The Emotiva Bridgeable Power Amplifier is now shipping!

Sean Parque · « **on:** 12 Dec 2005, 10:27 pm »

The Emotiva BPA-1 is specifically designed for multi-channel home theater, stereo two-channel and passive subwoofer applications. Due to its excellent size to power ratio and stereo/mono capability, it can fit into any application. It is also ideal for driving second zone speakers.

Please visit the Emotiva BPA-1 page for all the info!

The BPA-1 is available now for $249/each retail and $219/each family price.

JDUBS · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 02:17 am »

Sean

Great looking amp!

How loud is the fan on it? Also, what's the power into 8-ohms when running two-channel?

Thanks!
-Jim

srb · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 02:57 am »

Fan?

That's a shame.

kfr01 · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 03:05 am »

Decent price, but I agree - what in the world is with a fan on a relatively low powered amplifier?

Red Dragon Audio · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 04:53 am »

The fan on my HP laptop is silent.

The fan on my Sanyo Z4 is silent.

I'm sure this fan is as quiet as possible (silent?).

Fans prolong the life of the amplifier and help to keep it in a safe operating temperature.

Fans aren't neccesarily a bad thing if implemented properly. This looks like a great design with a good sized fan on the back to keep noise away from the listening area. If the fan is of high enough quality you'll never hear it. Since this fan also appears to be about 4" it will move a good volume of air at low speeds (i.e. low noise levels).

Sean Parque · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 05:36 pm »

The fan is super quiet. The speed is controlled by a heat sensor and does not come on unless you are pushing the amp very hard and have a pretty warm room already.

I actually don't see a spec here for 2 x @ 8 but I would guess around 40 watts or so per channel.

Sean

Quote from: JDUBS

Sean

Great looking amp!

How loud is the fan on it? Also, what's the power into 8-ohms when running two-channel?

Thanks!
-Jim

Sean Parque · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 05:38 pm »

Ryan is correct. It there to protect the amp. We offer a 5 year warranty so we want to ensure the amp is in a safe place temp wise

It is very quiet and is only on when needed and even then it is variable speed. I doubt you would ever hear it...

Sean

kfr01 · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 05:42 pm »

Huh, strange little beast, in my opinion. It seems like the car amplifier approach to a home amplifier.

I can't say I really see where this would fit into most systems. Most AV receivers will actually provide more power. Most subwoofer plate amplifiers will provide more power for sub bass and more options (phase, more xo options, maybe a band of eq).

Not bad for a second zone - but that feature would be far more useful if this thing had a remote volume control.

Someone try to sell me on this thing, I'm having trouble picturing its utility.

I guess the one really useful application I can picture this thing being used for - active amplification. 40x2 @ 8 is enough to drive mids and highs in an actively crossed system. Use another for the midbass, and maybe a pair of bridged to a could subwoofers. Could be the least expensive way to implement an all active system. Easy to set levels of all amplifiers via the volume control.

Sean Parque · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 09:49 pm »

I think zone 2 and side axis (See Emotiva DMC-1 processor for what that is) will be popular uses but it is also a great little integreated for a 2.1 system (powered .1) and we have alot of call for that...people setting up simple two channel systems for the bedroom, office etc...

Sean

ryno · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 11:15 pm »

Looks like they tried to cover every option: integrated, zone 2, sub. I'll probably get one for my zone two. The selling point for me is the size, my rack is wide, and I could fit one in on an already used shelf. I wish it was more specific for my zone two needs: more power, will only power a couple pairs, two inputs, either switched or priority override like audiosource, let me go direct from sat receiver and cd.
Looks like it's built better though, my audiosource fried in about a year.
Ryan

kfr01 · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Dec 2005, 11:24 pm »

I can see its merits for a bedroom system, but I wish it had a remote.

Rashiki · « **Reply #11 on:** 16 Dec 2005, 04:54 pm »

I have some in-ceiling speakers in a couple of bedrooms and I currently have them driven by an old HT receiver in the attic, which I turn on and off using an X-10 switch, the music source is a first-generation squeezebox. I'm looking for a decent amp with auto turn-on so I can get rid of the X-10 switch and start/stop the music entirely from the slimserver. The problem is that my attic space is above my insulation, so it suffers from some large temperature changes. It never gets below freezing, but it can vary between 35 to 120 degrees Farenheit. I've found the manual online for the BPA-1, but it doesn't specify an operating temperature range that I could find. What's the min/max operating temperature of the BPA-1? Would I be safe running it within that temperature range?

-Rob

Sean Parque · « **Reply #12 on:** 16 Dec 2005, 06:32 pm »

I will see if I can get that info for you...the lead engineer is travelling for the holidays so it may be a bit before I receive a response...

Sean

>>
What's the min/max operating temperature of the BPA-1? Would I be safe running it within that temperature range?
<<

Sean Parque · « **Reply #13 on:** 20 Dec 2005, 03:25 pm »

I spoke with engineering...

The cold is fine...the only real problem would come from the over temp circuit. At about 90 C the amp will shut down. 120 F = 48.8 C, so you are reducing the margin from which the amplifier can operate. My gut feeling is that it should not be a problem under 8 ohm loads.

Sean