So who has heard a Peachtree Nova 150?

They've been selling like gangbusters, but no reviews and no forum comments anywhere that I can find.

The Nova 300 will be out in mid-August.

Anyone?

Amplifier with DAC - nova150 Integrated Amplifier | Peachtree Audio »

 

I have a Peachtree Audio nova220SE factory refurbished I bought from Crutchfield for 999.00 and love it. I got tired of tubes, I had a Primaluna Dialogue two. The Peachtree has much more power and I don't think I lost much in the midrange.

 

What reasonably priced tubed pre-amp would mate well with this? I know it's an integrated but thought I read you could use it with a pre.

 

You can use it with an amp it has pre outs. It has a tube buffer in the pre-amp but I don't hear a difference when it's engaged. I know this sounds cliché but I think the Peachtree sound tube like.

 

The new models have dropped the tube buffer.

 

I have the Nova Pre and the tube buffer is just a gimmick imo. I'm glad they dropped the tube thing. It does look neat when lit up

 

The only reason for the tube buffer in the first place was to deal with the harshness of lower resolution MP3 files.

With higher bit rate digital files it is rendered unnecessary. It was not designed to sound different, per say, when taken in and out of the circuit.

I have their older analog Nova and iNova and recently purchased a used Decco 65 with their digital technology for the power amp. This was their first generation digital stuff. I imagine that the new 150 sounds much better.

On their next amp introduction, I would like to see a HDMI input, where you can take the SACD from a player, like in the case of my Oppo 93, and process in in the Peachtree unit. Same thing, I would like to process Blu-ray sound from the HDMI to the front mains.

 

I feel your pain. I'd been looking for something...ANYTHING...on the nova150, but there's literally nothing out there.

Back in June, I was able to hear it at a local audio show, and really liked what I heard, but hearing it on what's certainly a carefully put together system, using cables costing much more than I'm willing spend is one thing...hearing in my own system in my own house is another. After contacting my local Peachtree dealer, who said they had no plans to bring one into the store any time soon, I decided to take the plunge a couple weeks ago and bought one directly from Peachtree (which saved me almost $150, as they did not charge sales tax).

I definitely liked the basic sound, with it being very balanced and overall pretty neutral on my MartinLogan Motion 60XT's, but the high-end wasn't as engaging as I thought it should be and the imaging was farily terrible. The sound seemed to be completely confined to the space between the speakers, and lacked depth/height as well. After living with it for a couple days, hoping it would improve, I noticed a strange, constant noise coming from the high and mid speaker drivers. I tried changing sources, unplugging all sources, changing the power cable...nothing helped. I relayed the info and a sound recording of the noise to Peachtree's support, and no one over there had seen anything like this. So, I shipped the unit back a week ago and am just waiting to hear from them about it.

If, after testing, it's determined that the noise it was making was negatively effecting the sound (which I'm really hoping is the case), then they'll send out another unit. If, however, the noise was just an annoyance but wasn't effecting the sound quality, I'll be getting a refund.

Should be hearing back from there this coming week...I'll keep you posted.

 

I've had really good luck with Peachtree customer service. If your unit was noisy, it must be defective - class d amp should be dead quiet.

 

Ooookay...so, heard back from Peachtree:

"Just finished up discussing your unit with our senior technician, and all has been playing well and to spec. He's gone through all of the board-sets to ensure that all of the components are OK. No reported issues."

That's not what I was expecting, definitely not what I was hoping for, and, really, I'm not sure how that's possible. I connected two other amps to my speakers, just to make sure there wasn't something else wrong, and the others were silent. So, I'm getting a refund.

Best of luck to anyone else picking up a nova.
Parasound Halo Integrated, here I come!

 

That's disappointing. Those are the two amps I've been interested in. Was really hoping at almost a grand less, the Nova 150 would be on par with the Halo.

 

Who knows...maybe they're just blowing smoke, and would have given me another unit that wouldn't have that problem had I chosen to do an exchange.

Whatever, I've moved on.

Threw together a short clip on youtube for anyone interested in the noise it was making:

 

Good job on the youtube video.

Google 'united breaks guitars' sometime for a very entertaining true story (and song).

