What is Carina?
Carina is Peachtree Audio's new flagship integrated amplifier. It combines several of the sound quality enhancements introduced in the nova500 with the power and price point of the nova300. It is Peachtree Audio's first product with the critically acclaimed Hypex N-Core amplifier technology built-in. Carina also brings several new features to a Peachtree amplifier for the first time.
Why we made Carina
Very simply, to establish a new benchmark for integrated amplifiers at their price. Our ongoing testing of available technologies identified a combination of DAC, preamplifier and power amplifier technologies that worked extremely well together to create an exceptional listening experience at a reasonable price. Carina is an easy-to-use, highly transparent integrated amplifier that drives a wide range of speakers (and headphones!) with ease, and accepts up to 6 digital inputs including Bluetooth.
Carina highlights
Digital
- Two ESS 9068 DAC chips, dual mono (one for the left channel, one for the right channel)
- Accepts HD audio input up to 768k PCM and 512k DSD
- Selectable digital filter settings including oversampling on/off
- Full MQA decoding on ALL inputs
- I2S input
Preamplifier
- Fully balanced analog circuitry from the DACs to the power and headphone amplifiers
- High-performance, hybrid volume control (combination analog resistor ladder/digital attenuation)
- User-selectable all-digital volume control option
- Bluetooth 5.0 input with HD audio decoding
Amplifiers
- 300 watts-per-channel Hypex NCore power amplifier driving the speaker outputs
- Fully-balanced headphone amplifier with a 4.4mm T/R/R/S output (1/4" unbalanced output also provided)
Other
- Timeless Peachtree Audio industrial design crafted out of aluminium, wrapped in real wood, and finished in gloss ebony mocha or piano black
- High-quality OLED front panel display with an intuitive dual knob user interface
- Trigger input for power on/off control from another device
- Hand-held remote control with integrated commands for Bluesound devices (NODE, VAULT, etc.)
How does Carina sound?
It is our best-sounding integrated amplifier to date, period. Even better than the highly regarded nova500, the Grand Integrated and the classic nova and decco amplifiers that have come before. To celebrate this achievement we have broken with tradition and given it a unique name: Carina. Carina is a name in the Italian language that roughly translates to “pretty" and is derived from the Latin word Carus which means “beloved." We are confident that Carina looks and performs better than anything else in its price range - and many products that cost significantly more - and that Carina will earn a place in your heart and mind, too!
