Emotiva XSP1 Stereo Audio PreAmp (HiFi, Audiophile, Balanced) Photo

I was browsing the Emotiva site and started reading about the XSP-1 preamp and it looks to be very impressive especially considering the low price point. Fully balance differential signal path and a ton of features including support for subs either in stereo or in summed mono. It seems to have a lot going for it and is a dedicated 2 channel preamp.. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Emotiva XSP-1 proved to be exceptionally good. It was dead quiet in operation -revealing tape hiss and other subtle details transferred to the vinyl from the original master tape. A-B comparisons with the Revox B-77 revealed just how good Emotiva's phono stage RIAA equalization functioned.

Balanced connections are popping up on more and more audio products these days. But it only really counts when the internal circuitry is fully balanced, which is the case for the Emotiva XSP-1 stereo preamplifier, all for less than $1,000. And, the bench tests show it to be a hot performer. It even comes with an RIAA phono stage that accepts MC.. The Emotive XSP-1 Gen 2 is a solid state stereo preamplifier with a fully balanced circuit design. There are two sets of balanced inputs, four sets of unbalanced inputs, one set of balanced main outputs, one set of unbalanced main outputs, one phono input (mm and mc with user-configurable cartridge loading), one external processor loop, and support for both stereo subwoofers and a summed mono.