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Topic: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon (Read 1,237 times)

Leon
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UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Thread Started on May 8, 2012, 4:36pm »

My amps arrived Yesterday

I followed the FedEx online tracking service to see the amps had arrived.I picked them up and was surprised at the weight and size of the packaging.

I opted for a pair of UPA-1's after reading extensive user reviews and finding out as much info as I possibly could.

The reason for going the monobloc path was I always wanted dedicated amplifiers for each speaker. The Martin Logan Source Hybrid Electrostats are rated at 200w continuous. The speakers are rated at 5 ohms and dip lower at 20khz. They are not a difficult load by any means.

Initial impressions:

After unpacking both amplifiers, I did a visual check for any damage that could have occurred in their long trip to Australia. The packaging is very utilitarian. Hard foam and wrapped in plastic with silica gel to absorb moisture. An A4 bound user manual is supplied. The packaging is simple, strong and secure. I discarded the power cord as it is a different outlet plug and our voltage over here is 220v.

Connectivity:

I did use both trigger cables and connected one from the USP-1, and one to the trigger output of the first UPA-1, to the second one.

I tested the trigger outputs and they work instantaneously. All 3 power on and off without a hitch. I have had these features on other amplifiers but never used them before. Very handy.

Next I connected the USP-1 to the UPA-1's via Monoprice 50cm RCA Stereo Interconnects. I was happy that when the preamp was stacked onto both monoblocs, the 50cm cable was perfect in length. I always prefer short cables where practicable. The only exception is the 75ohm Canare RCA Coax that needs to be 1.5M. The manufacturer of the cable states better signal transmission and other effects that I won't get into here

I then connected the speaker cables to each corresponding monobloc. Top one was for right speaker and bottom one for right. The spade connections went on with a slight click in and I screwed the terminals in for a tight, secure connection. It is the first time I have used spades. I like them.

Listening:

The following CD's were used for quality reference:

Sarah Blasko - What the sea will want, the sea will have
Sarah Blasko - As day follows night
Regina Spektor - Begin to hope
Regina Spektor - Far
Kate Miller Heidke - Little eve
The best of Joe Sample
Acoustic Alchemy - This way
America - The definitive collection
The Beauty Room - The beauty room

The CD's I chose contain some very organic, real sounding instruments.
Drums, bass guitars, pianos and various almost world type percussion to them. There is also a touch of synthesizer in some of the electronic tracks.

The voices of the artists all have a specific signature to them.
Sarah Blasko has a very laid back, almost husky type soft voice that she matches well with her skilful piano skills. Kate is known for being quirky, along with Regina. Female voices are amongst the hardest to recreate faithfully. These are my vocal reference tracks.

Joe is a well renowned pianist and some of his recordings are recorded very well. Sustain, energy and realism are words that come to mind when I think of his better work. This is my piano reference track.

Acoustic Alchemy is a very good selection of multi layered guitar along with some complex bass lines and drum beats that really bring out the best and worst of systems.
I have heard some tracks get mushed into one, almost unlistenable 4 minute section of noise. These are my layer and multi track tests

The beauty room contains some good material that has been recorded with valve equipment. The warmth of the cd has a great sense of depth and listenability. The ability to play these tracks back accurately portray a large and expansive soundstage. These are my soundstage tests.

Ok - Lets get started

The first thing that caught my attention was the large soundstage. I have owned mid-fi components before and only the best of them had the ability to throw the image of sound to the left, or right of the speakers. The placing of instruments can almost be pinpointed.

Along with left and right, the UPS-1 & UPA-1's have the ability to place the instruments above and below also, This might sound a bit weird at first. Think of it this way. A well recorded drum track should contain multiple tracks of the different microphones and their placement. Mics are placed above, below, left, right and directly at the kit. I know this because I play the drums myself.

