I figured though in terms of bang for the buck, the overall feature story outweighed the usual suspects in the int. category. HP amp, DAC, iPod dock (with lower powered Decco), sub out, pre & amp flexibility... etc.
Since the OP is looking for an amp + speaker combo, I would advise to focus on getting the best for the $ rather than trying to add more bells and whistles to the request. Upgrade the front end at a later date - the speaker>amp interface is best addressed together.
My impressions of the Decco at one of the RMAF shows were not that it was a bad piece, per se, just that as an amp it lacked some punch and dynamics, and was certainly not the last word in imaging or low level definition and control. Overall it sounded pretty nice with Era Design speakers, but wouldn't be my choice of an amp - you could do much better with a separate amp + DAC IMO. OTOH the DAC was very resolving and musical without any typical digital gremlins. My (audiophile) friend assisted his friend in buying a system right around the price range the OP is asking about. They went around and listened to a handful of options including the Nova, which I think the guy actually bought in spite of my friends advice that he could do better buying a separate amp. I think the Peachtrees actually offers a digital output or a pre out if I'm not mistaken - I have another friend who told me he was very impressed hearing the Maggie 1.7's at a recent show (Music Matters - Definitive, Seattle). He reported they were being pushed by a Decco, which I found astonishing and asked him if he was sure about that. He clarified that the Decco was outputting the signal to, I think a Rotel amp at 100wpc. So obviously they liked the Decco's DAC but not the amp for pushing the Maggies (understandable given the demands of those speakers). For a limited budget, and to save on shelf-space, it's a pretty good deal. But none of that was a concern of the OP so I'd suggest optimizing the amp investment myself. Certainly if he's using a computer or a blu-ray player as a front end (BDP-93SE notwithstanding), there's probably a whole lot of room for improvement in that front end too, which would be a pretty good argument for a Peachtree - but I'd bet long term satisfaction might be lacking in the amp section. Blindjim - If you're thinking of using one for a HP amp; I can't say I have direct experience with the HP section of the PT offerings, but I will guess, based on experience, that you can do a whole lot better with a good dedicated HP amp. "Compromise" is definitely not a word I like to use often in my vocabulary, as you might have guessed.
