Accuphase E-600

[4N6]

Greg,

It has been about a month now with the new amp. What are your thoughts?

[GreginNH1]

Originally Posted by 4N6

Greg,

It has been about a month now with the new amp. What are your thoughts?

Hi Kevin,

I have about 100 hours of listening time logged in with the E-600. The sonic characteristics are exactly what I was looking for. The biggest surprise was the bass slam from this amp.

By way of reference, the transitional amps leading up to the E-600 were as follows: Luxman L-590AX, Accuphase E-470, Gato Amp 150 and Esoteric F-05. All very nice integrated amps. Each one left me with wanting a bit more in terms of accuracy, sonic purity and slight warmth or features.

Of all the E-600 predecessors, the Gato sounded much better than the others but did not have the "single box" solution for headphone and phono stages.

Others have stated that the E-600 puts out a lot of heat - I have found that it is not bad at all and actually puts out less than its Luxman counterpart.

There is absolutely nothing that I can find at fault with this integrated amp. I can't think of one thing that it does not do superbly.

I have learned that its all about synergy and over the past year I have been in a major state of OCD-fuel purchases and evaluations of different gear and cabling. I can safely say that I no longer sit and listen to my music with an objective of critical analysis of the rig's performance - I simply enjoy the music.

Do I still go to my favorite "crack houses" and listen to reference systems costing 5 times more than my rig? Of course I do! The difference now is that when I come home and listen to my set up, I am still extremely happy and have no desire to contemplate another expensive jump up the food chain for a marginal improvement.

I know it's difficult to find a place to actually audition one of these units and I bought mine from Ivan based solely on his recommendations as well as feedback from other owners on this forum. If you have a chance to hear one, be careful - the Accuphase Class A sound is addictive!

[Weirdcuba]

Good to hear - thought you would like it. My partner, who has the sickness worse than me, has an E-600 in his office!! It's nice on a Saturday afternoon.

[susu]

happy for you !!!
E600 brought back some purpose in my life

[imprezap2]

great to hear the search is over. (for now anyway :-))

It's a great integrated, as long as your room is not too large, it will drive most speakers to decent volume levels. For sure there are better amps to be had, but the E-600 has no real weak spots in my opinion.

[ducman748]

I bought my E600 from a folder never regreth it, njoy the amp

[terrycym]

What doe you mean by folder?

[ducman748]

A magazine sorry

[4N6]

Greg,

Great to read your thoughts on the amp. I am seriously considering the Luxman L-590AX Mk. II as it is another one box solution doing Class A amplification. I may have to be a bit more patient and look at the Accuphase. Looks like an absolutely beautiful component.

[GreginNH1]

Originally Posted by 4N6

Greg,

Great to read your thoughts on the amp. I am seriously considering the Luxman L-590AX Mk. II as it is another one box solution doing Class A amplification. I may have to be a bit more patient and look at the Accuphase. Looks like an absolutely beautiful component.

Hi Kevin,

I have owned the Luxman L-590AX. It's a great amp and significantly less (almost half the retail price) than an E-600 with a phono card. From what I have been told, the MKII version is a slight, but noticeable improvement over the previous model.

Is the Accuphase better? - IMO, yes but in this hobby, we reach diminishing returns very quickly. There is no question the Luxman is far better value no matter which way you look at it.

If you are patient and can justify the extra dough, the E-600 will reward you handsomely!