Nick69 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Hey All Has anyone heard this pre-amp and can describe what its like and how much it would cost to ship it to Perth? http://emotiva.com/usp1.shtm I'm thinking of pairing it with a Rotel RMB-1095 and VAF I-66 speakers while i come up with the funds to purchase the other speakers in my setup (surround rears and centre). Cheers Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozcal Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 The Emotiva stuff does seem to offer good value for money on the face of it. I haven't heard any of their gear but if you read between the lines on many forums the negative comments seem to center around the sound being a bit bright. I would suggest caution given that the 1095 can have a bit of an edge to it's sound. There was a group buy over on DTV and one of the WA guys has recently placed an order for the same pre.Might be worth your while to see if can't contact the guy and get a trial in your own system. Gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick35 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I too have been doing a fair bit of reading about this gear, There's a fair bit of talk doing the rounds on the audio forums. I was looking at one of their amps, the XPA-2 as a bass amp in an active system. From all accounts it seems to be good value, shipping to Oz takes some of the 'Sparkle' off the initial price though, around $400. I still may buy one yet, just for the heck of it and see how it sounds, worst comes to worst I use it as extra power on my fronts of the HT. From what I've been reading about the pre amp I too have come to the same conclusion as Gordon, the sound may be a bit on the 'Bright side'. a good pre Amp in theroy shouldn't have a particular sound, it should just let the signal pass through. That's just a phrase I've read around the traps BTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb123 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 (edited) ping rocky500. He is a member here and on DTV and is the one who recently received the USP-1. I think rocky is in WA, so you may be able to come to some sort of arrangement with him...... I'm in the same boat, looking for a pre with HT bypass, at the dollars this seems hard to go past, but lack of auditioning and similar negative comments of it being bright has me waiting and watching. I too have a Pioneer AVR and Rotel 1075 amp which I find almost too bright with my ribbon tweeters, so looking for something more on the neutral to warm side. I assume it would be around $500 - $550 landed. The next I can find locally would be something like the Parasound 2100 for ~$1400, but again, with me in Adelaide, cant audition it. Then there's the Cambridge 840e for around $1700 and prices go up from there. Edited October 9, 2009 by tb123 changed Cambridge 850e to 840e Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozcal Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 ping rocky500. He is a member here and on DTV and is the one who recently received the USP-1. I think rocky is in WA, so you may be able to come to some sort of arrangement with him......I'm in the same boat, looking for a pre with HT bypass, at the dollars this seems hard to go past, but lack of auditioning and similar negative comments of it being bright has me waiting and watching. I too have a Pioneer AVR and Rotel 1075 amp which I find almost too bright with my ribbon tweeters, so looking for something more on the neutral to warm side. I assume it would be around $500 - $550 landed. The next I can find locally would be something like the Parasound 2100 for ~$1400, but again, with me in Adelaide, cant audition it. Then there's the Cambridge 850e for around $1700 and prices go up from there. Yup , that's the chap I was thinking of. Try an Arcam pre tb if you are after a warmer sound with ht bypass. Gordon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bosk Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Just thought I'd mention that for similar money you could get a tube preamp from eBay such as this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/MA-Ref-Marantz-7-Modified-Class-A-Valve-Tube-Pre-Amp_W0QQitemZ270466638386QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ef9116232 I have no connection to the seller and have no idea how that one sounds, just giving an example of what's around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick35 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 There's a nice little CJ pre with HT bypass and Valve outputstage, for sale on SNA ATM. It would make a great addition to your system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick69 Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 There is? I just had a quick look and couldn't see it. Link by any chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick35 Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Here you go Nick http://www.stereo.net.au/forums/showthread.php?t=17723 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick69 Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Looks like a very nice amp but its out of my price range at the moment Im looking for something around $500-1000 or cheaper if i can get good bang for my bucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick69 Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for your input Oscal and Mick. Given your what you have said about it being harsh i think i think i'll have to put this on the back burner and look into some other Stereo Preamp's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozcal Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 Thanks for your input Oscal and Mick. Given your what you have said about it being harsh i think i think i'll have to put this on the back burner and look into some other Stereo Preamp's. It may be the best approach unless you can get to hear one at home Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick69 Posted October 15, 2009 Author Share Posted