Thread: In General

Anyone, want to take a stab at describing the Accuphase sound of their amps? My impression from comments they are warm and lean more polite.

I read things but terrible at remembering where I read it. A writer was talking about his visit to Accuphase and how they tend to focus on their product over profits and content to only produce the amount of units a year they do opposed to expanding. They are also strict on where they get their parts from. The article impressed me, sounded too good to be true and rare but being a Japanese company I can believe it. Not that everything from Japan would have this ethic but certainly there is a hard core group there who puts quality first.

They seem to offer a variety of amps and to make things more confusing new models must have come out not so long ago and some of the old models are still around and come up in searches. Looks like they offer Class A and Class A/B. Reminds me a bit of Pass.

In the end, no matter how good a unit is, it's the sound that matters and if it's not your thing.......

What model are you looking at ...?

I thought they would have a "house sound" like many brands do. After looking at the line I'd probably gravitate to the P7500. The Accuphase website doesn't give much information on the amps as far as specs. I thought it very odd they gave power ratings into 1 ohm but not the other ratings like 8 ohms on some models. No dimensions/weight.

Originally Posted by a.wayne

What model are you looking at ...?

> Anyone, want to take a stab at describing the Accuphase sound of their amps? My impression from comments they are warm and lean more polite.

I had the Class A Accuphase A-36 for a year or two during my trials to find a suitable SS amp to replace my valve SETs.

Your summing up is pretty much how I describe the sound from this great amp. My own single line summary of this amp says: "Accuphase A-36 - 30 watt Class A - beautiful amp but a lacking a little punch"

To elaborate, the build quality is second to none, the features offered were far more extensive than you normally expect on a power amp. The Gain control is particularly useful if you have very sensitive speakers, the VU meters are pretty but don't really impress me, though others (MacIntosh buyers perhaps) love them! Independently switchable A and B speakers may be useful for some and the rear panel selector for Stereo, Dual Mono or Bridge may be good for some users too.

Regarding the sound, I loved it although. as you suggest, perhaps a little too polite at times, a little less punch than I was looking for. I kept it longer than most of the other amps I was testing, but in the end I chose another amp that did offer the punch I was looking for. If you like a slightly laid back but still very god sound, Accuphase may be what you're looking for. I hope this helps

I really liked the A200’s when I heard them at David’s, a seductive sweetness. But they did run out of gas when pushed. I would imagine that’s why the following iterations have had much more power.

If you’re shopping integrated’s, some Accuphase ones are hit or miss it seems.

If you’re shopping big boy amps, with the right match, I’m sure they’re stunning.

There’s a lot of great amps out there:

Accuphase
Constellation
Block
Boulder

To name a few.


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Sounds like a great company and product but not the flavor I am looking for.

Originally Posted by Hear Here

> Anyone, want to take a stab at describing the Accuphase sound of their amps? My impression from comments they are warm and lean more polite.

I had the Class A Accuphase A-36 for a year or two during my trials to find a suitable SS amp to replace my valve SETs.

Your summing up is pretty much how I describe the sound from this great amp. My own single line summary of this amp says: "Accuphase A-36 - 30 watt Class A - beautiful amp but a lacking a little punch"

To elaborate, the build quality is second to none, the features offered were far more extensive than you normally expect on a power amp. The Gain control is particularly useful if you have very sensitive speakers, the VU meters are pretty but don't really impress me, though others (MacIntosh buyers perhaps) love them! Independently switchable A and B speakers may be useful for some and the rear panel selector for Stereo, Dual Mono or Bridge may be good for some users too.

Regarding the sound, I loved it although. as you suggest, perhaps a little too polite at times, a little less punch than I was looking for. I kept it longer than most of the other amps I was testing, but in the end I chose another amp that did offer the punch I was looking for. If you like a slightly laid back but still very god sound, Accuphase may be what you're looking for. I hope this helps

Originally Posted by Mr Peabody

Sounds like a great company and product but not the flavor I am looking for.

Remember I was describing one of their Class A amps. If you're looking towards the P7500, this is Class AB and may well sound very different. As it happened I didn't favour any of the Class A amps I tested - they didn't seem to suit my horns speakers, or perhaps more likely, my preferred musical presentation.

You've already been pointed towards the full spec pdf. On Page 5 you'll see the power rating at other impedencies. The reason they mention 2 ohm or 1 ohn is to emphasise the amp's ability to power very low impendence speakers such as some electrostatics or other panel speakers without fear of amp damage.

I've seen specs into 1 ohm before but Accuphase was the first to only give a 1 ohm rating. They failed to give a 8 or 4 ohm rating.

I was just looking on the website for general information. Some models only gave power into one ohm and not much overall information on the amp. Thanks for your input.

Other components may change the balance some in a system but I find amps typically have a sonic signature and it isn't going to change based on other components. For example, my Coda amp is warm with a very nice midrange, sort of rounded or full bass, no matter which system I put it in these characters still influence the end result sound of the system.

Originally Posted by dznutz

Where are you looking?

I currently own a pair of P7500 in mono and a pair of A300… so I have more experience than 99% of the Accu Dealers in NA. So what are you after and what matters to you?

Also, why do people forget to mention the rest of their system? You dont listen to an amp in isolation, I can easily make any Accu amp be velvety smooth and rounded or have it rip your head off depending on how I match the Dac and source.

Noise floor and the power supply/sheer current output capability of an amp matters most. Close second is reliability, and the large Accu do these insanely well.

Hopefully I'll get a chance to hear Accuphase at a show.

Originally Posted by dznutz

I dont think anyone here is going to try and convince you otherwise, but in my experience, I can easily tailor the final presentation with up stream components. What I cant do is change how quiet, powerful, refined and energetic the Accuphase amps are.

It will tell me more than words on paper. I have no dealer. If you want to send me one I will sure give it a listen.

Originally Posted by dznutz

And what will that tell you? Youll hear a complete system with cables, speakers, acoustics and a room you are unfamiliar with. It will lead you nowhere.

I also am unaware of Arturo ever paying to be at a show with Accuphase.