dedicated processors for HT

[kapvin]

havent yet set mine up as yet , will definetly let u know

my friend santhol also from the forum has also got the UMC-1 , we shipped it together via borderlinx

both of us had preordered it on the Emotiva website abt 2-3 months bak ,luckily our allotment of the unit came thro together this month, we arranged for the payment via our bros in US , and as santhol is a citi bank card holder he shipped both the units via borderlinx ,.emotiva ships only to local adress (the units were shipped to border linx in ohio and borderlinx to bangalore thro Fedex)

cost --699$ + 20$ (local shipping to Ohio)+200$ (international shipping)

total amt spent --919$

santhol is one of the very happy user of the Emotiva Umc-1 , i guess it cud be the first unit out here in india , hes very satisfied with it,do chk his review in another thread

Hi subhash,

I have an active plan to buy this processor. could you give a sense of how much import duty was paid?

thanks

kapil

 

[subhash]

Hi subhash,

I have an active plan to buy this processor. could you give a sense of how much import duty was paid?

thanks

kapil

apart from 719$ for the unit its abt 200$ for shipping + customs via borderlinx

 

[santhosh]

apart from 719$ for the unit its abt 200$ for shipping + customs via borderlinx

Kapil, it is 919$ in all. The 200$ includes shipping, customs and taxes. That amounts to Rs.42274 if we take the $rate at 46. My first impressions are good and IMO, this is fantastic value for what the UMC-1 offers. But wait for two or three days more and we'll have Subhash's first impressions as well. He is collecting it from me today and will have hooked it up tonight. He is as power hungry as you can gethyeah: so I am waiting for his review as well. Also, he is currently using his Onkyo 875 as a pre, so he will have something to compare against. Mine was an upgrade from a AVR which could not do HD Audio, so I am bound to be impressed.

 

[kapvin]

Mine was an upgrade from a AVR which could not do HD Audio, so I am bound to be impressed.

Santosh,

thanks for the reply! that's pretty much the case with me. I was also evaluating doing a package deal with a upa-7 as well. since i have an amplification deficit. will need to check out how shipping works for heavier items.


i am in bangalore from this weekend on for a week. if your calender is not chock-a-block, do you think i could invite myself over for a brief listen?

oh, and one other thing, could you share what payment method you used with emotiva? they seem to be pretty insistent about not accepting international credit cards

Kapil

 

[sud98]

I think you missed Subhash's post that it is via borderlinx. Borderlinx uses Citibank International card. For details on Borderlinx, there is a separate thread in general chat.

 

[santhosh]

Santosh,
thanks for the reply! that's pretty much the case with me. I was also evaluating doing a package deal with a upa-7 as well. since i have an amplification deficit. will need to check out how shipping works for heavier items.

Subhash has also posted his impressions, looks good and my impressions were correct too. We will do a detailed review soon, should help you and others decide.

http://www.hifivision.com/surround-...pro-audiophile-sq-features-12.html#post138659

i am in bangalore from this weekend on for a week. if your calender is not chock-a-block, do you think i could invite myself over for a brief listen?

Sure thing mate, you are most welcome. Will need your help on some Home network planning too. PM me your number. We'll work out a mutually suitable time.

oh, and one other thing, could you share what payment method you used with emotiva? they seem to be pretty insistent about not accepting international credit cards

Kapil

Yes, not accepting international credit cards is a problem. However they accept PayPal. I thought about it and finally got my cousin(who has a NRI account) to make a bank wire payment. Luckily, he was planning to withdraw some $ for his newly built home, so worked well as many may not want to exchange considering the current $rate. I will pay him in INR. Subhash's brother lives in the US, so he did the same.

 

[kapvin]

I think you missed Subhash's post that it is via borderlinx. Borderlinx uses Citibank International card. For details on Borderlinx, there is a separate thread in general chat.

Sud98, you missed the point.. I'm talking about emotiva.. not borderlinx..

