Hi all!! I'm new at this forum and relatively new to HiFi . I just pulled the trigger on an A8 and I'm planning to use it as a streamer/DAC/preamp. I have a Peachtree Nova 150 integrated amp and I was wondering if you, experienced guys, would have any suggestion or tips on doing this. My major concern has to do with the volume levels and if there's any risk with the speakers given the volume will be controlled by the A8. Thanks in advance!
Probably best to either set the Peachtree to max output ( completely unattenuated) and use the A-8 to control volume , or set the A-8 to max and use the volume attenuation on the Peachtree which is mores convenient/sounds best. Keith
Ty for the reply Keith. I've never done this before, is there any advice you can provide on how to do it?
The A8, AFAIK, doesn' t have a 'volume bypass' option, but turning its knob up to zero dB is the same thing. From now on your Peachtree will get all the output from the A8, and just do attenuation with its volume stasge. No other magic involved.
You don't have to set the A8's volume control to zero dB. You can use the new "Volume passthrough" function on A8. This function will set the volume level on your A8 to the maximum level and you will not be able to change it on A8. In that case you have to set the volume level on your integrated amplifier to a lower setting and adjust it there.
Finally I connected the A8 from the RCA outputs to the Nova inputs and engaged the volume passthrough in the Nova so I can manage the volume from the A8. Everything worked well. But something happened that never occurred to me before. I turned off the A8 first (Nova still on) and a blast sound came out from the speakers. Can anyone explain this to me? Speakers are working fine although. Did it again but turning off the Nova first. No problem there.
In your current configuration you should always turn off your Nova (the device connected to your speakers) first and you should always turn on your Nova as the last device.
Ty all for your advice. Not really for this thread but maybe someone can have an opinion on this. I have the A8 and a RME Adi-2 (this was a "gift" I got) and I really can't tell a real difference between the A8 DAC and the RME (just 2 days testing). But I think I might not getting all of the potential of the RME, and to be honest I don't have all the time that I would like to try to squeeze all that potential. Has anyone have experience between this 2 DACs? And how they might compare with each other?
I wouldn’t expect there to be any difference in sound quality, the RME has some interesting features as does the A-8. Keith
Hi again! My friend lend me a Hegel H190 but he uses it standalone all in one. I'm wondering, if I want to use the Eversolo just as a streamer, no internal DAC nor preamp, which would be the best way to connect it?
I did a similar setup. A8 - Billie Amp pre out - Mini GaN 5 - BMR speakers. I almost blew the speakers. I’m surprised that they weren’t damaged. Now using A8 as a preamp. At the advice of a local shop, changed my RCA interconnects to Clarus Aqua (not cheap!) XLR’s. Simpler setup and sounds much better. The Clarus XLR setup was actually less expensive than trying to get a tube preamp or buffer into the mix.
There's no best way, but since you only want it to be a streamer, you might want to have it output to one of its digital outs (S/PDIF, either optical TOSLINK or coax / USB - better option), depending on what digital input you'll be using on your external DAC. Also, set the volume passthrough, so that the A8 will always output at 0dB and you can control the volume downwards in your audio chain (on the DAC or in the subsequent pre-amp)
