Peachtree Audio - Page 55

Actually, my Nova cost $1200. Your new gear is nearly three times the cost. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that. I wish I could go there, but I can't. I'm just saying, you know, it should sound better.

I'd love to hear it. Have you managed to do some serious listening with the family away yet?

This has been a problem for me as well. What made the problem easier to bear was that I purchased, as others have recommended, a higher quality to slink cable. This has worked wonders and the jitter only occurs typically when I'm multi-tasking about once per week or so...

I'm looking to replace some inexpensive Epos bookshelf speakers with some towers to pair with my Nova. It'll be used for music (via a Macbook Pro and a turntable) as well as for video games and movies. Would the PSB Image T6 be a real good step up? Can someone who is knowledgable in wattage, impedance, sensitivity, amplification, etc. tell me if this combo would work well? Much appreciated, thanks!

http://www.psbspeakers.com/content/1...ifications.pdf

I'm going to take a wild guess as to why Peachtree's warranty is so short. ..I'm only speculating here.

Peachtree entered the market with a one year warranty and they did this, I'm guessing, because they wanted to limit their exposure should things not work out. By offering a one year warranty, rather than a two or three, the investors limit their ongoing obligations to just one year after they shut down sales rather than two or three.

Of course, this approach only works if consumers see your product as sufficiently differentiated in other ways that matter more to them than warranty. With Peachtree, their sculpted wood cases, SOTA DAC's, beautiful industrial design, etc.. are undoubtedly part of that equation. Their gear looks awesome and performs very very well.

Now, several years on, Peachtree will lengthen their warranty beyond one year ONLY if they believe it impedes their ability to hit whatever sales targets they've set for themselves. If not, why bother? ..For me, it does matter to the point that I won't consider buying more of their gear until they increase it. ..But I'm just one person.

Apparently you haven't noticed that warranties have been lengthened on the higher end products.

I didn't realize that have different warranty length for their (new) pricier pieces. ..Nontheless, a one-year warranty for the Nova is too short IMHO. ..It's a great piece otherwise.

Perhaps this is the sign of a very good company. I don't believe it is their pricier pieces that have a longer warranty, but instead their newer pieces including the decco65, which is substantially cheaper than the Nova. It looks like they have chosen to go exactly the direction suggested. I don't have one of their products yet, but plan to partially because when I have called them on the phone they have struck me as exactly the kind of company I want to do business with (small, thoughtful, interested in the customer, offering great value...). Of course that impression is more based on feelings than facts and could be wrong, but I don't think it is.

Hi, It's been so long since I joined you, I figured I would start at the end...
Good call guys. On the new series, we've extended the warranty to 2 yrs on performance series and 3 yrs on the Grand.
Thanks for the feedback.
David Solomon

I have a Peachtree Nova and having been looking at the Nova 125 and Nova Pre as possible future upgrades.

One of the features that appealed to me on the Nova is the Home Theater Bypass. However, it doesn't look like either the Nova Pre or the Nova 125 has Home Theater Bypass. Is this correct?

I think you're correct. You might consider using the Nova as your preamp, adding an amp, and possibly and external DAC like the DACiT if you'd like an upgrade there. This way you still get home theater bypass. You can also run another zone if you'd like with the amp in the Nova. I'm currently using the preamp in the Nova and using a separate amp. The DAC in the Nova is still sounding good in my system. I've yet to determine what I want to power with the Nova amp. Maybe speakers in the kitchen. Maybe speakers in the back yard.

Hi Marg
In this series, we elected to drastically upgrade the amplifiers. To keep the same general prices, we had to give up HT bypass.
We do have it on the Grand, but of course, it's more expensive.
Best wishes,
David Solomon

Terya,

How do you run another zone with the Nova amp?

The Nova was designed to work well as a stand alone preamp. (should you choose to use it this way) Once you run the Nova to a separate amp, the internal Nova amp is free to run whatever.

I have speakers on my back deck and front porch being run by my home theater receiver, also in this system. I experimented with with using the Nova to run these, but I like to turn these up quite loud and when the Nova is turned up loud enough to do this, it's quite loud in the house because the external amp is a fair bit more powerful than that in the Nova. I do have a small patio where the music would never be turned loud, so I may power some speakers in that area. I may also add speakers to the kitchen. My house is small so these would just be for fill. Having them be a bit quieter than the speakers in the adjacent room would be preferable. If I do this I'll likely also add a volume control in the wall through which I'll run the speaker wire, so I can turn the kitchen or porch speakers off when not needed.

