Review of the Emotvia XDA-2 Gen 2

I was looking for a audiophile grade Pre-amp or Dac for my Powered speakers in my living room. I was surfing all over the internet when I came across the Emotiva xd-2 the spec's looked very promising. So I pulled out my credit card and took a chance and man did I find a gold mind. When it arrived it was in nice packaging. It was double boxed and had adequate foam insulation. The black cloth bag that it was wrapped in was really nice premium touch. The Remote Control is a heavy and screams premium built quality. So I then connected the speakers to the emotiva via Planet wave XLR's , which I think is a very nice touch. I connected it to my Sony BDP-S7200 via optical with a audio quest Forrest cable.

The first track was Eagles hotel California from hell freezes over... I closed my eyes and I was transported to front row center... The detail and the translation from the source , Dac and then speakers was phenomenal. No jitter , flutter or compression in the music. It just seemed to be open and boundless. The deep kick from the kick drum is jaw dropping , impressive and tight with a lot of weight to it ... My 2nd cut was Diana Krall - A Case of You (Joni Mitchell Cover).The piano seam to just dance and tip toe gently with the vocals smack dab in the middle and it wasn’t going anywhere.

I listen to over 3 hours of music and every time there was something new to experience. I am so impressed on the build quality and sonic perfection. I would compare the Emotiva to other brands like Rotel, Rega, or Parasound and for $299, I would find it very hard to find a pre-amp or dac that cost 3 to 4 times the price with the same sonic quality.....But that’s my own two cents