carbon summit

$875 sounds like a good deal from what I've read in the past. The Forte IIs that I own I bought from the original owner with original boxes, manual and paperwork including the receipt. So I can tell you on 7/16/91 he paid $1070. Seems like I've always read they cost between $1000-1100 a pair new so you must have gotten a great deal when you got yours!

When I was looking for a sub I focused on both HSU and SVS because they both seem to have a great reputation and the prices are much better than some of the others out there. I don't think you'll know what you are missing until you get a great sub in your own home. I'm shocked and amazed at the difference between what I have now and what I used to have. Night and day difference. My sub is the only speaker I own that isn't a Klipsch. From what I've read for the money Klipsch are not the best sub out there, I think you'll get more bang for your buck from either HSU or SVS. I faxed in a floor plan of my area to both and they both called me back with recommendations for what they thought the best sub for my application would be. Both had great customer service which in this day and age is hard to come by.

When I was looking for a sub I focused on both HSU and SVS because they both seem to have a great reputation and the prices are much better than some of the others out there. I don't think you'll know what you are missing until you get a great sub in your own home. I'm shocked and amazed at the difference between what I have now and what I used to have. Night and day difference. My sub is the only speaker I own that isn't a Klipsch. From what I've read for the money Klipsch are not the best sub out there, I think you'll get more bang for your buck from either HSU or SVS. I faxed in a floor plan of my area to both and they both called me back with recommendations for what they thought the best sub for my application would be. Both had great customer service which in this day and age is hard to come by.

I think this highlights the bass management problem with the UMC-1. But overall the UMC-1 is probably the most flexible system I've ever owned. I usually set all the speakers EQs flat on the lower two frequenes so the sub doesn't get any boosts it shouldn't since thats what Lonnie recommended doing with the UMC-1. I might try your way to see the difference. I have a test CD that plays bass tones from 10 Hz to 300 Hz. I need to take the time to play the CD with my SPL meter and find out where my peaks and dips are in my room.

I think this highlights the bass management problem with the UMC-1. But overall the UMC-1 is probably the most flexible system I've ever owned.

I won't lie when I read that I got that sick feeling in my gut I get when watching a movie and they trash a classic muscle car. I know in reality they usually wreck a junker painted up to look like the other one but still a waste of parts if nothing else... But anyway I'd hate to see a nice pair of Forte IIs go down that road. If you're going to do that I'd wait for a rougher pair. Since you're painting them anyway no difference to you and you'll probably get them a lot cheaper. But to echo whats been said before I think you need to get a pair of Forte IIs in your house and hear them. Placement is important so you may have to play with them a bit but when you get it right its great!!!!

I've owned a number of KG series (1.2, 2.2, 2.5, 3.2 & 5.2) and a few Heritage (Forte II, Heresy & Cornwalls). Some duplicate pairs in there for example I've owned four different pairs of Forte IIs. I'm down to one pair of Forte IIs since buying a house without room to run Forte IIs all the way around and never had any trouble selling the three I just sold. Some I made some cash on and at worst I broke even. I also recently sold one of my pairs of Cornwalls and two pairs of Heresy and again had no problem selling them for what I had into them or small gains. My guess is since the Reference speakers are newer there are more of them changing hands so you see them coming and going more. If I was cockier I'd say its because Heritage are so great that people just don't sell them like the newer stuff!!!! [] but I can't say that since I've never owned a pair of Reference. I'm laying in wait for a pair of RF-7s to pop up near me and I'll scoop them up and see what Reference is all about. My long winded rambling post is just to say that if you buy them right I'm sure you'll have no problem selling them if for some reason you don't like the Forte IIs. Like was posted above I'm sure you'll like them, but only your ears can be the final judge if they should stay or go. I say give them a try, at the worst I see you breaking even, which isn't too bad to try something new.

I find it strange that Reference sell so easy there but Heritage don't. All I can say is I wish there was more Heritage here that nobody wanted!!!! You never said what the Forte IIs were selling for, what is the condition, finish and price?

Any advice on how to tweak the EQ? How do you do it?

I did the firmware upgrade and it took on the first try. No problems at all. Sounds like the picture has changed so I plan on recalibrating the TV tonight. I never really had any problems with the .05 firmware so hard for me to say what has been improved. The mute button works like I'd expect it to now so I'm pretty happy with that! Anyone notice any new improvements with the latest firmware?

I'm using a Harmony One and it works great. When did you set up your Harmony for the UMC-1? I know there was a time that Emo hadn't provided the codes to Harmony so what was in the database was customer provided info. Emo ended up getting the codes to Harmony so the database should be accurate now. Just thinking if you got your UMC-1 a while back then maybe erase the UMC-1 from your device list and re-add it and maybe you'll have better luck. Just a guess.

