Tone Audio reviews USP-1 & UPA-1

[Chris]

This is the first review of Emotiva products I've noticed by one of the "fussy" audiophile magazines. The money quote:

I can’t stress it enough: This combination does not make a single misstep. Sound quality is excellent, and the pricing is amazing.

I've been very happy with my USP-1 and UPA-2 combo these many moons. Looks like others are starting to take notice. Congrats to team Emotiva!

www.tonepublications.com/review/the-emotiva-usp-1-preamplifier-and-upa-1-amplifiers/

-CB

BTW, does the 30 day return Emotiva policy apply to cables as well? I couldn't see anything specifically stating this but I would assume so?

[RPA-1 man]

Excellent. Thanks for sharing. A very impressive review imo.

[skeetlong]

Thanks for putting the link...All i can say about my UPA-1's..They open up the sound stage.I do believe any other company would be hard press too put out a Mono block or any of the amp's that Emotiva offer's.They are so dynamic they make you feel like you spent more then what you paid for them. ;D

[Porscheguy]

What better compliment than this:

From the reviewer:

"If I were starting again from the beginning, the USP-1 and UPA-1 would serve as my system’s core. Add your favorite $500-$1,500 pair of speakers, a $500 turntable, a DAC, and you’ve got a system that rocks for a few thousand bucks. (I’m really looking forward to listening to Emotiva’s flagship monoblocks; if the company can turn out a product of this caliber for $350, what they can do for $1,000?""I can’t stress it enough: This combination does not make a single misstep. Sound quality is excellent, and the pricing is amazing"

[Deleted]

Thanks Chris for the review link.



Emotiva USP-1 Preamplifier and UPA-1 Amplifiers

[VisN]

Thanks for the link.

Really good to see such overwhelmingly positive reviews of Emotiva gear. This really is a sweet combo.

[jamrock]

I remember Audioholics giving a similar "review" of the UMC-1 which was highly criticized by certain members of this forum. That it was a sales pitch for Emotiva and some even hinting that is was a paid advertisement by Emo. The reviewer only gave us his impression of what he heard and what he believes makes the combo an exceptional value.

I am as big a fan of Emotiva as anyone on this forum. But, this review falls very short when no measurements are made or offered to justify (what we already know) are the build & performance qualities of these components. The results obtained by the objective measuring tools are what give weight to any subjective impression of a component.

I was critical of a similar 'review' of the Marantz AV7005. Fairness dictates that despite my love and devotion to Emotiva, they cannot get a free pass. I am not doubting the conclusions of the reviewer because of my knowledge about Emotiva's products. He just did not give people who are not familiar with these components, any reason to believe him other than to take his words at face value. For me, that's asking too much by a complete stranger.

Nevertheless, this was great for Emotiva. And in that, I find some comfort.

[ausman]

sound's like the reviewer liked what he heard, nice review, though my opinion I reckon they pushed the upa-1 to it's breaking point so it would fail..

given what I've read on the audioholics forum, I would take any review they produce with a grain of salt, I wouldn't take it as a credible review...

given that emo don't post stats on 1-3ohms it makes me wonder how stable are at those levels..


makes me also wonder what it would sound like if they had of reviewed it using 2X xpa-1's instead of the upa-1's they used..


jamrock, i think you were talking about 1 of my post's, i call things as i see them, when any review regardless of web site starts to sound like a boffin brief from a sales mag or flyer instead of an actual review i call it product advertizement not a review, I'll have keep an eye for tone reviews in future as they seem to be honest in their review of the usp-1 and upa-1 combo's

[Jessica]

Jun 25, 2011 6:29:46 GMT -5 jamrock said:

I remember Audioholics giving a similar "review" of the UMC-1 which was highly criticized by certain members of this forum. That it was a sales pitch for Emotiva and some even hinting that is was a paid advertisement by Emo. The reviewer only gave us his impression of what he heard and what he believes makes the combo an exceptional value.

I am as big a fan of Emotiva as anyone on this forum. But, this review falls very short when no measurements are made or offered to justify (what we already know) are the build & performance qualities of these components. The results obtained by the objective measuring tools are what give weight to any subjective impression of a component.

