Emotiva UMC-200 AV Preamp THE OFFICIAL THREAD

[Andrew Robinson]

So Emotiva's new $599 AV preamp, the UMC-200, arrived today. This is my first foray into reviewing an Emotiva product -hell it's the first time I've ever touched an Emotiva product. I must say, the UMC-200 looks far more substantial and well-built than what comes across in pictures. The faceplate alone, which is little more than a quarter inch thick slab of aluminum, is a thing of beauty. I had an initial issue -or what I thought was an issue -regarding the unit's HDMI performance, turns out the error was on the source side not the UMC-200. I can already comment on Emotiva's customer service as they were more than helpful in diagnosing the issue, though I eventually stumbled across the fix myself while they (Emotiva) did some trouble shooting on their own. We both came to the same conclusion(s), I just entered the fix before they could call me back.

Setup is easy, and I especially like the menus which overlay the image in real time. The menus are not particularly flashy, which I like, but the fact that they're so responsive is what I love most. I just finished reviewing a Sony receiver who's menus were anything but responsive. No comments on sound or the autoEQ system yet but believe me I'm workin' on it.

Here's a few crap cellphone pics of the UMC-200 from earlier today.

[LanGood]

Parasound Andrew????...What happened to the Crowns????.

Alan.

[Andrew Robinson]

Parasound Andrew????...What happened to the Crowns????.

Alan.

I have both, but I had the opportunity to reunite with my beloved Parasound amps from years ago (sold them at the urging of an old girlfriend a long time ago) and I jumped on it. The Crown amps are still in my arsenal.

[Tracy Rainwater]

Looks very diminutive in that rack when compared to the Parasound amps. Is it about the same height as the new Outlaw preamp?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts on how it performs.

[pbc]

Have always found Emotiva products to look "toy-ish". But the value seems to be there. Curious as well how it performs, in particular the EMO-Q.

[Jerry Del Colliano]

I can't believe it actually showed up.

You go girl...

Looking forward to the review as I know our now 400,000 monthly readers are.

[mdanderson11]

Glad you got it Andrew. Mine is on order from Emotiva. I look forward to your feedback on this.

[Shepman]

Looking forward to it too as in the new year I'm looking to get a processor and its going to be either this one or the new Outlaw.

[jerrich]

Shep, saw you have an SA8300, did you get the new software downloaded into it from Comcrap? I did, and now the guide is the wrong size, frame advance is missing, etc. How about you?
JR

[PaPoMuSiK]

Looking forward to it too as in the new year I'm looking to get a processor and its going to be either this one or the new Outlaw.

Me too