Emotiva Wire and Connection Kit Review - Pictures Included

[SuBXeRo]

With my 100 emo bux i bought 80 feet of wire and 5 connection kits. My initial impression was that everything was very high quality but i wasnt really sure what to expect. The wire is of course overkill, the outer sheathing is very thick with both speaker leads on the inside. To be honest, after looking at the picture on emo's website, i was not expecting the wire to be as thick as it was. It may be overkill but the wire has a very nice and finished heavy duty look. It being overkill certainly is not a detriment in my opinion but the size of the wire contained within, you would have expected some heavier gauge wire like 12 or 10 gauge instead of 14. Either way, 14 gauge is great for 99% of peoples home theater systems. Just being critical here.

The connection kits were really good quality. The banana plugs are very heavy and designed rather well if i do say so myself. The interior of the plug unscrews and reveals the inner core. This is where you unscrew two set screws and place your bare speaker lead in to be tightened. This is where i though the speaker wire was a bit thin, the set screw went down pretty far, i like tight connections. A thicker wire would have made the screw sit a bit nicer. None the less, none of the set screws got under the threads so i was quite happy. I would, in a heart beat, buy these terminal kits again. The quality of the banana plugs really blew me away. Heavy weight, very sturdy feel. I wish emotiva would actually sell packs of the plugs seperately as i wouldn't necessarily need the other components in the terminal kits. My theory is, i may want to use other speakers wire where i dont need the wire sleeves or the shrink wrap, just needing that high quality connection that is both aestetically pleasing and actually works well too!

**I forgot to tack pictures of the interior cores of the bana plugs, those will come soon**

Pictures are below!

[CECAA850]

Thanks for the review. The jacket makes the wire look like something for pro sound use. Is it rated for in wall use?

[e2g]

I can't remember if you were the one who was trying the UMC-1 out or not. Did you keep it. I am curious as to why if you did. Also, thanks for your initial impressions.

[SuBXeRo]

me? I bought it and still have it. My initial impressions were that it was very good build quality. It took a little time to start seeing the defects in the programming. The firmware, even after the big update still has bugs in it. I still have shutdown issues, thats one of my biggest gripes. Other than that, i cant think of anything off the top of my head. They will eventually fix all the bugs, they are very diligent with keeping their customers happy. Best part of all, Emotiva knows they have screwed up with the coding and are doing their best to rectify it to keep customers happy. My other gripe is that the video pass-thru is not true video-pass thru. I notice this when i hook up video games like my ps2 or wii or game cube as well as my computer. I have to put pass thru on to get a better picture. I really notice it with my computer. This picture quality can and should be better than it is with pass thru on but thats because its not a true pass thru. None the less, the quality between auto and pass thru is huge when it comes to game console and computer uses. When i use my blueray and do auto or pass thru i dont really notice a difference, but i usually keep it on auto so i suppose i do notice something.

I do like the direct ability of sound though. I use my computer to stream music to the proccessor via optical cable and the direct function capability is great for having the music streamed through unchanged by the processor's custom settings that can be preset. I notice this with the bass output and things like that. I find my music has amuch richer sound in direct mode. I usually use the other modes while watching tv because i have the LPF cutoff at about 70hz so i dont bother my neighbor who lives below me. I havent used the EmoQ ability at all or the equalizer abilities. For the most part, i am very happy with it now that things seem to be streamlined a bit.

O yeah i forgot to add, the processor has trouble recognizing your equipment sometimes. For instance, i turn the blu ray player on before the processor and select dvd on the remote, it doesnt always recognize it. Most of the time it does. Usually if i turn off the processor and turn it back on it sees it again.

[CECAA850]

You are very patient to put up with those minor "issues". I would have gotten a refund a long time ago. There's nothing worse than trying to show off your system and having to jump through hoops to get it to work properly. I also wouldn't want anything that my wife couldnt plop down and use without having to toggle or power down to work properly. You are a bettter man than I.

[SuBXeRo]

The processor was gifted to me and the price was right. Im sticking with it because it matches and i know they will iron out the kinks. My gf deals withit and she always knows she can call me and i can help her. Majority of the time it works fine for what she does. I really use it for advanced features compared to her. Im also ironing out how to hookup things myself since some stuff is run through the tv too like for my video game console. The vide goes through the tv and audio through the processor. Some things just require extra steps. It sucks, only 4 remotes on a good.

[Fish]

You are very patient to put up with those minor "issues". I would have gotten a refund a long time ago. There's nothing worse than trying to show off your system and having to jump through hoops to get it to work properly. I also wouldn't want anything that my wife couldnt plop down and use without having to toggle or power down to work properly. You are a bettter man than I.

Congrats on the free kit, who else but Emotiva treats their customers so good, none I've ever seen.

The UMC is the best sounding unit ever in my house, I have never been happier in 40 years of audio purchases.I have always had buyers remorse with every unit I bought until Emotiva, only keeping them till I could move up.The UMC leaves me with a huge smile every time I use it and never thinking of my "next" purchase.When I show my set off jaws drop and pulse rates go up, I jump through no "hoops"it works great.Giant killer, yep, the giants better get with it or they are short timers.

[CECAA850]

You sound like you got a good one, a keeper for sure. I just couldn't put up with a buggy unit, even if it was free.

[Rivernuggets]

the processor has trouble recognizing your equipment sometimes. For instance, i turn the blu ray player on before the processor and select dvd on the remote, it doesnt always recognize it. Most of the time it does. Usually if i turn off the processor and turn it back on it sees it again.

Sub, try going to a different source, then return to Bluray. This has worked for me a couple times my UMC-1 ignored a signal.

I'm pleased with the UMC-1 overall. Twice it hasn't powered down correctly. Another firmware update will be welcome.