New 2 channel preamp from Emotiva

[dvenardos]

No idea what this will sound like, but they sure did get all the features right.

http://emotiva.com/usp1.shtm

[Cujobob]

From what I've heard, emotiva's first reference preamp wasn't anything special. Solid value is my guess.

[dvenardos]

From what I've heard, emotiva's first reference preamp wasn't anything special. Solid value is my guess.

That would be consistent with their other gear from what I hear.

[Stereodude]

Analog bass management has never worked very well IMHO. I guess I understand why they want pure analog, but I'm not sure it's really the best solution for a 2.1 system.

[dvenardos]

Analog bass management has never worked very well IMHO. I guess I understand why they want pure analog, but I'm not sure it's really the best solution for a 2.1 system.

I have an outlaw ICBM and I don't notice any difference from digital bass management. In fact, all the reviews of the ICBM rave about how transparent it is. What analog bass management have you used?

[Stereodude]

I have an outlaw ICBM and I don't notice any difference from digital bass management. In fact, all the reviews of the ICBM rave about how transparent it is. What analog bass management have you used?

I haven't ever used it except in car audio. One of the key problems is that you really need to be able to set speaker distances (ie: add delay) to time align the subwoofer with the main speakers. You can't do that with an analog system unless you place the subwoofer much closer to the seats by the correct distance to achieve time alignment. The only subwoofer I've come across that isn't late (ie: would work without delay added to the mains or need to be placed closer to the seats) are the Rythmik servo subs. And, even with them you will have to then keep the subwoofer the same physical distance from your seat as the main speakers or you'll end up needing some delay in the system to compensate.

[dvenardos]

That's true you can't set time alignment. Can't say that I can really tell that a bass drum is late. I always had good luck setting the subwoofer at an equidistant position as the speakers. For movies this wouldn't be an issue as you would be using the HT bypass which is just a passive passthru and for two-channel I have never spent enough money to get an AVR that I would consider to have acceptable performance for anything other than movies, whereas, analog stereo receivers always did a good job.

Note: that I won't be buying this as I am not a big fan of emotiva, but I do like the features.

I haven't ever used it except in car audio. One of the key problems is that you really need to be able to set speaker distances (ie: add delay) to time align the subwoofer with the main speakers. You can't do that with an analog system unless you place the subwoofer much closer to the seats by the correct distance to achieve time alignment. The only subwoofer I've come across that isn't late (ie: would work without delay added to the mains or need to be placed closer to the seats) are the Rythmik servo subs. And, even with them you will have to then keep the subwoofer the same physical distance from your seat as the main speakers or you'll end up needing some delay in the system to compensate.