Harmon Kardon AVR 3490 or Emotiva UPA-2 to supplement Denon AVR 1802

[abhaskare]

I currently have the following setup:
Denon AVR 1802 (80Wx5)
Polk Audio Monito 70 (fronts), Monitor 40 (rear) and CS2 center.
I do have spare Def Tech BP6B and Polk R50 pairs.

Target:
This is set up in a large family room, 15 ft ceiling, 20x20 feet with one open wall.
I am pretty happy with the Denon but still feel it I am missing something. Alhough the receiver spec says 80x5 as power output, I am going to take it as 80watt receiver for this discussion.

I am looking at using HK 3490 (240W) or Emotiva UPA-2 (250 W) to hook up the front speakers. My primary interest is music.

1) Which one from the above will be a good choice (HK 3490 or Emotiva UPA-2)? Costwise they are comparable but I think UP-2 has higher TDH (.1% vs .04%)
2) Will I abe able to create a 7.1 setup with either of one above and the existing 5.1 Denon AVR 1802? If so, will I need to get a DVD palyer that has 7 channel audio out?
3) Emotiva UPA-2 is an amp - I assume it will need a preamp. Can the RCA out from DVD player be used as an input?
4) How does one control the volume controls in thsi type of setting when u have more than one amp?

I dont think I can listen to any Emotiva amps but from the pics and specs, they are impressive. Appreciate any alternatives as well.

Thanks!
Avinash

 

[anamorphic96]

I currently have the following setup:
Denon AVR 1802 (80Wx5)
Polk Audio Monito 70 (fronts), Monitor 40 (rear) and CS2 center.
I do have spare Def Tech BP6B and Polk R50 pairs.

Target:
This is set up in a large family room, 15 ft ceiling, 20x20 feet with one open wall.
I am pretty happy with the Denon but still feel it I am missing something. Alhough the receiver spec says 80x5 as power output, I am going to take it as 80watt receiver for this discussion.

I am looking at using HK 3490 (240W) or Emotiva UPA-2 (250 W) to hook up the front speakers. My primary interest is music.

1) Which one from the above will be a good choice (HK 3490 or Emotiva UPA-2)? Costwise they are comparable but I think UP-2 has higher TDH (.1% vs .04%)
2) Will I abe able to create a 7.1 setup with either of one above and the existing 5.1 Denon AVR 1802? If so, will I need to get a DVD palyer that has 7 channel audio out?
3) Emotiva UPA-2 is an amp - I assume it will need a preamp. Can the RCA out from DVD player be used as an input?
4) How does one control the volume controls in thsi type of setting when u have more than one amp?

I dont think I can listen to any Emotiva amps but from the pics and specs, they are impressive. Appreciate any alternatives as well.

Thanks!
Avinash

The HK is 120 watts per channel not 240 and the UPA is the same way. 120 watts per channel. Both amps will only offer 1 to 2 db more output over the Denon. You have to double power output to get 3 db more output. So keep this in mind.

Both would help a little but not make a huge difference. The HK is also a receiver. Granted it has main inputs.

Why not go with the Emotiva XPA-3. That would help fill out the room. Then the Denon would only be doing surround duty.

 

[abhaskare]

Thanks for pointing out, HK and UPA will both be around 120watts. XPA-3 looks like a good choice.

 

[AVRat]

You're lucky the 1802 has the front 3 pre-outs, so yes the XPA-3 will work nicely. And no you can't re-assign the 1802's unused amps for 7.1 capability, you're stuck with 5.1. The receiver handles the volume control, but you'll need to calibrate the speakers for even sound levels.

 

[abhaskare]

Thanks AVRat.
I plan to get a DVD palyer that has 7.1 RCA out connections.
An example would be Samsung BD-P2600A
I checked on Page 28 of the user manual and it shows the 8 connections for 7.1. Any opinion will this work with the above - to use Denon powering the 4 rear channels?
Most new DVD players have 24bit/192 Khz DAC and Samsung one has them. Will this be a good setup?
I never owned an AMP - does an AMP have a volume control or is it in the source (Pre-Amp)?

 

[son-yah-tive]

Yes, the XPA-3 would be a very good dedicated amp. The Denon for the surrounds would be the way to go.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Most new DVD players have 24bit/192 Khz DAC and Samsung one has them. Will this be a good setup?

If you dead want to stick with analog out equipment, forget Samsung and check out Oppo (they don't sell DVD players anymore, but I'd check out refub/used)

I never owned an AMP - does an AMP have a volume control or is it in the source (Pre-Amp)?

No, amps don't have volume controls- volume controls its a function of pre-amp.
Don't worry about volume control, you denon will control the volume and you'd do one time sound level matching (preferably with SPL meter or at least with build-in audeysey auto-correction)

 

[AVRat]

As I said, with the 1802 you are resticted to 5.1. The only way to move to 7.1 would be a 7.1 receiver/processor.

 

[abhaskare]

Thanks to all for the help. I have placed an order for XPA-3 today.
I am looking at the following options for pre-processing:
1) Denon AVR 3310CI (around $900) - to power 4 sorround channels
2) Emotiva UMC-1 preprocessor ($719).
3) Any other A/V receiver that has pre amps and is under $500?

If I go the UMC-1 route, the Denon 1802 will be put back to power the 4 channels.
Any suggestion on either would help a lot. I can also wait a little bit for the UMC-1 issues to settle down.
Regards
Avinash

 

[Knucklehead90]

The UMC still has problems/bugs that need to be worked out. It appears Emotiva has a handle on them as each FW release gets them closer to fixing the problems - but getting half way each time still leaves them half way to go (mathematically anyway).

If I already had an XPA-3 I'd strongly consider buying an AVR such as the Onkyo NR807/RC180. With internet capability and Audyssey MultEQ it is very up to date - and the RC180 will save you $100 over the UMC-1 - and it has no bugs to be worked out. You'll only have 2 pieces of gear to futz with instead of three - and you can sell that older piece of gear and recoup a few bucks.

 

[abhaskare]

Very good suggestion - the Onkyo RC180 seems to be a nice choice. Pricewise and featureswise, it appears to have a lot more than the Denon 3310.

This forum has been awesome, I have received extremely invaluable help.
Thanks to all of you!
Regards
Avinash

 

[abhaskare]

Received my Emotiva XPA-3 last week and what a nice and huge difference it has made! Now I realize how the big Polk Mon 70 should sound like. I hooked up the front three channels to XP-3 and movie and music experience is completely changed - way much better. The sound is much fuller, cleaner and the music is more realistic. This is completely a different world with the amp.
Again, thanks to all of you for helping me!
Regards
Avinash