Post by mnwild on Dec 19, 2008 12:47:39 GMT -5
I was hoping I wouldn't have to be the first one to review this amp since I'm basically a newbie around here, but here goes. For those of you who are sitting on the fence and wondering if this will really make a difference over the amp in your onkyo/yamaha/denon/whatever receiver - Just Do It!!
My UPA-7 is replacing the amp section in my 7 yr old Marantz SR7000, which they rate at 100w/ch. It's driving KEF iQ speakers. KEF is a British speaker company and I'm sure the iQ's are on the low end of their line. You keep reading this everywhere on these boards but it is true, you upgrade your amp and it really sounds like you got new speakers. Now I hear a lot more clarity and accuracy in the music, which is what I was looking for. I'm getting a little more punch out of the low end too, the iQ9's have two 6-1/2" woofers in each and with the extra two channels on the UPA-7 I am able to passively bi-amp the fronts.
A little bit more about my preferences since your mileage may vary. My current setup is a 5.0 and for me it's always more about the music than HT. My belief is that if you put together a good music system it will end up being above average for movies as well. I don't really need the big power anymore, my crank it up days are mostly behind me, although I do like to give it an extra bump when wifey's not home. I also live in a townhome too, so that obviously has an effect on volume levels. But I know when my neighbor's not home (she does work nights) I can crank this thing and it won't distort at all.
When I was auditioning speakers my reference cd's were Rickie Lee Jones self-titled and The Best of John Hiatt. So of course I played those two as soon as I got the amp hooked up and they sounded great. Then I started going through my collection and everything just sounds cleaner and more believable, like you're in the recording studio. I know it's cliche but you hear instruments and sounds you never heard before on cd's you're very familiar with. John Prine's The Missing Years was one I just picked up before I got the amp, so that was a good cd for before/after comparisons. I could close my eyes and his guitar was right there. I can sit there in the mancave with a favorite beverage and I'm grinning like a little kid.
For movies the amp seems to have added some welcome clarity to the dialogue coming out of the center channel. I just watched Flags of Our Fathers and the explosions were plenty loud and real. I'm going through some of my favorite concert DVD's and they sound great too. For HDTV I mostly watch sports but CSI:NY likes to do a lot with the 5-chan sound and that sounds pretty cool.
My only problems have been with the dc trigger, but I seriously don't think it's a problem with the UPA-7. At first I couldn't get it to turn on at all with the 5vdc coming out of the Marantz. Then I figured out I could adjust the Marantz trigger out up to 12vdc. That would turn on the amp just fine, but it would also shut it off after 60-90 minutes of operation (yup, right in the middle of a movie). It's hard to tell for sure if that's the Marantz or the UPA-7 unless I want to hook up a voltmeter and watch that for 60-90 minutes. When the amp did shut down it never felt warm at all, and since I unplugged the trigger cable it never shuts itself off. So for now I just get off my *bleep* and use the power button on the front. I'm hoping a new UMC or XMC will clear up that little issue.
I'm actually thinking about buying a second UPA-7. The previous homeowner installed 5 pairs of speakers in the ceilings and walls of our main level. I think they're just garden variety JBLs and Polks from Best Buy and I just use them for low level background music. But I think even for that application a 6/7 channel amp would add some clarity to the 3 pairs I use most often.
Hope that helps any of you fence-sitters, you really can't beat the bang for the buck.
My UPA-7 is replacing the amp section in my 7 yr old Marantz SR7000, which they rate at 100w/ch. It's driving KEF iQ speakers. KEF is a British speaker company and I'm sure the iQ's are on the low end of their line. You keep reading this everywhere on these boards but it is true, you upgrade your amp and it really sounds like you got new speakers. Now I hear a lot more clarity and accuracy in the music, which is what I was looking for. I'm getting a little more punch out of the low end too, the iQ9's have two 6-1/2" woofers in each and with the extra two channels on the UPA-7 I am able to passively bi-amp the fronts.
A little bit more about my preferences since your mileage may vary. My current setup is a 5.0 and for me it's always more about the music than HT. My belief is that if you put together a good music system it will end up being above average for movies as well. I don't really need the big power anymore, my crank it up days are mostly behind me, although I do like to give it an extra bump when wifey's not home. I also live in a townhome too, so that obviously has an effect on volume levels. But I know when my neighbor's not home (she does work nights) I can crank this thing and it won't distort at all.
When I was auditioning speakers my reference cd's were Rickie Lee Jones self-titled and The Best of John Hiatt. So of course I played those two as soon as I got the amp hooked up and they sounded great. Then I started going through my collection and everything just sounds cleaner and more believable, like you're in the recording studio. I know it's cliche but you hear instruments and sounds you never heard before on cd's you're very familiar with. John Prine's The Missing Years was one I just picked up before I got the amp, so that was a good cd for before/after comparisons. I could close my eyes and his guitar was right there. I can sit there in the mancave with a favorite beverage and I'm grinning like a little kid.
For movies the amp seems to have added some welcome clarity to the dialogue coming out of the center channel. I just watched Flags of Our Fathers and the explosions were plenty loud and real. I'm going through some of my favorite concert DVD's and they sound great too. For HDTV I mostly watch sports but CSI:NY likes to do a lot with the 5-chan sound and that sounds pretty cool.
My only problems have been with the dc trigger, but I seriously don't think it's a problem with the UPA-7. At first I couldn't get it to turn on at all with the 5vdc coming out of the Marantz. Then I figured out I could adjust the Marantz trigger out up to 12vdc. That would turn on the amp just fine, but it would also shut it off after 60-90 minutes of operation (yup, right in the middle of a movie). It's hard to tell for sure if that's the Marantz or the UPA-7 unless I want to hook up a voltmeter and watch that for 60-90 minutes. When the amp did shut down it never felt warm at all, and since I unplugged the trigger cable it never shuts itself off. So for now I just get off my *bleep* and use the power button on the front. I'm hoping a new UMC or XMC will clear up that little issue.
I'm actually thinking about buying a second UPA-7. The previous homeowner installed 5 pairs of speakers in the ceilings and walls of our main level. I think they're just garden variety JBLs and Polks from Best Buy and I just use them for low level background music. But I think even for that application a 6/7 channel amp would add some clarity to the 3 pairs I use most often.
Hope that helps any of you fence-sitters, you really can't beat the bang for the buck.
