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What is your take on Def Tech XTR60's?

I just purchased 3 XTR60's for my front, center and left speakers. They joined my Mythos Gems for left and right surrounds and all are hooked up to my Denon AVR 590 Reciever. I have a lame Boston Acoustic Best Buy sub that will get kicked to the curb for a SC Reference sooner rather than later.

So far Im impressed with the clarity and sound from the XTR60's. Bought it because I heard such good reviews from other sites. However Im curious to know what hardcore audiophiles think of them and what would they consider an upgrade to these speakers for music or HT.
128x128snakebitten
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snakebitten OP
33 posts
 
Thanks for the advice Robert. I will look into it as soon as possible. From what you said it sounds like I can save the money for the Marantz and just add a preamp to boost the power output. That will drive the DT's much better than the Denon or Marantz by themselves I gather.

Since the speakers are rated at 30-200 watts then I imagine the amp I purchase should be rated at no more than 200 watts right?

Also I have a 5.1 surround sound setup. DT's all around except for the sub. I gather the 2 or 3 channel amp would only power the right/left speaker or right/left/center respectively?

Thanks much Robert in advance.
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snakebitten OP
33 posts
 
Just looked at the Emotiva UMC1. Its a nice piece indeed and affordable...Hmmm
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snakebitten OP
33 posts
 
Wow. Just looked at the Emotiva XPA-5 along with the UMC1. The Marantz I was going to buy would have costed me $1600. For less than that I can get these two Emotiva units and have even better power output and clarity. Thank you for suggesting this Robert. I think Im going to go down this route instead.
robbob
273 posts
 
The UMC-1 is a great processor, but it was plagued by firmware issues for quite a while. I bought mine after that all died down and it replaced a Onkyo processor that cost 3 times more.

The UMC-1 matched the Onkyo for HT duties and sounded better in two channel mode for music, so I find it to be a homerun. Emotiva is about to release a much more expensive unit in about 1-2 months.

Adding an amp to your reciever will give you more power and perhaps some perceptable sonic improvements, especially for dynamics. But the pre-amp section of your reciever will still control much of the sonic character. Having owned several good recievers from Marantz, Outlaw, and Denon my experience is that they run out of steam easily.

Robert
robbob
273 posts
 
The Emotiva stuff is pretty good, but audiophiles have usually considered it better suited for home theater usage. With that said I have on many occasion used the Emotiva amps and UMC-1 for 2 channel music and I think it does a very nice job, certainly better than any receiver I've owned.

It does not compete with my Merlin/Manley system, but that cost over 15K on it's own.

Robert
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