Most people have not heard of Peachtree Audio. This is typical in the world of high fidelity components, has been for as long as I've been involved in the industry. Companies that manufacturer ground-breaking, quality components generally have a following in the 'hifi' industry and with music gearheads but not with the general public. While brands such as Bose, Pioneer and Sony steal the headlines (deservedly so in some instances) other boutique brands are happy to offer their products to a smaller number of consumers who appreciate fine build quality, craftsmanship and of course, sound quality.
Peachtree Audio is such a company. A small niche company out of Bellevue, Washington, they build fantastic sounding gear for the dollar. Shortly after signing up as a dealer (mainly because I loved their cool sounding and looking amplifiers) I attended an audio show and first heard their Design 5 (D5) loudspeakers powered by their Decco 65 amplifier. Mind you, they were using an Apple TV as their source. Not some high-end CD player or Blu-ray...an Apple TV!
The audio from Apple TV was being fed into the Decco 65 via a fiber optic cable. This allows the user to bypass the horrendous D/A converter found in the Apple TV. The audio went direct into the Decco 65's D/A converter and out to the loudspeakers. The sound was utterly amazing. I heard sounds and definition in the music (they were streaming from an iTunes library on a laptop so nothing special there) was incredible. Don't tell me small speakers don't have bass...if they are designed correctly they do and can.
Streaming music is becoming more and more popular. The other cool thing about the Peachtree amplifier and speakers is that you can use a Sonos 'Connect' to it and stream your itunes music library as well as many other streaming services such as MOG (almost CD quality!), Pandora, Spotify, Songza, etc.
So $999 for a Decco 65, $999 for a pair of beautifully built Design 5 loudspeakers and $398 for a Sonos Connect and Bridge (call me if you have questions about the Bridge and why or why not it may be needed) and you have an outstanding sounding system that looks great, sounds awesome and streams just about anything you would want to listen to. Add an Apple TV for $99 and you can even stream Vimeo, Youtube, Netflix, Hulu Plus...
Do yourself a favor. Buy a system for yourself. Or a friend. Or a relative. Treat yourself. This gear is magical.
Best-
Doug at hear.more.music.