So poor DAC, decent amp. To me these products is an interesting study case where the measurment I would have like to see compared is NOT USB in -> Pre out, but DAC in -> speaker outs. In effect, if the performance is (hypothetically) the same with analog ins or digital in, couldn't we then judge that in practice, this DAC is perfect? We see already that it doesn't perform worst than the power section, we see a chase to the highest Sinad for dacs and their engineering prowess is much judged on that. But in real life, what for? What if it was the opposite, great engineering choices to consider the bottle neck of a system and make design decision based on that? Now I don't say that the DAC flaws doesn't induce a degradation, but just that I'd like to see if it does, with a measurment with it in the chain, no?
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Peachtree Nova 300 Review (Dac & Amplifier)
- Thread starter amirm
- Start date
Steve Dallas
Major Contributor
This is my unit.
Stereophile's measurements are here. Peachtree's specs are here.
These are frequently available as refurbished or factory blems with full warranty for around $1600 delivered, which is an attractive price for the included features. The one I had drop-shipped to @amirm is one of those. (Note the scratches near the IEC socket as its blemish.)
My expectations were this would measure like a Denon receiver. The DAC measurements are almost shameful (but audible?) with SINAD at 10dB worse than a typical Denon implementation. It appears one would do better to buy a Denon AVR on sale and enjoy its added benefits, such as bass management and Audyssey, assuming one does not need the high power of the Peachtree.
It would be nice to see if Amir can reproduce JA's measurements of the USB vs. SPDIF inputs, and it would be nice to know if the headphone amp is anything special, as Peachtree claims it is.
I like these amps for their home theater bypass mode, input switching, and [cough] integrated DAC. The one in my media room is fed by a Denon 4700 using HTB, so I am mostly just using the amp in that application. I do occasionally plug my laptop into the USB input and stream music processed by Dirac Live. At one time, I had all manner of sources plugged into it and very much appreciated its flexibility.
I have had 2 Peachtree Nova units in continuous household use for ~3 years and have not experienced any reliability problems--at least in their various modes of use.
I purchased this one for my office to allow me to reduce clutter, since I only play music via USB now and can retire my streamer / DAC. Objectively, that might be an OOPS! Subjectively, I don't think I will hear any difference between the Peachtree and the Cambridge CXNv2 I have in here now. It will be interesting to find out.
Once I get the Peachtree hooked up, the Cambridge can be on its way to Amir before being sold...
Stereophile's measurements are here. Peachtree's specs are here.
These are frequently available as refurbished or factory blems with full warranty for around $1600 delivered, which is an attractive price for the included features. The one I had drop-shipped to @amirm is one of those. (Note the scratches near the IEC socket as its blemish.)
My expectations were this would measure like a Denon receiver. The DAC measurements are almost shameful (but audible?) with SINAD at 10dB worse than a typical Denon implementation. It appears one would do better to buy a Denon AVR on sale and enjoy its added benefits, such as bass management and Audyssey, assuming one does not need the high power of the Peachtree.
It would be nice to see if Amir can reproduce JA's measurements of the USB vs. SPDIF inputs, and it would be nice to know if the headphone amp is anything special, as Peachtree claims it is.
I like these amps for their home theater bypass mode, input switching, and [cough] integrated DAC. The one in my media room is fed by a Denon 4700 using HTB, so I am mostly just using the amp in that application. I do occasionally plug my laptop into the USB input and stream music processed by Dirac Live. At one time, I had all manner of sources plugged into it and very much appreciated its flexibility.
I have had 2 Peachtree Nova units in continuous household use for ~3 years and have not experienced any reliability problems--at least in their various modes of use.
I purchased this one for my office to allow me to reduce clutter, since I only play music via USB now and can retire my streamer / DAC. Objectively, that might be an OOPS! Subjectively, I don't think I will hear any difference between the Peachtree and the Cambridge CXNv2 I have in here now. It will be interesting to find out.
Once I get the Peachtree hooked up, the Cambridge can be on its way to Amir before being sold...
The 1999$ amp500 + a cheapo Topping dac <200$ and you get a much better package than:
Peachtree Nova 300 integrated amplifier with DAC and phono stage. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $2,199.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #26
Digital in is what I use if that is the only input available. Otherwise, I prefer to use analog in so that we can compare the results to other analog amplifiers. You can compute the sum total SINAD using an online calculator.
Poor dac ...
Point is the dacs improve so quickly while the amp's performance remain for years.
Hence better to invest in a good amp and get a separate dac .
I looked at one of these. Then I realized I had no clue what was good and what was bad. Then I bought 708p and never looked back. Forgot this even existed. Every audiophile store is heavily stocked with garbage.
GeorgeWalk
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I had a Peachtree Nova 65SE for years. I bought it used on eBay. I never used the tube input or the DAC (I used a topping D50S as input.) I used it to drive some speakers in my office system. It did a good job and looked really nice (cherry cabinet). I have since replaced it with a Parasound 275 v.2 amp.
Kegemusha
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I have that one cince 2011, after 4 years the potentiomenter die, I can only have it at max volume for both channels to work, I decide to open it and I see the pot is a custom one that I can not find (I could buy one from them but will cost me to be sent from USA) , anyway I was having it as pre amp, but the DAC was not good.
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You think 2nd harmonic distortion is audible at -85? Lol.
Performance is fine. Unless you care about numbers and not sound. A golden eared audiophool who calls something poor when he knows he can't hear the difference.
Performance is fine. Unless you care about numbers and not sound. A golden eared audiophool who calls something poor when he knows he can't hear the difference.
Thanks, can you provide a link for such calculators?
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What would people suggest as a cheaper, better alternative to this? I never demoed this because they are so expensive, but I like the compact all-in-one design, and it is pretty retro-looking.
Kegemusha
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With that power of 450 @ 4 Ohm?
If you like the peachtree there are cheapers like the Nova 150 with less power. Not sure your budget, that kind of power costs.
OP
Thank you, one day I'd like to get an understanding on how it's calculated, but to be clear, on this case are you saying that the Sinad (digital in -> speaker out) EQUAL (SINAD (digital in -> preamp out) *(mysterious computed addition) SINAD ( (analog in -> speaker out)) ?? I'm wondering how can someone can come up which such numbers with just that as a metric, not knowing the gain structure, the input sensitivity on analog ins. This doesn't add up to me but I'd like to understand. SINAD on a source device is normally calculated at 2V, and for the power section at 5 W and yes we do have a curve of THD+N VS Power, but how do I know which figure to enter in this calculator? 2V on analog ins means what power? Sorry this doesn't compute to me.
I had an experience with one of these Peachtree Nova units years ago. I listened to it at our local hifi dealer and thought I heard magic when using the headphone output. They let me take it home over the weekend. Once home, the magic wasn't happening. It sounded just like my other headphone amps. I had a Creek and a Behringer, and the headphone jack on my receiver for comparison. All sounded identical to the Nova. So I brought it back and told them I was afraid I might have somehow destroyed it's magic. They checked it out and listened to it. No problems. That was an eye opener, or ear opener for me about just how strongly various factors can influence my subjective perception of sound.
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