Comments on: High Resolution Digital Music.

By: Brad

Brad — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 10:20:46 +0000

I have an older (gifted) yamaha av receiver (KR V8540) hooked up to a pair of Bose 301 speakers, and was thinking about getting an olive 03HD to use as CD player but primarily to stream digital music from my Mac.

After reading about the peachtree nova (and noting the cost), i’m not sure whether I wouldn’t just be better off getting that as a dedicated hi-fi amp. My whole CD collection is already on my Mac.

Can you make any comment/suggestion that would assist in the decision?

By: Len

Len — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 07:22:04 +0000

Hi Lee,
Yes, the Musical Fidelity (I am assuming that we are talking about the M1 here) will do the job nicely provided you connect via SPDIF.
The inputs on the M1 are:
1 XLR AES balanced digital input
1 RCA coaxial connector SPDIF 32-192 kbps (16-24 bit stereo PCM)
1 TOSLINK optical connector 32-96 kbps (16-24 bit stereo PCM)
1 USB type ‘B’ connector for computer/PDA 32-48 kbps.

By: Lee Emery

Lee Emery — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:29:21 +0000

I am very curious on the HRx recordings. As they are 176.4khz 24bit, I noticed the Musical Fideelity support 192khz x 24bit, would this do a good job with these files?

By: Len

Len — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:50:08 +0000

Hi Peter,
Coincidently I have just put an article up on our blog regarding this unit. They have arrived, and we now have one on display. The price is $1,499.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 11:56:17 +0000

Hi Len

Have the iDecco’s arrived yet? Do you have an australian price for them?

By: Len

Len — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 06:19:39 +0000

Hi Peter,

We will be carrying the iDecco. They have been ordered, and are due to arrive in Australia with the next four weeks. At this stage there has not been a price released, but I understand that it will sell for less than the Nova.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:54:56 +0000

Hi Len, Will LWA will be stocking the Peachtree iDecco which seems to be like a combination of the Wadia ipod dock approach (ie bypass the ipod DAC) combined with an amplifier/DAC similar to that in the Nova? If so, what will be the approx $Aus price and the arrival date?

By: Len

Len — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:47:12 +0000

Hi Angus,

While I understand that the Sitara’s are still outside of the budget I should mention that I got the price wrong – they are $4,600 in standard finish and $5,390 for the high gloss finishes.

One of the strong points of the Design 5 is their surprising bass response. While they will not compete with a large floorstander they equip themselves remarkably well. I would be surprised if you were not satisfied in a room of your dimensions.

Your point regarding floor-stands is well founded. The quality of stands has a significant impact, and should not be treated lightly.

By: Angus

Angus — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:43:41 +0000

Len, thank you very much for your suggestions. I’ll definitely be out auditioning early in the new year. I’m afraid the Sitara’s are out of my price range. I’m hoping to keep my speaker purchase under $2000 (unless there’s a really compelling case to stretch that a little).

The D5′s have had great reviews so I’ll definitely listen to them but I’ve wondered if they’d have enough bass for our living room. I was looking at the Era D10′s too even though I haven’t seen any reviews nor anyone selling them in Australia. I even emailed the importer asking about them but their reply stated they’d be too expensive to import (by which I assume they mean there wouldn’t be sufficient demand/volume to keep freight costs down since I wouldn’t call $US1700/pr speakers expensive).

The Focal Chorus 807V’s sound interesting too (and with very good reviews) though with bookshelf speakers I’ll also need to factor in the significant cost of stands.

By: Len

Len — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:34:54 +0000

There are a couple of good options. An obvious one is the Era Design 5, a smallish bookshelf speaker which has to be one of the most musical small bookshelf speakers on the market. There is no surprise in the fact that these two products work so well together – they both come out of the design studio in the US. This is a speaker, while a little inefficient, that works wonderfully with this amp, and a natural for classical, jazz and pop. We don’t have them on our website as yet, but information is available at http://signalpathint.com/index.php/Design-5-Series/. The Design 5 sells for $1,399 a pair – tremendous value.

For a little more – $1,999 – you can purchase the Focal Chorus 807V. These are also a bookshelf design, a little more open in character, and slightly ‘larger’ in presence.

Finally, I have just listened to the new Audio Physic Sitara. I have included these only because if you are looking to go all out, this would be a great speaker to do it with. Selling at $6,000 a pair these floorstanding speakers are as much as you could seriously spend on a speaker to match with the Peachtree – but the amplifier will easily drive them. The Sitara’s produce a beautifully balanced sound, with excellent bass which keeps time with the rest of the drivers, and a superb soundstage. I am a long time fan of Audio Physic, and once again they have delivered the goods.