UPA'1 and Magneplanar 1.7?

[ejman]

I've been listening to my UPA 1's with the Magneplanar MMG's for over a month now and they sound wonderful. I've been reading about the 1.7's and how they are supposed to be even mo' better compared to the MMG's. Has anyone tried the UPA 1's with the 1.7?

[strindl]

I have not heard a UPA-1 with magnepans...but I have listened to multiple XPA series amps on Magnepan MMG,s , 1.6's and 1.7's. I currently use an XPA-2 to power my 1.6's in my bedroom system. That combination works very well.....much better than the Adcom 555 II I had in that system before.

I've also had my 1.7's hooked to that XPA-2 as well as my pair of XPA-1's. Emotiva amps and Magnepan speakers were made for each other.

I've never had the chance to hear a UPA-1 but from it's specs and feedback from others who have purchased one, I'm fairly certain a pair of UPA-1's would make a good match for Magnepan 1.7's.

[strindl]

and as good as the MMG's sound...the 1.7's really do sound quite a bit better.

[slbenz]

I use an XPA-5 for my Magnepan IIIa speakers without any problem. So the UPA-1 should also not have any problem running the 1.7. And yes, the 1.7 is a big step up from the MMG!

[jackfish]

I wouldn't get 1.7s if you already have MMGs. I'd get the MMGs "Gunned" with Magnestands, particularly if your room is 250 sq. ft. or smaller. Magnestands effectively provide more detail, eliminate limited sweetspots, increase efficiency by about 6 dB, and lower bass extension by as much as 10 Hz.

[ejman]

Sept 23, 2010 8:04:39 GMT -5 jackfish said:

I wouldn't get 1.7s if you already have MMGs. I'd get the MMGs "Gunned" with Magnestands, particularly if your room is 250 sq. ft. or smaller. Magnestands effectively provide more detail, eliminate limited sweetspots, increase efficiency by about 6 dB, and lower bass extension by as much as 10 Hz.

The Magnestand option is an intriguing route. but I have two considerations and one concern.

1) My listening room is about 350 sq. ft.
2) If I get the 1.7's for slightly more than the magnestand mod, I would still have the MMG's to use in another room
3) I'm concerned about a mod that removes the tweeter fuse. Reason being that I've blown the fuses on my MMG's a couple of times (using amplification other than Emotiva) I do understand the sound is purported to be much better without the fuse

[ejman]

Sept 22, 2010 22:30:23 GMT -5 strindl said:

I have not heard a UPA-1 with magnepans...but I have listened to multiple XPA series amps on Magnepan MMG,s , 1.6's and 1.7's. I currently use an XPA-2 to power my 1.6's in my bedroom system. That combination works very well.....much better than the Adcom 555 II I had in that system before.

I've also had my 1.7's hooked to that XPA-2 as well as my pair of XPA-1's. Emotiva amps and Magnepan speakers were made for each other.

I've never had the chance to hear a UPA-1 but from it's specs and feedback from others who have purchased one, I'm fairly certain a pair of UPA-1's would make a good match for Magnepan 1.7's.

That's very encouraging. Looking at the power output of the UPA 1, it's actually pretty close to the XPA-2 (particularly at the "Knee" of the distortion curve) where the UPA 1 is at 350 w/4 ohms and the XPA 2 is at 400 w/ 4 ohms

[ejman]

Sept 22, 2010 23:33:38 GMT -5 @slbenz said:

I use an XPA-5 for my Magnepan IIIa speakers without any problem. So the UPA-1 should also not have any problem running the 1.7. And yes, the 1.7 is a big step up from the MMG!

That is very good to know. How does the XPA-5 sound with the ribbon in the IIIa's? I've heard the ribbons are very very revealing

[jackfish]

Peter Gunn has said that MMGs with Magnestands would do fine in a 600 sq. ft. room. With proper amplification and Magnestands I'd be less concerned about the fuse issue.

[slbenz]

Sept 23, 2010 9:44:03 GMT -5 ejman said:

Sept 22, 2010 23:33:38 GMT -5 @slbenz said:

I use an XPA-5 for my Magnepan IIIa speakers without any problem. So the UPA-1 should also not have any problem running the 1.7. And yes, the 1.7 is a big step up from the MMG!

