Help a new guy get started

Too bad about that other thread. Audio folks do grump some.

Allen, for my money the absolute winner combination in the suggestions so far would be that little Audio Space tube amp and a used pair of Reynaud Twins--if you can get to them Twins before a few hundred other people.

The Audio Space amp is low-powered but oh, so sweet with its 6BQ5 tubes. The Reynauds are sensitive enough to run quite loud even on low power, and they are a beautiful design which has won many hearts. The amp has a DAC already, and later on you can bypass it and get a better one if you like.

Bet you dimes to dollars it makes trumpets sound celestial.

Allen,

The Peachtree's amp sections are the weak link in the chain. They're not bad at all, but they're not as good as the preamp and DAC sections. If someone were to upgrade the performance of the unit, an external amp would be most beneficial.

A lot of people love the Peachtree stuff. I understand why, but I'm not the biggest fan. A bit slow sounding for me. Then again, I'm more of a Bryston/Naim/Rega/Linn guy, so I feel that way about a lot of stuff.

I'm almost ready to jump out there and do some listening, but I thought I'd pose one last question before I go. I think I am going the Peachtree Decco 2 route, but would there be much of a difference if I were to pair a separate DAC( DacMagic) with an integrated (used NAD, marantz...)? It seems like you'd gain speaker options if you went with a sep. amp. I realize that others are accepting the deficiencies in the decco's amp and sending the signal to a better amplifier, but I don't think I could do that for a while.

Thoughts? Experience?

Thanks again,
Allen

lots of great ideas. i use the decco with a 500 watt power amp with magnepans and velodyne subs and for a budget system it is really nice. lots of flexibility and well thought out options. i did use the decco alone with mb quarts for a year and the amp is ok. not great or esoteric like some of the other suggestions. peachtree is a good company i think. you can always upgrade the power cord and get good ics and spk wires. i would get another one.with no reservations. good luck

Allen, the only thing you will lose out on if you were to go with say, that DacMagic and an integrated of some kind, is the dac in the Decco. Those dacs that are inside that amp are supposedly worth the price of the entire amp alone, at retail. Not to mention the sound of the dac is outstanding and you'll save on interconnects.

I would just say get the Decco and then when you are comfortable enough with its sound characteristics and you know that amp inside and out and what kind of options you have with it, then you can easily go out and start picking up other amps and try customizing the sound. You may find you like the Decco as it is.

But since you really are starting out, I'd certainly keep it simple. And it'll give you a nice starting reference point with which to grow. Either way, in due time you'll start expanding on it and you might not appreciate spending $4-7K on a starting stereo when you could have had the sound you wanted for $2K.

Regards