Decco from Preachtree audio

I just picked up a Decco over the weekend. It was a total impulse buy at a local store. I had seen some good things online, and I figured I could use it in my office if it didn't work out at home.

Anyway, I'm really smitten. I've used it with Klipsch Fortes (very sensitive at about 99db) and Totem Arros (87db). It really rocks the Fortes, and it is pretty polite on the Arros.

I'm feeding it with a Cambridge 640A CD player, and I have tried both analog, coax and optical. Connecting Analog with audioquest turquoise and coax with Kimber Digital coax.

I prefer the DA converter in the Cambridge. It is a bit more airy and it really makes a difference with brushes on cymbals. The DA converter in the Decco is OK though, and without doing a bunch of A/B listening for about two hours on various source material, I wouldn't have minded the internal Decco DAC. And it isn't like a couldn't live with the internal DAC, just that I prefer the one in the Cambridge.

The USB DAC sounds very close to identical to the Coax DAC as far as I can tell. I'm using a windows laptop with ASIO drivers. I did some A/B testing from identical CD's, one in the Cambridge through the coax input and also through the USB port. (By the way, the DAC locks to the signal very fast, so there is barely any gap between the two sources.)

Finally, I also used it with my Aragon 4004, and I think I found its real niche. I wouldn't mind using it as a DAC/Pre, mating it with a nice amp. I am really impressed with what's possible for $800, and I'm thinking of it as buying a Pre/DAC and getting a little 50 watt amp for free.

Can anyone chime in on whether or not the Decco can be used strictly as a DAC into my existing preamp?

I JUST bought a preamp, and a new amp for that matter, and have no interest bypassing either one. I am however, in the market for a DAC. I am driven by sound quality, but size and nice design are equally important to me. The Decco appears to be small, and it is definitely one of the nicest, if not the nicest looking unit I've seen.

In a perfect world, Peachtree will release a stripped down dedicated version.

I'm not sure how well it would work just as a DAC, but it does have Pre-outs. They are tied to the volume pot though.

If you're looking for a pure DAC, there are simpler, less expensive options out there, some even that people would argue sound better than the Decco.

Djembeplay,

I am not sure if this is moot at this point, but I have listened to all of the amps you mention above, and unless you are in the used market, I don't think you are going to find a quality integrated amp/DAC combo that matches the Decco features at the same price point.

Of the amps you mentioned, the Creek and Jolida probably proivde the extremes in price and style of presentation, with the classic Creek being the most expensive and more precise and detailed, and the 50W Jolida Model JD 1701A the least expensive and a little more bloomy - (its a tube hybrid closest to the Decco pre/amps sections in design). The NAD's sound will bend towards the Jolida side of neutral, and the Rotel will do a pretty good imitation of the Creek. The Rega should fall somewhere in between. In terms of power, the NAD and Creek will pack the biggest punch, and be the least affected by the sensitivity of the speakers.

These are all adequate performers. I thought I would love the Creek from reviews in Stereophile and elsewhere, but I was underwhelmed for the price. Maybe the Dynaudio speakers used in the demo were a bad match. My tastes tend to lean towards tubes (pun intended), so I like the Jolida and NAD best out of this group at the price points.

With that said, a Paradisea or equivalent DAC cost $500, so with any of these integrated amps plus interconnect cables, you are starting at $1100 and shooting up from there. Makes the Decco look like a bargain at $799, and all in one box!

I heard the Decco at a local showroom in a set up with a hard drive server and Sonos Faber Concertino Domus and Vienna Accoustic Beetoven baby Grand speakers. The Decco was not embarrassed in this company at all. The system sounded well rounded with good space and resolution. I cranked it up to a level that would represent comfortable and enjoyably loud home listening and it SOUNDED GOOD. Not surprisingly, it wasn't very comfortable with rock concert volumes, becoming compressed and ragged when pushed beyond just loud. But overall, I came away very impressed. And at 800 bucks, are you kidding me?

Agree with all above, buy a Decco now with some decent and reasonably efficient speakers, cables and an iPod or computer and you are in business for well under two grand. Add a nice mid to high range tube power amp(s) later and you have a great upgrade path. Product of the year?

Question for those using the Decco: have you had luck with power cord upgrades, and if so did you opt for a digital or amplifier power cord?