EMotiva UMC-200 - General Question (1 Viewer)

[erew99]

Hi,
I have been looking into finding a smaller receiver and a well known good quality product.

I came across the Emotiva UMC-200.

Is this unit capable of replacing a receiver, or does it work with a receiver (that has pre-outs)?

Thanks,

 

[erew99]

I read the manual and looked again at the back of the unit. There are no speaker inputs, so I think I get it.

 

[schan1269]

That is a Pre-Pro...

Pre amp Processor

You buy external amplification. Separates...once you make the jump, tend to cost less long term. But...Pre-Pro tend to be a year, sometimes two, behind the latest "gee whiz" in receivers.

 

[JohnRice]

I'll elaborate a little on Sam's response and maybe present it in a different perspective. Separates are generally intended for people who want improved sound quality, but are less concerned with all the up-to-the-second bells and whistles. You use separate power amps, rather than the ones built into receivers. Good external amps will often be more expensive, but can offer significantly higher power than anything in any receiver, as well as better sounding designs, such as Class A or A/B designs rather than the Class D or T designs in receivers. Technology of power amps doesn't change much, so the idea is you can have a much better amp(s) and when you upgrade, you keep the amp(s) but only upgrade the pre-amp/processor to better quality and/or newer features. Essentially, a receiver has the pre-amp/processor and power amps in one enclosure. With separates, they are in two or more enclosures.

 

[gene c]

Hi,I have been looking into finding a smaller receiver and a well known good quality product. I came across the Emotiva UMC-200. Is this unit capable of replacing a receiver, or does it work with a receiver (that has pre-outs)? Thanks,

Look at the Marantz Slimline receivers. The 1402, 1403, 1602, 1603 and 1604 from ac4l.com are factory refurbs with one year warranty. 5 year extended warranties are only $50 more.http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/AVReceiver/Home-Audio/Home-Theater-Receivers/1.html?brand=Marantz

 

[LCSeminole]

Here's a new offering from Emotiva, it's pretty much a UMC-200 with a power amplifier. It's two very important features in my opinion are the full 7.1 pre-amp outputs and the P-EQ.

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/av-receivers/products/fusion-8100

 

[LCSeminole]

Ooops, forgot the link.

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/av-receivers/products/fusion-8100

 

[schan1269]

Anybody know who's room EQ they use?Sounds like they went for the price/features point Onkyo gave up on this year.I'd buy that over an Onkyo 727.

 

[LCSeminole]

I'm not completely sure, but I think it's an improvement on the software that chipmaker Cirrus has available for those processors/receivers that use their DSP chips. I have a UMC-200, but I go the manual route by using the 11 band P-EQ, along with REW and a miniDSP UMIK-1 for measurements. I've never been a big fan of the "set it and forget it" Room Equalization Software, such as Audyssey.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm with Laurence on that. I prefer my system to sound like my system, not something else. The EQ is great for some tweeking, but most of my sound control is in the room, not electronic.

 

[John Garcia]

They use their own EQ and I'm not sure what it is based on, but it works and it includes the sub. To be honest, I only use the EQ for movies and other things. For music, analog direct, no EQ because the 105 (and even my former BDP-83SE) sounded better. I mainly chose it because I was already driving my speakers with separate amps with a Marantz AVR as the Pre. The Marantz had no HDMI though, and the UMC was a LOT cheaper than the new Marantz preamp and even the AVRs with similar features. The benefit of a pre-pro is, you buy amplification that will handle anything you throw at it and the upgrade only the controller portion, as opposed to getting rid of the whole thing. Amps last WAY longer than features, thuogh in my case my Marantz' front display started to go out after 10yrs and I needed HDMI switching. The UMC-200 did sound a bit better than the Marantz also though.