Peachtree Audio Nova125 & sensitive speakers
Just checking in to say I'm experiencing the same high level of hiss with a peachtree audio nova125 and a pair of M&K LCR850 speakers. I've sent an email to peachtree support. |
Abrew19 wrote: I'm just trying to figure out who on this site (supposedly the high end) would actually buy one of those things.I don't own one (I'm more of an old fashioned tube guy) but I have owned a Bel Canto class D amp (S300) in the past. It was a very nice sounding amp that I easily could have lived with if I hadn't decided to go back to tubes. Not everyone has a ton of money to throw at high end gear and Peachtree gear has had excellent reviews in several audio publications and many nice user comments on the forums. We've got one fellow here with a specific problem that seems to be unique to his situation. If I were shopping for an integrated amp in this price range, I wouldn't hesitate to audition one. |
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I thought you were kidding too. The 1st paragraph I can follow easily enough, but in the 2nd when you say to unplug the speakers, it doesnt make sense. If you unplug the speakers, how will you here the noise? Also, when you talk about the measurements from Stereophile, it looks like they used the filter just to take the measurements. I could be mistaken, but if you don't need the filter for regular listening, it may be relevant to this discussion. |
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Bob Reynolds wrote: "It may be that the Peachtree product's filter doesn't attenuate enough for high sensitivity speakers." By definition, ultrasonic noise in an amp does not create audible hiss - its beyond the range of hearing. At worse, if unfiltered, it is going to create an intermodulation problem in the audio band, but that only exists when music (an audible signal) is being played. In that case, you will not hear hiss, but rather some type of distortion in the music. |
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Its a common problem with efficient speakers. There's too much gain. Your old Rotel preamp was acting as a buffer between your amp and your sources. I don't know a lot of technical details regarding your Peachtree but it almost certainly doesn't have a traditional type line stage inside to preform this function. The DAC section probably goes directly into the amp. Given the other post, it doesn't look like you have a global gain setting for your DAC. That would fix the problem. There's nothing wrong with your Peachtree, it just doesn't have that feature. If you still have your Rotel pre, go from the preout on the Peachtree to a line level input on the Rotel and the hiss will go away. |
Not sure what's going on w your set up, but Peachtree works fine on high sensitive speakers w no noise. Something is wrong w/your unit if there's an audible hiss, even w your ear to the speaker. I have a pr of excellent Zu Omen @ 101dB and 0 noise is present w the 125 or the novaPre/220 for that matter, although the 220 is way over-kill. Also not sure whom you spoke w/at Peachtree, but if someone told you that our class D amps inherently produce more noise than a standard A/B, they were simply wrong. Please send your unit in and we'll get it tested. Best wishes, David Solomon davids@peachtreeaudio.com Peachtree Audio |
After reading the other responses, I suspect the noise has nothing to do with the class D amps but is more likely coming from a noisy preamp section. Since you've had 2 different units that sound the same and someone else also has a noisy unit, it appears some hiss is just inherent to this model. (I looked at the specs and they are a bit odd - Peachtree states the S/N ratio is 96 dB but then claims a dynamic range of 121 dB. Strange.) |
@Stereo5: Actually, that crossed my mind also. Yet I quickly grew to love the form factor, ease of use and energy efficiency of the Peachtree Audio Nova 125, despite it being a 'noisy' amplifier. Switching my system on in the morning is literally one push on the remote away; no separate DAC, no extra remotes... Anyway, I got really excited about the PSB Imagine T2 speakers now (hedonic adaptation anyone?). The Klipsch RF7 II speakers have always seemed a bit overkill in my home. I do hope they will be quiet with the Nova125... Fingers crossed. |
Two comments. I used to have a Bel Canto S300 amp and there was no hiss whatsoever, even with my ear to the tweeter. It was dead silent. I don't buy the explanation that class D has an inherently higher noise floor. Second, is there a source connected and on (but not playing) when you hear the hiss? If so, the origin of the hiss could be the source and a gain mismatch between it and the amp. |