I was critical of a similar 'review' of the Marantz AV7005. Fairness dictates that despite my love and devotion to Emotiva, they cannot get a free pass. I am not doubting the conclusions of the reviewer because of my knowledge about Emotiva's products. He just did not give people who are not familiar with these components, any reason to believe him other than to take his words at face value. For me, that's asking too much by a complete stranger.

Nevertheless, this was great for Emotiva. And in that, I find some comfort.

Thought I'd jump in here to let everyone know that we do not, in any way, pay for reviews. In fact, we don't even advertise with Tone. Although, maybe we will in the future.

We had no contact with the writer of the review during the entire process. In most cases, we get a review request from the print or online publication. Then we send out the gear to the address they provide, and a few weeks later it comes back to us. We don't send out special instructions or recommendations for how it should be reviewed.

Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

-Jess

[BillBauman]

Jun 27, 2011 10:03:23 GMT -5 Jessica said:

Jun 25, 2011 6:29:46 GMT -5 jamrock said:

I remember Audioholics giving a similar "review" of the UMC-1 which was highly criticized by certain members of this forum. That it was a sales pitch for Emotiva and some even hinting that is was a paid advertisement by Emo. The reviewer only gave us his impression of what he heard and what he believes makes the combo an exceptional value.

I am as big a fan of Emotiva as anyone on this forum. But, this review falls very short when no measurements are made or offered to justify (what we already know) are the build & performance qualities of these components. The results obtained by the objective measuring tools are what give weight to any subjective impression of a component.

I was critical of a similar 'review' of the Marantz AV7005. Fairness dictates that despite my love and devotion to Emotiva, they cannot get a free pass. I am not doubting the conclusions of the reviewer because of my knowledge about Emotiva's products. He just did not give people who are not familiar with these components, any reason to believe him other than to take his words at face value. For me, that's asking too much by a complete stranger.

Nevertheless, this was great for Emotiva. And in that, I find some comfort.

Thought I'd jump in here to let everyone know that we do not, in any way, pay for reviews. In fact, we don't even advertise with Tone. Although, maybe we will in the future.

We had no contact with the writer of the review during the entire process. In most cases, we get a review request from the print or online publication. Then we send out the gear to the address they provide, and a few weeks later it comes back to us. We don't send out special instructions or recommendations for how it should be reviewed.

Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

-Jess

Jessica, I believe that your approach is perfectly acceptable.

I also don't find fault with most of the reviewers' approaches to doing a review. I think there are many folks that seem new to this 'hobby'. Subjective, unsubstantiated reviews are the hallmark of high end audio. Mostly, reviewers develop a following, and that following tends to agree with said reviewer's opinion on things, and therefore finds the review useful. If you really care more about measurements (that can't be heard, as most would agree, at insanely low levels of distortion, etc.), then those reviews are generally available, as well. Everyone wins. I find value in the numbers, I find value in the opinions. If you don't find value in one or the other, it doesn't negate the validity or benefits of the review for another person.

I look for reviewers saying things with which I agree. If they claim to hear "night and day differences" between power cables, I tend to not value their opinion much. But, if they've reviewed a pair of speakers and used words that described my similar feelings about them, then I'll tend to lend some validity to their opinions of others speakers, etc. Sometimes it helps to review the reviewers body of work to determine if said individual's opinions will be beneficial to you.

[rjpoint]

I'd love to do a review on the XSP-1. Should I send you the address I want it shipped to? LOL

Cheers--RJ

[jamrock]

It was not my intent to offend anyone in reply #6. I'm was simply stating what I believed to be good, factual sense. A review that is saturated with platitudes but no scientific or engineering evidence to back it up, might be good for disciples of the reviewer but not for those like myself who are independent minded. Since I hear with my own hearing acuity, I prefer to rely on objective, scientific measurements.

I have been following audio for a long time. And I am familiar with certain reviewers who tend to have no regard for science. They pretend to be able to hear for everybody. I am also aware of the attitudes of some of their disciples who have nothing but contempt for those who prefer to trust objective measurements. But, as I have stated before, every review will have some amount of subjectivity and even bias. But it can't be all 'subjective bias'

In the end, I believe that the reputation of Emotiva will be best served when measurements show that their components are built on solid engineering principles, and that solid construction is supported by objective measurements. Reply #6 said nothing negative about Emotiva. I simply stated that for me to be objective and criticized a beneficial but subjective review of the Marantz AV7005, I would have to do the same when it comes to Emotiva.

