Product Review
 

Emotiva RSP-1 Stereo Preamplifier and RPA-1 Stereo Power Amplifier

Part III

May, 2007

Chris Groppi

 

The Sound

I auditioned the RSP-1 and RPA-1 as a pair, without independent auditioning of either component alone. They were used to drive my new Gallo Reference 3.1s. In addition, the Gallo Reference SA amplifier was used to drive the second voice coil of the woofers for extended low range performance. I used the balanced connection between the RSP-1 and RPA-1, and used the single ended output of the RSP-1 to drive the Reference SA. I used the 12V trigger to turn on the RPA-1, after finding that the warm-up time for the amp and preamp to be only a few minutes.

There was no benefit to leaving the system turned on at all times, as is necessary with my reference Plinius 8150i (it takes 1-2 days to properly warm up). As per my usual review plan, I installed the components and used them for about two weeks for casual listening and home theater applications. I found that this was not a sufficient break-in period for the Emotivas. Another week or so was necessary for the components to really reach their full potential. The 30 day trial period offered by Emotiva should be perfectly adequate to hear what the RSP-1 and RPA-1 can do, just don't expect optimal performance the day you unpack them; give them 2-3 weeks to achieve their full potential.

Initially, the soundstage was a bit closed in, with the clarity they later delivered a bit compromised. After break in, these components became giant killers that need make no apologies about any area of their sonic performance.

The first thing I noticed about the Emotivas was the incredible level of clarity and timbral separation between images. Image separation can be both spatial in the soundstage (lateral, height, or depth separation), but tonal separation is a more subtle and difficult goal to achieve. Compared to my Plinius 8150i, which had an MSRP more than double the Emotivas, the RSP-1 and RPA-1 offer a far greater level of overall clarity and transparency, with razor sharp tonal image separation at all volume levels.

In comparison, the Plinius sounds somewhat veiled, with images tonally merged. This quality allowed me to hear vast amounts of new detail in almost every recording I listened to. When I went back to the Plinius later in the review for comparison, I was still able to hear and focus on the details in each recording, but with difficulty. On the albums Cuatro Caminos and Valle Callampa from my new favorite band, the Mexican alternative rock group Café Tacuba, many percussion instruments leapt out of the soundstage, while with the Plinius they blended into the background. In every case, each image was tonally distinct, allowing me to easily focus on each sound in the presentation.

This quality was displayed on every recording I listened to, but was most welcome on tonally dense music, with many different sounds presented simultaneously. What was so interesting was that I never noticed the deficiency in the Plinius excepting a feeling that the amp lacked the last measure of transparency, until I had the Emotiva pair to compare. Even when I auditioned the $5800 Classé CAP-2100 integrated, the improvement in tonal clarity did not seem as shocking, although that could have been a result of shortcomings in the Platinum Audio Solos I was using at the time.

The transparency and tonal separation of images were accompanied by an extremely neutral presentation, with no sign of high frequency harshness, midbass bloat, or midrange coloration. By comparison, the Plinius sounded more round and tubelike, but less tight and precise. This more rounded presentation made the Plinius sound a bit less mechanical on some recordings, but it was unclear whether this was a source material issue or an electronics issue. I could imagine that if combined with hard sounding source electronics or loudspeakers, you could get yourself into trouble with the Emotivas, but I found their extended, clear, and smooth highs to be very welcome.

The sound was fully integrated across the frequency spectrum with no bands sticking out more than any other. The bass was every bit as agile as the midrange and high range presentation. It was difficult to tell if the RPA-1 had the same iron fisted bass control as the Classé CAP-2100, since the use of the Gallo Reference SA in concert with the dual voice coil woofers of the Reference 3.1 speakers offer such jaw dropping low frequency control and agility regardless of the full range drive amplifier.

Overall smoothness, transparency, and neutrality were best with the balanced connections between the preamplifier and amplifier. With the single ended connection used, the pair lost a small but noticeable level of performance, with a slightly more muddled and coarse quality present. Still, the Emotivas used with the single ended connection was superior to the Plinius. Overall background noise level was far lower with the Emotivas, as the Plinius design is exceptionally sensitive to ground loop-induced 60 Hz hum.

The soundstaging and imaging of the Emotivas were also excellent, but the Plinius redeemed itself in comparison. In terms of lateral presentation of the soundstage, the Plinius offered just a bit wider presentation, extending the soundstage maybe 6" farther left and right of the loudspeaker locations. The Plinius was also superior at the reproduction of height in the soundstage, really being able to throw an almost floor to ceiling presentation with some source material, while the Emotivas were only able to get maybe 2/3 of the way there.

