How good is Emotiva 2 channel gear??

People who spend a lot of money on amps prefer to avoid these threads. I've had a lot of SS amps, from Carver to Rotel and recently Odyssey and currently a Manley Stingray II.

The TRUTH is that it all sounded good without exception. The Stingray sounds best, but it's never a night & day swing. Recently I got to try a XPA-3 and had to admit that it did very well for home theater and music. By "very well" I mean that I would have no issue using it with my Definitive Technology/SVS theater system. For more exotic gear that can bring out the smaller nuances you might want the "higher" end power, but 75% of audio is about personal perception and folks rarely agree on what's best. I think a 300 Oppo CD player sounds better than the 1500 dollar Jolida I had. Go figure.

Most likely you will be impressed and happy with an Emotive amp, even if some people snub it's mid-fi range along with Rotel, Parasound, Outlaw and many others that simply make good music.

Cheers,

Bob

Mid range can be lifeless on a LOT of good amps when mated to the wrong pre-amp. And most processors are simply weak for musicality. Connected to a Rogue pre-amp the Emotiva does just fine for music. In fact I'm currently about to break in the Emotiva 3 channel model to compare to the well regarded Odyssey.

Cheers,

Bob

I recently got to test the UPA-1 monoblocks from Emotiva and they gave the Odyssey Stratos Extreme a close run for the money. I prefer the extreme to anything from Rotel, Wyred 4 Sound or Parasound and quite a few others. So bottom line is that Emotiva is very much the real deal.

I also ordered their new processor after hearing one against an Onkyo that cost twice as much. Appears that the bugs are now worked out. I'll post a review after I run it for a few days.

Rob

I just got the Emotiva UMC-1. Their object was to beat the Integra 9.8/9.9.

I think they did it, at least when it comes to the pre-amp section the Emotiva is impressing me with music. For home theater I doubt anyone could tell the difference.

The only issue is that the UMC-1 continues to have firmware upgrades as they work out the bugs for connectivity. I myself had some issues at first, now all corrected. Main sources are PS3, Oppo and HD Comcast cable. My screen is 10 feet wide.

I plan to post a detailed review, but for now I'll say this: This is a 2000 dollar processor selling for 700 bucks.
Period.

My system...ever growing and changing....
http://GhostLight.zenfolio.com/p280561067/slideshow

Rob

Entry level gear is not Emotiva. Even with their low prices a good system based on Emotiva amps and processors will cost more than anything "entry level."
Entry level is a Sony, Denon or Onkyo receiver powering some Mirage speakers. And guess what? That can sound pretty good if set up well. But once you get into separates things change and we're not at entry level anymore.

Rob