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Peachtree amp500 Amplifier Review

Rate this amplifier:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 4 1.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 47 19.4%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 166 68.6%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 25 10.3%

  • Total voters
    242

amper42

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Below is a comparison of the amp500 and the NC502MP at 8 ohms. Most of us don't need 500W but we do want clean measuring power. For half the price you enjoy increased measuring Power vs Distortion results during the first 50W. I can't imagine a situation where I would actually require more than 200W in a normal home environment with relatively sensitive speakers.

Peachtree amp500 stereo amplifier balanced power 8 ohm measurements.png


Here is the NC502MP.

Buckeye 6ch Nc502mp Measurements Power 8 multichannel amplifier.png
 

Sokel

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Below is a comparison of the amp500 and the NC502MP at 8 ohms. Most of us don't need 500W but we do want clean measuring power. For half the price you enjoy increased measuring Power vs Distortion results during the first 50W. I can't imagine a situation where I would actually require more than 200W in a normal home environment with relatively sensitive speakers.

View attachment 252302

Here is the NC502MP.

View attachment 252303
That's why one must choose what is good for the application.
The owners of 1200as2 (NOT the peachtree,I talking just about the module),like me can easily connect an 300a2 module (which I did it's merely 2 connectors) with a cost of 140euro.
1200as2 for lows - 300a2 for mid-highs and you have both the power where needed (and yes,is needed,have a look at the "How loud you listen" thread ) and the "cleanness" where also needed.

THD+N vs Freq of the 300a2: Blue=100Hz,Green=1Khz,Red 6.67Khz (yes there are brave enough to put the worst case scenario where H2 and H3 are well into the bandwidth of the measurement):

300a2.PNG
 

contium

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As the owner of an amp500, I had a little anxiety when I saw amirm measured it. Am completely happy with it but poor performance would sit in the back of my head. Nice to see I can continue enjoying the amp. I will admit that the looks played a strong factor in my keeping it. Aesthetics and user experience are important to me and the Peachtree fits in perfect with our home decor. I could never be happy with the Buckey. I had gone through a whole slew of amps before staying with this one.
 

Doodski

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As the owner of an amp500, I had a little anxiety when I saw amirm measured it. Am completely happy with it but poor performance would sit in the back of my head. Nice to see I can continue enjoying the amp. I will admit that the looks played a strong factor in my keeping it. Aesthetics and user experience are important to me and the Peachtree fits in perfect with our home decor. I could never be happy with the Buckey. I had gone through a whole slew of amps before staying with this one.
The Buckeye Amp gear is available in anodized finishes too. I'm interested in seeing the platinum green anodized finish. I've seen other gear in green anodized and it has a certain allure.
 
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As the owner of an amp500, I had a little anxiety when I saw amirm measured it. Am completely happy with it but poor performance would sit in the back of my head. Nice to see I can continue enjoying the amp. I will admit that the looks played a strong factor in my keeping it. Aesthetics and user experience are important to me and the Peachtree fits in perfect with our home decor. I could never be happy with the Buckey. I had gone through a whole slew of amps before staying with this one.
I think you have every reason to be thrilled with your amp!
 

Steve Dallas

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Below is a comparison of the amp500 and the NC502MP at 8 ohms. Most of us don't need 500W but we do want clean measuring power. For half the price you enjoy increased measuring Power vs Distortion results during the first 50W. I can't imagine a situation where I would actually require more than 200W in a normal home environment with relatively sensitive speakers.

View attachment 252302

Here is the NC502MP.

View attachment 252303

Remember that that adoption of DRC necessitates more power. Doubling power results in a +3dB increase in SPL. When DSP cuts SPL by -9dB, 3x the power is required to maintain the same SPL. That 100W we have always deemed more than adequate is suddenly less so. As I write this, I am sitting in front of a 300Wpc @ 8 Ohms Peachtree Nova 300 amp powering a pair of KEF R3s. Dirac cuts the signal by -12.5dB. I have the amp turned up past halfway to to reach mid 70s mean SPL in a small room (156ft^2). As I do not listen to much music that has fallen victim to the loudness wars, I often set Dirac's output level to -8.5dB and gain some of that back, but it is nice to have the power available to handle whatever without breaking a sweat.
 

Steve Dallas

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As the owner of an amp500, I had a little anxiety when I saw amirm measured it. Am completely happy with it but poor performance would sit in the back of my head. Nice to see I can continue enjoying the amp. I will admit that the looks played a strong factor in my keeping it. Aesthetics and user experience are important to me and the Peachtree fits in perfect with our home decor. I could never be happy with the Buckey. I had gone through a whole slew of amps before staying with this one.

I am the member who sent in the Nova 300 for measurement. Same trepidation here. I thought the DAC subsystem would at least match top tier AVRs, but that was not meant to be. Still, the amplifier performance is above average, and the lifestyle features fit my needs in multiple rooms, so I remain a satisfied Peachtree owner of two Nova 300s. And, as mentioned above, the extra power helps offset the gain losses inherent to DRC in both rooms.
 

wjp007

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Peachtree is hardly a legacy company. ;)


Covered quite a few times:


What @Sokel said. It still is highly dependent on where you live, anyway. I used to recommend Apollon AS1200, but its price increased significantly (few hundred Euros) over these last three years. For someone living in NA, the Peachtree Amp500 could make some sense at the end.


Real wood. But from my experience with other Peachtree products, the high gloss does scratch easily.
What was your experience on imaging? There are some other reviews showing very high phase shift at higher frequencies. I just built an 1200AS2 amp and disappointed in the imaging. The sound is cleaner and the base is clearly tighter than what I had before (Denon x3700h), but the imaging seems to have taken a hit. Both the ability to place instruments and breadth of the sound field.
 

VintageFlanker

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What was your experience on imaging?
Nothing to talk about. Unless it has very serious flaws, an amp cannot impact imaging.

but the imaging seems to have taken a hit. Both the ability to place instruments and breadth of the sound field.
I imagine that your comparison is with the 3700H without any room EQ nor DSP treatment involved?
 

Sokel

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Nothing to talk about. Unless it has very serious flaws, an amp cannot impact imaging.


I imagine that your comparison is with the 3700H without any room EQ nor DSP treatment involved?
Probably 1200as2's much better crosstalk and absence of corrections reveals some problems with placement,room,etc.
 

wjp007

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Nothing to talk about. Unless it has very serious flaws, an amp cannot impact imaging.


I imagine that your comparison is with the 3700H without any room EQ nor DSP treatment involved?
Can’t a class D amp introduce phase shifts resulting from the output filter?

I use Dirac on a PC for room correction and bass management. I can save different filters for different system configs. My AVR was used only as a DAC/Preamp/Amp with everything else shut off. For the Icepower setup, I’m using a Topping DM7 as DAC/Preamp.

Thanks
 

MediaHead

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Mar 8, 2023
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As the owner of an amp500, I had a little anxiety when I saw amirm measured it. Am completely happy with it but poor performance would sit in the back of my head. Nice to see I can continue enjoying the amp. I will admit that the looks played a strong factor in my keeping it. Aesthetics and user experience are important to me and the Peachtree fits in perfect with our home decor. I could never be happy with the Buckey. I had gone through a whole slew of amps before staying with this one.
Aesthetics are important and overlooked in Audio. It's one thing if its in a closet, but most amplifier companies seem to think that a brushed metal box is just fine. Anyways as long as it sounds good right? If you think it sounds great, who cares what the specs say.
 
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