Have you heard of EMOTIVA?

I would add my curiousity about Emotiva quality and performance since I am considering adding a UMC-1 processor to the HT system.

Perhaps the phrasing in the original post led to the some to jump to the conclusion that Stickman451 was looking for validation rather than informed opinions on this gear.

Price point seems to indicate an overseas build but who engineers/designs their stuff?

Lonnie Vaughn is their in-house engineer, unless things have changed. They manufacture their stuff in China to keep costs down. I got into H/T with them and there's a lot of bang for buck. Do a search on this forum for Emotiva and you'll come up with lots of threads. Or head over to their own forum.

I am considering their USP-1 preamp because of the bass management capabilities. The only other preamp I have come across that has similar features is the Parasound 2100, also built overseas. I have listened to the Parasound and was impressed, but cannot listen to any Emotiva gear - there is none to be found in showrooms in Denver.

i know emotiva has a free in-home trial on all their new gear--they'll take back anything you don't like for any reason. good, no-risk policy.

Well, now I have heard the Emotiva XPA-1's in my room with my 3.6's; I've spent a good part of this weekend listening and comparing them to an old NAD 2200PE that I've had since 1987 and also to a NAD C275BEE that I just picked-up off of Audigon. Result: In my opinion, both of the NAD's sounded better in my room with my other gear than do the XPA-1's. The XPA-1's don't sound bad, they just sound more like BIG SS to me. To my ears, both of the NAD's were much smoother, more liquid, more 3-D, projecting a wider/deeper stage than the XPA-1's, and just plain sounding better overall with more 'in the room' realism...

Most surprising to me however is the fact that the C275BEE definitely had more sold 'thump' in the mid-bass and bass in general. Drums were much taunter, tighter, and more articulated though the NAD; that surprises me! The XPA-1 is 500/1000 into 8/4 ohms while the NAD is 150 Watts continuous. The NAD's have a lot of headroom obviously and I don't think that they ever sounded stressed even with big rock music at 90 db peaks in my 17x26 room..

I would still like to hear a good powerful Pass Labs or maybe the solid state Cary 500 mono blocs on the 3'6's but until I do I am holding on to the C275BEE. Most highly recommended!