The UMC will be Emotiva's fourth prepro. While they are all discontinued now, they had the entry level LMC-1, the mid-range MMC-1, and the high-end DMC-1. They sold an AVR too, the DMR-1, which I think is functionally the same as the DMC-1, but I'm not completely sure.
A couple of years ago, I owned an LMC-1 for a couple of weeks. It had some 'quirky' problems that annoyed me. Emotiva was great to work with. Lonnie (the designer) and I exchanged many emails and a phone call or two. He was helpful. But in the end I just wasn't happy with it. I returned it for a full (and prompt) refund. AFAIK, the MMC and DMC were well-regarded by those that owned them. Only the LMC has a reputation for being slightly buggy, and really only in the early versions of the software (which is what I had). The software was fully user-updatable, so had I just been patient with those quirks, I might be a happy LMC owner eagerly awaiting his 40% discount on the UMC.
I have full confidence that *if* the UMC turns out to be a dud, Emotiva will actively work hard to solve the problem(s). They did exactly that on the LMC-1. Or if I just don't like it, they'll abide by their 30-day return policy, just as they did before. It's a shame that Emotiva has a bit of a tarnished reputation around here due to the M80-impedance debacle. I do think they're a good group of folks trying to make a great product. Very much like Axiom. Just an unfortunate fact that some M80's appear to not play well with some of their amps.
And while I have zero personal experience, I have read nothing but horror stories about Onkyo and Integra customer support. Integra certainly enjoys a high reputation for quality, but I'm sure a lot of that price is simply a reflection of the markups required to sell it through their dealer network. The fact that a dealer can knock $600 off the price without batting an eye is testament to that fact.
I'll give the UMC a shot. If it's crap, I'll say so, send it back, and find something else. That 9.9 will still be waiting.
