Post by algreen345 on Jan 15, 2009 19:30:56 GMT -5
I've had this amp for a day now. It is sitting behind a Yamaha RX-V657, driving two Axiom M3 V2 speakers on stands, with an Oppo Digital DV-980H source. My room is 11x17 and not the best acoustically. We only use 2-channels for music and movies in this room.
I always felt the amp section of the Yamaha was constrained and narrow and bought the UPA-2 to open up the soundstage.
First, the UPA-2 sounds terrible in the first hours of use. No point comparing it until it is warmed up overnight. Also, after unplugging everything to install the Emotiva, I discovered that my Oppo reset all the settings and that was not good. I had it originally plugged into my Monster HTS 2500 power conditioner and the Emotiva really opened up when I removed it and plugged it into the outlet. For the first day, I was not really that impressed. The sound was pretty much like the Yamaha.
But later today, I sorted out all the plugs, settings, wires, and other tweaks in my little audio system (while my wife looked on in disbelief). And after I did, we did an A/B comparison of the UPA-2 and the Yamaha.
The Emotiva sounds far better. The soundstage is much wider and more dynamic. On every music type, highs are higher, lows are firmer, and instrument separation is fantastic. The Yamaha sounds nice and polite, but the Emotiva gets your toe tapping, your body moving, and sometimes even your heart racing.
I think Yamaha must have designed their DSP to compensate for the amp stage weaknesses, because I always preferred listening to the Oppo 980 through the DSP rather than their Source Direct mode. But with the Emotiva UPA-2, the Oppo shines in Direct mode. The soundstage has a much lower noise floor and voices are haunting.
I'm sure the other Emotiva amps are better yet, but for $299 this little UPA-2 is quite a nice upgrade from my commercial Yamaha receiver. I am going to keep it.
I always felt the amp section of the Yamaha was constrained and narrow and bought the UPA-2 to open up the soundstage.
First, the UPA-2 sounds terrible in the first hours of use. No point comparing it until it is warmed up overnight. Also, after unplugging everything to install the Emotiva, I discovered that my Oppo reset all the settings and that was not good. I had it originally plugged into my Monster HTS 2500 power conditioner and the Emotiva really opened up when I removed it and plugged it into the outlet. For the first day, I was not really that impressed. The sound was pretty much like the Yamaha.
But later today, I sorted out all the plugs, settings, wires, and other tweaks in my little audio system (while my wife looked on in disbelief). And after I did, we did an A/B comparison of the UPA-2 and the Yamaha.
The Emotiva sounds far better. The soundstage is much wider and more dynamic. On every music type, highs are higher, lows are firmer, and instrument separation is fantastic. The Yamaha sounds nice and polite, but the Emotiva gets your toe tapping, your body moving, and sometimes even your heart racing.
I think Yamaha must have designed their DSP to compensate for the amp stage weaknesses, because I always preferred listening to the Oppo 980 through the DSP rather than their Source Direct mode. But with the Emotiva UPA-2, the Oppo shines in Direct mode. The soundstage has a much lower noise floor and voices are haunting.
I'm sure the other Emotiva amps are better yet, but for $299 this little UPA-2 is quite a nice upgrade from my commercial Yamaha receiver. I am going to keep it.