 

[subhash]

If you are looking for a surround processor in 100K bracket, you will not see any major change from what you have today. I would consider that as money thrown away.

If you are looking for a quantum jump in sound processing look for products from Arcam, Parasound, B&K, Lexicon, Rotel, Sunfire, Anthem, or Theta. Believe me, the Emotiva cannot hold a candle to these products. Even a Onkyo's Elite Sound processor will be better than the ones you are looking at.

Parasound is releasing a new sound processor in January and that will be a class act. That should be around 2 lakhs in India.

Cheers

you got it wrong here venkat
in a side by side comparision btw the emotiva UMC-1 and Onkyo 875 used as pre , the Emotiva simply outshines the onkyo in all departments,it simply blows the onkyo out ,theres better separation /full bodied frequencies,
may be not fare to compare as each have been built for specific needs , one of the reason that the emotiva is a dedicated processor.

competitive pricing and great performance of the Emotiva products shud well blow away the others

 

[venkatcr]

If you are happy with the Emotiva, it is great.

Cheers

 

[subhash]

Subhash - I agree with you that Pre-power combos are better at sound - but at-least IMHO - that applies mainly to music - because movie sound recordings are at-best average. So in this case power delivery becomes more of an issue - as movies require quite high sound pressure levels than music to sound authentic.
I used to own a B&K ref50 pre amp after which I had a parasound halo - using parasound amps, but now I am back to a denon receiver (avr2310) and find its sound more than adequate in my 15 x 12 x 9 room.
Regardless I believe that the better value will be to pair a AVR (used as a processor) and a multi channel amp.
Just my 2 paisa:lol:
Cheers
Sid

an AVR as an Avr or processor absolutely no match for a standalone Processor
was not too sure of this untill i hooked up my new dedicated processor in my HT replacing the Avr as the processor, the result is simply brilliant it outshines the AVr in all aspects.

wud recomend anyone looking to upgrade to dedicated processors to go ahead ,the SQ is a major step up way ahead of avrs

 

[sidvee]

an AVR as an Avr or processor absolutely no match for a standalone Processor
was not too sure of this untill i hooked up my new dedicated processor in my HT replacing the Avr as the processor, the result is simply brilliant it outshines the AVr in all aspects.

wud recomend anyone looking to upgrade to dedicated processors to go ahead ,the SQ is a major step up way ahead of avrs

I am glad that you are enjoying the Emotiva. When you say it outshines your AVR as a processor have you performed a level matched test using similar settings etc. Also is this for music or movies? I am just curious.
Thx.
Sid

 

[santhosh]

Sid, even I have the Emotiva surround sound processor and can vouch for the fact that it is a huge upgrade over AVRs for movies. But the Emotiva is also doing very well as a stereo pre and that is just a bonus since both of us have a seperate stereo rig for music. However, we still continue to listen with our stereo pres as we feel our stereo pres are better by 10 to 15% in comparison to the Emotiva as a pre for stereo.

And about testing both, Subhash did just that today. He hooked up his Onkyo 875 and just did not enjoy it anymore - in more ways than one.

 

[sidvee]

Sid, even I have the Emotiva surround sound processor and can vouch for the fact that it is a huge upgrade over AVRs for movies. But the Emotiva is also doing very well as a stereo pre and that is just a bonus since both of us have a seperate stereo rig for music. However, we still continue to listen with our stereo pres as we feel our stereo pres are better by 10 to 15% in comparison to the Emotiva as a pre for stereo.

And about testing both, Subhash did just that today. He hooked up his Onkyo 875 and just did not enjoy it anymore - in more ways than one.

