Secrets Reviews new Emotiva DMC -1 / MPS-1 Pre/Pro & Amp

Now the MPS Amp does look impresive and I really like its Modular Design, but $2,500 for a Pre/Pro that does not have HDMI/DVI Switching or Auto-Setup and looks like something that you would find behind the bar in a Kansas City whorehouse? People complain that Outlaw's products are "too plain", take a look at the other side of the coin!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_13_1/emotiva-dmc1-ssp-mps1-amp-3-2006-part-1.html

Would love to see how this Pre/Pro matches up to the 990 at over twice it's price!

The amp seems to be seeing signifcant distortion before meeting it's maximum output spec, but it's still pretty good. Personally I think they should have called it a 150 or 175 watt amp. Maybe 250 @ 4 ohms.

At those prices, its not really competition for Outlaw, in the sense of pricing.

-Rob

Drunkonjack sold his Emo for the 990, but ended up selling/returning the 990 to get another Emo. In his situation he liked the Emo better but at the price it doesn't really surprise me. I am sure there are others that may feel differently, but at this time he is the only one I know that have had both in their house.

Can anyone tell me why this Pre/Pro is selling for over twice that of a 990 from another Internet Direct Company? I have not done a detailed comparison yet with the DAC's and Processor but I just cannot see why they are charging this much, it does not have any features the 990 dosen't have.

I am looking at AV123 for some new speakers and from what I have heard they are a great company to do business with, excellent support & prices.

Remember, I could find a sub 1k receiver that has more features than the 990. Some of the most expensive, fine sounding gear are very minimalistic in design. I am sure even Outlaw would admit they could build a better pre/pro for more money without adding any features. Basically, it all comes down to where the point of diminishing returns gets you. It would probably only cost $100 dollars or less in shipping to hear the difference/non-difference in your own home.

DOJ also bought his second Emo used, and I'm not sure what he paid for it - if he got a good deal on the used unit, that may have been a factor in his decision to move back to the Emo.

The Emotiva is at a significantly different price point than the 990, and the two offer different things. The only reason the two are likely to be deemed "competitors" is that both are sold from online-only companies. With the general parity of feature sets (a comparison method where the 990 actually has the advantage), the Emotiva needs to bring something extra to the table sonically. How much of an extra something is there I can't say - although as good as the 990 is, we are already moving into the domain of diminishing returns.

The 990 is an incredible Pre/Pro and I can't say one bad thing about it . I just happened to like the sound of the DMC-1 better . I'm not sure these ought to even be compared , With the price difference .

I cannot think of one Pre/Pro out there in the price range of the 990 that could do what the 990 is capable of . I could and would recommend this 990 to anyone looking for a processor in this price range .

Bottom line is these are both very serious performers . There was no loser , I just had a little more money to spend , Thats all

Why did you like the EMO better?

I returned my DMC-1. Did not like the sound compared to my Meridian. I have the 990 but can't listen to it until my amp is returned. Will let evryone know soon.

I just looked on the AV123 site and it looks like they have stoped selling the Emotiva line.
Does anybody know the reason?

My impression was that AV123 wanted to refocus their business. Emotiva now has their own website:

http://www.emotiva.com/

The Emotiva line has been difficult for AV123 (particularly the UL's, which had a bumpy launch), and AV123 apparently felt that they needed to pay more attention to their speaker products.

I have been looking at the 990 -vrs- the DMC-1 also. I here the mention that the DMC-1 is so much higher price. The DMC-1 with the MSP-1 seems to be pretty much the same price as the 990 with the 7700.

It is a very hard choice, don't know what to do.

The DMC-1 is more expensive than the 990 and has a few fewer features (less robust bass management, for example). Emotiva is now offering an outboard HDMI switcher that is similar to the 990's onboard DVI, although one thing I love about the 990's DVI switching is the ability to assign the DVI ports to any video input. In theory, you could have a device like the PS3 (HDMI and optical digital outputs) connected to the 990 and use Video5 (the front input) for it since both the DVI and the digital audio inputs are assignable. That can give you a bit more flexibility in setup. On the other hand, that bit of flexibility may not be needed by everyone...

There's also the fact that Emotiva support is somewhat in flux: AV123 brought the line to market almost as if it were an internal brand (which it never really was, although many people had that impression), but they have now broken that tie and Emotiva is on their own to handle customer support and sales. They may end up being very successful in that regard, but at this point there's not a proven track record to back them up whereas Outlaw's been online and in business since 1999.