VTV D300 Digital amp

@ricevs  VTV or Peachtree  that is the question?  
Any benefit of one over the other?  Both have 30 day return, $100 apart and very similar build.  I plan on trying one of them with an Zen Ifi stream/ sonic transporter with roon sharing main speakers on my Midfi home theatre system with an amp switch.  Would like an improved 2 channel listening option in that room and this sounds promising at a reasonable cost.

VTV has more power and a bigger power supply and options for WBT jacks and better digital input wire (not yet added to site) than what is in the Peachtree. At some point, I will have both here and mod both of them and compare.....I doubt, after mods there will be much difference......but....you get more power with the VTV.

Just now checked the Peachtree site and it says out of stock for the GaN1 only.....looks like you have to buy it as a package with the Bluesound to get the discounted price?...maybe someone can email them about this........also.....I believe you have to pay shipping......VTV gives free shipping in the US. You pay return shipping if you return it.  After this second batch of Beta GaN1's are shipped the price will be $2K and also sold through dealers.......I imagine.....

MiniDSP makes good products, IMHO, but the Flex has a limitation that may rule it out for many.  Running Dirac Live the sample rate is limited to 48kHz.  Perhaps future iterations of the Flex will improve (the SHD Running Dirac supports 96kHz), but for now it's too limited.

Just don't buy and or use Dirac......Dirac is automatic room correction.  You can do the same manually with the 7 eq points in the Flex.....the Flex without dirac is 96K and $200 less.  It takes longer to measure and make the settings and re measure......for sure.....but it is cheaper without Dirac and you get the same results and at 96K.

My VTV D300 with WBT NextGen binding posts arrived a few weeks back.  Before receiving it, I bought a used Lumin U1 Mini with Sbooster upgrade to get LEEDH digital volume control.  My speakers are Zu Audio Soul 6.  The Soul 6 doesn't have traditional crossovers but the supertweeter does use a capacitor.  The 10" driver is driven "full range". 

In my digital based system that is heavily and cleanly power conditioned, the D300 has been very fun for listening.  It'a about as good as my DAC and amp I was prior but at much lower cost.  I've sold the old amp and the DAC is up for sale.  If I were using a preamp, that would also be up for sale. 

Because there is not much of an analog path to upgrade, I find myself looking at enhancing the digital chain.  I've recently took receipt of an Audio GD DI-20HE DDC and this has improved the sound. It also has SPDIF input which allows me to connect my ADC I use for home theatre.  The DI-20HE has a clock input and now I'm waiting for my LHY OCK-1 10MHz clock to ship out.

This past weekend, I completed my first mod to the D300.  I switched out the Neutrik RCA SPDIF connector for a Neutrik BNC SPDIF connector.  I used solid copper Neotech wires with the return wire in helix formation around the signal wire. I crimped my own dupont connectors on the board end and I soldered the other end to the BNC connector.  The BNC connection allows me to remove the BNC-RCA adapters I was using on my SPDIF cable. BTW, the ACSS BNC SPDIF output of the DI-20HE DDC works with the D300.  I was afraid they may not be compatible.  The next mods are replacing the board to board wires and AC input wires with Neotech wires and then replacing the AC inlet with the Furutech FI-09 inlet.  I want to keep all mods reversible but this inlet mod might not allow me to do that.