Emotiva UMC-200 7.1 Home Theater Preamp/Surround Processor

I purchased this unit because I wanted to play audiophile stereo music as well as for home theater use. If anyone is wondering if the UMC 200 and two XPA 100 combo play well together, the answer is emphatically - YES! I have auditioned amps such as McIntosh and Hafler (I owened 2 Hafler DH-500 run in mono setup) as well as the 20-30 thousand dollar speaker systems that were sold at a store in Anchorage, Alaska. I even bought the Mcintosh XR 16 speakers which were very good in 1982. I am not an expert on the subject, but I know, from experience,when music sounds right. I have also listened to live Jazz,R&B,Reggae,Calypso, and Orchestral renderings to name a few. I am 53 years now and do not require some kid, who is less than half my age to tell me I need to spend ungodly amounts of money to hear music done right. My take on the UMC 200 is that it corrects for room deficiencies(using emo-Q) and so much more. This is the best pre amp I have ever used. This is two units in one. On one hand you have a home theater unit which is very very good. Then you have An audiophile quality stereo pre amp that is so good, it is at the heart of my $6000 dollar speaker system and it makes them sound like $10,000. This weekend I played 2 songs from Bill Frissel's East West cd. My wife, who usually pays no attention to what I play, asked me if this was a newly bought cd. I purchased this cd back in 2007/2008 and played it many times before. She said she was on the computer and the sound was so good - it made her feel relaxed while surfing the net. The 2 songs were: "heard it through the grape vine" and "pipe down" There are 2 cds in the case (east and west) 2 songs played from "west".Oh yeah, let me add this by saying that the DAC in this unit is very decent, in fact all my sources are routed through this unit's DAC via HDMi/coaxial cables. the result is stunning.I plan to upgrade to an external dac for even more refinement in sound quality. I should ad that I'm using a bass trap from ATS acoustics to tame the standing waves from my 3 subs. The result is bass tones that are free of boom and resonance, but appears to have more extension and fullness. For TV viewing I don't use the hsu sub because the fronts can now handle this task with authority. But when listening via stereo,the mythos are great, but Dr HSU VTF 3 MK3 rules the subsonic region with an iron fist.The definitive mythos st towers sound great too; but for the ultimate in bass extension, use the towers at 80hz crossover and hsu sub (vtf-3 mk-3)for 80hz and below. You will not be disappointed. I also use triggers to turn on all my amps throu the umc 200. This unit has blended all my speakers nicely. I am using my old Rotel amp to drive my infinity center speaker with no tonal problems with the definitives."There's a new sheriff in town" Definitive Technology Mythos ST 120v Supertower Speaker (Single, Black) and his name is UMC 200." watch your backs" pilgrims. Great product! Great price! Thanks Emotiva!

In general I like this device but the menu system is pretty horrible to use. Non-sensical. Not intuitive by any means. Very poorly done. Now you know why they have to have a 3-part video tutorial for this preamp on the Emotiva website. I expected better.

Since this unit is no longer available you may be reading this because you're considering buying one used. For the price, this is one heck of a pre-pro. Very transparent sound, excellent imaging, very sweet and accurate DACs. A wealth of configuration options ensure you'll be able to fine tune for your room. Lots of flexibility. The EmoQ function for surround sound eq works really well. Check to see that the unit has the latest firmware (1.52.02.47 I believe) as this makes a big difference. Very happy with mine that I've had for almost two years except... Had to send it back for service because several (cheap Chinese) capacitors on the power supply failed. Covered under warranty but I'm out $20 for shipping and wondering what will fail next.

