Post by Bukowski on Dec 27, 2010 20:51:43 GMT -5
So I’ve had my system for a few weeks now, and although I’m still in my break-in period, I thought I’d give a mini review of the setup, and in particular the Emo gear. My current gear consists of a UMC-1, a pair of UPA-1 monoblocks, and a pair of Magnepan 1.7’s. My sources include a Mac Mini connected by HDMI, a PS3 and a Technics 1200 turntable.
The Maggie’s are truly divine. The soundstage is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Vocals are incredibly life-like. At times, it’s as if the musician is in the room with me. The UPA-1 monoblocks provide plenty of power for the speakers. Anyone reading this who may be concerned that the UPA-1’s would not be strong enough, I assure you they are. When I demoed the speakers, I heard them powered by a Rotel integrated, and the music sounded thin. I then heard them powered by a Bryston two-channel power amp and it sounded fantastic. The UPA’s, in my opinion, power the speakers to a similar degree with wonderful results. Most importantly, the UPA’s do it for a fraction of the price. ;D
The UMC-1 is where things get sticky.
I’ll be honest with you, I really really wanted to like the UMC-1. I knew what I was getting myself into before I ordered it, but I figured things had been relatively ironed out and it was worth a shot for the price. First, the positive: musically, it sounds fantastic. Lossless audio coming from the Mac sounded amazing. Vinyl sounded even more impressive. The UMC-1 made my Shure cartridge sing. Now the negative: God this thing was buggy. Just the clarify, I was running the most recent .05 firmware. I would have odd audio dropout for no discernable reason with the HDMI inputs (both the Mac and the PS3). When listening to my iTunes collection, the UMC-1 would often miss the first split-second of a song. There were times when switching between the PS3 and the Mac that I would lose audio all together. If I turned the UMC-1 off and then immediately back on again, the sound would be back. Optical and analog inputs worked without fail.
So today, I sent back my UMC-1. On my way home I picked up a Marantz SR5005 for $700. I’m using the preouts to feed my UPA-1’s. So far, everything works great. No audio dropouts, no skipping of song intros. It locks onto the HDMI signal instantly. Musically, the Marantz is neutral, but a bit less impressive than the UMC-1. For me, it’s something to get me by until I can afford a nice pre-pro. All in all, I will probably come back to Emotiva in the future for my power amp needs. I am duly impressed by their amps. Heck, I might even try the XMC-1 down the road.
The Maggie’s are truly divine. The soundstage is unlike anything I’ve ever heard. Vocals are incredibly life-like. At times, it’s as if the musician is in the room with me. The UPA-1 monoblocks provide plenty of power for the speakers. Anyone reading this who may be concerned that the UPA-1’s would not be strong enough, I assure you they are. When I demoed the speakers, I heard them powered by a Rotel integrated, and the music sounded thin. I then heard them powered by a Bryston two-channel power amp and it sounded fantastic. The UPA’s, in my opinion, power the speakers to a similar degree with wonderful results. Most importantly, the UPA’s do it for a fraction of the price. ;D
The UMC-1 is where things get sticky.
I’ll be honest with you, I really really wanted to like the UMC-1. I knew what I was getting myself into before I ordered it, but I figured things had been relatively ironed out and it was worth a shot for the price. First, the positive: musically, it sounds fantastic. Lossless audio coming from the Mac sounded amazing. Vinyl sounded even more impressive. The UMC-1 made my Shure cartridge sing. Now the negative: God this thing was buggy. Just the clarify, I was running the most recent .05 firmware. I would have odd audio dropout for no discernable reason with the HDMI inputs (both the Mac and the PS3). When listening to my iTunes collection, the UMC-1 would often miss the first split-second of a song. There were times when switching between the PS3 and the Mac that I would lose audio all together. If I turned the UMC-1 off and then immediately back on again, the sound would be back. Optical and analog inputs worked without fail.
So today, I sent back my UMC-1. On my way home I picked up a Marantz SR5005 for $700. I’m using the preouts to feed my UPA-1’s. So far, everything works great. No audio dropouts, no skipping of song intros. It locks onto the HDMI signal instantly. Musically, the Marantz is neutral, but a bit less impressive than the UMC-1. For me, it’s something to get me by until I can afford a nice pre-pro. All in all, I will probably come back to Emotiva in the future for my power amp needs. I am duly impressed by their amps. Heck, I might even try the XMC-1 down the road.
