Is the Emotiva UPA-7 a good amp to purchase?

[KEW]

Man I don't know if I can turn that price down. I might just have to go for it I need to upgrade anyways. If you and PENG think that's a solid AV that's gonna last me for a couple years I might just have to go for it. Appreciate the help!

If it fits your needs, that is the one to buy right now.
Of course a year from now, a similar door is likely to open for buying the 4500 for about the same price (~$800 to 900). Until then, it looks like about $1500 is the going price!
If you are in a bind and need to buy without the opportunity to wait for the new models, Accessories4Less is the best place, but consider (I'm using the US prices for equivalence) the refurbished 4300 is $750, the refurbished 4400 is $800 with one year warranties, $900 for a new 4400 with 3 year warranty kind of undercuts the savings from buying refurbished gear.
I am curious what Denon's philosophy is on this. They could cut production earlier so they don't have as many extra units to sell at such a discount; it seems they have had a poop-ton.
You might also look at the 3400 which is going for $600US. It is close in features. I think the most obvious difference is 7 vs 9 channels of amplification!

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I love it. I have a 5 channel amp for the main 5, but then use the internal amps for a full 11.2.4 and Im in heaven. I came from an older marantz 7002 and it sounds better than that one did. The atmos upmixing is pretty good. I wouldnt call it amazing, but its pretty cool. Full blown atmos sources are freakin insanely awesome tho. The thing I really love about atmos is the surround sound just kinda comes from everywhere now. It doesnt sound like theres a speaker behind you, it just sound like its all over the place.

The funny thing is, I never wanted atmos. I avoided it thinking it was a fad. I wanted a new receiver for one reason and one reason only. I needed volume control on screen lol. Once I had the 3400 I thought, f it, lets do atmos since it supports it. Then I was sad when it didnt. Then I got the 4400 and was happy again!

But heres my thought, you have that big ole amp you just bought. So I dont think you need the 4400 unless you plan to do a full atmos setup. The 3400 that I ran for a couple weeks sounded the same to me with my external amp.

 

[Danzilla31]

I think most of run a little hot. 2-5db probably? Some maybe more.


How tall are your ceilings again? You might need to lower your surrounds. Or maybe it’s just your rear surrounds? I could go dig through your other thread...
Btw, congrats on the C34e’s. I’d pull the trigger on the 4400. They won’t last forever. Looks like it’s in store only too. No love...

Yeah I'm gonna pull the trigger on it tommorow my sales rep is in tommorow and I might just be able to talk him down some more on it if I bring in cash

My ceilings are 14 feet tall unfortunately they're is no way to drop those surrounds down because of the arches let me send you a pic and then get your thoughts. believe me I wish I didn't have to put them up so high. If the speakers are too close I might just have to skip atmos send the ceiling speakers back it's not worth it if I can't make the room work for it.

 

[KEW]

Also how good is the preamp outputs on it? I plan to buy a beefier three channel amp for the Front 3 towers next year. Will the preouts drive amps no problemo? Probably a stupid question if you and PENG like it it's gotta be solid all the way around

Pre-outs are fine.
That is rarely an issue which is what made the Yamaha A860 such a disappointment. The level of the pre-outs shouldn't be anything you ever have to think about for use with standard gear!

 

[Danzilla31]

I think most of run a little hot. 2-5db probably? Some maybe more.


How tall are your ceilings again? You might need to lower your surrounds. Or maybe it’s just your rear surrounds? I could go dig through your other thread...
Btw, congrats on the C34e’s. I’d pull the trigger on the 4400. They won’t last forever. Looks like it’s in store only too. No love...

Here's the pics

 

[Danzilla31]

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I'm not sure I would do atmos if you cant lower the surrounds some. You really want them close to the level of the mains to get the right effect. Think of atmos as your new surrounds. The old surrounds become something entirely new. Think of it this way, a bus driving by is low to the ground and will come out the old surrounds, an airplane flying over head will come out of the ceiling speakers.

 

[Danzilla31]

That won’t be hard on them. Those subs have crazy protections built in.

The front ceilings are 4 feet in front of my listening spot the back ceilings the same distance they are spread apart the same distance as my left and rights at 12 feet do you think they'll work the back ceilings are kindoff close by those surrounds but they already came with the house so I didn't get a choice where I would have put them. Luckily the RSL C34E's fit those holes So at least I can upgrade them. So do you think they're workable? Any suggestions?

 

[Danzilla31]

I'm not sure I would do atmos if you cant lower the surrounds some. You really want them close to the level of the mains to get the right effect. Think of atmos as your new surrounds. The old surrounds become something entirely new. Think of it this way, a bus driving by is low to the ground and will come out the old surrounds, an airplane flying over head will come out of the ceiling speakers.

Okay that helps a lot then I'm just going to hold off purchasing the 4400 no point in doing it if I can't make it work right now. Next year when I purchase the ultra Towers I planned on since I already own 3 prime towers just buying one more and using them as the surrounds when I do that that will be the time to install the C34E's and go to atmos. Although I will need go build or purchase platforms for the prime towers one final question then how high up do I need to elevate those prime towers? The tweeter is about 33 inches high my couches are about 41 inches high. Is it just the tweeter that need to be higher or do I need the woofers firing over the couches as well?

 

[Danzilla31]

I'm not sure I would do atmos if you cant lower the surrounds some. You really want them close to the level of the mains to get the right effect. Think of atmos as your new surrounds. The old surrounds become something entirely new. Think of it this way, a bus driving by is low to the ground and will come out the old surrounds, an airplane flying over head will come out of the ceiling speakers.

