Receiver or Pre/Pro?

[darien87]

Hey all,

I recently made the jump to an Emotiva 5-channel amp. I also have a 2-Channel Onkyo amp waiting to be used, if and when, I decide to do 7.1.

I'm pretty happy with my Yamaha 661, but I am looking to upgrade in the near future. I was planning on getting an Onkyo 705 later on in the year, but I just realized that I won't be needing the amplification services of a receiver, so why do I need a receiver at all?

Here's what I want:

1. HDMI 1.3
2. Decoding of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA
3. Ability to set different crossover points for different speakers.


Now the Onkyo 705 will do all of these things. But like I said, I've already got the amps. Is there a pre/pro out there or coming soon, that will do the things I want and be as cost effective as an Onkyo 705? I've seen the 705 on Ubid for $550.

Thanks for the help.

 

[rottenkid]

Have you looked into the Emotiva UMC-1? It won't be out until early june though. It has all your looking for and more. They have picture of it on thier website, and you can read about it on thier forum.

 

[fmw]

I can't help but wonder if the receiver change isn't a downgrade rather than an upgrade. No you don't need a receiver. You can use a power amplifier-less preamp/processor if you like.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Another vote for the Emotiva UMC-1: 4 HDMI-1.3, TrueHD, DTS-MA. It will look awesome with the Emotiva Amp. Just be a little patient because it will be worth it.

 

[cfrizz]

Agree with the others. Now that you have all the amplification, you should get a prepro. Since the Emotiva is coming out with everything you want just enjoy what you have for now for the next 3 months.

 

[darien87]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll go check out the specs for the UMC-1.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll go check out the specs for the UMC-1.

I don't think Emotova has the specs yet for the UMC-1, but it should be similar to the LMC-1, except the UMC-1 will have 4 HMDI-1.3 inputs and TrueHD & DTS-MA.

 

[darien87]

I don't think Emotova has the specs yet for the UMC-1, but it should be similar to the LMC-1, except the UMC-1 will have 4 HMDI-1.3 inputs and TrueHD & DTS-MA.

Yeah, I just looked all over their site and couldn't find any info. How did you find out about the HDMI inputs and the audio processing?

Unfortunately, I think it's a little ugly. I love the look of their amps. But for a pre/pro, all those little round buttons look funky to me. We'll see.

One thing that's REALLY important to me though, is being able to set different crossover points. I want to have my fronts and center set at 60Hz, but have my surrounds set at 80Hz. Do you guys know if the UMC-1 will be able to do this?

Thanks,
D

 

[itschris]

Check out the Pioneer Elite Receivers. I have seperate amps as well and was waiting for the Emotiva until they delayed their release. I'm going with the Elite 94TXH, but there are simlar models that are a bit less expensive. It's got everything but the kitchen sink and you can use the power to run a different zone if you want.

 

[jcPanny]

Emotiva pre-pros

Darien,
Check out this thread on the Emo forum for more details. The LMC-2 and UMC-1 are the same future product:
http://emotivalounge.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=preamps&action=display&thread=1198141899

The look of the pre-pro should match your amp and it should be a minor feature and performance upgrade from you existing receiver.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yeah, I just looked all over their site and couldn't find any info. How did you find out about the HDMI inputs and the audio processing?

Unfortunately, I think it's a little ugly. I love the look of their amps. But for a pre/pro, all those little round buttons look funky to me. We'll see.

One thing that's REALLY important to me though, is being able to set different crossover points. I want to have my fronts and center set at 60Hz, but have my surrounds set at 80Hz. Do you guys know if the UMC-1 will be able to do this?

Thanks,
D

Check this out:

http://emotiva.com/

The info is in the forum, given directly by Lonnie and Dann themselves.

I'm not sure about the crossover points.

 

[darien87]

Darien,
Check out this thread on the Emo forum for more details. The LMC-2 and UMC-1 are the same future product:
http://emotivalounge.proboards54.com/index.cgi?board=preamps&action=display&thread=1198141899

The look of the pre-pro should match your amp and it should be a minor feature and performance upgrade from you existing receiver.

Thanks for the link. It looks like the UMC-1 should be able to do everything I'm looking for.

I still think it looks kinda funny though. Oh well.

 

[darien87]

Check this out:

http://emotiva.com/

The info is in the forum, given directly by Lonnie and Dann themselves.

I'm not sure about the crossover points.

Yeah it will. I just browsed throught the 14 page thread about the unit, and it seems to have all the features I'm looking for.

Now I just need to know if my Harmony 880 will control it.

 

[darien87]

Another vote for the Emotiva UMC-1: 4 HDMI-1.3, TrueHD, DTS-MA. It will look awesome with the Emotiva Amp. Just be a little patient because it will be worth it.

This from the guy that bought the MPS-1 because he couldn't wait for the XPA-5.

So it looks like the UMC-1 will do everything I'm looking for; including be controlled by my Harmony 880. The wait's gonna kill me though!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This from the guy that bought the MPS-1 because he couldn't wait for the XPA-5.

So it looks like the UMC-1 will do everything I'm looking for; including be controlled by my Harmony 880. The wait's gonna kill me though!

Actually I bought the MPS-2 before I found out about the XPA-5.

 

[GlocksRock]

But in the long run you know you are going to be happier with the MPS-2 since it's class H and has 2 more channels for when you decide to go back to 7.1

 

[ParkerAudio]

I am in a similar situation wanting a prepro and an amplifier for a second house I have, but I am waiting for the new stuff to come out. I really don't like the look of the Emotiva products, I realize however they sound fantastic.
By the end of the first quarter or early second quarter Outlaw Audio is supposed to come out with a new prepro. I think there will be a lot of changes in the prepro lineups this year.

 

[rcarlton]

snip

By the end of the first quarter or early second quarter Outlaw Audio is supposed to come out with a new prepro. I think there will be a lot of changes in the prepro lineups this year.

I think the new Outlaw prepro will garner a lot of attention. In the past they have provided a feature packed product at a reasonable price. No reason to expect less of them with the new product.

 

[PENG]

Hey all,

I'm pretty happy with my Yamaha 661, but I am looking to upgrade in the near future. I was planning on getting an Onkyo 705 later on in the year, but I just realized that I won't be needing the amplification services of a receiver, so why do I need a receiver at all?

If you don't need the amps you should definitely consider a prepro. I understand you want to have HDMI 1.3 but at least your 661 has HMDI 1.2a so I hope you are enjoying Dolby True HD and Dolby Digital Plus already using the HD-A3. In fact, the A3 cannot benefit from HDMI1.3 because it cannot bitstream those HD audio formats.