Emotiva UPA-500 Five Channel Power Amplifier Listening Tests
Fourplay - Chant
I use this song to test how prone a speaker is to bottoming out, but it’s also a good indicator of an amplifier's ability to deliver sustained low end bass. The UPA-500 provided plenty of power to drive the Infiniti's to the limits where I heard the speakers begin to compress. Bass was well controlled and there was good clarity. I did, however, feel that my much more expensive Marantz PM-11S2 Integrated amp drove these speakers more pristinely but, at nearly 12X the price of this little Emotiva, that shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Pat
Metheny / John Scofield - Say
the Brother's Name
I love the reverb of Pat Metheny’s guitar in this song. A really good audio system will instantly transport you into a small jazz club in NY. The Infinity P363’s put forth a valiant effort at placing me there and the Emotiva UPA-500 was right at home supplying the power to make it happen. The brushes on the high hats were very detailed and forward and the reverb from the guitar was smooth. Switching to 4CH stereo, I gave the UPA-500 quite a workout in my large room, but it still didn’t falter. It was quite impressive to hear such an inexpensive and compact multi-channel amp belting out this much muscle to a moderately efficient speaker system in a large listening space.
Next,
I deviated a bit from my reference disc and just hand selected some
great tunes off my Yamaha MCX-2000 MusicCast media server. I cued
up a few Marc Anthony tracks, starting with “Ahora
Quien”.
The UPA-500 showed off its power and fineness, delivering all of the
detail of this complex recording with very good stereo separation.
The trumpets sounded a bit edgy but that was more a blame of the
speakers than the amp. “Tu
Amor Me Hace Bien”,
another classic Marc Anthony song showcased the UPA-500’s ability
to extract all of the subtle details of the recording. The percussion
in this track sounded fabulous and I didn’t fear cranking the
volume up as there was headroom to spare. The stereo separation of
the trumpets and shakers was particularly excellent.
CD: Spock’s Beard – Snow
I took a liking to this band after my brother told me to take a listen to their concept album called Snow. They have clear influenced progressive roots from the likes of 70’s era Genesis and Yes along with very spiritual and deep lyrics to compliment their extraordinary musicianship. “Solitary Soul” is my favorite track on the double disc set. This track builds on the constant theme in the album about a young albino priest with special healing powers struggling to find his way into the world. The acoustical guitars were reproduced with excellent separation. Hearing the singer repeat the hook “love beyond words” just sent chills down my spine. What a moving song and the Emotiva amp powering the Infinity speakers made you really feel the emotion. This 7:34 minute masterpiece just flew by.
KEW;908917
I'd have to disagree with this statement somewhat. I frequently see AVR's (and HTiB especially) advertised as a 500 watt receiver/system because the rating is 5 channels and 100WPC. As an example:
RXV371 | Yamaha 500-Watt 3D 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver | hhgregg [hhgregg.com]
In all fairness, I believe it is the retailer and not the manufacturer that does this; however, it is easy to see where any reasonable person would presume a receiver could produce the spec with ACD.
Actually there is no disagreement in this regard because when I mention AVRs, in my mind (I know no one can read my mind) I am thinking mid range ones such as the Yamaha RX-A or V 2XXX, Denon AVR-3XXX and up. Also I said I had not seen many, but I have certainly seen some, just not too many, that advertise in ways that people could be misled.. And I always refer to the manufacturer's ads, not resellers.
You are so right about it is not the manufacturer who does this, not in this case but again I have seen some who does though.
The following is copied from yamaha.ca for the RX-V373:
Amplifier Section
Channel 5.1
Rated Output Power (1kHz, 1ch driven)
100W (8ohms, 0.9% THD)
Rated Output Power (1kHz, 2ch driven)
85W (8ohms, 0.9% THD)
Dynamic Power per Channel (8/6/4/2 ohms)
110/130/160/180W
Never said anything about ACD.
PENG;908916
Amps, yes but I have not seen too many AVR advertised their rated watts with all channels driven. I am sure some do but not many. From honesty stand point, I agree they should do what they say they can do though as Gene said it is not realistic. I also think it is not practical, border on stupid, to do say 80WX7 ACD instead of aiming to achieve 2X120W but only 60X7, as the latter will perform better in real life situations.
I'd have to disagree with this statement somewhat. I frequently see AVR's (and HTiB especially) advertised as a 500 watt receiver/system because the rating is 5 channels and 100WPC. As an example:
RXV371 | Yamaha 500-Watt 3D 5.1 Channel Home Theater Receiver | hhgregg [hhgregg.com]
In all fairness, I believe it is the retailer and not the manufacturer that does this; however, it is easy to see where any reasonable person would presume a receiver could produce the spec with ACD.
sharkman;908886
Hi Gene,
If an amp is advertised at 80 watts by 5 channels, then it should be able to put out 80 watts x 5 channels to my way of thinking.
Amps, yes but I have not seen too many AVR advertised their rated watts with all channels driven. I am sure some do but not many. From honesty stand point, I agree they should do what they say they can do though as Gene said it is not realistic. I also think it is not practical, border on stupid, to do say 80WX7 ACD instead of aiming to achieve 2X120W but only 60X7, as the latter will perform better in real life situations.
sharkman;908886
Hi Gene,
What these ACD full bandwidth tests do is demonstrate whether the amp in question can do what the manufacturer says it can do, that's why I like them. I may be out of touch, but us little guys have no way of verifying what these manufacturers are saying their products can do. I like Reagan's old line, "Trust, but verify". If an amp is advertised at 80 watts by 5 channels, then it should be able to put out 80 watts x 5 channels to my way of thinking.
These amps may or may not be used with 4 ohm speaker systems, but Emotiva's speaker line is all 4 ohm. I don't know, however, if they recommend the UPA amps with their speaker lines.
No what a full bandwidth ACD test verifies is an unrealistic test condition that would never occur in real life. EVERYONE that does ACD testing does it at 1kHz. I do that too, but I also do full bandwidth for up to two channels per FTC standard.
Read: The All Channels Driven (ACD) Amplifier Test — Reviews and News from Audioholics [audioholics.com]
gene;908668
I do full bandwidth tests with 2CH driven something hardly anyone does. It's simply ridiculous to do full bandwidth testing with all channels driven.
Hi Gene,
What these ACD full bandwidth tests do is demonstrate whether the amp in question can do what the manufacturer says it can do, that's why I like them. I may be out of touch, but us little guys have no way of verifying what these manufacturers are saying their products can do. I like Reagan's old line, "Trust, but verify". If an amp is advertised at 80 watts by 5 channels, then it should be able to put out 80 watts x 5 channels to my way of thinking.
These amps may or may not be used with 4 ohm speaker systems, but Emotiva's speaker line is all 4 ohm. I don't know, however, if they recommend the UPA amps with their speaker lines.