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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
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.
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

You seem to have a issue with AV surround receivers being built in China. Are you aware that the majority of Emotiva products are built in China as well?
pdspecl
254 posts
 
I've listened to several Emotiva products and also own an XPA-200 to power some home brew passive subs. I agree with MOST other folks here on Agon. They offer good products for their rice point which easily compete with just about anything out there for the same price and in many cases competes with gear costing much more. Just my 2 cents
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,404 posts
 
Audiooracle said:

"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."

Where do you get your information? Many companies are going factory direct today in order Keep costs down to the consumer, that doesn't mean it's low quality. Case in point, I own some Odyssey Audio equipment and their stuff has been very well reviewed and sounds wonderful.

Sanders also sells factory direct and they also have garnered many fine reviews. There are many other companies that do this as well. My Odyssey amp that I paid 1700.00 for new and built to my particular wants and needs easily blows away amps in the 4K range.

Don't be so quick to diss Emotiva, They offer a lot of bang for the buck and their equipment does not sound cheap by any means. At one time, I had their XDA-1 dac in my system and it sounded great. I paid 299.00 for it. I replaced it with a Wyred4sound DAC-1 (another direct internet company) and although there was a difference, there certainly wasn't a 700.00 difference as the Wyred dac sells for 999.00.

I see direct sales via the internet to be in all of our future.
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