Post by GEL on Jul 29, 2012 20:17:41 GMT -5
Hi folks; first time post in the E-Lounge!
Nothing neither professional nor scientific in terms of review here; I simply wanted to share my initial impressions from the perspective of an audiophile just discovering what the Emotiva products are all about...
Less than two weeks ago I had the opportunity to buy the two pieces of gear noted above during Emotiva’s summer sale to replace my faithful Harman Kardon AVR3600 receiver and supplement the new XPA-3 I bought back in January.
The equipment arrived on Friday and after a minimum time of set-up and calibration I literally spent five hours straight re-listening to my CDs, music DVDs and Blu-rays, until the wee hours of the night!
All I can say is WOW!
;D
The increased soundstage and the added level of instrument clarity and separation brought on by the UMC-1 and XPA-2 (feeding my front L/R) are a major step up compared to my previous setup, with the AVR3600 feeding the L/R surrounds and the XPA-3 taking care of the three front speakers. You can now really hear every instrument very distinctively, even in loud and/or demanding passages. As well, that quality sound now seems to come from a much wider area around each speaker rather than from the tweeter and woofers. Quite an experience!
That same wider soundstage is also present when enjoying movies and concerts in 5.1 surround, with a more significant presence added on the sides by the XPA-3 now freed and able to focus on pushing my two surrounds in addition to the front.
As well, although spec’d down to 38Hz, I always felt that the bass coming out of my L/R speakers (Cambridge Audio S70) was more or less satisfying on their own; the B&W ASW610 sub however took care of filling that gap brilliantly for both music and movies when I set my crossover to 80Hz. Now juiced up by the XPA-2, the low frequencies in those two speakers are much more present and the bass tighter, felt even down to 65 Hz, the new crossover setting determined by EMO-Q.
Next upgrade when money comes my way again? Replacing my front speakers with a pair of fantastic Magnepan MG12 which I heard for the first time two weekends ago at their dealer in Montreal. What a fine piece of gear! And they were only powered by an 85-watt NAD amplifier, of which I forgot the model. I can just imagine the audio bliss I will experience when their 4 Ohms are taken care of by my XPA-2 at home... That and probably an Oppo BDP-93 to replace my PS3 as the source... And maybe the XDA-1...
G.
P.-S. I have enclosed one picture of my humble set-up, out of excitement... I apologize for the poor quality; smartphones being what they are in a darker room.
Nothing neither professional nor scientific in terms of review here; I simply wanted to share my initial impressions from the perspective of an audiophile just discovering what the Emotiva products are all about...
Less than two weeks ago I had the opportunity to buy the two pieces of gear noted above during Emotiva’s summer sale to replace my faithful Harman Kardon AVR3600 receiver and supplement the new XPA-3 I bought back in January.
The equipment arrived on Friday and after a minimum time of set-up and calibration I literally spent five hours straight re-listening to my CDs, music DVDs and Blu-rays, until the wee hours of the night!
All I can say is WOW!
;DThe increased soundstage and the added level of instrument clarity and separation brought on by the UMC-1 and XPA-2 (feeding my front L/R) are a major step up compared to my previous setup, with the AVR3600 feeding the L/R surrounds and the XPA-3 taking care of the three front speakers. You can now really hear every instrument very distinctively, even in loud and/or demanding passages. As well, that quality sound now seems to come from a much wider area around each speaker rather than from the tweeter and woofers. Quite an experience!
That same wider soundstage is also present when enjoying movies and concerts in 5.1 surround, with a more significant presence added on the sides by the XPA-3 now freed and able to focus on pushing my two surrounds in addition to the front.
As well, although spec’d down to 38Hz, I always felt that the bass coming out of my L/R speakers (Cambridge Audio S70) was more or less satisfying on their own; the B&W ASW610 sub however took care of filling that gap brilliantly for both music and movies when I set my crossover to 80Hz. Now juiced up by the XPA-2, the low frequencies in those two speakers are much more present and the bass tighter, felt even down to 65 Hz, the new crossover setting determined by EMO-Q.
Next upgrade when money comes my way again? Replacing my front speakers with a pair of fantastic Magnepan MG12 which I heard for the first time two weekends ago at their dealer in Montreal. What a fine piece of gear! And they were only powered by an 85-watt NAD amplifier, of which I forgot the model. I can just imagine the audio bliss I will experience when their 4 Ohms are taken care of by my XPA-2 at home... That and probably an Oppo BDP-93 to replace my PS3 as the source... And maybe the XDA-1...
G.
P.-S. I have enclosed one picture of my humble set-up, out of excitement... I apologize for the poor quality; smartphones being what they are in a darker room.
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