[thielguy]

nice job emotiva guys/gals...

[ausman]

the thing the that shits me with some reviews, is this: when you start reading the 1st couple paragraph's and it sound's like a boffin report than a review which we could get off a product brief on a website or handout flyer, next they paise it without the science or they nit pick the science to make the product sound real bad without really listening to it..

as I said before I would say tone is likely the best review I've heard/read of any product class within the audio world in the last 25 or so years of reading reviews...

most other reviews I have have read on various components within the av industry have come across objectively suggestive to the the point it leaves you scratching your head to whether or not the product is actually good, it's hard now days to get an honest opinion out of anyone within av/audio review industry..

congrats emotiva for a great review

[tonepub]

Just wanted to stop by and thank you for the positive comments on our review....

I found it quite amusing that you consider us a "fussy" audiophile magazine. If you ever get a chance to meet me or stop by my studio I think you will find us anything but fussy... But hey, I've been called worse in 50 years!

Though we review far more expensive gear than the Emotiva stuff on a regular, we do cover budget and vintage gear every issue, and we have since day one. While I've been fortunate to acquire a pretty major system these days, (and unlike most reviewers from the other "fussy" magazines, I OWN my two reference systems) I'm always on the lookout for a great way for someone to either jump in to the audio hobby, or to really enjoy music without spending a fortune.

As for the measurements, we made a conscious choice six years ago not to go down this path. We certainly have the staff capable of doing this, but in the end, in over 30 years, I've never bought a piece of hifi gear because of a bunch of charts and graphs. They don't tell me how something sounds.

It's just like buying a car. The charts and graphs can point out three cars with identical specs, yet they drive completely different. And by the same token, the BMW guy is going to buy a BMW and the Audi guy will buy an Audi.

What we try to accomplish with a review, whether a component costs 500 dollars or 50,000 dollars is listen to it in an environment, often enlisting the ears of a few staff members and distill it's essential qualities. How does it sound overall? How does it sound compared to like priced (and in this case, even more expensive gear), can it drive difficult speakers? (which is why I keep a pair of MartinLogans and Magnepans around. And then the basics: how is the construction? Is the feature set useful? Is it easy to set up and use? How good is the instruction manual?

In short, all questions I would want answered if I were reading the article and considering a purchase.

Whether you go by objective or subjective standards, it still boils down to whether you like the way it sounds. I feel our job is to share with our readers components that we've enjoyed spending time with. Our job is NOT to tell you what the best is (we've only used that word once in over 400 product reviews) and it is not to tell you what to buy.

If we've done our job, a review has generated enough interest that you will find a way to audition said component. If we've done our job really well, you'll agree with our findings - which will lead to you finding a component worthy of you writing the check.

And if you don't agree with what we have to say about gear, there's still almost 100 pages of music in every issue of TONEAudio, so perhaps we'll turn you on to some good music.

Cheers...

[BillBauman]

Thanks, tonepub. I agree.

[DYohn]

I have always found the reviews on Tone to be well-written, fair and meaningful (as opposed to some other web audio zines - I'm talking to you Srajan and Steve R.)

Thanks for the good work and for chiming in here!

[stiehl11]

Totally agree. The only time I look at chats and graphs are to see if the componet in question has what I'm looking for. After that then it comes down to what I hear. Anyone buying charts and graphs is only buying to impress someone else. If they are buying to impress themselves then they have no need for them (other than aforementioned need to weed out gear that won't the need).

[Matt Wall]

Very cool!! You can never have too much good press

[monkumonku]

Jul 5, 2011 12:23:12 GMT -5 DYohn said:

I have always found the reviews on Tone to be well-written, fair and meaningful (as opposed to some other web audio zines - I'm talking to you Srajan and Steve R.)

Thanks for the good work and for chiming in here!

Tone seems to be pretty decent. As for those other web audio 'zines you mentioned, I stopped paying attention to them many moons ago. ;D No credibility..