That is very good to know. How does the XPA-5 sound with the ribbon in the IIIa's? I've heard the ribbons are very very revealing

Yes, the true ribbon responds to just about any change you put into the system, good or bad. But in the XPA-5's case, it was for the good. The XPA-5 replaced a Parasound HCA-1205A that I owned for almost a decade. My Magnepans have the fuse bypass which helps brings you closer to the music. Did the same when I had 1.5s and 0.5s. Never a problem, only better sound. Should not be a problem with any of the Emotiva amps bypassing the fuse on a Magnepan. As you probably know, Magnepans respond really well to a tube preamp, SS amp combo. In order for me to have my cake and eat it too, I use a Pioneer Elite receiver as a home theater preamp but have installed between it and my Emotiva XPA-5 a Yaqin single twin triode tube buffer which is my secret weapon to high quality sound. Currently using a russian 6H23 rocket logo tube which is the best I have heard in my system.

[ejman]

Sept 23, 2010 14:09:41 GMT -5 @slbenz said:

Sept 23, 2010 9:44:03 GMT -5 ejman said:

That is very good to know. How does the XPA-5 sound with the ribbon in the IIIa's? I've heard the ribbons are very very revealing

Yes, the true ribbon responds to just about any change you put into the system, good or bad. But in the XPA-5's case, it was for the good. The XPA-5 replaced a Parasound HCA-1205A that I owned for almost a decade. My Magnepans have the fuse bypass which helps brings you closer to the music. Did the same when I had 1.5s and 0.5s. Never a problem, only better sound. Should not be a problem with any of the Emotiva amps bypassing the fuse on a Magnepan. As you probably know, Magnepans respond really well to a tube preamp, SS amp combo. In order for me to have my cake and eat it too, I use a Pioneer Elite receiver as a home theater preamp but have installed between it and my Emotiva XPA-5 a Yaqin single twin triode tube buffer which is my secret weapon to high quality sound. Currently using a russian 6H23 rocket logo tube which is the best I have heard in my system.

Very good info. I've never heard a tube buffer but I'm intrigued. How does it change the sound in your system?

[anonymoususer]

Last time I used a tube buffer was a Musical Fidelity X-10.

Tube buffers add that "Tube" sound.
You know that warm, chocolaty, velvet sound.

Scientifically, it adds 2nd order harmonic distortion to the signal path.

First one sounds much more fun.

[slbenz]

Sept 23, 2010 15:31:29 GMT -5 @anonymoususer said:

Last time I used a tube buffer was a Musical Fidelity X-10.

Tube buffers add that "Tube" sound.
You know that warm, chocolaty, velvet sound.

Scientifically, it adds 2nd order harmonic distortion to the signal path.

First one sounds much more fun.

Used to own the Musical Fidelity X-10v3 but the Yaqin with the single 6922 tube is so much better and costs less. So many more ways to upgrade it over the Musical Fidelity. And you are right that the tube buffer adds that warmth of tubes to the sound.

[ejman]

Sept 23, 2010 14:09:41 GMT -5 @slbenz said:

Sept 23, 2010 9:44:03 GMT -5 ejman said:

That is very good to know. How does the XPA-5 sound with the ribbon in the IIIa's? I've heard the ribbons are very very revealing

Yes, the true ribbon responds to just about any change you put into the system, good or bad. But in the XPA-5's case, it was for the good. The XPA-5 replaced a Parasound HCA-1205A that I owned for almost a decade. My Magnepans have the fuse bypass which helps brings you closer to the music. Did the same when I had 1.5s and 0.5s. Never a problem, only better sound. Should not be a problem with any of the Emotiva amps bypassing the fuse on a Magnepan. As you probably know, Magnepans respond really well to a tube preamp, SS amp combo. In order for me to have my cake and eat it too, I use a Pioneer Elite receiver as a home theater preamp but have installed between it and my Emotiva XPA-5 a Yaqin single twin triode tube buffer which is my secret weapon to high quality sound. Currently using a russian 6H23 rocket logo tube which is the best I have heard in my system.

Your comment on the Yaqin tube buffer was very intriguing and after reading a lot of comments about buffers (both pro and con) finally decided the only way to find out was to try it myself.