First off let me explain, I have an OPPO BDP-105 that has all the internet connections that I need, so I don't need a networked unit, but I found the OPPO lacking in volume and any type of tone control. I was looking for a passive pre amp that would give me sufficient volume and tone control (all 7 channels have an 11 band EQ and a 3 band sub EQ with 3 separate EQ and Q settings as well as their Emo-Q gen 2 auto EQ. The Q setting in the EQ modes gives you better control of the slopes, the higher the Q the more drastic the slope. I also wanted to have my subwoofer active when using the USB A-Sync DAC that is otherwise inactive using only the OPPO outputs. I was able to hook the OPPO's analog 7.1 to the 7.1 in on the UMC-200, the dedicated stereo out to the CD input, and the HDMI so it's hooked up 3 times to the pre amp.(7.1 Analog, Stereo Analog and HDMI) I was able to use the bass management in the UMC-200 when using the CD input and I was able to get the results I wanted. I'll say this about the UMC-200 is the analog inputs are fabulous, very detailed, excellent bass that's almost scary good, and it's not even broken in yet. I have listened to various hook up scenario's using both analog and HDMI for multi-channel sources and the analog blows away the HDMI audio from the OPPO even in split mode. I'll agree the owners manual is lacking detailed use of the remote and programing, but once it's figured out it's really easy from there on. Depending on it's intended use this is one phenomenal sounding pre amp! I had an Integra 9.8 costing 3 X as much, and the UMC-200 sounds SO much better I don't know how they did it! Sometimes it's the simpler less feature packed units that sounds the best, a pure ear's delight for this listener. A few weeks later: Now that it's broken in and I'm getting more used to it's flexibility, it just keeps sounding better and better. The thing that's really unique about this pre-pro besides it's sound quality IS it's flexibility. I have the OPPO 105 hooked up through the HDMI and both 7.1 (which by-passes the EQ) and stereo analog inputs and can switch the input between any of them to find the best sound for a particular recording or movie. The flexibility of the Emo-Q and the other 3 EQ settings are a very fun "TOY" to play with too, you can switch to any one of the 4 EQ settings you want to listen to and make EQ and Q adjustments on the fly! I can't think of any piece of equipment I have ever owned that was this much fun to play with! I can't wait to get home at night to pop in an old CD that didn't sound good before and make it sound better, way better! The fun never stops!

This preamp processor seems awesome but lacks in a couple of areas. 1) The direct 7.1 inputs do NOT have bass management meaning that you can't set a crossover with your sub if you want to use the 7.1 analog inputs. Why would they program it this way? Makes no sense. 2) The TRIMS do NOT work correctly on my unit, after I set my trims and put my unit in standby mode the unit always forgets my settings and I have to reapply my trims after I turn the receiver on from standby mode. What the heck? Is my unit a lemon? 3) My Roku 3 doesn't play nice with the receiver. If you continue watching from show to show the audio drops off completely and I have to turn my unit off and on again for it to "receive" the audio correctly. Anyway, I'm selling this unit and buying another higher quality product...you get what you pay for.

the UMC-200's sound is amazing with my Pioneer SP-FS52. However, it has an awful HDMI handshake with 2 blue-rays players I own. I always have red/purple screen. Also it does not pass a 3D signal, is not even being identified as a 3D capable device by the blue-rays players. I'm really disappointed. I ordered Gefen HDmi Detective Plus, hoping it helps in that matter.

I've read a lot of reviews on this system from hi fi magazines, etc and I was very curious. So... I replaced a typical surround sound receiver with this and the Emotiva 5 channel amp (UPA-500). Honestly I didn't know what to expect so now I get to say what my impressions are. I am completely happy with the purchases and the sound coming from my system has never sounded more clear. The switching is precise and when I start the blu-ray player the pre-amp automatically switches to the new source. I also like the wired on/off switch that turns off the amp automatically when you turn off the pre-amp. I've had no problems with video pass-through or handshakes with any equipment and no nasty surprises like clicking when switching or anything similar. There are no frilly features and everything is simple and works very well. If you've used electronics for a while you'll find this thing is intuitively easy to use and navigate around on which adds to my pleasure. The real pleasure here though is the sound. I've been a music lover all my life and very critical of speakers and the electronics that power them. I won't sit here and brag about the speakers and all that because that's all subjective for most people. What I will say is that this is a very precise and clean sounding (ok, not sounding, since you're not supposed to hear anything that isn't in the original source material) processor paired with the Emotive amp. If you're an audiophile snob nothing I say here will make you happy. For me, it's made my music come to life.

First of all there aren't many affordable surround preamps to choose from. The Emotiva attracted me because of - True Analog Bypass w/ analog volume control (I have an external stereo DAC connected) - All the newest surround decode modes - 230V power support - Did I mention affordable? Most surround preamps offer less features for more money in comparison with receivers. In my setup all speakers are studio grade active/powered Geithain monitors. Setup was easy using manual mode (no Emo-Q auto correction). The parametric eq was a welcome addition for leveling out a critical room amplitude peak in the subwoofer tonal range. Overall finish and build quality is great. The silver applications on either side can be dismantled if one likes a pure black look better. I did this with my UMC-200 without problems. The remote is nothing exceptional but absolutely OK. HDMI switching is fast and sound is transparent and clearly staged. Absolute recommendation for anyone who needs a fair priced but yet awesome sounding preamp.