Peachtree Audio 2.0

I have a Nova 300 and had taken it out of my computer system for a while in favor of a Heed Elixir. 

I've made a number of source and speaker changes since then and I have to say it sounds really nice with the Peachtree back in the mix. 

I'm using an MHDT Orchid DAC with Tidal, Qobuz, and Spotify via USB from my PC, I have an old Onkyo DV SP205FX SACD player, and a Clearaudio Emotion turntable with a Musical Surroundings Nova Phonomena phono pre.  Speakers are Canton Vento Reference 9.2 DC. 

I'm running the Orchid and the turntable through my Simaudio 430HA headphone amp and into the Peachtree as I listen to headphones a lot in this room.

I wasn't, and still am not, using the Peachtree's DAC or phono pre or headphone amp, which is the main reason I switched to the Heed, which I also really like. 

The Peachtree is just a little more refined and easy to listen to.  The Heed is a really nice piece, but is a little "hotter" than the Peachtree.  Not "bright", but a little more aggressive and this system is in a small room (maybe 12 X 12) with the speakers only about 5 feet from my listening position and stuck in corners of the room (not ideal, I know but it's the space I have to work with).  I might like the Heed better if I had a larger listening space.

I purchased a Nova 150 last Saturday and returned in Monday.  I was shocked by how bad it sounded! I expected the piece to make my Monitor Audio Silver 8s really sing.  Strange "splashy" highs.... veiled midrange ...lack of dynamics. I have been very happy with my Decca 2 so I was expecting the Nova to sound great.  I don't have any explanation to account for the sound issues. I spent about 8 hours listening to this unit and it sounded very bad compared to my old and less expensive  gear. I A - Bed the unit for my wife without comment and she liked the sound of both of my old units over the Nova.  Did the Nova ha e a problem?  An AC issue? I was really disappointed.  Great looking piece without lots features. The vendor had a number of Nova 300s returned with different issues but had not witnessed any Nova 150 problems.  Bummer!  ???

The Nova 150 I purchased was a display model with several hundred hours so it was "run in."

450 watts not enough for Maggie's?  They need lots of current so maybe that's the issue.  How loud? I was thinking of going back to Magnaplanar... probably 1.7s. I have had a couple of pair through the years.  I never had an  issue with my old Maggies but I did have an amp that could handle 2 ohms and delivered lots of  current..(amps!) along with 300 watts into 4 ohms. [Preamp was an ARC SP6. The power amp was a dual mono unit from the now defunct Audire Audio.] I will look for a new set of speakers that are a bit more efficient and can deliver, loud, dynamic sound without pulling down the power for the whole town. The old models lacked dynamic contrast and became veiled as they aged as I recall.