AV Amp upgrade

rklpoon

I don’t have any HDMI AV amp yet and am still using Yamaha 1400.  I have an HTPC with ASUS Xonar HDAV 1.3 sound card deluxe version and the Panasonic BD-55 for playback of Blu-ray ripped files/discs and used the analogue outputs of Xonar/BD-55 to feed to the multi-channel analogue inputs of Yamaha 1400.

Upgrade plan to a HDMI AV amp is on hold for a long time. The obvious reason is financial. Also I think the AV amps are getting more and more expensive nowadays (taking the Yamaha as an example- comparing the price Y1900/3900 & Y2065 and you know what I mean) and yet there is frequent complain of HDMI handshake problems by users.

I have been attracted by the price range of Emotiva products (UMC-1(US$699) & UPA-7(US$699)/XPA-5(US$799)) lately and am itching to upgrade.

My questions are: -
1)        If upgrade to a HDMI AV amp, will that be a significant improvement in surround sound quality (i.e. decoding by the sound card/BD-55 Vs decoding by the AV amp)?
2)        If gradual upgrade, can I use the UMC-1 (pre-amp/processor) and retain the Yamaha 1400 as the power amp only to play with? Any concerns or adverse effect anticipated?
3)        Will a Yamaha Z7($19K) better than the UMC-1+ XPA-5 or Parasound A52($15K) (assuming similar/close price charge)?

I have separate gears for 2 channel music and therefore only concern with the surround sound quality in the AV side.

My gears are for 2 channel music are:-
Mod Squad Line Drive
Spectral DMA-50
Sony CDP X5000
Thiel CS 1.2

AV gears:-
Yamaha 1400
Panasonic BDP-55
Klipsch RF-15, RC-52, RS-42
Celestion Little One (for surround back-plan to upgrade to Klipsch RS-42/RB/51 depending on the installation limitation( http://www.post76.com/discuss/vi ... 0801&highlight=).
HTPC with Xonar HDAV 1.3 Deluxe sound card
Pioneer 500A

Thank you for any comments in advance.

rklpoon

One more technical question:-

When the AV amp is in multi-channel input mode, the DSP mode cannot be applied.  But how about the speaker level/distance already have, are they still applying under multi-channel mode?

claero

1)        If upgrade to a HDMI AV amp, will that be a significant improvement in surround sound quality (i.e. decoding by the sound card/BD-55 Vs decoding by the AV amp)?

first of all , u have to understand that hdmi av amp won't improve the surround sound  ,depends on the movie file only , depends on "whos" gonna deocode the hd- file ,hd movie always have better surround sound compare to dvd , u could use computer sound card decode first or bd55 decode or hdmi amp either .

2)        If gradual upgrade, can I use the UMC-1 (pre-amp/processor) and retain the Yamaha 1400 as the power amp only to play with? Any concerns or adverse effect anticipated?

yes ....but a little waste the umc-1 because yamaha power part not that good.

3)        Will a Yamaha Z7($19K) better than the UMC-1+ XPA-5 or Parasound A52($15K) (assuming similar/close price charge)?

suppose US pre + power amp will win japanese intergrated amp easily ......BUT i never heard emotiva 's product since its new in av .i "GUESS" the dynamic will win for sure , the sound quality will be better as well but the sound stlye was different and depends your taste , u.s. amp was simple ,no sound wall but the sound density was a lot better than japnese amp , yamaha have their own 3d mode let you feel you are inside the movie but the sound quality will lose i guess .

When the AV amp is in multi-channel input mode, the DSP mode cannot be applied.  But how about the speaker level/distance already have, are they still applying under multi-channel mode?

depends amp

rklpoon

"When the AV amp is in multi-channel input mode, the DSP mode cannot be applied.  But how about the speaker level/distance already have, are they still applying under multi-channel mode?

depends amp"

How about my ancient Yamaha 1400?

claero

"When the AV amp is in multi-channel input mode, the DSP mode cannot be applied.  But how about the  ...
rklpoon 發表於 2010-3-6 20:07

u have to check your manual i guess