Upgrade

[hayseed]

Hi Keith would like to upgrade my system currently i have UPA 500 and UMC 200 was thinking about XPA-5 Gen 3 paired with Xsp-1 I have speakers rated for 200 watts would this be a good match I am not very techno just want to hear quality sound loud both from video and cd/turntable thanks Barry

[KeithL]

Hi Hayseed,

You currently have a UMC-200 and a UPA-500.
The UMC-200 is a surround sound preamp/processor and the UPA-500 is a five-channel amp (and I assume you have five or seven speakers and a sub).

The XPA-5 Gen3 would absolutely be an excellent upgrade for your system.
However, the XSP-1 is a stereo (two channel) preamp... and doesn't handle surround sound.

If you're looking to add support for a turntable, then you would probably want to add one of our little XPS-1 phono preamps to your UMC-200.
If you're looking to upgrade your surround sound performance, then the new and improved equivalent of the UMC-200 is our new MC-700.
However, if you're not planning to go with 4k, the improvement may not be that major....
Our top of the line surround sound processor, which would offer a significant improvement in sound quality over the UMC-200, is the XMC-1.
(Note that none of our surround sound processors has a built-in phono preamp, so you would need the XPS-1 with any of them.)

Oct 17, 2017 14:10:30 GMT -5 hayseed said:

Hi Keith would like to upgrade my system currently i have UPA 500 and UMC 200 was thinking about XPA-5 Gen 3 paired with Xsp-1 I have speakers rated for 200 watts would this be a good match I am not very techno just want to hear quality sound loud both from video and cd/turntable thanks Barry

[Loop 7]

I think the UMC-200 is just excellent. I haven't yet been compelled to move to the XMC-1 or other preamps.

If I were you, I would put your money toward a new amp and then cycle in a new pre-pro later.

[garbulky]

You gotta tell us the speakers you use buddy! Do you have a picture of your current setup preferrably taken from around your listening position? Right now you have everything you need for things to sound great. However things can always be better. But the really big differences come with your speaker upgrades, and upgrading your listening room and trying out different positions in your speakers.
ELectronic upgrades past a certain basic point (which you've already done) bring smaller results than what I mentioned.

[pknaz]

Where to spend your money to get the biggest "bang" for your buck:
Room Treatments > Speakers....going from one Emotiva amp to another Emotiva amp should be absolutely last on your list of things to upgrade