Peachtree Audio Deepblue3

PEACHTREE AUDIO

Deepblue3 Bluetooth Music System Review

PRICE


$299 

THE HIGH NOTES


  • Real Bass
  • Astounding Bluetooth Range
  • Great Connectivity

Company & Product Overview

The Peachtree Audio team and the Audio Advice team are old friends. We’ve been running in many of the same industry circles for decades. In fact, we were one of the first dealers in the US to carry their products, including their first product -- the original Decco integrated amplifier.

In July 2013, Peachtree ventured into a new category with the release of the original Deepblue, an all-in-one speaker system with Bluetooth technology. Critics raved about its sound quality, particularly its ability to reproduce deep bass, especially for the size of the cabinet.

In fact, there was so much demand for the original Deepblue that Peachtree couldn’t keep up with the production. Rather than simply making more of the original, Peachtree opted to improve upon the design and soon released the Deepblue2, which is many reviewers favorite Bluetooth speaker under $1,000.

Today we will be reviewing the brand new Deepblue3. We were lucky enough to get one of the very first production pieces, prior to release.

Like it’s predecessor, the Deepblue3 is an all-in-one Bluetooth speaker that also includes an analog and digital input, and like the name implies, you’ll be stunned by the amazingly deep bass that you get considering its low price and relatively small form factor.

Design and Build Quality

If you’ve seen the first two iterations of the Deepblue, the first thing you’ll notice about the new version is the updated look. While the previous version was all black, the Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 has a gray body with a black mesh metal grill. Some gray accents on the front give it an interesting look and include the Peachtree Audio logo and Deepblue3 name badge on the front.

The top of the Deepblue3 features five capacitive buttons to turn it on and off, control volume, and to select Bluetooth and other inputs. Five small blue indicators LEDs line the top of the front grill, providing information such as volume level.

In the box, you’ll find all of the connections that you need, including an optical cable, RCA to mini cord, a standard 3.5mm to 3.5mm AUX cable, a power cord, and a small handheld remote. We really like the remote. It’s similar to the size and form factor of an AppleTV remote. You can turn the speaker on and off, adjust volume, adjust the bass levels, and even switch to the auxiliary input, optical input, or Bluetooth right from the remote. The rear of the unit has a recessed handle which makes it easy to pick up your Deepblue3 and move it from location to location.

As we’ve come to expect over the years from Peachtree products, the build quality, as well as the fit and finish on the Deepblue3 are top notch.

Peachtree Deepblue3 lifestyle shot

Features & Technology

While the recessed handle makes the Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 much easier to carry, lifting it will make it immediately clear that this is one serious all-in-one speaker system. The unit weighs in at over 16lbs!

The Deepblue3 is known for its deep bass, and good bass typically requires two things -- a good sized bass driver and a decent-sized cabinet. The Deepblue3 has both, with a 6 ½” bass driver in a well-braced, acoustically sealed cabinet measuring 14” wide, 9” high, and nearly 6 ½” deep.

Most speakers like this use a ported cabinet to give you that fake bass umph at around 80-100hz, while the sealed cabinet of the Deepblue3 gives you bass that is not only deep but tonally natural.

This woofer is far larger than what you find in most all-in-one systems and includes a massive magnet, which contributes to a lot of the weight of the speaker. It’s capable of a very long throw, enabling it to move a lot of air.

While the woofer is impressive, it’s not the only driver in the unit. The Deepblue3 also includes two, 3” midrange drivers -- bigger than some of the woofers we’re used to seeing in competitors all-in-one speakers. This allows the critical midrange frequencies, which include the human voice and most instruments, to sound pure and natural.

Finally, the Deepblue3 uses two 1” soft dome tweeters for the highs.

 

Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 with the front grill removed

Peachtree has done a lot of work and research developing their amplifiers, including their newest Nova150Nova300, and Decco125 SKY. They incorporated many of the learnings from the development of these products into the Deepblue3. The total amp power is 440 watts, but each driver has its own amplifier.

