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No second acts in American lives? That might have been true in the dowdy old 20th Century. But today, thanks to Yankee ingenuity and the plasticity of the English language, we have something called the reboot, which has made possible a great many interesting things—not the least of which being the reintroduction and reimagining of Peachtree Audio.

Ten years ago, Atlanta, Georgia-based Peachtree hit the scene with a small selection of distinctly affordable DACs and integrated amps, their existence motivated by the then-nascent computer-audio market. Peachtree did well, and sold a considerable number of Nova amps and Decco DACs and suchlike—but after the initial cheers faded, co-founder David Solomon left the company for two years ("Went on vacation" is how partner Jim Spainhour now puts it, with a smile). Solomon's recent return to the company (as you can see in the photo above, he held on to the first-ever Peachtree Audio shirt) and the addition of new CEO Andrew Clark—formerly of Harman International—herald three major changes:

• The hiring of a new engineering team.

• A different approach to manufacturing, including the assembly of electronics in Canada as opposed to China.

• A new approach to retailing, in which bricks-and-mortar stores are given the nod over internet sales for some new products.

Appropriately enough, the reboot—unofficially referred to as Peachtree 2.0—was announced at a bricks-and-mortar store: Stereo Exchange, at 627 Broadway in New York's East Village. While there, members of the press—including Kal Rubinson, John Atkinson, and myself (above) for Stereophile, plus Michael Lavorgna for AudioStream.com—were invited to audition Peachtree's first post-reboot product, the nova150 ($1499-1599, depending on casework finish). This 150Wpc class-A/B integrated amplifier includes a USB DAC (powered by an ESS chipset), a phono preamplifier, and a home-theater bypass.

Like a hi-fi show in miniature, the reboot was a better opportunity for catching up with members of the Peachtree team—Jim Spainhour and Andrew Clark were also on hand—and with our Stereo Exchange hosts than for doing any serious listening. But David Solomon has promised us a sample of the nova150, so a review will surely appear in the current volume of Stereophile.