I also own a UMC-1 and XPA-5. I have no hum. Emo made both to work together, so I can't imagine the voltage output of the UMC-1 is an issue. One thing to keep in mind is how many guys over at the Emo Lounge have the UMC-1 mated with XPA 3s and 5s and don't complain about humming. SuBSXeRo, I've seen you over there so I'm sure you hear where I'm coming from. There would be thread after thread complaining about it if it was a common issue. I don't think it is. I think you've got a bad XPA-5. How long have you had your XPA-5? Hopefully you're in your 30 days, then you'd have a little more wiggle room with them. But if not I can't imagine they are not going to stand behind an amp with a 5 year warranty with a guy who has purchased an amp and a pre/pro from them recently. I'm actually surprised they have hassled you at all about it with work arounds instead of just offering to fix the amp. I hope things are not going down hill in their customer service because that was always their strong suit and the reason I've done business with them.

I see a few guys on the Emo Lounge that have gone to the 7005 after the UMC-1 wasn't to their liking. My thoughts are this, some of those guys switched when the UMC-1 sucked. No point in splitting hairs, it did suck. I passed on it on the original preorder and ended up buying it later. But it has been brought up to speed now and with another firmware on the way I'm hoping it gets even better! Secondly the 7005 costs twice as much as a UMC-1. What more do I have to say? I doubt its twice as good. As I've said time and time again its the law of diminishing returns. Only you can decide what value you put on the level of refinement the 7005 would give you. If anyone decides paying twice as much to get it is worth it I applaud them and want to hear their review of the unit. But for me I can't justify paying twice as much for a pre/pro that isn't twice as good. To each their own, but I'd never laugh at anyone who bought the 7005 as its a great unit and Marantz as a whole makes great products. I'd just rather spend the difference in price betweent the two on something that will make a bigger difference in my system.

If I remember right forum member Fish had a Rotel pre/pro and a few other brands as well before getting the UMC-1. You might PM him and see what is take is on the Rotel vs Emo comparison.

I've always gotten an email from Emo with the tracking number when it ships. Nice to be able to track your new toy!

I always look at it as I'd rather pay in and have the money all year than lend the gov't my money interest free all year and get it back later.

I had to call Emo this morning about something else and asked about the discount card and you can use it on the XMC-1. I think at first you couldn't but a while back they changed it to you could. Things change a lot there so hard to keep up sometimes!

I made a CD with the tones from this website and just played it. It's crazy because you can't hear the first ones but you look down at your SPL meter and there is sound there! http://www.realtraps.com/test-cd.htm

I ran into a Craigslist deal a while back where the guy had an Academy I wanted mixed in with a bunch of other stuff. His price was good as a whole but I only wanted the Academy and he wouldn't split them up. I bought everything and sold everything except the Academy separate and came out like a bandit. Basicly a free Academy and made money on the deal. Looking at Youthman's math I'd say you're in a position to do the same thing so go for it!

If you did this the original owner wouldn't have to buy it and ship it to you. He/she can just mail you the card and you can use it. Emo doesn't keep track of who originally got the card. I've been considering selling my 40% discount card when the XMC-1 comes out. If the XMC-1 costs $1000 for easy math 40% off so its worth $400 to me on the XMC-1, and probably more in the future since I'm guessing the model down the road in a few years will cost even more. I'd probably sell it for $300. The next guy could save a $100 and I could reduce the cost of my UMC-1 by $300. Of course down the road I might regret selling the card when some new Emo unit comes out, or maybe in the future I'll want another brand of pre/pro and not need the card.

If you go to the system set up and then go under the input setup and select the cable input and about half way down select input level and you should be able to even out the differences between cable and dvd.

I brought the SVS PB12-Plus/2 home tonight! My son's bedroom is right below the living room so no demo fun tonight but I look forward to playing with it later.

Hi chef73, I was using a Yamaha 663 prior to getting the UMC-1 and can tell you that the YPAO on that unit, and the adjustments you can do after the setup are very limited. I've read that the newer Yamahas are better, that you can run YPAO and then save the results and adjust from there were with the 663 (as you know) you either use the YPAO results or you start over on your own. Not telling you to get a new receiver or a pre/pro, just saying if you do you'll probably be happy with the results.

I actually factored this into my decision too. I called SVS last week and made sure they still had parts for the +2, and they do. Not warranty but that gave me piece of mind knowing I can fix it if I has problems later.

Best "NEW" subwoofer for the money (arguably). There's some killer deals on the used market if you're lucky enough to find them. The OP is considering used also. I called ED and talked to Alex. He was a very nice guy and very helpful. The A5-350 is in stock and could ship for free today if I chose to get it. It is $50 cheaper than the used SVS PB12-Plus/2 will cost me when I factor in my gas money. Buying the A5-350 would also saving me driving 5 total hours as well. But I still have to think that dollar for dollar I'm getting more sub with the used SVS PB12-Plus/2 than I am with the A5-350. I plan to read some reviews about the A5-350 out of curiosity but overall I think the SVS PB12-Plus/2 is the best bang for the buck. I welcome being told if I'm wrong so if I'm missing something please someone let me know!