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Peachtree Audio iDECCO
MSRP $1,019.00
iPhone / iPod magnificence awaits with Peachtree iDecco, an 'all-in-one' unit delivering terrific sound to your analog or digital-based music. Built-in Apple digital dock, 40 watts-per-channel tube hybrid integrated amp and ESS Sabre DAC extract chilly 0s & 1s from the source and de-jitters / re-clocks the audio stream completely by-passing the player's own lowly D-A processing. iDecco's USB and optical ports trigger Peachtree's Sabre DAC to do its sweet thing on your computer music or other digital audio, lending renewed smoothness and detail even to highly compressed files. Built-in audiophile headphone output, multi speaker connections and phono stage-ready 'aux' input completes the picture.
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Product Features:
- Hybrid solid-state/vacuum tube (6N1P) preamplifier featuring Class-A output buffer stage
- Class-A headphone amplifier with vacuum tube circuitry enabled
- Multi-input (USB, SPDIF, Toslink, iPod, iPhone) 96kHz/24-bit upsampling DAC with solid-state output stage
- 100% digital iPod dock with built-in integrated amplifier
- 40 watts per channel MOSFET-powered, solid-state integrated amplifier.
What's In The Box:
- AC Power cord
- Remote control
- Owner's manual
- Listening bliss
Applications:
The R&D gurus over at Peachtree Audio are flying in the right direction at the speed of light with their iDecco iPod/iPhone digital dock, power amp, pre-amp, DAC and headphone amp in one. Featuring a 40 watts per channel [rated @ 6 Ohms] tube hybrid integrated amp/pre-amp and ESS Sabre DAC stage, the innovative engineering and top-flight materials design encases some of the best audio bang-for-the-buck performance we've heard from a single 'do-it-all' component. The built-in iDecco Apple dock offers huge sonic improvements for your iPod / iPhone and provides a direct 'hard-wire' connection from the player to Peachtree's ESS Sabre upsampling DAC for the cleanest, best-sounding digital interface possible. The galvanically isolated/buffered USB input for computers also allows your laptop, MAC or PC to benefit from the major sound quality improvements delivered by the iDecco's DAC versus any computer soundcard.
Listeners with typical consumer-grade CD players will want to feed into the iDecco's digital-optical or coaxial input and hear the kind of results you'll get employing the superb ESS Sabre 9006 24/96 upsampling chip-set for the D-A conversion. The Class-A headphone amp stage incorporates a user-switchable triode vacuum tube that eliminates harsh timbral edges without undue coloration of the overall sound and only musically neutral polypropylene caps are placed in the signal path. The iDecco's headphone output probably has the best sound quality we've heard outside of using a dedicated headphone amp; even with unforgiving reference headphones like the Beyerdynamic T1, Sennheiser HD800 or Ultrasone Edition 8, the sound was nicely open, grain-free and richly detailed with Lossless or uncompressed WAV music. Pair the Peachtree iDecco's rear panel speaker terminals with some highly efficient monitor or bookshelf speakers [and subwoofer] of your choice and, suddenly, its game over for that old wall full of bulky audio gear and bird's nest of tangled wires. The iDecco's unique versatility and amazing sound quality for the budget and/or space concious listener earns our highest HeadRoom recommendation.
The luxuriant vibe does not end with the iDecco's black high gloss looks and superlative audio performance; its feature set is also second to none. Front panel blue and red (for power off) LEDs allow visual access to the status of the unit and the discrete USB, optical, coax, iPod, and Aux input connection lights neatly circle around the button until they "lock" onto the source. Listeners wanting to employ the tube stage can do so via the 'tube' button on the included remote control. When the blue LED inside the tube socket glows, the tube is in the signal path. If the blue LED is out, the valve just sits there looking pretty. Cool stuff! The Class-A amplification topology also can function as a true buffered pre-amp with a remote-controlled, variable 30-ohm output. The 30wpc pre-amp stage features a Class-A headphone output providing 10dB voltage gain, plus three transformer-coupled digital inputs—coax, optical, galvanically isolated USB— one line-level input, fixed and variable outs, component video outs, as well as a 'shallow/steep' digital filter switch -- all of which ensures you'll never be wanting for connectivity. A selectable jitter function switch on the back panel allows fine control of devices having extremely high jitter rates more than can be typically acceptable by other DACs, so the iDecco is ready to transform the sound of even the cheapest portable CD or DVD player or netbook computer without issues. Another plus for international listeners, user-switchable power supply allows use in 230VAC [Europe/overseas] or North American 115VAC voltages.
Specifications:
- Balanced: no
- Home Use: no
Average Rating
Posted by daiku1 from Northern California on 2011-12-27
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Good Value
Cons: Would like easier access to tube for swapping.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by LT from Colorado Springs on 2011-12-26
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: Very flexible
Cons: Servicable headphone section
I prefer using a powered pair of speakers with a powered sub-woofer. the I-Decco simply controls the volume. you don't really need to use the amp to drive the speakers.
You can hook up through traditional RCA plugs, Toslink, as well as Co-axial. It also allows you to simply plug in an Ipod. When you do, use the Ipod, the onboard DAC really does a fine job. I use a USB connector to the computer and by-pass the the inferior DAC on the computer soundcard that you normally find on standard computers. Also, it allows you to save money on building a computer.
What i consider to be a downside is that the headphone section is kind of weak. So I use the pass-through to hook up a dedicated headphone amp. So I get the best of both worlds. Of course, it means that you can have a lot of money invested into a "computer sound system. In essence, if you really go for a very fine system, you could not spend less than $3,000.00 plus the cost of the computer.
Lastly, I have to say that the IDecco does a lot of things very well, but if you want to true excellence, you would have to spend alot more money. So this is really a very good compromise.
3 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Did you?
