Integrated Amplifiers

Founded by Dan Laufman, who had a background in OEM manufacturing and sourcing production, Emotiva started out selling through traditional retail channels, but soon changed direction to become an early web-based direct sales operation, enabling it to cut out distributor and retail margins. As noted in the main review, the company has a diverse range from the high-end X series – including the XSP-1/XPA-DR2 pre/power [HFN Oct '18] – to the entry-level BasX range, all at surprisingly affordable prices.

Improving the energy efficiency of its amplifiers also cuts down on bulk and build and shipping costs, while also enhancing the brand's 'green' credentials. In its bigger amplifiers this is achieved without resorting to a Class D technology – in the XPA-DR2 we saw Emotiva combine a bridged Class AB output stage with a Class H stepped-rail PSU architecture on each amplifier card. This hybrid power amp stage switches up to a higher voltage PSU rail only when signal conditions demand it, minimising waste heat. A more conventional Class AB amp design is employed in the lower-powered TA-100 although it is still very economic, drawing just 11W from the wall when idling, increasing to 180W when pumping out 2x50W/8ohm.

All of this illustrates that, along with its vice-president and chief technology officer Lonnie Vaughan, Laufman's company has a philosophy that builds on the idea that keen pricing should not mean cheaply-made products. In practice, it's all a matter of making sensible decisions about the materials and components used, and how the products are made. The top-end Emotiva products are 'Assembled in the USA with Globally Sourced Components', while the BasX series is 'Designed in Nashville, Tennessee, Precision Crafted in China'.