Emotiva UMC1 users, need your advice on whether to upgrade my Yammy AVR

[sevenz]

Hi friends,

Currently I am using a Yamaha RX-V1900 AVR in my HTS. Recently, I got my hands on a used good-condition Rotel 1095 power amp (200wpc), and so far very happy with the improved sound. Was thinking about the next steps on whether to upgrade my AVR to a more dedicated processor as I've read that this would provide better processing of the signal.

Was thinking of Emotiva UMC1 as it fits my budget. Can UMC1 users/bros share (i) whether I would see improvements, and (ii) what are the improvements would I see?

And any other HT pre amps that I can consider ard price point of UMC1?

 

[josko]

I have a UMC-1. IMHO, you're headed for a pile of quirks, bugs and 'undocumented features' which, to me, made ownership rather unsatisfying. Remember, they won't take it back if you don't like it, and that's for a reason.
As to sound quality, I believe the amps and speakers lartgely determine that - the preprocessor is all about the processing and features.

 

[PENG]

At normal listening spl if you want to hear noticeable sound quality improvements, the best way to achieve that is to stock up and stick to high quality media such as good recordings in sacd, Telarc, Chesky CD, HD flacs etc and upgrade your speakers. I know people tend to turn to amps because it is an easy upgrade, and can be more affordable, but that route is only cost effective if you had entry level pre pro/amps. The problem is, your RXV1900 is a solid performer among mid range AVR's,such that most people won't be able to pick it out from high end gear in a properly conducted comparison tests, when they are not subject to placebo effects from hearsay.

The Rotel you bought is a good move as it will certainly give you a bit more headroom but the biggest benefit may be in providing you with a wider range of speakers to upgraded to as you no longer have to limit yourself to east to drive speakers. Back to the pre pro, if you need the latest features go for it but for sound quality, don't expect miracle unless you are prepared to welcome yourself into the Placebo world, but that actually is not hard to do at all.

 

[ImcLoud]

I have a umc1 and I am very happy with it, because people are upgrading to the umc200 there are tons of umc1's on ebay for around $300 {seen one yesterday for $275 buy it now, but it only lasted a few minutes...

If you want a new one, buy it for $499 and then you can sell your upgrade card for $200, or hold onto it and buy the umc200 for $420 with it and sell the umc1 later on after the reviews for the 200 come out.... I don't think you can lose much either way... I havent had any isssues with my umc1 and it does what it says t does... I can't complain, I bought a umc1 6 months ago, now I used my certificate for the 200 and I moved the umc1 to my guest suites home theater.. {or will move when the 200 gets here this week)

 

[josko]

I didn't get an upgrade card when I bought mine for $499. Buyer needs to double-check whether that's part of the closeout deal.

 

[sevenz]

I have a UMC-1. IMHO, you're headed for a pile of quirks, bugs and 'undocumented features' which, to me, made ownership rather unsatisfying. Remember, they won't take it back if you don't like it, and that's for a reason.

Thanks josko. Yes I went around to ask and read on umc1. Apparently the bug hit rate is quite high. There is a group that didnt experience any problems though, but still the feedback is quite disturbing esp when I do not have an emotiva agent locally in Singapore here.

Possible alternatives look like a used Marantz av7005, av7701 if I decide to go for a pro.

 

[sevenz]

Thanks for the advice Peng. My listening preferences are 55%/40%/5% = 5.1 concerts/5.1 movies/stereo music. Yes I stock up good bluray and DVD movies and concerts.

Actually u just pointed out a good point that the 1900 is actually a respectable pre, and seriously I have used a few low-mid AVRs and this one is actually leading the pack by quite a bit in terms of processing and decoding and surround sound experience. It's stereo performance is also quite commendable too for CDs.

So perhaps one option is i shld keep the 1900 and more funds efficient to try other (used) speakers since the power is there now and my options are wide open?

At normal listening spl if you want to hear noticeable sound quality improvements, the best way to achieve that is to stock up and stick to high quality media such as good recordings in sacd, Telarc, Chesky CD, HD flacs etc and upgrade your speakers.

The problem is, your RXV1900 is a solid performer among mid range AVR's,such that most people won't be able to pick it out from high end gear in a properly conducted comparison tests, when they are not subject to placebo effects from hearsay.

 

[ImcLoud]

I didn't get an upgrade card when I bought mine for $499. Buyer needs to double-check whether that's part of the closeout deal.

are you sure, check the box it comes in the pouch on the outside of the cardboard box, I bought mine on sale and got one...

 

[PENG]

Possible alternatives look like a used Marantz av7005, av7701 if I decide to go for a pro.

I happen to have the made in Japan AV7005 and can tell you it has been trouble free. If you can get a blow out price for a new one it may be a better choice unless you need the newest features (more like just gadgets to me) on the 2013 model. Again, if the Yamaha is doing everything for you now, why bother? At least you can use it to drive the surround back speakers, that's something a prepro cannot do for you.

 

[PENG]

Yes I stock up good bluray and DVD movies and concerts.

Just be careful that while the odds are that BR, SACD, DVDA, HDflac are more likely to offer higher sound quality than CD and DVD it is not always the case. I own quite a few CD that offer (to me) noticeable better sound qaulity than many of my HD media discs and files. I bought a Carly Simon in 192/24 HDflac and it sounds like an average CD. That's why I started a thread to collect titles that people consider high quality but even then I will be happy if any on that list of about 100 collected so far has a better than 50% chance of meeting my own standard of "high quality recording".

Actually u just pointed out a good point that the 1900 is actually a respectable pre, and seriously I have used a few low-mid AVRs and this one is actually leading the pack by quite a bit in terms of processing and decoding and surround sound experience. It's stereo performance is also quite commendable too for CDs.

I really do believe with the electronics you already own now, the most cost effective ways for you to improvement sound quality further you should look to the media sources, speakers and room acoustic conditons side of things, assuming you also already own a mid to high range media transport and/or players. As for DAC, again the RX-V1900 should be near the point of diminishing return, so for stereo enjoyment you have the choice of using analog outs from your players or digital outs if you wish to try using the Yamaha to do the conversion/processing.

So perhaps one option is i shld keep the 1900 and more funds efficient to try other (used) speakers since the power is there now and my options are wide open?

With the 4 ohm capable 1095 on hand you can now consider some excellent bang for the buck neutral sounding speakers such as those from PSB, KEF, Revel and a few other ID brands often mentioned on this forum. Just curious, what kind of speakers you have now, and room dimensions if you don't mind?

 

[slipperybidness]

I doubt you will hear any improvement by going to UMC-1. That Yammy should be fine.

If you need more features, then consider an upgrade, but you may be in for a world of hurt / hassle with the UMC-1, or it might work fine. That's a wager that I wouldn't take.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I own quite a few CD that offer (to me) noticeable better sound qaulity than many of my HD media discs and files. I bought a Carly Simon in 192/24 HDflac and it sounds like an average CD.

Yup. In my tests of hi-res audio, and I've wasted a few hundred dollars doing this, I can't hear any audible advantage attributable to the increased word depth or sampling frequency. My SACD tests were conducted with multi-layer discs, and I was using FLAC files from HDtracks.com. I hear more difference from Mobile Fidelity CD Ultradiscs.

 

[unemployed]

Personally, I'd stand pat and wait to see how the UMC-200 works out. The UMC-1 had many bugs, and even some of the late adopters are having issues. My guess is the UMC-200 will be a much nicer rig.