I currently use an old Peachtree Decco amp with built in DAC. I would like to upgrade to PS Audio gear but am not sure if the Sprout would be much of an upgrade. I would love to hear this board’s opinion. I have trouble justifying the cost of the Strata integrated and am wondering if there is anything in between that I am unaware of? Are there any plans within PS Audio to fill that gap? All my best, Andy

Jedi offered a couple great options. Didn’t realize used S300 are under $1k, so definitely consider if you can stretch the $$ to $900. As for what I would do, maybe get the Omega 7s in and live with them and your current system for a few weeks. Get to know what you like about it. Research and read about what others with Omega 7s are using. You have a good group here to keep asking questions and getting ideas. It’s a fun group.

Thank you Yes, I immediately felt welcome here and want to be part of it by owning PS audio gear Is it possible to set an alert on the PS for sale board for the s300?

You could add a WTB thread in the ‘for sale’ section. Also, it’s worth giving the PS Audio team a call as well to speak about their recommendations. I know they have trade in options on new S300 amps and it’s worth the call just to get all routes considered.

@wavendon As a general rule of thumb, you can get PS Audio gear for 30% off retail without too much strain thanks to the trade in program. I own the S300, and it is a very nice amp. Dual mono design, class A/D hybrid. But if I didn’t already own the S300, and if I was in a similar gear phase as you, I would absolutely give the Schiit Aegir a try. It costs $799 for one, but can be run as mono-blocks as your system grows - which means for about the retail price of a S300 you can get Aegir mono-blocks. The Aegir is rated Class “A” by Stereophile, which means they place it in the same class, FWIW, as the top of the line PS Audio amps. Tonight I watched a glowing YouTube review of it by Ron on the New Record Day channel (https://youtu.be/aVP5cPaXfR4). Steve Guttenberg also raves about it. One never knows what sort of sound will mesh best with a given consumer and their gear, but with a 15 day return policy, I’d be very tempted to start with the Schiit Aegir because of the great value. The PeachTree, I assume, could be the preamp/ DAC. My next move is a Schiit Freya+ tubed preamp, but when the amp bug strikes one day, I’ll give the Aegir’s an audition. Not sure if I’ll like their sound, but class A amps at that price are really hard to find. Nelson Pass is the Class A king, and those cost serious money. The Aegir is Schiit’s unique version of Class A.

Agree that Aegir (or two) is incredible value. Just be cognizant it is low power (20 wpc) so you need efficient and easy to drive speakers to get good results. Indeed, even class A/B amps at this price are rare these days, but Aegir is fricken class A! That is amazing. By contrast, PSA is class D up thru it’s $6k m1200 amps, which is fine (I’m not a class D basher, in fact my reference system amp is class D). Different approach being taken by Schiit with Vidar and Aegir and are getting rave reviews

I agree, the Aegir would require efficient speakers. In the YouTube review I linked, Ron tries them with quite a few speakers. Guttenberg ran the Aegir monos with Maggie 0.7’s, which are power hungry speakers. Obviously the best is mono-blocks. But the OP is using a fairly low wattage PeachTree Decco, so depending on his speakers, the Aegir could be a better route than the S300, and I’m a fan of the S300. But with the Aegir, could start with one for now, and add a second later, can’t do that with the S300… I haven’t heard an Aegir, but just from the reviews and a spec comparisons, it kicks the Schiit out of PS Audio’s value equation.

Keep in mind Aegirs can only be run in mono on 8 Ohm loads - not 4 Ohm. And you could use two S300s as monoblocks if you have speakers that can be bi-wired.

It would be worth clarifying the 4 ohm question with Schiit. New Record Day did run monos into 4 ohm speakers and said it worked fine. And I misspoke before, Guttenberg ran the Aegir with the power hungry LS50’s, not the Maggie .7’s…

Guttenberg said regarding the Kef LS50s (relatively difficult load) that at low and normal volumes the Aegir sounded better than Vidar, but at high volumes Vidar was better. I think running monos in both cases but don’t quote me on that

Not much clarification needed. The amps are rated at 8 and 4 ohms stereo. That’s the same as 16 and 8 ohms mono. Any load under that and the amp is not guaranteed to not shut down.

A big gap in lineup?

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A big gap in lineup?

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