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Where's the talk/reviews on the Emotiva UMC-200?

At $599 (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!) direct from the manufacturer (that's right,..no middleman mark up), Emotiva has a standalone DTS Master/Dolby HD audio 7.1 preamp processor, AND I DON'T HEAR ANYONE TALKING ABOUT IT HERE!Why is that?...
There are surely threads on which AV receiver (yawn) is being used, or which should I buy, this and that. But there's not a hint of talk about what should otherwise be a superior performance option in the Emotiva budget separates!? Again, why is that?
I am personally one who would never spend $1500+ (and would only look to pay $100-250 on one, if I absolutely had to) on a brand new AV receiver, which is likely sonically compromised, in many aspects, for my money. Basically, I want to spend as little as possible if I go the AV receiver route for my system, and would MUCH RATHER spend on quality separates based performance, ESPECIALLY at only a few hundred dollars in cost!
So, here's this Emotiva $599 as advertised processor, and I here nary a word about it...anywhere! I might have seen one brief review in a magazine. But, I see nothing from the faithful here!
Anyone used, heard, demo'd, or have any input on this UMC-200 piece from Emotiva? Any comparisons to other gear you've owned, as for functionality, digital audio sound quality, video up-scaling or pass-through quality, reliability, and so on??? Is this thing the same as the originally offered UMC-1 at same price? I heard that one had lots of bugs and problems??
Anyway, I want to hear from those hear on their thoughts and experiences with this thing, and why isn't this apparent "bargain" of an item being discussed? ...or does most everyone here still think that your standard Chinese built AV surround receiver will offer the same level of performance as what you'd expect from higher end esoteric separates electronics?
Whaaatteeerrrryyyaaall comments here?
avgoround

Showing 2 responses by audiooracle

audiooracle
387 posts
 

Whats the big deal, for not much more money Nuforce has also released a budget priced Preamp/processor with superior sound quality, features and design over the Emotiva.

A dealer friend of mine says this new Nuforce piece sounds more like a $3-4K processor than its $1,095.00 price will dictate.

Most of Emotiva's products are cheap and somewhat nasty souding, and in most cases spending a bit more will get you a far better product.

Here is a news flash, factory direct usually means these products will not compare favorably against the better brands, or they could afford to price their products 20% higher and get a dealer base.
audiooracle
387 posts
 

Odyssey is one of the rare companies, but there stuff isn't as cheap as Emotiva.

Have you heard the Sanders? They beam like crazy, are low in sensitivity, have to be bi-amped and are large and ugly speakers, thanks but no thanks. The press is full of crazy reviews, like $30k single driver systems with no real bass, or treble.

As per everything being factory direct try purchasing a Porsche direct, the factory direct model is only good for cheap products and cheap buyers, people who want quality will save their pennies and buy good gear. Most people want to compare their prospective purchase to the well established players if Emotiva was really competitive they would offer their line to dealers and raise prices by about 20% their gear would still be cheap, but at least you could really do a fair comparison.

Emotiva is good cheap gear, not good gear cheap, if you look at their pricing even factory direct they can't be using particularly great parts, on most of their models.
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