This is a review and detailed measurements of the Peachtree Nova 300 integrated amplifier with DAC and phono stage. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $2,199.
The Nova 300 fits in the same chassis Peachtree has successfully used for last 15 years:
It is quite beefy and heavy. Volume indication overloads the LED indicators on the input selectors showing a coarse 8 levels. For this price, I would expect an LED indicator of the actual level.
Back panel shows good quality connectors and rich feature set for a desktop amplifier:
Peachtree made its name on DACs and had quite a following 10 to 15 years ago. I was curious to see if they had upgraded the DAC subsystem since that time so let's start by measuring that subsystem.
Peachtree Nova 300 DAC Measurements
I fed the unit over USB input, sampled the output from preamp out and adjusted the volume to output 2 volts:
Well, this is quite disappointing. Noise and distortion as represented by SINAD is in decidedly "poor" category in today's market:
The unit can output higher levels so let's see where peak performance is:
No luck there as the peak is actually at 1 volt out.
Dynamic range is better indicating distortion is the problem:
At this point I didn't see a need to run more DAC tests and switched to testing the amplifier.
Peachtree Nova 300 Amplifier Measurements
For this test I used the Aux analog input:
Ah, this is very respectable and above average performance:
SNR is not as good as I like at 5 watt but gets better at full power:
Crosstalk is excellent:
Frequency response shows a peaky filter though:
Multi-tone results indicate "good enough" performance:
What was most impressive is the amount of power available from the ICE amplifier module they are using:
Since I am driving two channels, this is over 900 watts of power! Indeed the peaks hit 1000+ watts:
Even at 8 ohm there is copious amount of power available:
Interesting to see little dependency on frequency until we hit a few watts:
Conclusions
It is clear from the measurements that the DAC subsystem is a relic that is simply behind times. The product though benefits from using a competent B&O ICE module which has stayed competitive producing far more power than you would expect in a "lifestyle" product of this kind. As such, I expect subjective performance of Nova 300 to be excellent regardless of what speaker you attach to it. I usually don't worry about price/performance in my reviews -- that is yours to worry about.
But here, the price seems quite high relative to the other internet focused amplifiers which have come out in the last couple of years. Some of those are powerful and all of them cost a lot less than the Nova 300.
Overall, I can't recommend the Peachtree Nova 300 as a new purchase.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
The Nova 300 fits in the same chassis Peachtree has successfully used for last 15 years:
It is quite beefy and heavy. Volume indication overloads the LED indicators on the input selectors showing a coarse 8 levels. For this price, I would expect an LED indicator of the actual level.
Back panel shows good quality connectors and rich feature set for a desktop amplifier:
Peachtree made its name on DACs and had quite a following 10 to 15 years ago. I was curious to see if they had upgraded the DAC subsystem since that time so let's start by measuring that subsystem.
Peachtree Nova 300 DAC Measurements
I fed the unit over USB input, sampled the output from preamp out and adjusted the volume to output 2 volts:
Well, this is quite disappointing. Noise and distortion as represented by SINAD is in decidedly "poor" category in today's market:
The unit can output higher levels so let's see where peak performance is:
No luck there as the peak is actually at 1 volt out.
Dynamic range is better indicating distortion is the problem:
At this point I didn't see a need to run more DAC tests and switched to testing the amplifier.
Peachtree Nova 300 Amplifier Measurements
For this test I used the Aux analog input:
Ah, this is very respectable and above average performance:
SNR is not as good as I like at 5 watt but gets better at full power:
Crosstalk is excellent:
Frequency response shows a peaky filter though:
Multi-tone results indicate "good enough" performance:
What was most impressive is the amount of power available from the ICE amplifier module they are using:
Since I am driving two channels, this is over 900 watts of power! Indeed the peaks hit 1000+ watts:
Even at 8 ohm there is copious amount of power available:
Interesting to see little dependency on frequency until we hit a few watts:
Conclusions
It is clear from the measurements that the DAC subsystem is a relic that is simply behind times. The product though benefits from using a competent B&O ICE module which has stayed competitive producing far more power than you would expect in a "lifestyle" product of this kind. As such, I expect subjective performance of Nova 300 to be excellent regardless of what speaker you attach to it. I usually don't worry about price/performance in my reviews -- that is yours to worry about.
But here, the price seems quite high relative to the other internet focused amplifiers which have come out in the last couple of years. Some of those are powerful and all of them cost a lot less than the Nova 300.Overall, I can't recommend the Peachtree Nova 300 as a new purchase.
------------
As always, questions, comments, recommendations, etc. are welcome.
Any donations are much appreciated using: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/how-to-support-audio-science-review.8150/