Well, I'll be damn if it doesn't make a big difference in my system for the better. I got the Pacific Stereo one tube version you mentioned and indeed, the soundstage is wider, deeper and clearer. The presentation more musical. I don't understand how ADDING 2nd order distortion to the signal can do so. But this is what I've found. I got two tubes with the unit and indeed the sound changes with the tube "rolling" I've never owned a component with tubes before and I can see that this is a very slippery slope.

I'm using the buffer between my USP-1 and the UPA 1 amps. The only problem I had was some kind of a ground loop with the Cable tuner connected to the preamp. Removing the tuner connection solved the problem. I never listened to it much so no problem to simply take it out.

[Nemesis.ie]

As a note, if the XPA-5 drives them well, a UPA-1 should have no problem at all.

[monkumonku]

Oct 7, 2010 9:41:58 GMT -5 ejman said:

Sept 23, 2010 14:09:41 GMT -5 @slbenz said:

Yes, the true ribbon responds to just about any change you put into the system, good or bad. But in the XPA-5's case, it was for the good. The XPA-5 replaced a Parasound HCA-1205A that I owned for almost a decade. My Magnepans have the fuse bypass which helps brings you closer to the music. Did the same when I had 1.5s and 0.5s. Never a problem, only better sound. Should not be a problem with any of the Emotiva amps bypassing the fuse on a Magnepan. As you probably know, Magnepans respond really well to a tube preamp, SS amp combo. In order for me to have my cake and eat it too, I use a Pioneer Elite receiver as a home theater preamp but have installed between it and my Emotiva XPA-5 a Yaqin single twin triode tube buffer which is my secret weapon to high quality sound. Currently using a russian 6H23 rocket logo tube which is the best I have heard in my system.

Your comment on the Yaqin tube buffer was very intriguing and after reading a lot of comments about buffers (both pro and con) finally decided the only way to find out was to try it myself.

Well, I'll be damn if it doesn't make a big difference in my system for the better. I got the Pacific Stereo one tube version you mentioned and indeed, the soundstage is wider, deeper and clearer. The presentation more musical. I don't understand how ADDING 2nd order distortion to the signal can do so. But this is what I've found. I got two tubes with the unit and indeed the sound changes with the tube "rolling" I've never owned a component with tubes before and I can see that this is a very slippery slope.

I'm using the buffer between my USP-1 and the UPA 1 amps. The only problem I had was some kind of a ground loop with the Cable tuner connected to the preamp. Removing the tuner connection solved the problem. I never listened to it much so no problem to simply take it out.

I know little about tube stuff but am interested and curious, after reading the posts in this thread. I was looking at the Yaqin model you referred to and also at the Grant Fidelity B283 that has two tubes. Anyone have any comments about these, or which one might be preferable? Thanks!

[ejman]

The main reason that I went with the Yaqin 1 tube version is that one of the tubes it takes, the 6DJ8 is a very popular one. There are seemingly hundreds of different ones available from the very expensive to dirt cheap so it seemed that the tube rolling thing would be easy to do with this unit plus it's only one tube.

From what I've read the Grant Fidelity unit is comparable and sounds just as good but the tubes it uses are not as common and it takes two. On the other hand, the Grant unit is cheaper than the Pacific Stereo one. You can find the one tube version on Ebay much cheaper but these come directly from Chinese vendors and I have no idea how that works, never having purchased that way.

[monkumonku]

Oct 7, 2010 14:21:40 GMT -5 ejman said:

The main reason that I went with the Yaqin 1 tube version is that one of the tubes it takes, the 6DJ8 is a very popular one. There are seemingly hundreds of different ones available from the very expensive to dirt cheap so it seemed that the tube rolling thing would be easy to do with this unit plus it's only one tube.

From what I've read the Grant Fidelity unit is comparable and sounds just as good but the tubes it uses are not as common and it takes two. On the other hand, the Grant unit is cheaper than the Pacific Stereo one. You can find the one tube version on Ebay much cheaper but these come directly from Chinese vendors and I have no idea how that works, never having purchased that way.

Thanks! I went ahead and ordered the Yaqin from Pacific Valve. It seems easier with one tube and from what I've read it is just as good. I saw some on E-Bay but didn't want to mess with those. ;D

[ejman]

I hope it works in your system as well as it does in mine. Please post your impressions when you get it.

[VisN]

I'm totally intrigued by tube buffering so I ordered one of the single 6922 tube Yaqin ($120 shipped) from one of the Chinese vendors. I'll let you guys know how it goes.