. now, I believe the better imaging on the XPA-1L's is both the strength and downfall of this amp. the bass seemed to come in layers too, rather than hit you all at once like the UPA-1's. the bass on the XPA-1L's seemed to arrive late as well, like it was time-shifted or something. so, I give the nod to the UPA-1 being the better amp of the two. I am not going to sacrifice bass for a lil better upper mids and treble.
hi y'all, I am reviewing the main differences between the emotiva UPA-1 amp and the emotiva XPA-1L amp. the UPA-1 amps were my first emotiva amps and I liked them a lot. I figured I would "trade up" for some XPA-1L amps hoping to get an even better sound. the UPA-1's turned out to have better bass than the XPA-1L's. more on that in a min. the XPA-1L's had a clearer and crisper upper mid range and treble. also there was more 3-D stuff going on, I reckon they call this imaging. there was more layers to the music. now, I believe the better imaging on the XPA-1L's is both the strength and downfall of this amp. the bass seemed to come in layers too, rather than hit you all at once like the UPA-1's. the bass on the XPA-1L's seemed to arrive late as well, like it was time-shifted or something. so, I give the nod to the UPA-1 being the better amp of the two. I am not going to sacrifice bass for a lil better upper mids and treble.