Thanks for the help you just saved me some time and money Lol!!! I know that's not what you normally like to do LOL

 

[Drunkpenguin]

Well, in a perfect world the tweeters are at ear level, but that doesnt work for most of us. My surrounds are probably 5' high with 10' ceilings. Don't let me talk you out of it tho, just put in some thought to what your doing. Im consused tho, your ceiling shows you already have in-ceilings. Are you running atmos now or no?

 

[snakeeyes]

The front ceilings are 4 feet in front of my listening spot the back ceilings the same distance they are spread apart the same distance as my left and rights at 12 feet do you think they'll work the back ceilings are kindoff close by those surrounds but they already came with the house so I didn't get a choice where I would have put them. Luckily the RSL C34E's fit those holes So at least I can upgrade them. So do you think they're workable? Any suggestions?

So the surrounds are near the ceilings? Not sure if audyssey can help with that. Might want to lower those surrounds down closer to ear level. Think requires a bit of height separation so the ceiling speakers sound like they are truly overhead. Then again I’m still in the planning phase at the moment. I’m all research no action. LOL 4 ft ahead and 4 ft behind might be good for the ceiling speakers though. Think guide says 30 degrees to 55 degrees towards the listener. You might need to draw it out to check it against the Dolby guide. Did the former owner have Atmos?

 

[Danzilla31]

Well, in a perfect world the tweeters are at ear level, but that doesnt work for most of us. My surrounds are probably 5' high with 10' ceilings. Don't let me talk you out of it tho, just put in some thought to what your doing. Im consused tho, your ceiling shows you already have in-ceilings. Are you running atmos now or no?

Hah hah there's still time to get me to drop that coin! . See that's the issue when I bought the house those in ceiling were already installed. Not high end I did some digging they are the Monoprice Calibers I think? I did hook em up to try them out with music etc movies not in an atmos setup just standard listening. They sounded pretty good for the money I saw them listed on the Monoprice sight when I went digging. But man the tweeters are bright bright bright bright! Very fatiguing to listen too after awhile so I was thinking of just leaving them in there untouched and ceiling mounting some SVS prime elevations. But man that's a lottof clutter. But I noticed when I was browsing RSL that the cutouts for the C34ES were almost identical they are just millimeters smaller so when I spoke to him about it he said they would work in that cutout. And I've heard great things about those speakers I know they'll be a step up from those fatiguing bright monoprice Calibers

 

[Danzilla31]

Well, in a perfect world the tweeters are at ear level, but that doesnt work for most of us. My surrounds are probably 5' high with 10' ceilings. Don't let me talk you out of it tho, just put in some thought to what your doing. Im consused tho, your ceiling shows you already have in-ceilings. Are you running atmos now or no?

The problem is mine aren't 5 feet up they are 7 feet up pretty darn high

 

[Danzilla31]

So the surrounds are near the ceilings? Not sure if audyssey can help with that. Might want to lower those surrounds down closer to ear level. Think requires a bit of height separation so the ceiling speakers sound like they are truly overhead. Then again I’m still in the planning phase at the moment. I’m all research no action. LOL 4 ft ahead and 4 ft behind might be good for the ceiling speakers though. Think guide says 30 degrees to 55 degrees towards the listener. You might need to draw it out to check it against the Dolby guide. Did the former owner have Atmos?

I'm thinking probably not I bet they just put them in they're instead of using floor standard they git my attention when I bought the house cus I was like I might be able to use these!

 

[Danzilla31]

I'm thinking probably not I bet they just put them in they're instead of using floor standard they git my attention when I bought the house cus I was like I might be able to use these!

Meant to say floor standers man spell check is a pain in the ass

 

[Danzilla31]

Well, in a perfect world the tweeters are at ear level, but that doesnt work for most of us. My surrounds are probably 5' high with 10' ceilings. Don't let me talk you out of it tho, just put in some thought to what your doing. Im consused tho, your ceiling shows you already have in-ceilings. Are you running atmos now or no?

So no I wasn't running atmos when I first bought the house I wanted to wait awhile before getting a new reciever tv etc etc invest more in the house first plus build up the system starting from the speakers and subs up first. Just was hopeful I could utilize those speakers but they are way too bright

 

[Danzilla31]

I think based on your feedback drunkpengion and snakeeyes I'd probably better wait. Those surrounds are too high and as you guys asked there is no way to move them down with those arched walls
I have 2 final questions for all you guys though.
The first should I buy the 4400 tommorow? Can it just run my 7.2 for now? I need to upgrade anyway next year and I won't get it any cheaper. Or should I wait till next year and get something after I fix my surround situation. I also need to keep in mind that onkyo txnr 809 isn't going to last forever it has HDMI glitches I just figured out a way around them for now.
The second how high above the couches should I set my prime towers up to go when I do get the ultra's and use those as surrounds? Any feedback is appreciated

 

[PENG]

They'll take another $50 off just asking for your opinion comes with full warranty

That will bring it down to just below bestbuy.ca's level, that is, C$999X0.77 = US$769.
D&M AVRs and AVPs pre-outs are good, should have no trouble driving 200/300 W power amps with 27 dB gain or more. The Monolith amps have 28 dB gain, the UPA has 32 dB gain.

 

[Danzilla31]

So the surrounds are near the ceilings? Not sure if audyssey can help with that. Might want to lower those surrounds down closer to ear level. Think requires a bit of height separation so the ceiling speakers sound like they are truly overhead. Then again I’m still in the planning phase at the moment. I’m all research no action. LOL 4 ft ahead and 4 ft behind might be good for the ceiling speakers though. Think guide says 30 degrees to 55 degrees towards the listener. You might need to draw it out to check it against the Dolby guide. Did the former owner have Atmos?

That's the other reason I love the C34E's they have a 15 degree angle towards the listener and the tweeter is adjustable to a degree that should help a lot when it's time to put them up there