Thanks Santosh - No I was not being skeptical - I have not heard the Emotiva so I just wanted to learn a little more about its performance. It appears to be a good value. Anyways the key is enjoyment which is what you guys are doing which is great.
Cheers
Sid

 

[subhash]

I am glad that you are enjoying the Emotiva. When you say it outshines your AVR as a processor have you performed a level matched test using similar settings etc. Also is this for music or movies? I am just curious.
Thx.
Sid

HI Sid

was enjoying my newly arrived processor and my AVR was just lying there as i had an off on friday thot wud spend the day comparing the two

After hooking back the 875 i dropped in a few BDs, my first impression was my god!! what was i listening to all these years . The movie soundtracks sounded dull and lifeless absolutely did not provide the bangs that it had to .(which just a week back i was happy with ,but know going back to it ,it was a sad story altogether)

i wudnt say i did a level matched test , @ low volume levels the AVR just dint deliver the bangs and thrills which the processor delivered at low vol levels. It was very much lacking thro the AVR ,in fact i wud say the AVR sounded very very average

@ Higher vol levels the AVR fails miserably the worst being the protection mode kicking in when ever there was extreme demands which by any means is most pathetic ( many wudnt drive the AVrs to such levels ,but then its meant to deliver for its price) Overall @ higher levels of vol the AVR fails ,wud conclude that if one hasnt experienced a processor he may be happy with an AVR untill he hears one ,but if he does then its time to upgrade

The set up thro the Processor is definetly a step above the AVRs ,it maintains the same level of thrills and bangs @ any given level of volume. In fact it literally makes u jump and duck for cover ,the separation is spot on and much sharper and the overall sound @ any level is sweeter and engulfing and center channel coming doubly alive

source used ->pioneer BDP Lx 52
king kong BD (DTS-HD)
Dark knight BD(Dolby True -HD)
Maghadeera (LPCM)
Eagles farwell tour ,dvd ,DTS

For music thro an AVR the less said the better ,the Processor is almost as good as a dedicated stereo pre, i wud say it may fall back by abt 10:/:
it cud be that i may be biased towards my stereo pre and wudnt want to accept that a processor cud match up to its sound


I have used the same power blocks for comparing both

coming to the price factor ,agreed that the very few processors out in the market are extremely expensive here, and even the higher end AVRs are equally expensive , but if one cud source a processor as the one from Emotiva @ such a value for money price its no point getting on with the AVRs.

The upgrade to a processor + Power block/blocks for HT is as similar as upgrading to a dedicated pre+power for music
It does make your movies sound more exciting and thrilling so for all of us with dediacted HT set ups and who are into serious HT sound its time to look beyond an AVR

regards

 

[corElement]

Goes into vanity for me, I dont believe the price justifies the quantity of the recording quality of the content we play to mean anything in our short lifespans unless have enough money to throw away at a bmw or porche.

 

[sidvee]

From Subhash's & Santhosh's experience with the Emotiva and with the host of threads on the net I think it would be fair to conclude that the UMC-1 is a very good value and a better alternative to the 1 lakh plus rcvrs. out there. Question would be, what multichannel amps. would do the trick, to match to the UMC - that are available in India? I know Emotivas own amps. probably would be the best option (and definitley the best value), but how does one import a 70-80lb behemoth into India without damage?
Cheers
Sid

 

[subhash]

From Subhash's & Santhosh's experience with the Emotiva and with the host of threads on the net I think it would be fair to conclude that the UMC-1 is a very good value and a better alternative to the 1 lakh plus rcvrs. out there. Question would be, what multichannel amps. would do the trick, to match to the UMC - that are available in India? I know Emotivas own amps. probably would be the best option (and definitley the best value), but how does one import a 70-80lb behemoth into India without damage?
Cheers
Sid

abt power amps i think its advisable to pick up one good 2 channel block and put it for the main L/R so u cud be happy with music
and for the remaining look out in the used market there are plenty of multichannel power amps available

ya the best wud be to pair with emotiva power amps , they are really huge and heavy and do have excellent user reviews, getting them down here wud definetly be a task.

thier XPA-1 looks really tempting!!!

 

[cmsajith]

It really tempting to go for the Emotiva processor as i am having Quads for front L/R and can use the Onkyo 606 and HTR 320 for the rest of the channels or by having a separate poweramp for center. Probably, I may think once i complete my living room HT setup is complete.