The woofer fires straight out of the front of the cabinet while the midrange and tweeters are positioned on the angled front of the cabinet wall. This design enables the Deepblue3 to fill the room with 5 speakers from one simple form factor. This design also gives the unit it’s unique, angled look.

To get the best bass in any situation, Peachtree provides a few interesting features. First, you have Smart Volume, which adds some bottom-end fullness when you are listening at low volume levels. On the other extreme, if you really crank up your Deepblue3, the bass rolls off at high volume levels, allowing the speaker to play loudly for hours without strain or distress.

As we mentioned earlier, you can also adjust the bass settings right on the remote. Peachtree understands that where you position your speaker in relation to room boundaries (walls, floor, ceiling, etc.) has a huge impact on the way the bass sounds.

For example, if you put it on the floor in a corner, the speaker is very close to three room boundaries -- the floor and two side walls. This will greatly increase the perceived bass, but in many cases, it may sound a bit boomy.

At the other end of the spectrum, let's say you put the Deepblue3 on a kitchen island, in the middle of the room. This will lead to far less perceived bass. In this case, using the five bass level settings, you will be able to quickly find the one that gives you the best sound for that position. If you move it to another room, toggling through the options makes it easy to switch the bass equalization for each location!

So now that we’ve covered the “deep” in Deepblue3, let’s talk about the “blue!”

The Bluetooth receiver on the Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 is capable of extended-range. We set it up in about 10 seconds, in our studio. We were able to walk out of the room, down the hall, and into another room with no dropouts. We could even still control the volume from the other room! It will also remember up to five devices, making it simple to switch from your phone to tablet, to computer without any fuss.

Performance

We tested the Deepblue3 in our studio space after we did our Facebook Live unboxing and it immediately drew a crowd. What we really like about it, not surprisingly, is how it presents bass. Are you seeing a pattern yet?

When you test audio gear regularly and use many of the same tracks, it makes things much easier. You get to know the nuances of the songs and can more easily compare different equipment. For the Deepblue3, we listened to “Call Me” by Hans Theessink, “Pink Houses” by John Cougar, and “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell.

All of these tracks have sections where a really good speaker can show you a lot of bass tonality. From the tuba on “Call Me” to the bass drum on “Pink Houses,” if a speaker can produce clean bass, you can really hear it on these cuts. On the opposite end, a speaker with boomy bass would sound muddy and mushy. The Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 was very impressive for its price in this area. Of course, as with all of our reviews, this is relative. The bass doesn’t sound like a B&W 802, but it has fantastic, deep bass definition for an all-in-one speaker that costs $400.

Voices and instruments are very well separated, which makes it really fun to listen to. We pushed it to max volume on a few dynamic rock tracks and could tell it was straining, so we backed off a bit. It gets pretty loud, but if you hear it straining, just pull back a little and it will still put out a lot of sound while still maintaining great quality.

Overall Recommendation

The Peachtree Audio Deepblue3 is perfect for anyone who wants an all-in-one system that sounds great but can easily be moved from room to room. It is designed to fill up a typical room, at a modest price, without taking up a ton of space. It has the connectivity so you could even add your TV or a turntable, assuming you have a phono stage or a turntable with one built-in.

Whether the Deepblue3 is going to be your first major upgrade from the world of $50 Bluetooth speakers, or it may be a secondary system for an office, kitchen or back porch -- you won’t be disappointed.

This is an extremely popular category with more options than we can count right now, but if you’re thinking of anything even close to this price, you should give the Deepblue3 a listen.

HIGH NOTES UNPACKED

Real Bass

We have yet to hear an all in one speaker under $1,000 with bass this good. The 6 ½” woofer has a huge magnet and a large amp, giving it bass performance you would expect from larger separate speakers.

Astounding Bluetooth Range

We were able to walk out of the room, down the hall, into another room and the signal stayed strong. You should be able to walk all the way around a 1,000-1,500 square foot space and not lose signal in most situations.

Great Connectivity

Bluetooth, an analog input, and a Toslink digital allow you to get all kinds of audio sources into the Deepblue3. Imagine sound from your phone, turntable, and TV all in one box!

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