Is this Emotiva gear worth it for me? I'm stupid

[kyle]

I recently just bought a UPA-200 and looking at an XDA-2 so that I could join the Emotiva family. I have a relatively humble audio setup that I have slowly pieced together over the past few years of used equipment but I'm questioning myself as to whether buying this gear is pointless (But either way I'm going to keep it)

90% of my audio content comes from a Macbook Pro optical out into a Pioneer SC-25 and then I have a pair of av123 X-statik's and X-voce with a pair of small polk audio satellites that are either used for surrounds or for a second zone and a BIC PL-200 that mostly stays off due to apartment living. Probably 60% of that is music and 40% movies. The other 10% is audio from cable TV.  All equipment is plugged into an APC UPS and MCACC calibrated.

Ultimately I plan to replace the rear channels with another pair of X-statik's when space allows it, put the UPA-200 on rear duty and throw an XPA-3 up front.

I guess my question is really if there is any difference between the DAC in the SC-25 vs. the XDA-2, and if having an XDA-2 would even make any difference at all seeing how my source is completely digital (if that's how it works?) and even though the UPA-200 is rated for 125w at 8ohms and the SC-25 for 140w at 8ohms all channels driven, I felt like the UPA-200 would perform about equal if not better being a dedicated two channel amplifier instead of a receiver that's stuffed with tons of other components (true?) but if anything it would take some load off the SC-25 as it does sometimes think it's a heater instead of a receiver.

Despite doing lots of research I still don't really understand when it is beneficial to have a DAC and just how good the ICE amps in the SC-25 are compared to lower end Emotiva amps. I had a hard time finding really technical information or bench tests on the Pioneer to put them side by side for comparison.

Another question I was wondering about is if say I am just running the three front channels watching a movie that is encoded for 5.1. If I am using the PLII MV+THX setting is this bad because the receiver thinks it's running surround channels but it's not? As in am I missing audio content? I have tried using different presets and honestly like the way the PLII sounds better than the standard THX settings - except sometimes dialogue is very quiet and loud sounds are way too loud. The stereo setting sounds the best by far but I like having the center on too.. is this not possible or am I just doing it all wrong? And what is THX Neural and why can't I use it? What is the best setting for me to use?

Any opinions are appreciated! I just want to get a better grasp on understanding how this all works. Thanks 

[bluemeanies]

Welcome.
First thing is your not stupid....crazy maybe for getting involved in this hobby but not stupid we are all walking down the same road kicking the same can.
Saying that I can only give you some information that relates around my system.
It will not hurt anything having your setting set to PLll MV+THX. what sound best is what's important and a good route to go is read your manual. It should have a comprehensive breakdown of all of the settings for your receiver. As far as the three channel listening experience which by the way I also enjoy your should have your receiver set to Stereo but also you have to have a disc or vinyl that is recorded in three channel Stereo.
Sorry I cannot help more but I am sure you will get other responses.

Good luck and experiment.

[garbulky]

If you are interested in 2 channels only, the DC-1 is a really nice choice imo if you are looking at DACs look at that model instead

[novisnick]

Not only is the DC-1 a superior DACE, it also has expandablity.
I won't be looking for an upgrade any time soon!!!! I Promise!! IMHO

[repeetavx]

Firstly your Pioneer Elite receiver is a very nice piece of gear. The internal DACs are made by Wolfson, which are very well respected. The Bang & Olufsen designed ICEPower modules (amplifiers) are also very well respected. So to your questions.

I wouldn't buy a seperate DAC unless you were sure that the reciever has a Direct (pass through) mode that won't re-digitize any analog inputs. If it does re-digitize analog inputs, then all that you would hear is the internal Wolfson DACs anyway. I'm not sure that the XDA-2 would be much better than the internal Wolfson DACS.  And you only get two channels from external DACs.

As far as external amps, the rule is that dedicated external amps will always sound better. Since your used to listening to class "D" amplifiers, a class "A/B" amplifier would sound different. Whether or not it sounded better, would be a matter of personal taste.

So I would recommend that you start slow. Put the UPA-200 on the front speakers and see if you like the difference. You can make the rest of your decisions based on what you find from there.