October 15, 2009 Bit late but better late then never i suppose. I ended up asking for a quote of a USP-1 just to see if if the price was low enough for me to justify getting this amp regardless of whether it was a bit bright. The following is what a Emotiva sales rep quoted me for shipped to Perth WA. USP-1 $399.00 Freight $135.40 FedEx economy delivery in 6-8 business days Total $534.40 USD So at current exchange rates it'll cost roughly $581.923 AUD to purchase a USP-1 and have it shipped down under. Not exactly cheap anymore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Same boat. I'm looking at one of these ones. $600 bucks is an expensive way to satisfy my need for "ht-bypass" and a remote. :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick69 Posted November 5, 2009 Author Share Posted November 5, 2009 I'm still tempted to just buy it and the UMC-1 at the same time and have both shipped to Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb123 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Same boat.I'm looking at one of these ones. $600 bucks is an expensive way to satisfy my need for "ht-bypass" and a remote. :-/ yes it's more expensive than what you might think at first, but it's still a hell of a lot cheaper than most other 2 channel pre's with HT bypass available in the shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Indeed. Although I have noticed one issue with this one while I've been bluding away this afternoon. When in HT bypass mode, the only outputs active are the highpass and lowpass(sub). Seem to me if you put the fronts of your HT (with < 50hz freqs) ... then you get out "high pass" ... which is only above 50. I'm not HT experienced... so perhaps movie tracks down have anything in the front channels which is < 50hz Or perhaps this is not as much of a limit as I thought? I was intending to eventually have seperate subs for my mains and for HT :-/ I'm probably thinking about this waaay too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb123 Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 (edited) Indeed.Although I have noticed one issue with this one while I've been bluding away this afternoon. When in HT bypass mode, the only outputs active are the highpass and lowpass(sub). Seem to me if you put the fronts of your HT (with < 50hz freqs) ... then you get out "high pass" ... which is only above 50. I'm not HT experienced... so perhaps movie tracks down have anything in the front channels which is < 50hz Or perhaps this is not as much of a limit as I thought? I was intending to eventually have seperate subs for my mains and for HT :-/ I'm probably thinking about this waaay too much. no, you have it round the wrong way. When using the USP-1 in HT bypass mode, you have a DIRECT PHYSICAL unaltered connection from Input to Output. HT is fine. The High Pass/ Low Pass issue is when using analog 2 channel devices connected directly to the USP-1 (CD player for instance). As you must have your speakers connected to the LP/HP outputs for HT bypass to work, you cannot run your speakers full range in 2 channel mode, 50Hz is as low as you go, everything else goes to the sub (if connected to the USP-1). Initially this was a big issue for me as I like to run my speakers full range as they are rated to 24Hz, but with a suggested x-over of 30-40Hz, 50Hz probably isnt the end of the world either. It also depends on how you have your speakers set in your AVR too. A lot of folks even set floor standers as "Small" and send freq below say 80Hz to the sub anyway. Here is a pic from Lonnie showing the connections CLICKY cheers TB Edited November 5, 2009 by tb123 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davewantsmoore Posted November 5, 2009 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Ahhhh... I see. Thankyou. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky500 Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 (edited) I have now had a play with the Emotiva Pre and there small amp UPA-2. I didn't realize how bright my Pioneer Amp was. SC-LX71 The Emotiva gear was a fantastic upgrade. I now use the Emotiva Amp to power my front speakers and the Pioneer for the rest. There seems to be a lot more more depth. It has brought some Adelaide bookshelf speakers I have with ribbon tweeters come alive. They are heaps more musical. I found them a little hard to listen 2 for longer than 30 minutes at a time. I think it was the Midrange that was harsh with the pioneer. I couldn't even turn them up too much. They would make me cringe with snare drums/Female's or male's vocals hitting their top notes. Not anymore with the UPA-2. Now the speakers are fantastic with the Emotiva driving them. The speakers seem effortless now. Movies are also more involving with the UPA-2. I can listen at a lot louder levels now and it sounds great. I seem to be listening to Music now instead of the speakers. I unfortunately don't have a good CD player(old sony 5cd one) and I brought a Second hand Denon Turntable which came with a used cartridge that I think might be worn out. So my 2 channel listening is not up to where I would like. Thinking of a good dac or maybe a Harman Kardon HD990. I still find while listening to CD's in the background while working, the music every now and then just stops me in my tracks and I am just amazed at the sound. Even my records sound pretty good. I am not making much use of the Pre at the moment as most music I have is played through HTPC (HDMI) to Pioneer to UPA-2. I have also ripped a CD into uncompressed WAV on PC. Played through Pioneer (WAV) and Pre (origCD) then UPA-2. I could not hear any real difference. Edited November 8, 2009 by rocky500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky500 Posted November 6, 2009 Share Posted November 6, 2009 (edited) double post sorry., I also have some Revolver speakers that sound great through the Pioneer but too laid back for my liking through the Emotiva gear. Edited November 6, 2009 by rocky500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts