Emotiva UPA-2 arrived today!

[mibson]

Emotiva UPA-2 arrived today! Now to Compare to my old amps!

I live in Canada. Emotiva did take 6 days to respond to my email that I wanted a UPA-2 shipped to Canada, but I do understand that they are busy. Once we spoke on the phone, their customer support was great, fast, friendly...

The amp shipped fast! I think 2 weekend days and 3 working days (ordered Saturday came on Wednesday). Looks great! I heard some people dont like how they look!? thats crazy it looks cool. Perhaps it does not look as good as my brothers $5000 amp, but it looks good.

Anyway, I dont get my new speakers till tomorrow, but Im gonna hook it up to my Paradigm atoms, and 15 year old PSBs, and post what I think compared to my other amps:

1)15 year old Sony amp (dont know model, dont care)
2)30 year old Pioneer amp (SX 660 I think, great amp but its time to put it to rest)

I will be using my brothers old Arcam Xeta2 as a preamp, Im pretty sure my old speakers are going to sing for the first time!

Cheers!

 

[JerryLove]

Congrats. Tell us how it turns out.

 

[mibson]

Sound or Women

Sound wont get upset when you get your new amp, so you skip a haircut so that the amp wont freeze! (-40F and -40C here now)

My hair looks like Axioms head engineer and pres, thats not too bad is it?

 

[mibson]

Wow the sound is amazing but low on power.

WOW!

Ive used old, broken, hand me down, amps for so long.

This UPA-2 is making my 20 year old hand me down PSB 2 ways sing.

I cant immagine when I get my new speakers tomorrow.

One thing, the amount of power seems limited, I am using a $80 sony portable cd player at about 65% volume;

Is this why the power seems limited?

I do have the upa-2 ouput level on the back all the way up....

Tomorrow I get to borrow one of my brothers old cd players (Rega Planet - dont know the spelling)

 

[JerryLove]

So you are portable CD -> receiver -> amp?
Likely the CD player has a low output level.

If you are CD -> amp: likely you need a preamp... and the CD has low output level.

 

[rnatalli]

One thing, the amount of power seems limited, I am using a $80 sony portable cd player at about 65% volume;

Don't worry about this. I've noticed that with older equipment, the gain structure was generally setup so that an amp would hit close to full at just over 50% on the volume knob. The newer amps simply have a different gain structure that's all. Use your ears to judge volume. Enjoy your new toys!

 

[mibson]

perhaps its clipping?

I have

Portable cd player OR ipod --> arcam preamp --> UPA-2 power amp (I will get getting a real cd player tonight)

The volume on the portable cd player or ipod is at about 70%, the output ont he UPA-2 is all the way up, and the volume on the preamp is between 60-95%.

The music is moderately loud(not enough volume for sure, but great sound) and the indicator lights on the UPA-2 are not moving at all.

I have a feeling its because the output level on the portable cd player and ipod is low...

When I turn the pre amp up to 85-95% the pre amp turns off then back on, perhaps its clipping?

Not sure

 

[KEW]

The UPA lights only show 1 blue light per channel for normal operation.
The XPA has level indicators.

 

[mibson]

Thanks I didnt know that. Ill have to just see this evening when I get a real cd player if things are different, but right now the volume level is about the same as my 35wpc pioneer, (Arcam preamp and UPA-2 does sound way better though).

I dont understand why the Arcam preamp is turning off when I put its volume up high....do preamps do this if they are at high level ? (95% volume) I should explain that the volume is not very loud, just the preamp volume is all the way up...The UPA-2 is definitley not being "pushed"

(Ive never used a preamp before so I just dont know)

Note:this arcam is not too old, about 10 years with light use (Xeta 2)

 

[JerryLove]

I have

Portable cd player OR ipod --> arcam preamp --> UPA-2 power amp (I will get getting a real cd player tonight)

Let me know how it turns out with an actual CD-player. It sounds like you are adapting the headphone out and so likely are having power issues from your source.

I might be wrong: but using a component CD-player will eliminate that as a possibility.

 

[mibson]

I got my speakers! PSB T8

I got my new speakers today, PSB T8.

Im using an Arcam Xeta 2 as a preamp and a UPA-2 as a power amp.

As soon as I increase the volume on the Arcam to 30-40% the Arcam preamp shuts off...

On the back of the arcam (about 10+ years old) it has no input labeled "CD", it has an AUX (which I assumed would be for a cd player) but it also has a "LD" input and an "SAT" input.

What would be the correct input for a CD player?

 

[JerryLove]

Any should be fine... I'm curious about this cutting out on the preamp. I don't use deidicated pre-amps (yet) and so haven't commented: but that seems rather wrong.

