Alternatives to Emotiva UMC-1/audio vs HDMI

I would loook inot a used Anthem, you dont need HDMI so Anthem will offer the better quality preamp section, individual settings and you can skip the HDMI premium.
Rotel RSP 1068 can be had VERY cheap and will do everything you want aswell, Lexicon MC8 will do the trick too.
If you are talking more tone or EQ controls for individual speakers Rotel offers that, if your talking standard distance and level settings all the above will do that aswell.
But if your loooking at Emo for the money its packed full of features you may indeed want in time so think carefully about what you want and MAY want in time. Hopefully if you do go Emotiva you wont get a bug plauged unit and will recieve a proper working trouble free piece of gear.

If I was going to upgrade from a UMC-1, I would spend the $1600-$1800 and get a used Anthem 50. I know you say you don't need HDMI, but you will before to long. Everything is HDMI, and you would be missing a lot of HD audio formats to start with.

I have a UMC-1 and am quite satisfied with its capability. This is my second unit, the first was bug-ridden and I could never get it working right. However, Emo was very cool and just shipped me a new unit to replace the old one. The new one works perfectly and sounds great.

If you're lookin for someting better than a UMC-1, why not wait for Emo to release the XMC-1?

-RW-