Why do you think Accuphase is superior to other brands?

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by imprezap2

Bryston gear is not bad equipment, you will have to see if you can demo the Accuphase stuff in your own system.

Upgrading will stay a problem, many A65's for sale now because many owners want to have the A70, not easy to stay out of that "trap"
I have upgraded my Class A integrated everytime a new one got out, but by trading the old one in the expenses were not that bad.

Yeah...however, I am going to CES to listen in the Accuphase room, but that's not the same...

Oh, I see. Thanks for bringing that up, I overlooked that...

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by John49

Buy Bryston.

I already have it.

[hifidelitea]

Originally Posted by hifidelitea

Without a doubt, build quality, use of latest technology and exotic materials in building the components.
In hindsight, it was foolish of me to have sold my Accuphase DP-80L CD player & DC-81L digital processor to replace it with the Audiomeca Transport and DAC.

The Audiomeca Mephisto transport broke, Pierre shut down his shop, and there were no parts available to repair it.

Lesson learned, you get what you paid for. Quality of sound is important, but the quality of the product and after sales (for Accuphase, their after sales department maybe losing money) is equally vital if one needs to consider audio gear as long term investments or if one is not keen on forever upgrading...like me.

Having said that, Pierre makes some knockout TT's... but I digress.

On the subject of build quality.
I now remember that my first audio system included the Accuphase C222 and P266 pre and power. It never failed to perform and at no time it was at a workshop. Bear in mind that these units, together with the Accuphase CD and DAC, was hauled around the globe various times back when I was posted in different cities, and it never suffered any damages (some others did, ie rust or failed to read disc or smoke when power on).
They do make nice sounding products too.

[meltemi]

"Why do you think Accuphase is superior to other brands?"

My ears tell me so.

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by meltemi

"Why do you think Accuphase is superior to other brands?"

My ears tell me so.

I see. Very well then.

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by hifidelitea

On the subject of build quality.
I now remember that my first audio system included the Accuphase C222 and P266 pre and power. It never failed to perform and at no time it was at a workshop. Bear in mind that these units, together with the Accuphase CD and DAC, was hauled around the globe various times back when I was posted in different cities, and it never suffered any damages (some others did, ie rust or failed to read disc or smoke when power on).
They do make nice sounding products too.

Sounds good.

[One and a Half]

Agree with hifidelitea about the reliability, my old E-205 Integrated amp is still going, and never been to the workshop. It might need the large caps by now 26 years later, and smaller electrolytics to keep it going for another 26 years. No rust spots, although the RCA jacks could use some polish on them. Metal finish is still good.

The difficult choice with Accuphase is do you wait for the next model to buy, or buy now, since the purchase is going to be around a long time to come, plan at least 15-20 years ahead.

Then again, Accuphase sounds awesome to begin with.

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by One and a Half

Agree with hifidelitea about the reliability, my old E-205 Integrated amp is still going, and never been to the workshop. It might need the large caps by now 26 years later, and smaller electrolytics to keep it going for another 26 years. No rust spots, although the RCA jacks could use some polish on them. Metal finish is still good.

The difficult choice with Accuphase is do you wait for the next model to buy, or buy now, since the purchase is going to be around a long time to come, plan at least 15-20 years ahead.

Then again, Accuphase sounds awesome to begin with.

Ok, that's what I was thinking too. You see, this is gonna be a major purchase for me, I'm not a millionaire, and I'm just making sure I'm making the right move here, you know?

[One and a Half]

Originally Posted by Dave_72

Ok, that's what I was thinking too. You see, this is gonna be a major purchase for me, I'm not a millionaire, and I'm just making sure I'm making the right move here, you know?

Hi Dave, I'm not a millionaire either, welcome to the club!!

The "next model" from Accuphase as far as amplifiers are concerned is usually an improvement of the guaranteed figures, the S/N is usually lower by a few decimals of %. Sometimes, their supplier runs out of a semiconductor, so they can't continue with that model. Classic case is the E-450 integrated, which used bipolar transistors, the supply dried up and the next model, E-460 used MOSFETs.

Amps are graded so that the a level of progression is always maintained. For example the entry level pre-amps have one pre output. The next models up have dual pre-outs as standard. Phono preamps are usually an option built in. Sound quality changes as well, so does the price!

Models tend to run 2- 3 years between model changes, the big surprise in 2014 was dropping the E-600 SACD, leaving two SACD players with a large price difference between the two.

If find little buyer's remorse when it comes to Accuphase, since they sound great for years, amplifiers anyway. The biggest decision is to allow enough power for inefficient speakers that you will buy along the way, or provide enough inputs and outputs for devices that aren't on the market yet or allow you to add a power or a pre amp if you've bought an integrated amp for example.
The integrateds offer a selection of optional modules, like DACs or phono inputs which are great to get you going with a minimum of fuss and you don't need to upgrade the whole amp in case the DAC changes. BTW I would like to see a DAC50(?) with DSD input to DSD128, and a few more DAC chips as found in the DP-600 end stages.

I've heard from other people when they sold their Accuphase and bought another brand, it was their deepest regret.

[AudioNut]

Originally Posted by Elberoth

Build quality is the best in the biz.

I've heard it said, more than once that "Accuphase is Japan's McIntosh" . . . or is it "McIntosh is America's Accuphase"?

Doesn't really matter, build quality is phenomenal.

(And the sound is phenomenal too !!!!)