Out of curiosity (making sure to drop the volume on your amp low first), what happens when you plug the CD straight into the amp?

 

[mibson]

Im not sure, I hit a button on the arcam preamp "auto ballance" it said "auto ballance on" then it seemed to work fine (not shuting off)

then I hit the auto ballance again it said "auto ballance off"

it still seems to work fine.(not shutting off)

I know this arcam sat for 3-5 years with no use, perhaps it just needed a "switch" ? I have no idea....

Ill go "play" and post some more

BTW, these speakers sound AMAZING, but Im scared to turn them up more...

also, I hit a "function" button on the remote for the arcam, it said -6db for the input, is this a correct level?

The problem is at this point I dont know if the -6db as referring to the AUX, LD, or SAT input....

Ill go play and post again...

Note: Im using a 20 year old sony cd player,I have a new cd player arrving in the next hour, via my brother.

He is a serious "audiophile" , but with more money than techincal knowlege....

PS the arcam auto resets to a low volume when it shuts of, which it is not shutting of as of now...

Im not going to hook the cd player directly to the amp just yet...as the arcam is now, not shutting off automatially, I will go get liberal with the volume

 

[mibson]

After this hitting the autoballance button (on) and then again to (off), this preamp is no longer shutting off, I have NO idea why this would be...

but I ve now had the pre amp at about 55%, with so much volume I cant imagine more!

wow these speakers are amazing!

Ill try a few different cds, I dont have my cd player delivery from my brother yet...he should be here any minute....

One concern: the screws that hold the woofers in are a bit red, rough and ; I would say "rusted" and the screws on the midrange and tweeters are black and smooth?!

I bought these spearkers on EBAY as a demo model, from a seller with 900 sales and 100% (yes 100%) positive feedback...

Perhaps Im being a bit paranoid, but why could these be slightly rusty and redish/rough? They came from California, and I know the humidity there much higher than here in Edmonton Canada.

Any comments? Should I be removing one of these woofers to ensure they are the original woofers?

Ok, I just noticed my ears are ringing, perhaps I had the volume too high....(I do have minor hearing damage from too many concerts, and my ears ring very easily)

 

[KEW]

If it was me, I would:
1) Contact the seller and ask for an explanation. One possibility is that they blew and replaced the woofers and marred the coating on the screws.
2) Take a general picture of the woofer and another showing the rusted area and post here - someone may ID the driver from the photo.
3) Wait 2-3 days for responses, then, if still unsure, pull the woofer out to see if you can find anything worthy of note.

 

[JerryLove]

Yea, that pre-amp behavior sounded really odd. Glad it's cleared up.

Sorry. I don't know what the setting should be. I would think that the

The problem is at this point I dont know if the -6db as referring to the AUX, LD, or SAT input....

I'm guessing: but I would say that's for source balancing. As you have only one source, I'd set it to 0db.

 

[KEW]

Ok, I just noticed my ears are ringing, perhaps I had the volume too high....(I do have minor hearing damage from too many concerts, and my ears ring very easily)

You should get a Radio Shack SPL meter and use it to figure out how loud you should listen to music based on safety standards.
Maybe start another post about hearing loss, ringing and acceptable levels.
You want to make sure your problems don't get worse!

 

[mibson]

rusty screws

If it was me, I would:
1) Contact the seller and ask for an explanation. One possibility is that they blew and replaced the woofers and marred the coating on the screws.
2) Take a general picture of the woofer and another showing the rusted area and post here - someone may ID the driver from the photo.
3) Wait 2-3 days for responses, then, if still unsure, pull the woofer out to see if you can find anything worthy of note.

Yes I sent the seller an email asking if he knew why...

The speakers are in great shape and sound great, so at this point Im not too concerned but I am going to ensure these are the correct woofers and that I did not get ripped off...

The screws do not show any signs of having been used , I mean they are not stripped at all; I know this doesnt tell me much..

This rough, rusty appeance is subtle, but still I need to find out why...Ill post pics here to see if anyone has any ideas, I might also contact PSB...

 

[mibson]

Yea, that pre-amp behavior sounded really odd. Glad it's cleared up.

Sorry. I don't know what the setting should be. I would think that the

I'm guessing: but I would say that's for source balancing. As you have only one source, I'd set it to 0db.

Ok the preamp stopped cutting out frequently and I did have the volume up at about 65%, I would never want it any louder...

However it did cut out at low (30%) volume once after about an hour of listening.... (so the problem seems less but not solved)

I will try to get my brother to find the manual for me...or perhaps Ill contact Arcam.

 

[JerryLove]

I will try to get my brother to find the manual for me...or perhaps Ill contact Arcam.

It does sound like a problem with the pre-amp.