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Anthem AVM 30 or Emotiva UMC-1

I currently own an Anthem AVM-30 which I use primarily for home theater. I have a separate two channel system. My issue is that I am tired of manually pushing the two separate 3-HDMI switches that I have for the 5 following pieces of equipment. (Sony Play Station 3, Oppo BDP-83SE, Verizon FIOS, Apple Mac Mini and D-Link Boxee). I heard that the Emotiva sells direct and was wondering if it is a myth that the $699 UMC-1 is equivalent to the $2999 AVM 30. Also, one of my primary reasons for switching is that I can do away with the two HDMI switch boxes and simply use the inputs on the UMC-1. Unfortunately, I will have to get new S/E cables or adapters instead of balanced cables. Am I missing anything important?
aaronmadler
sthomas12321
408 posts
 
I have owed both the Anthem 30, and the UMC 1.

The Anthem runs flawless, and sounds great. If you dont care about HDMI, HD audio, and some sweet manual EQ's, keep your Athem...it is awesome.

Now, this is going to stir the pot. I feel the UMC 1 has INCREDIBLE sound. Ive also owned Bryston prepro's, Rotel Prepro's, Ayre top seperates and more. The Emo UMC is just as good in sound IMO. The manual EQ is better then ANY Ive ever seen. 31HZ-18khz 11 band EQ! Thats a nice range, and a bumb here and there makes all the difference. The UMC 1 has great features as well....the problem is not all work 100% as they should. Examples- shut off issues, default saved sound mode issues, slow hdmi switching, no turn off of enhanced bass when front are set to large(if your letting the UMC decode). Now, I have read most, if not all of these are fixed in the new .5 beta update....but I am waiting for the confirmed build which is to release anyday now. I can live with the issues. It really comes down to your setup. I do believe the next update will get it all right. I waited until about 3 weeks ago to buy mine....so mine runs pretty well. Some older units seam to have issue's. Mines great.
chadnliz's avatar
chadnliz
3,737 posts
 
If they have no issues in new release all will be forgiven, but if they have even 1 I think thats 1 too many given their last laughable release. So either they have learned or they havent. The great thing about the net is they cant hide from the truth...........good or bad.
Tick tock Emo....................tick tock!
robbob
273 posts
 
Sthomas....same story here. I waited for the bugs to settle and get cured. Now I have a processor that cost a fraction of what my previous units cost and I have tested it against the Onkyo directly.

If you cane about sound quality, go with the UMC-1. The bugs are gone for most people.

BTW, I have the Onkyo back because it's got an issue with Apple TV and my buddy wants me to do the update! Now try and get help from Onkyo to do it.

Cheers,

Rob
robbob
273 posts
 
Chandnlz, you have not heard the UMC-1 vs. some of the "big" brands, so you don't know about the sound quality. All you know is that the unit had bugs that were worked out. This doesn't effect anyone buying one today.

With the UMC-1 now working well I've got to question what we get when we pay 2-6K for a processor. I've owned quite a few and heard others. So when Emotiva releases their killer processor (which may cost around 1200 dollars) I'm not worried about bugs as I won't be first in line. Bugs get fixed. Sound quality will be the issue. It will have to be better than the UMC-1 to be worth the change.

Cheers,

Rob
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