I think members on here who have no reference point or experience with a product someone asks about should kindly, for the benefit of truly helping people who specifically ask for it, not post their unsubstantiated opinions. Some of you have an experience factor of ZERO with certain products and yet feel qualified or compelled for some unknown reason to speak up with an opinion based on what? A webpage? What purpose could that possibly serve?
Free speech is a great thing, but when you speak without having a clue as to what you're speaking about it makes you sound like an idiot.
- As to the OP's question, the Peachtree audio products are very unique & excellent, class leading performers, but probably not for what you're wanting to do. The Peachtree integrated amps were specifically engineered & designed to be used in conjunction with PC or IP based music sources. I had a rep sample of the original Decco for a few weeks and thought it was perfect for what they designed it to do. We use Sonos to stream music in my home and showroom and we have all sorts of different amps and receivers to power these zones and switch them out for testing different ideas and concepts we come up with. I also do this to test the quality of different speakers, amps, etc.
In a whole house audio setup, I wouldn't spend the money on a bunch of Deccos or Novas to power my zones. In our setup (which includes a lot of upper end & entry level in-ceiling pieces) I couldn't hear or feel (bass) an appreciable difference between the Decco and a Parasound ZAMP, Onkyo receiver, or a self powered Sonos unit. This was due to the limited physics of what a whole house audio setup is designed to do.
Where the Decco, and I'm sure Nova, shines is in 2 channel stereo from a conventional L/R config using a digital source like a SONOS, AppleTV, your PC, Squeezebox, etc. (w/ or w/out sub doesn't matter). Signalpath owns both ERA & Peachtree so the rep gave me a pair of ERA D5 to try with it. This combination was really impressive from both SONOS & my PC. The quality of music was noticeably different than out of a traditional Stereo receiver in this application. We tried different speakers (Totem Arrow, PhaseTech PC-1.5, and BG Z1) and it was over all a really impressive rig - as it should be given the units price & manufacturer promise of quality. When I do a nicer 2 channel system in my office I'll certainly be using one but keep in mind..... I use an IP based source almost exclusively. The Decco/Nova units are really unique to look at as well as have excellent feel, fit, and finish which is always a concern from a small/new company.
For movies & TV out of a BluRay or CD player or Cable/Sat box, a good integrated amp from NAD or Parasound will be less expensive and more than capable of making a pair of D5s or whatever speaker you choose to go with sing. With speakers like that, though, I would recommend staying away from entry level A/V receivers from an Onkyo or Pioneer or whomever.
Hope this helps!
