Build quality, detail retrieval, air, depth, soundstage, and neutrality.

None yet.

I purchased this preamp on ebay from Juicymusic as a refurbished item. The Peach was very well packaged and certainly looked brand new. It is solidly built and it's appearance has a not-so-serious kind of retro look to it. One peek under the hood, however, and it's all kidding aside. The designer, Mark Deneen, pulled out all the stops. Very high quality parts, and a power supply that shames preamps at several times it's price ($1495 new). There are 3 tubes used in the gain stage and are of the 6922 variety. Okay, put the hood back on and let's do some listening. Having owned a couple tubed pre's in recent years, my expectations were high. I own solid state amplifiers for the ultimate control that my speakers require and I leave them on 24/7. That could be a problem for some tubed preamps, but not for the Peach. Mark include a standby mode as well as a soft start. The soft start is timed for approximately 45 seconds and allows the tubes to fully charge before it comes on. This eliminates any thump that can occur with tubed preamps that don't offer this feature. And the sound? There are 2 listening modes, Hi and Lo, and 1 bypass mode. The Hi mode is for amps with a high input impedance and uses only 1 tube in it's gain stage. The Lo mode is for, you guessed it, amps with a low input impedance. This mode includes the other 2 tubes for the gain. There is a noticable difference when switching between the 2 modes. Are we ever going to hear this thing?? Okay, so I get a few cd's that I use as reference and start playing. First impressions go a long way with me so any critical listening will be done after letting the Peach warm up for about an hour. My findings were this... The Peach has detail. On Artie Traum's 'Letters from Joubee' there are loads of inner detail, all of which the Peach retrieved and some I hadn't heard before. How could I have missed that? I've listened to this cd many times before. The Peach has air. Listening to Norman Brown's 'Acoustic time', well let me tell you, this tune just floats deeper and wider than anything I've heard, simply magical. The Peach has slam. Putting on Stanley Clarke's 'Deja's Theme' has got to be one of best tunes to flesh out the bottom end. I wasn't just smiling, I was laughing. Holy sh@#! Play that again! The Peach conveys emotion. This is really a system synergy thing..and the Peach fits right in. Whether listening to Paula Cole sing the hauntingly beautiful 'What'll I do' for Chris Botti, or the romantic ballad 'Time could pass' so beautifully sung by Jonathan Butler. The tonal quality and expression that comes through is truly emotional. No small feat indeed. The Peach, putting it all together. Jesse Cook's 'Vertigo' is a challenge for any system but once again, the Peach rose to the occasion. Retrieving layers of detail, bottom end slam and a 3d soundstage that's almost creepy, I was convinced that audio nirvana is obtainable. Of course, this is only a small sampling of subjective listening but you'll get the picture. Really. For those who may read this review and haven't tried a tubed preamp, I emphatically recommend trying out ANY tubed preamp. For those of you who has one already and are ready to upgrade regardless of price, then you owe it to yourself to a preamp from Juicymusic. By the way, Mark Deneen is the designer, builder and owner of Juicymusic products. That's right, pretty much a one man show. He's also easy to contact and great to deal with. Thanks for a giant killer of a preamp.

Classic good looks, fast, liquid, articulate sound. A winner in bang for the buck considerations.

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This is one killer tube preamp. It is similar in form and uses the same case as the BlueBerry. The Peach, however does not offer phono stage as the Blueberry does. The linestage offered is actually like having two preamps in one. One linestage mode is the essentially the same circuit as the Blueberry (which sounds fabulous) only the Peach has a significantly larger power supply which enhances the bass, which to my ears is already top shelf in the Blueberry. It also offers a super LowZ mode cathode follower which would accomodate power amp cable runs as long as 50 feet. Though, I don't use the Super LowZ for it's intended function, it is interesting to switch back and forth between the modes to hear the difference in sound. My preference is the BB mode. Before the Peach, I had driven my Klipschorn and 2A3 SET system (Wright WPA 3.5 monoblocks) with the Sunfire Classic Tube preamp with great satisfaction. In fact, I was sure that the Sunfire would be the last preamp I ever purchased. I have had some weeks of listening to the linestage in the Peach and the Blueberry and have heard elements of music in my system I hadn't heard before using the Sunfire. Impressive indeed. Actually hadn't heard the depth, timbre and complexity of strings before. The Peach brings out the most minute of details in a recording and handles complex musical passages without congestion or breaking a sweat. One of the reasons I had been attracted to the Sunfire as opposed to other high end preamplifiers was the Sunfire's controls to adjust bass and treble. The idea of a preamp without that flexibility was a concern. These days serious preamps don't seem to offer that feature. Not being a true audiophile, I didn't like the thought of bearing with a musical program that just needed some bass boost in order to sound right at low (conversational) volume levels... and then not having it. Well, the BlueBerry and Peach sounded so good, with bass extension sounding full and true, I have gotten over that sense of fear of being bass deprived. Now, I really do have the last preamp I ever intend to own.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire Classic Tube Preamp Control Center

Quickness, dynamics musicality

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This is one fine preamp. In my system in the past I have used a number of very fine preamps costing over twice as much as this unit and none could compare with the sound of this preamp. The clarity and depth of the music is unmatched in my experience. The bass rivals the best ss units, the midrange is liquid and the high end quick and accurate, You cannot go wrong with this unit!

Similar Products Used:

Cary SLP 88 Mcintosh C22, Mcintosh MX110