The Emotivas, with their superior tonal presentation, were able to excel in the presentation of soundstage depth, which relies to a great extent on tonal cues. The overall presentation of the RSP-1 and RPA-1 was slightly more forward than the Plinius, with the soundstage just in front of the loudspeaker plane, rather than just behind. Before break-in was complete, the presentation was even more forward, but slowly migrated rearward during my auditioning. In terms of image sharpness, the result was likely a wash, but the tonal separation of images and razor sharp clarity of the Emotivas multiplied the impact of the spatial imaging and soundstaging. The Emotivas were not only able to precisely locate images within space, they were able to reveal their texture. With Miles Davis' "All Blues" on the groundbreaking modal-masterpiece album Kind of Blue, I could feel the texture of the brushes on the snare, and visualize the impact of the drumstick on the high hat in a truly visceral way.

Achieving that reproduction of the texture, the feel of a sound and not just the sound by itself, is a great achievement for any audio component. Another telling fact was that I was able to identify and combat a room interaction effect that caused the right side of the soundstage to truncate closer to the loudspeaker than on the left side. With the Plinius, this problem existed, but never drew attention to itself. The super sharp tonal and spatial presentation of the Emotivas made the room's shortcomings stick out like a sore thumb. After careful changes to the speaker setup and listening position, I was able to largely eliminate this issue I never really noticed before. This is the double-edged sword of transparency: every layer of veiling you remove from your system will reveal a new level of more subtle shortcomings you never noticed before. While this can be frustrating, every step leads to a more accurate facsimile of live music.

A very surprising, and welcome feature of the RSP-1, was the quality of the phono stage. It was so good that within the first 10 seconds of the first LP I played, I knew it was clearly superior to the Lehmann Black Cube I used with the Plinius (which was noticeably better than the Plinius' internal phono stage). When compared with digital source material played directly through the Plinius, the Black Cube plus Plinius line stage always lacked the same level of transparency, and would also easily become a bit confused with complicated music, especially at high volume. I always chalked this up to the cartridge and arm (a Grado Reference Platinum and Linn Ittok Lv II). The RSP-1 phono stage proved that this was not the case. While there could be some dynamic compression and muddling in extremely complicated and dynamic passages, the vast majority of the confusion and compression was eliminated.

It is really difficult to engineer a good phono stage, especially in a budget preamp. The signal levels involved are 1000 times smaller than line level, placing a far greater premium on a low noise, high quality power supply and very good shielding. As a comparison, I paid $600 for the the Lehmann Black Cube, or 85% the price of the entire RPA-1. And the RPA-1 comes will a full-featured line stage preamp to boot.

It was clear in my auditioning that the tone controls should be bypassed at all times. With the Source Direct feature not bypassing the linestage, the transparency of the RSP-1 was noticeably compromised.

There were also a couple of small usability quirks that were minor, but still present. The remote control for the RSP-1 shares some codes with my DirecTV HR-20 HD-DVR. While the Emotiva remote does not cause the HR-20 to respond, some HR-20 commands will cause the Emotiva to switch inputs or in some cases, mute. The mute was caused by the HR-20 power command, so I never had the RSP-1 mute while watching TV, and the processor loop does not care what preamp input is selected, so there were no real usability issues, just a bit of confusion before I figured out what was going on. Also, the RSP-1 needs to complete a given command (switching inputs for example), including the VFD display of the change, before it will accept another command. This can make the remote feel a little sluggish to respond if you press more than one button in quick succession.

Another somewhat vexing question also puzzles me. How much better could the RSP-1 be if some of the less vital features were thrown over the side? What if there were no tone and balance controls at all, no bass management crossover, no headphone jack? The RSP-1 is already an exceptional preamp, but I bet it could be made even better with fewer bells and whistles.

Conclusions

The Emotiva RSP-1 and RPA-1 would get a positive review from me even at a Krell/Levinson price point. The fact that they are as good as they are and cost only $699 each makes them something very special. I am seriously considering replacing my $3,000 Plinius 8150i with the review pair. It is only the very high priority that I place on soundstage width and height (the one are where the 8150i beats the Emotivas) that makes me hesitate a bit.

As I have said in previous reviews, this is not something I do lightly. I have owned the Plinius for seven years, and have been extremely happy with it, and still believe it is a fantastic amplifier. The Emotivas are clearly better in most ways than the Plinius, but unlike the also superb Classé CAP-2100, they are far cheaper. It's not a common occurrence in this hobby where you can upgrade and simultaneously spend less money. If sound quality beats cachet on your priority list, I highly recommend you give the RSP-1 and RPA-1 an audition, regardless of your budget.

 

- Chris Groppi -

© Copyright 2007 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity

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