Drum tracks are played with a sense of scale, authority and depth that adds the the realism. Cymbals are very hard to reproduce accurately because of their dynamics and decay. A cymbal should sound powerful and attack the music while decaying and sizzling into the background. The amplifiers had great control of the upper-mid and high frequencies. The snare drums have a whippy snap to them that also contains the body of the drum. Drum tracks - PASS

The female vocalists I chose all have their own type of sound. It is obvious in their recordings that they all have a great amount of input in what their music should sound like. It's great to find some acoustic type music that isn't so highly compressed for playback via MP3 or other lossy formats.
I believe female vocals, along with string instruments, violin etc are the hardest to reproduce faithfully. The voices came through the amplifier accurate and true. No sense of exaggerated mids/highs. Many systems I have heard posses a mid-band hump that makes female voices "honky"Â'and "in your face". Female vocal - PASS

The piano tracks were played back with a sense of realism. There is no other way to describe them. The notes were authoritve, delicate and nimble. I love hearing a piano being played by such skilled and gifted musicians. Piano track - PASS

The complex multi-track songs of Acoustic Alchemy were reproduced in a way that shows how well this pre/amp combo performs, Excellently. There are certain tracks that contain bass that is recorded in and out of phase. The control these amplifiers have over the 8inch woofers is very accurate. The bass never sounds Â"wolly" or "one noted". Its always tight, without being so tight that it actually restrains the notes. The lows go low, very low. The horns contained in these tracks are recorded with a magnitude of sheer volume and quality. Their dynamics are incredible and accurate. Multi instrument tracks - PASS

You will notice in my observations that I have not referenced any other gear that has been directly compared with the Emotiva. The reviews I have read all say they compare to amplifier "X" at two times the cost, or Its not as good as amplifier "Y", but "Y" costs 10 times as much and is expected? I am not here to do that.

What I will say - Emotiva has put together a very high performing Pre/Amp combination that I am proud to call my own - No price point reference needs to be given here.

Associated Equipment:

Panasonic BD-MP35
Musical Fidelity M1DAC
Emotiva USP-1
Emotiva UPA-1
Emotiva UPA-1
Martin Logan Source Hybrid Electrostatic Loudspeakers

A little background :
I have been playing with electronics and hi-fi since 1992 (ten years old) and it has been a passion/obsession of mine. I have a very good understanding of components, sound, loudspeaker technologies and designs. I have also built speakers and subwoofer systems for friends of mine. I have also done some sound capturing and recording and enjoy recording our live music with a friend of mine.

Thanks for reading

Leon

Edited for text conversion problems.

« Last Edit: May 8, 2012, 4:46pm by Leon »

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stiehl11
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #1 on May 8, 2012, 10:37pm »

Nice write up! Glad you're happy with your amps and pre.

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garbulky
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #2 on May 8, 2012, 11:30pm »

Glad to hear it sounds great! I love my UPA-2's, and I can only imagine how great those UPA-1's must be. I have wanted to go the monoblock route. BTW, Regina Spektor compresses at least some of her more popular music like Fidelity, Samson, and us. Which is a pity because they are very nice! I would love to hear all three of those songs uncompressed, especially fidelity with its kicking beat.
Try sticking some Wynton Marsalis on there especially his angel eyes album. You might really like the results. Incredible detail, great spaciousness, and dynamics that will floor you. Feels like your really there at the venue he played at. The UPA-2 did a fantastic job bringing out the detail the recording had. It's possible to find it free at a library near you.

« Last Edit: May 8, 2012, 11:31pm by garbulky »

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Laptop/PS3/Toshiba HD-DVD Player HD-A2/AsusXonar Essence ST ASIO SPDIF Coax->XDA- (12db RCA attenuator)->UPA-2->Axiom M80 V2 with v3 parts
Headphone:
XDA-1 (12 db RCA attenuator)->Xenos 3HA Headphone amp->Sennheiser HD600
Asus Xonar Essence ST ASIO->RCA outputs->Xenos 3HA headphone amp -> Sennheisser HD600

geebo
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #3 on May 9, 2012, 7:48am »

Nice report, Leon. Thanks for sharing your impressions with us.

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hemster
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #4 on May 9, 2012, 7:58am »

Thanks for taking the time to report, Leon. I like your choice of music for the review.