I can also turn the external amp off if I want music only in the area powered by the Nova amp.

Not sure if that answers your question.........

The PSB's work well w the Nova. I've used them several times including the Atlanta Expona show.
Hope this helps
David

. Thanks so much for all of the opinions and comments. In the long run, you help shape our little company.
The Nova is now three years old and as good as it is, we've learned a lot and have implemented some important improvements. The next gen Nova will answer a lot of concerns posted and sound much better.
First, you'll find the amplifier much more robust.
The original nova was 80wpc onto 6 ohms, about 95 into 4 ohms. The new Nova 125 is 125wpc at 8 ohms and will do just over 200'into 4 ohms.
The Dac will be 24/192 Asynchronous USB as well as 24/192 SPDIF.
So the weak link is solved... and the USB input is much higher resolution.
We do lose HT bypass, but felt the other improvements were worth the sacrifice.
We've also doubled the warranty to two years.
Looks like it will ship in September.
Once again...thanks for the feedback!

David

Does it retain the beautiful rounded wood case and simple, elegant faceplate? ..If so, this is all good news. Congrats on the success of your company!

Oh yes, we have the same wood cabinets and general look.
best wishes,
David

Still no AirPlay client though?

Myself and quite a few folks have been dying for a high Quality AirPlay Client for years now. The Airport does a nice job but direct stream via Ethernet solves all of the problems associated with USB and SPDIF.

I could only imagine the cost of the licensing though....and I suspect that's the limiting factor? 200wpc@4ohms is indeed robust. Adding Airplay and DNLA functionality would make the NOVA a serious single component solution. Adding direct control via a table App would certainly sweeten the deal.

Wow... You must have a crystal ball.
Stay tuned. You're gonna love what we're about to pull off.

David,

I wish you would have kept HT Bypass in the new Nova preamp as well as the original Nova replacement. This is critical to integrate a two channel system into a home theater system.

Are there any workarounds on the new Nova preamp to Nova replacements to enable HT Bypass?

Yeah, I can't do without home theater bypass either. In fact, had the Nova not had home theater bypass it would not have been added to my system. It was a key feature.

We really wanted to keep it, but w the other improvements we made, it all came down to choices. We just couldn't build in everything we wanted. W the much improved and more powerful amp and the 24/192 asynchronous USB input, there was no more room to do HT bypass.
There is a work around. However it would mean you bring your Nova Pre to unity gain ( 1/2 volume) when playing HT and will take up the aux input.
From your processor, run LR to the Aux.
Pre out to your amp.
When in HT mode, switch to Aux, bring gain to 1/2 volume.
Calibrate system.
All done.
The trick is each time you switch to HT (Aux), you have to have gain to unity.
Not quite as easy, but is a work around.
Hope this helps,
David Solomon

I'm feeling like the odd man out. Home theater integration. Turntable. SACD player. I need three analog inputs. Because of this the Nova stays for the time being. If I ever break down and upgrade to a higher quality DAC, other than the DAC (iDAC or DACiT perhaps) there appears to be no Peachtree product (amp/preamp/integrated) to serve my needs.

I suppose it's good that I have no money for upgrades and I'm happy with the sound of my current system. Still, it would be nice to see an upgrade path that included Peachtree.

David,

Thanks for providing the workaround.

However, I need several analog inputs -- home theatre and CD player.

I hope future versions of the preamp include more analog inputs.

Part of having a preamp is having a lot of flexibility.

Maybe the next version.

We do have these features on the Grand Pre/Grand Integrated. But, unlike the NovaPre, we didn't use a strict, self imposed dollar limit.
Best wishes,
David Solomon

I have a pair of B&W 805 Matrix monitors that although they have and efficient db level, have been said to be very power hungry. The Nova powers these fantastically. It has greatly surpassed my expectations as an amplifier.

I will be first in line for this new Nova. I have never had Peachtree but I have read all of the hype. With Asynch USB, I am all in! Will this use an XMOS chip? The XMOS works perfectly in Linux and is my preferred USB device. If you're using a CMedia solution I would be sad because this does not work with Linux. I have yet to try the Tenor TE8802 but I know it works well with Windows.

David,

Maybe a "Deluxe" version of the Nova with the HT bypass in the near future could be an option for a little more $?

I won't rule that out, but it would be a while before this is possible.
Thanks for the feedback,
David

I have never been able to get hi res files to play via my Nova. However, i just purchased a separate amp to use with it and am now considering selling it and getting the Nova Pre.

What does the NovaPre do better than the Nova? Better DAC seems to be it, but anything else?