Emotiva UPA-2 Stereo Amplifier

[jinjuku]

When I make time, I will A/B the UPA-2 with two channels of the B&K TX4430 that is currently driving the fronts. The 4430 is 200x3 and was of a "higher" class than the ST1400 when I bought them. Not sure that I want to try to make sense out of one good channel.

Setup currently includes:

Rotel RSP-1066 Pre/Pro
OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray
Rotel RDV-1040 DVD player

B&K TX4430 driving
Energy Pro RefCons across the front

Emotiva UPA-2 driving
Energy Pro 22 surrounds

Audiosource Amp 100 driving
Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble II rears

Audiosource Amp 100 driving 8 sets of ceiling and outdoor speakers with impedance matching volume controls through Zone 2 of Rotel RSP-1066

NHT MA-1A amp driving NHT SW-(1 or 2, I forgot which)
Optima HD73 projector
Carada 120"screen
Dish DVR
Adcom GDC-700 CD player
Sony HD FM receiver

Most of my stuff is pretty long in the tooth. The Energy sets are pushing 30 years old. I bought the B&K stuff nearly 15 years ago. Nearly the same with the NHT sub.

That is a great setup. Sucks the the B&K took a dive on you. Have you contacted B&K about refurbishing the amp? Surprised that the X-Overs in the speakers are still good.

Pay's to invest in quality.

 

[Seth=L]

I would have liked to seen it compared to an Audio Source Amp or the Behringer A500

The Emotiva UPA-2 is closer in street price to the Behringer EP2500 (which is really unfair to compare the Emotiva too.).

 

[jinjuku]

The Emotiva UPA-2 is closer in street price to the Behringer EP2500 (which is really unfair to compare the Emotiva too.).

I was thinking more along the lines of specifications. Still, the question stands.

 

[rnatalli]

I believe there's another typo. The HK 157. I assume you meant 147. No biggie. It's a real tribute to HK as the 147 sells for $200-300 vs a dedicated amp selling for $300. Although it probably would have been fairer to compare a HK receiver with power closer to the Emotiva. Nice comparison just the same.

 

[Audioholics]

I believe there's another typo. The HK 157. I assume you meant 147.

154 actually.

 

[Harmon]

Thanks for the review ... was thinking about buying one even before, but why only subjective opinion in this review and no objective testing?

 

[Opteron1944]

UPA-2 and 4 Ohm / Efficient Speakers

For the last 2 months, I have been enjoying the UPA-2 driving my Klipsch KG-4speakers.

As you may know, handling 4 ohm loads presents problems to many amps which, from an arithmetic standpoint, should be perfectly adequate. When the speakers are also highly efficient, as is the case here, the results can be messy. (While not quite as responsive as the Klipsch classic speakers, reading through Magnepan reviews shows that this issue is a live one.)

I find the UPA-2 does a wonderful job in presenting a faithful rendering of the timbres of all instruments as well as clearly presenting bass notes and a fine precision that helps following multiple musical threads, such as found in the Brandenburg Concerti recordings from Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert.

The human voice is also beautifully rendered: "Glitter and Be Gay" from the orginal cast album of "Candide" shows just how accurate the young Barbara Cook was in this notoriously difficult piece. At the same time, Robert Preston's performance of "When Movies Were Movies" from "Mack and Mabel" shines through the technically challenging recording.

I find that I have stopped listening to the equipment and have resumed listening to the music - my most important criterion for a piece of audio gear.

Emotiva provides a 30 day trial period and I would strongly encourage anyone curious about this amplifier to take advantage of the opportunity to hear what this unit can do in your system.

(I have no connection to Emotiva, other than being a satisfied customer.)

System:

Rotel 855 CD player
Oppo 970HD DVD player
NAD T-163 Pre/Pro
Emotiva UPA-2 - Klipsch KG-4 front speakers
Acurus Mondial 100 - Aculine surrounds and Athena C.5 center channel
Dali 1.5 Subwoofer

 

[bborzell]

That is a great setup. Sucks the the B&K took a dive on you. Have you contacted B&K about refurbishing the amp? Surprised that the X-Overs in the speakers are still good.

Pay's to invest in quality.

Oddly enough, I was doing a Google search on B&K TX4430 amps to set a price for the amp and I came across this post (which was mine in the first place).

Thanks for the compliment. I've actually had some changes since that post.

The Rotel pre/pro has been replaced by an Emotiva UMC-1. In addition, I got the B&K ST14000 working again. I had forgotten that there are two fuses to check. It's been back in the rack for a month and running fine. It is powering two Emotiva ERD-1s for side surround. The Emotiva UPA-2 is driving two other ERD-1s for rear surround. The Energy Pros are now looking for new owners.

The NHT sup is retired having been replaced by a Rythmik F12.

When I get around to it (I say that a lot), I will list the Rotel RSP-1066, B&K TX4430, B&K ST1400, Rotel DVD-1040, B&K AVP-1000 and the Energy Pro 22s.

 

[sjcguy]

it's $50 higher now

ATTN: Clint/ Admin:

In the summary section on the first page of the article, it's price is listed as $299. I believe this is incorrect.

Price went up to $349