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Theater:
UMC-200, Oppo BDP-95, XPA-5/UPA-2, 120" 2:35 screen, Panasonic AE3000HD pj, HD5000 Lens,
Paradigm Reference 100/ADPs/CC-590, Sunfire 2700W sub, Buttkicker w/1100W Amp, APC-H15, URC MX-900

Family Room:
Marantz 5003, Airmotiv6, SB Duet, USUB-10, Oppo DV971H, FiOS TV

Office:
Airmotiv4, ERC-2, UMC-1, USUB-10, SB Duet, FiOS TV

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Leon
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #5 on May 9, 2012, 4:41pm »

garbulky - You are absolutely correct about the compression contained in many of the songs available today. It's very unfortunate that a large number of artists are catering for the portable solution. Compressed dynamics and loudness so tracks can be played back via crappy earbuds hopefully isn't the way of the future!
I will check out Wynton. Thanks

geebo - Thanks

I tried to use real world terms that people could understand who weren't savvy in the terms of audio. I myself, am certainly not.

Hemster - Thanks. Good to see we have similar tastes in music.

These amplifiers have really livened up my speakers. The resolution that is achievable with these components is incredible.

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garbulky
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #6 on May 9, 2012, 9:45pm »

I was simply amazed when I got my UPA-2 amp too. I thought well, I spent only around 300 so I shouldnt expect miracles. As long as it drives my speakers I'll be happy. But it was so quiet (in hiss) and pulled so much detail out of songs that I had NO idea was even there. Both emotiva products I've bought, I've been thoroughly pleased at and were great ways to spend my cash.

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Leon
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #7 on May 13, 2012, 9:51pm »

Good to hear about the UPA-2working well with your setup.

So I have had some extensive listening over the past week.
Have had a chance to play some lossless tracks via Foobar and V-Link from MF.

The tracks are produced accurate enough for my liking.

I am enjoying this pre/power more amd more everyday

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garbulky
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #8 on May 14, 2012, 12:43am »

How do you find the performance at low volume levels? Do you find any problems?

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Leon
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UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #9 on May 14, 2012, 4:52pm via the ProBoards Mobile App »

I find it performs very well at low levels. The Electrostats are very, very revealing. They allow me to play music softly.

The volume tracking - Depending on the source, gets loud after 10 O'clock position. There is a good range before that though. Just took some getting used to with the remote, as a touch produces a fair amount of movement on the dial

I had a play with some Rothwell Attenuators (10db) and did not like the sound with them.

The volume also varies so much with CD's.

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hawk14
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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #10 on May 31, 2012, 8:02am »

Great job on the reivew. It's hard to believe that these beauties are discontinued. I'm glad I have mine!!

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Speakers: front- Nola Viper IIa; Def Tech PM700, center-CLR 2500, rear-BPX
Sub: Def Tech Powerfield 1500
Amps and Pres: de Havilland Ultraverve 3 preamp, Integra DHC-40.1 pre-pro, Emotiva XPA-3, Emotiva UPA-1 x 2;
Sources: Yamaha dvd c-750 disc changer, Musical Fidelity A5 cdp
Display: 54 inch Panasonic plasma; Cables: Audio Art & River Cable IC's, Wireworld Aurora 7 & Shunyata Venom 3

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Re: UPA-1 Pair with USP-1 Review by Leon
« Reply #11 on Jun 3, 2012, 8:31am »

Hi Leon,

Great review. I wrote the one just below yours. It's always nice to hear how others are using, and enjoying, their Emo gear, especially the UPA-1's, and I completely agree with your observations.

If I may comment on one of your CD choices, I will add that I, too, enjoy listening to America's "The Definitive Collection." Through the Emo's their songs are rendered with all the purity and tone that their music is know for. America uses a lot of acoustic guitar, and I have found that with lesser equipment the unique sound between the different types can simply get lost. With the Emo's I can clearly hear when there are steel and nylon string guitars playing in unison, or when there are several different acoustic guitars laying down riffs, like in the lead-in to Ventura Highway. It is these subtle differences and shadings that make the UPA-1's so remarkable.

Like Hawk14 said, it is hard to believe that Emotiva has discontinued the UPA-1's. We are the fortunate few who were lucky enough to purchase ours before they ran out. I am still amazed by them each and every time I turn them on.

Thanks again, and enjoy the music.

WPM

« Last Edit: Jun 3, 2012, 9:07am by wpm »

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