The hype is partly because Emotiva has quite a large online following. Certainly another big factor is that the XMC-1 was originally announced long ago - is it over two years now? There seemed to be a big build up from Emotiva each year with promises of 'it will be shipping later this year'. There were many delays caused by incorporating new features or changing the room correction technology, etc.
At least Emo has finally released it. Outlaw had a similar product that was announced and being worked on for quite a while but it eventually got cancelled. Pre-processors and receivers, it seems, can be quite a challenge for smaller companies to produce!
Anyway, despite the hype, the XMC-1 is supposed to be a more affordable pre-pro with XLR support and high quality components such as a toroidal power supply. Most mass-produced AVR's do not have these any more, so theoretically the sound quality from the XMC-1 should be better.