 

You just can't go wrong with a John Curl designed unit from Parasound. I've been very happy with the sound from 2205 that is in my system. Not a bit of issues and the sound is fantastic.

 

That was hee-larious! Thanks.

 

Update...

I was actually able to audition the nova150 a couple days ago at a (much closer) local store that very recently started carrying Peachtree, and after talking to the salesman and listening to their demo unit, which didn't have any of the issues mine had, I decided to give it another try. I'm demoing the n150 in-home now, with a Parasound Halo Integrated from another (much less local) dealer on the way (picking up next week): two amps enter....one amp stays.......may the best amp win!!!

 

I'll be very interested to find out what you think, by all means let us know.

My guess - the dac in the peachtree will be a big step up from the Parasound.

Don't do compares on the Peachtree unless it's been turned on for a couple of days - class d needs to be on all the time.

 

Will do!
So far the n150 sounds pretty darn nice. My only grip is the with the high end...I could use a little more. One thing I like about the Marantz HD-AMP1 was how detailed and, for lack of a better word, "sparkly" the treble was.

I thought they used the same DAC, the ES9018K2M. Correct me if I'm wrong.

There's a power switch on the back of the n150, which has been on since plugging setting it up a few days ago. I'm going to give them both a good two/three weeks of break-in before making my final decision.

 

I believe Computer Audiophile just did a review.

 

Yeah, a kind of generic review. Description, 'I listened to my favorite record', blah, blah, comparison to insanely more expensive product, etc.

 

Here's a quick update on my initial impressions of the nova150 as compared to the Parasound Halo Integrated.

I've had the Parasound playing nearly constantly for most of the week, and, for as nice as it sounds, I find myself wanting to hook the 150 back up. The week prior was all Peachtree, and I'm missing the clean, dynamic sound it pumped out. Not to say that the Halo isn't also clean and dynamic, it just seems lacking to my taste in comparison. The Peachtree just seems to be move lively, producing a noticeably wider dynamic range, making the Halo seem kind of flat and less engaging (read: a little boring). The Halo does have more of the top end I was missing from the 150, but it produces a slight sibilance I'm not liking, and the airiness from the more pronounced treble seems to continually float above everything, clouding the overall sound, or at least creating that impression.

I'm going to keep with the Halo through the weekend, so it's got (at least) a good 100 hours of burn-in, before I switch back to the 150 to get my final impressions. Who knows, maybe the break-in process will iron-out my quibbles from the Parasound, and once I get the Peachtree back in my system I'll begin to miss the Halo; but, as of right now, and going off my memory of the 150, I'm leaning toward the nova...which would save me a nice chunk of change to boot. And, let's be honest, that gloss ebony mocha case looks a whole heck of a lot nicer, too.

It'd be a win-win (or win-win-win for me and Peachtree).

 

I have been singing praises to Peachtree for years. Often referred to as mid-fi, because of its low cost. I have never seen their products in that light. They had the vision about reproducing digital music from the days of low bit rates and figuring out, how to make digital music sound good, more analog sounding.

I have listened to many products in their line up and none of them impressed me as having poor quality.

Companies like Peachtree, Emotiva and Rogue. Never sit on their laurels. They keep up R&D and continue to bring products to market, with newer technologies that are available to the financial means of consumers, who are not the financial elite among audiophiles.

The past Peachtree integrated DAC/amps, were good sounding, but their final amplifications stages were nice sounding, but nothing to get excited about, so I used the DAC and the class "A" preamp section, and use Emotiva (for SS) and Rogue (for tube) for power amps.

Now, all three companies, are offering class D or class H amplification.

All three companies, are American companies.

All three companies, have excellent quality control.

All three companies, have excellent reputations for customer service.

IMO, companies like these, have redefined affordable audiophile quality.

 

Are you listening via digital inputs or line inputs?

The Halo dac is sort of a 'throw in', the Peachtree is their latest effort and they are really good at dacs.

 

this is good to know, I have been interested in the Nova220SE wondering how it matches up to say a Rogue Cronus Magnum (100W tube amp)....

 

Interesting turn events! Thanks for the update. So far, it certainly doesn't sound like the Halo warrants another grand. Would love to hear about the line in comparisons, and the phono amps.