[lifeisbeautiful]

I currently have an Emotiva UMC-1 + XPA-5 setup. Thought I am really happy with my XPA-5 amplifier, the UMC-1 has been a mixed bag.
I'm starting to think I'll swap out my UMC-1 with a more stable option. So, I'm looking for suggestions in the $1000-$1500 range. I don't want to go with the Emotiva XMC-1, given how it went with my UMC-1.
Since I'm going to use my XPA-5, I don't care about the amp section.
Thanks.

 

[kjfalls]

I felt the same about my UMC-1 and was very apprehensive about buying an Emotiva pre/proc again. However the 40% discount card tempted me enough to try the UMC-200. It works great for me. The only issue I see is the delay when picking up the audio signal from sat dish. It's a short delay and a minor annoyance. 40% off the XMC-1 would be a pretty good chunk.

 

[zgeneral]

Marantz AV-7702 almost fits that budget.

 

[pmd918]

Marantz AV-7702 almost fits that budget.

If you don't want the XMC-1 I would agree with the Marantz.

But I have to tell you, I got an XMC-1 (dumped my Integra DHC-40.1) and so far it's been great. Nothing like what all of you experienced the previous Emo pre/pros. No bugs that I've encountered.

 

[chalugadp]

If you don't want the XMC-1 I would agree with the Marantz.

But I have to tell you, I got an XMC-1 (dumped my Integra DHC-40.1) and so far it's been great. Nothing like what all of you experienced the previous Emo pre/pros. No bugs that I've encountered.

Pm,
How does it compare to other avr you have had ?

 

[Socketman]

HI,


You did not mention if you had a 40% card from your previous purchase but if you do the XMC-1 is a great deal. I have the XMC-1 and 2 Emo amps along with a oppo 93 ,Xbox One and Moto dvr and I can say that input switching is flawless the sound is outstanding and Dirac works great once I had my mic calibrated and used my own cal file ( more on this at the Emo forum). They have a 30 day return window if you don't like it but I highly doubt that will be an issue. You could also wait until the next processors comes out which could be soon , then there will be some XMC's available used . I have no plans for atmos so the XMC-1 is perfect for me and was a definite upgrade from my Denon 3311. Emo spent a lot of time getting the XMC-1 to market and it was definitely time well spent. I am no fanboy and I read all the issue's with previous pre pro's but each one was an improvement over the other so I had a good feeling about the XMC and it turns out I was right. I have spoken to the Big Dan on the phone and he is a man of his word and have also spoke with his wife and she is also great at CS , it is like a real mom and pop outfit on a bigger scale. Every year the big players give us more dodads and geegaws for the same price or less than last years model and this worries me , compromises have to be made somewhere and I really don't need all the extraneous bs that comes with a lot of the newer receivers and pre/pros. I suggest you think on this for a spell before you make any decisions.


Richard

 

[zgeneral]

It's sort of funny seeing people with a bluray player that has netflix streaming or a xbone that runs multiple VM's so they can TV tune, but then they look down on any AVR that includes anything they might not use.

Emotiva couldn't afford to add things like Netflix support, Airplay, etc, even if they wanted to. They don't have the engineering bandwidth. They made that thing modular, but you can't even change the outputs to support Atmos.

 

[Socketman]

It's sort of funny seeing people with a bluray player that has netflix streaming or a xbone that runs multiple VM's so they can TV tune, but then they look down on any AVR that includes anything they might not use.

Emotiva couldn't afford to add things like Netflix support, Airplay, etc, even if they wanted to. They don't have the engineering bandwidth. They made that thing modular, but you can't even change the outputs to support Atmos.

I am not sure if this is directed my way but I will respond none the less. The Xbox one is for my kid to play games on , I don't give a flyin fat rats ass about the Xbox on any level. I have a Denon with all the BS and have never used any of it. If I listen to music I play Vinyl or SACD's , I reserve mp3's for the car . If i wanted to watch crappy streaming I would just watch standard def on cable , I did not buy a HDTV to watch poor quality streams. Honestly if Emotiva waited for every new feature to be invented they would not build anything, Atmos was never mentioned of promised. I have followed Atmos since I first heard about it and I am not sold ,it is way to early in the game from where I am sitting. People raved about 3D and we all see where that went. I watched a movie the other night that had helicopter sound effects and they were not even relevant to the movie, whats up with that. I can always sell my XMC-1 in a few years and use my 25% upgrade and get the next pre/pro coming from Emotiva.


PS : To me getting all that extra software ( ie Netflix etc) on the AVR's is like getting a parking spot instead of a raise.

 

[pmd918]

Pm,
How does it compare to other avr you have had ?

In terms of functionality, I like it better. The menu system is slightly more confusing, but it's a lot easier to change things on the fly. Flexibility in manually adjusting sound parameters is much better. The Integra had the ability to process video, which is a disadvantage in the XMC-1 since it's only pass-thru on video. But for me, I wasn't using any of the video processing in the Integra anyway. HDMI switching is excellent.

Sound quality is a bit trickier. Over the past two months I've made a lot of changes in my system. I started out with Integra/XPA-5/SVS subs. First change I made was to two DIY 18" HST-18 sealed subs. Huge improvement. Next change was to replace my XPA-5 with Crown XLS2000's. I never would have believed that an amplifier can make that much difference. Much clearer, more dynamic sound with the pro amps. And the final change was to the XMC-1. So my current XMC-1/Crown XLS2000/HST-18 is far and away better than where I started.

With the XMC-1, I'd say the improvement was subtle, but present. Maybe a bit quieter and cleaner. The big advantage of the XMC-1 is Dirac. Dirac makes a big difference in clarity, imaging and soundstage. Without Dirac, I'm not sure I would get on the soapbox and claim superiority for the XMC-1. With Dirac, I don't think there is much out there to compete in the same price range.

I'll add a couple qualifiers. First, I haven't heard any of the newer, advanced versions of Audyssey. The older version on my Integra would be like comparing Nissan Leaf (old Audyssey) to a Tesla (Dirac) - sorry if you aren't familiar with electric cars. So I don't really know how much better Dirac is to the current Audyssey. Second, if you want or need all the video processing and/or fancy audio codecs (Atmos, etc.), then obviously the XMC-1 isn't for you.

Finally, to give the proper context for what I'm hearing, I have Paradigm Studio 100's and matching center and surrounds for my speakers.