Decco from Preachtree audio

Djembeplay,

I am not sure if this is moot at this point, but I have listened to all of the amps you mention above, and unless you are in the used market, I don't think you are going to find a quality integrated amp/DAC combo that matches the Decco features at the same price point.

Of the amps you mentioned, the Creek and Jolida probably proivde the extremes in price and style of presentation, with the classic Creek being the most expensive and more precise and detailed, and the 50W Jolida Model JD 1701A the least expensive and a little more bloomy - (its a tube hybrid closest to the Decco pre/amps sections in design). The NAD's sound will bend towards the Jolida side of neutral, and the Rotel will do a pretty good imitation of the Creek. The Rega should fall somewhere in between. In terms of power, the NAD and Creek will pack the biggest punch, and be the least affected by the sensitivity of the speakers.

These are all adequate performers. I thought I would love the Creek from reviews in Stereophile and elsewhere, but I was underwhelmed for the price. Maybe the Dynaudio speakers used in the demo were a bad match. My tastes tend to lean towards tubes (pun intended), so I like the Jolida and NAD best out of this group at the price points.

With that said, a Paradisea or equivalent DAC cost $500, so with any of these integrated amps plus interconnect cables, you are starting at $1100 and shooting up from there. Makes the Decco look like a bargain at $799, and all in one box!

I heard the Decco at a local showroom in a set up with a hard drive server and Sonos Faber Concertino Domus and Vienna Accoustic Beetoven baby Grand speakers. The Decco was not embarrassed in this company at all. The system sounded well rounded with good space and resolution. I cranked it up to a level that would represent comfortable and enjoyably loud home listening and it SOUNDED GOOD. Not surprisingly, it wasn't very comfortable with rock concert volumes, becoming compressed and ragged when pushed beyond just loud. But overall, I came away very impressed. And at 800 bucks, are you kidding me?

Agree with all above, buy a Decco now with some decent and reasonably efficient speakers, cables and an iPod or computer and you are in business for well under two grand. Add a nice mid to high range tube power amp(s) later and you have a great upgrade path. Product of the year?

Question for those using the Decco: have you had luck with power cord upgrades, and if so did you opt for a digital or amplifier power cord?

Sugith,

That is really too bad. I happened to be in an audition room this week with a Decco using a modest Panasonic BluRay player as the source and connected to Vienna Acoustic Beethoven Baby grand speakers, and again (once set up properly) I was knocked out by the Decco's capability. I am very interested in this unit and am wondering if your bad experiences with quality are unique or common?

Interestingly, the system I auditioned was set up with analog out of the BDP and the bass eq. button engaged on the back of the Decco. The result was a somewhat duller and muddier sound than I had recalled the first few times I had heard the unit. I had the salesman connect the digital out on the BDP to the Decco via a simple coaxial connection and the sound quality improvement was profound. Turning off the bass eq. cleaned the sound up considerably more, and the system sounded even better than I remembered. Jennifer Warnes' version of the "Ballad of a Runaway Horse" sparkled coming out of this system with space and nuance galore.

My conclusion is that the DAC in the Decco is very good and well integrated with the preamp and amplifier sections. I was frankly surprised that the $800 hybrid amp could drive the $2000 speakers to high sound levels without having the sound fall apart or become noticeably compressed in the large listening space. Add a computer or an iPod and some good speakers and for a small to medium listening space you are in business.

One final comment. The dealer who was selling the Decco clearly thinks they have a winner on their hands, displaying it in a prominent place in their shop and pairing it with some very well made and nice sounding speakers. Why they would tie its acoustic hands behind it back with two analogue cables from a cheap source is beyond me? The change from analogue-in to digital-in on the Decco was like going from low fi to hi fi - go figure...