Very Very Preliminary XMC-1 Feedback

[UT-Driven]

Being 45 years old, out of shape and pushing 300 pounds in the heat of summer, it was a long painful process stripping my gear out and reinstalling with the new setup.

Old system:
Panasonic VT60 TV
Marantz SR7002 AV Receiver
XSP-1 Preamp in HT Mode
RPA-2 2 Channel Amp
ERC-2 CD Player
OPPO BDP-103D Blu-Ray Player
Sony 300 Blu-Ray Changer
Roku Player
DP-300F Turntable
2 Salk Sound Songtowers/3 SongSurround IIs

New system:
Panasonic VT60 TV
XMC-1 Pre/Pro
Theta Intrepid 5 Channel AMP
OPPO BDP-103D Blu-Ray Player
Sony 300 Blu-Ray Changer
Roku Player
2 Salk Sound Songtowers/3 SongSurround IIs

I will be separating out the 2 channel system to go with my ERT 8.3s in the den. I did have a problem with the trigger not working with the Theta amp. I heard multiple clicks but it would never come on. I unplugged the trigger and the amp started working. I am not sure if it is an incompatibility or what.

UPS was later than they have ever been in delivering (usually about 2:00 PM, last night it was almost 7:00 PM), except for the holidays, so I did not have much time to use it. I first threw in a SACD from Moya Brennan (originally from Clannad, Enya's sister) called Two Horizons.



With the combination of her ethereal voice and the beautiful stringed instruments, it is one of my favorite go-to discs. I have not heard this disc sound so good. The most striking difference was the amount of bass that I was hearing. About 6 songs through the disc, I realized one thing.. I never hooked up the COAX cable for my subwoofer!

To wrap up my night, I watched an episode on the Roku player. I did notice one problem in that there was a pop sound when the SACD stopped playing.

I am looking forward to the next session!

Doug

[Chuck Elliot]

Jul 25, 2014 10:57:46 GMT -5 UT-Driven said:

Being 45 years old, out of shape and pushing 300 pounds.....

"The shape I'm in, I could donate my body to science fiction." -Rodney Dangerfield Back to School

[REN]

i would like to know how it compares to xsp-1 i am thinking of selling mine and just go for the xmc but be for i do that i am looking for a few reviews on the the two to see if the sq in the same or witch one is better

[UT-Driven]

Jul 25, 2014 16:57:02 GMT -5 REN said:

i would like to know how it compares to xsp-1 i am thinking of selling mine and just go for the xmc but be for i do that i am looking for a few reviews on the the two to see if the sq in the same or witch one is better

It will be awhile before I can make a comparison as my free time is limited, and the setups are a little different as I switched out both preamp and amp at the same time, but my initial impression is positive for replacing it and using the XMC-1 for all music. The only problems I am experiencing are the loss of the phono amp, and less balanced inputs.

Doug

[UT-Driven]

The pop sound when stopping a SACD seems to be a bug. I currently have the Oppo 103D set for DSD over HDMI and I get a sort of pop sound whether I press Stop on a SACD, or if it reaches the end of the disc. If I turn the XMC-1 off before it reaches the end, the pop will not be heard. It appears to change based on the volume and it does not seem to be a dangerous pop, like the Onkyo receivers had with some Blu-ray discs years ago.

Is there an official bug submission area? Are we supposed to email support?

Doug

[hemster]

Aug 6, 2014 16:56:47 GMT -5 UT-Driven said:

The pop sound when stopping a SACD seems to be a bug. I currently have the Oppo 103D set for DSD over HDMI and I get a sort of pop sound whether I press Stop on a SACD, or if it reaches the end of the disc. If I turn the XMC-1 off before it reaches the end, the pop will not be heard. It appears to change based on the volume and it does not seem to be a dangerous pop, like the Onkyo receivers had with some Blu-ray discs years ago.

Is there an official bug submission area? Are we supposed to email support?

Doug

This appears to a sporadic issue as others with Oppo units haven't experienced it. But by all means email support because if multiple people are seeing this issue, there may be a way to narrow down the cause and therefore a remedy could be provided. Now that things are more in Emotiva's control, we can expect fixes if the issues can be replicated. 

[novisnick]

he steer, you have a PM

[UT-Driven]

Last night, I listened to Sting's Brand New Day on multi-channel SACD.



I can't believe how great my setup sounds. Desert Rose in particular sounded really awesome. I don't remember which song I was listening to, but I was surprised at the bass coming out of the surrounds. It startled me at first. I have not watched a movie yet. I keep on going back to the music. 

Doug