Both devices follow Peachtree's general design lines as determined by their first integrated amp, the Decco. This means that they have a wood finished outer case with strongly curved edges, surrounding a conventional metal chassis with an aluminum front plate. The review samples used rosewood as a finishing material but there are some other possibilities too.
NovaPre includes the bare essentials in terms of user interface, i.e. a five-switch input selector, the volume control, the headphone output jack and the power switch. The front panel includes the company's iconic window, through which the tube glows to add some optical cues to the aural ones. When the user activates the tube buffer, a blue led through the same window informs about this state of the device. The power amplifier face plate is obviously much simpler including just the on/off switch.

Connectivity offered by the preamplifier is typically fair. Included are a series of standard digital inputs (two coaxial and one optical) a USB port, and an analog line level input. Given the all-around character of the NovaPre, a second analog input, probably in a 3.5mm mini jack form, located in the front panel wouldn't be a bad idea. Both the USB port and the two coaxial inputs support streams up to 24bit/192kHz while Tosling retains its formal specification (24/96). As for the outputs, the NovaPre has two pairs which are not driven in parallel but by two different output stages, one with discrete semiconductors (in a class A topology) and one with operational amplifiers. This feature combined with the selectable tube buffer raises the possible number of output configurations to four, adding some experimentation thrill (and probably some endless discussions) during the use of the device. The preamplifier has a remote control that offers input selection, volume adjustment and a switch to activate the tube buffer. The power amplifier features both single ended and balanced inputs (selectable via a small switch on the back panel) and offers a pair of good quality connectors for the speaker cables.

The preamplifier is designed around Texas Instruments' OPA2604 operational amplifiers, uses a 6N1P tube for the buffer stage and a motor-driven potentiometer for the volume setting. The digital part of the circuit is based on an ESS converter chip (ES9023 with Sabre technology) and an XMOS solution to manage the streaming through the USB port. All digital inputs are galvanically isolated to reduce noise entering the device through them.
The power supply uses a toroidal transformer, a total of 8.700uF filter capacity and the typical regulation circuitry.

The 220 power amplifier is based on two ICEpower class D modules, (125ASX2) each of which operates in bridged mode to deliver over 200W into 8 ohm loads. These stages appear to be buffered through NE5532 input stages. Signal routing from the two inputs (the single ended and the balanced) is via solid state switches (the Analog Devices ADG413 chip is in use here). The use of switch-mode power stages has relieved Peachtree from the need to use a heavy heat sink as the modules small cooling surfaces are obviously sufficient in conjunction with a series of openings at the top and bottom of the chassis.

Previous | Next