Post by broncsrule21 on Oct 13, 2009 16:27:25 GMT -5
This a very short, non- technical review.
I bought the upa-2 to pair with a set of erm-1s that will make up a modest 2.1 channel setup in my office when we move into another home at the beginning of November. still on a search for a dirt cheap pre amp solution (temporary).
Once I opened the box to look at this beautiful piece of equipment, I couldn't resist the urge of plugging it in. Turned it on, red lights went to blue, and all was good. Now, with the blue lights teasing me, I couldn't fight the temptation. I went looking for some cables to hook this beauty up. Then I realized my big box of goodies is in our storage unit (as is 90% of what my family owns is also, but thats another story). After tearing the garage apart I found a set of the cable company's component video cables. I ripped the 3 cables into a stereo set and connected them to my Denon 2808ci, removed the bananas from the Denon and put them into the upa-2. Powered everything back up, and waalaa blue lights! At first I just wanted to break in the amp by letting it run the everyday T.V. watching. I don't know where I fall on the break in/ non break in debate but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also wanted to see how hot it would get running for long periods of time. So I left it on, went to Rat Shack to get a trigger cable. Came back, checked the temp of the amp, hardly any heat at all. Hooked up the trigger cable, tested it all worked great.
Yesterday, I was left all alone. So I decided to let the amp stretch its legs a little. Again, most of what I own is in storage until the end of this month, so my options are limited. I have my itunes collection hooked up via Airport Express to my AVR. So I let some music rip. Some lossless, Some not. Right now, this is how i get to listen to music, with my SACDs and CDs in storage, so I am very familiar with how it sounds. I only played 5 or 6 six tracks but this is what jumped out at me.
The biggest changes were soundstage and bass. This little amp really changed the soundstage of my Polks. The RTis are considered a HT speaker. Now, I could close my eyes and visualize the location of the instruments. The vocals were dead center, not coming out of the speakers at all. I actually checked to make sure the center channel was off.
The bass was much tighter and pronounced than with the Denon. I turned my sub off also, but there was plenty low end.
The amp also played crystal clear up to earsplitting volume levels. It seemed to do so effortlessly.
Bottom line... my Polks have never sounded better. I am no audio expert, but I love music and can hear the differences between what it sounded like before and after. These were very audible differences using component video cables and itunes as the source. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like with better cables and SACD.
This is just my first observations. I will be A/B testing the Polks vs ERM-1 at some point. The real problem now is that I need more amps. This little gem won't even be used in this system. Anybody got an RPA-2 they want to sell me?
I bought the upa-2 to pair with a set of erm-1s that will make up a modest 2.1 channel setup in my office when we move into another home at the beginning of November. still on a search for a dirt cheap pre amp solution (temporary).
Once I opened the box to look at this beautiful piece of equipment, I couldn't resist the urge of plugging it in. Turned it on, red lights went to blue, and all was good. Now, with the blue lights teasing me, I couldn't fight the temptation. I went looking for some cables to hook this beauty up. Then I realized my big box of goodies is in our storage unit (as is 90% of what my family owns is also, but thats another story). After tearing the garage apart I found a set of the cable company's component video cables. I ripped the 3 cables into a stereo set and connected them to my Denon 2808ci, removed the bananas from the Denon and put them into the upa-2. Powered everything back up, and waalaa blue lights! At first I just wanted to break in the amp by letting it run the everyday T.V. watching. I don't know where I fall on the break in/ non break in debate but I figured it couldn't hurt. I also wanted to see how hot it would get running for long periods of time. So I left it on, went to Rat Shack to get a trigger cable. Came back, checked the temp of the amp, hardly any heat at all. Hooked up the trigger cable, tested it all worked great.
Yesterday, I was left all alone. So I decided to let the amp stretch its legs a little. Again, most of what I own is in storage until the end of this month, so my options are limited. I have my itunes collection hooked up via Airport Express to my AVR. So I let some music rip. Some lossless, Some not. Right now, this is how i get to listen to music, with my SACDs and CDs in storage, so I am very familiar with how it sounds. I only played 5 or 6 six tracks but this is what jumped out at me.
The biggest changes were soundstage and bass. This little amp really changed the soundstage of my Polks. The RTis are considered a HT speaker. Now, I could close my eyes and visualize the location of the instruments. The vocals were dead center, not coming out of the speakers at all. I actually checked to make sure the center channel was off.
The bass was much tighter and pronounced than with the Denon. I turned my sub off also, but there was plenty low end.
The amp also played crystal clear up to earsplitting volume levels. It seemed to do so effortlessly.
Bottom line... my Polks have never sounded better. I am no audio expert, but I love music and can hear the differences between what it sounded like before and after. These were very audible differences using component video cables and itunes as the source. I can't wait to hear what it sounds like with better cables and SACD.
This is just my first observations. I will be A/B testing the Polks vs ERM-1 at some point. The real problem now is that I need more amps. This little gem won't even be used in this system. Anybody got an RPA-2 they want to sell me?
