Post by ntrain42 on Feb 16, 2010 22:14:16 GMT -5
Well, I pulled the trigger on a UPA-7. Was originally going to buy one from a fellow Agon'r 20 minutes north of me, but he decided to keep it last minute, and I was able to get a B-stock unit from Emotiva for basically the same price, so all worked out well for me, as I basically paid a little over 65 cents per watt for the unit shipped. Since Im still waiting on my UMC-1 I decided to play it through my 2 channel system which currently consists of a pair of Kef XQ-20's with custom audiophile grade xovers replacing the factory xover boards. Bass frequencies are handles by a Rythmik D15SE. CD player duties are being handled by an Acom GCD-700 instead of my Wadia 861SE due to the fact the Adcom has unbalanced outputs and the Wadia does not as its a true balanced differential design. Regardless, the Adcom also allows me to bypass having to use a preamp as it has both variable and fixed outputs, and its actually a very good sounding cd changer that I feel is still better than alot of the single disc players out there, especially for what one can be picked up for used.
Anyway, the Adcom feeds the Rythmik sub directly via a pair of basic Ultra series RCA cables, and then another pair of ultra rca's feeds the UPA-7 directly. The output from the sub feeds a 12db per octave highpass at 80hz to the amp, which is a little higher than what I normally cross my XQ20's over at, but its still acceptable nontheless. The lowpass on the sub has been set at 50hz 12db again for the best in room blend and smoothest response at the seated position using an AC RTA-3055 real time analyzer that I know I tout alot to people on here as being a worthwhile tool to pick up, as good deals on these tuning devices can be found on Ebay for a reasonable sum of money.......especially with what we all pay for gear in the grand sceme of things.
I ran to 2 outside boards on the UPA-7 when doing my listening this afternoon and evening.
I've played with and setup a number of Emotiva amps over the last 18-24 months, but this is the first time Ive had a chance to sit down with one using my own gear in my own room.
The test material I ran ranged from some Pink Floyd(Wall, DSOTM), String Cheese Incedence, Muse, Notorious BIG, Phish, Brandi, Dre, Primus, a few Chesky recordings, Van Halen(Fair Warning),Iron Maiden(Self titled first album),Cream, Clapton and a few others.
Since all bass duties in all my systems are offloaded to dedicated subs, what matters most to me is the midrange and treble. In short, its a very neutral, clean, smooth sounding amp. I was especially impressed with the high frequencies which were not harsh at all. I am especially sensitive to grainy amps with harsh top ends. Examples are Parasounds(Excluding the JC-1's),Adcoms(Excluding the 555),Yamaha AVR's to name a few examples offhand.
Im not going to do direct comparisons with my Aragon Palladiums or BAT VK-75se amps, but the UPA-7 compares quite well with a good solid and open soundstage, smooth midrange and top end while giving a nice dark background with very low extraneous noise levels. Enough so where I'm not wanting to or feeling the need to swap out the amplifier. Plenty of clean dynamic headroom too, even though I listen in a relatively small 15x13 room and don't drive the volume to absurd levels. If I can sit down and enjoy the music I listen to without feeling something is missing or not right, then that in itself is a high praise from me, especially considering the fact this amp is literally very few pennies on the dollar compared to those dedicated monoblocks. I personally can't wait to get my hands on the UPA-1's. If they even improve slightly the sound Im getting from the UPA-7, then I will be dumping off my Palladiums and using the offset of money put back in my wallet for some other Emotiva gear(Namely the XMC-1, and another pair of UPA-1's and possibly the DAC and XSP-1 as well whenever they come out in 2025
).
To wrap it up, serious bang for the buck amp. Can't wait for the UMC-1 to come in so I can use the UPA-7 as intended for my bedroom HT setup. Hats off to Lonnie. Great product.
Anyway, the Adcom feeds the Rythmik sub directly via a pair of basic Ultra series RCA cables, and then another pair of ultra rca's feeds the UPA-7 directly. The output from the sub feeds a 12db per octave highpass at 80hz to the amp, which is a little higher than what I normally cross my XQ20's over at, but its still acceptable nontheless. The lowpass on the sub has been set at 50hz 12db again for the best in room blend and smoothest response at the seated position using an AC RTA-3055 real time analyzer that I know I tout alot to people on here as being a worthwhile tool to pick up, as good deals on these tuning devices can be found on Ebay for a reasonable sum of money.......especially with what we all pay for gear in the grand sceme of things.
I ran to 2 outside boards on the UPA-7 when doing my listening this afternoon and evening.
I've played with and setup a number of Emotiva amps over the last 18-24 months, but this is the first time Ive had a chance to sit down with one using my own gear in my own room.
The test material I ran ranged from some Pink Floyd(Wall, DSOTM), String Cheese Incedence, Muse, Notorious BIG, Phish, Brandi, Dre, Primus, a few Chesky recordings, Van Halen(Fair Warning),Iron Maiden(Self titled first album),Cream, Clapton and a few others.
Since all bass duties in all my systems are offloaded to dedicated subs, what matters most to me is the midrange and treble. In short, its a very neutral, clean, smooth sounding amp. I was especially impressed with the high frequencies which were not harsh at all. I am especially sensitive to grainy amps with harsh top ends. Examples are Parasounds(Excluding the JC-1's),Adcoms(Excluding the 555),Yamaha AVR's to name a few examples offhand.
Im not going to do direct comparisons with my Aragon Palladiums or BAT VK-75se amps, but the UPA-7 compares quite well with a good solid and open soundstage, smooth midrange and top end while giving a nice dark background with very low extraneous noise levels. Enough so where I'm not wanting to or feeling the need to swap out the amplifier. Plenty of clean dynamic headroom too, even though I listen in a relatively small 15x13 room and don't drive the volume to absurd levels. If I can sit down and enjoy the music I listen to without feeling something is missing or not right, then that in itself is a high praise from me, especially considering the fact this amp is literally very few pennies on the dollar compared to those dedicated monoblocks. I personally can't wait to get my hands on the UPA-1's. If they even improve slightly the sound Im getting from the UPA-7, then I will be dumping off my Palladiums and using the offset of money put back in my wallet for some other Emotiva gear(Namely the XMC-1, and another pair of UPA-1's and possibly the DAC and XSP-1 as well whenever they come out in 2025
).To wrap it up, serious bang for the buck amp. Can't wait for the UMC-1 to come in so I can use the UPA-7 as intended for my bedroom HT setup. Hats off to Lonnie. Great product.
! lol.... Hey You 
out there in the cold 
