accuphase compare to mcintosh

Audiozen,
Does NASA use a lot of audio parts? To NASA, NASA-grade parts means reliability, not necessarily sound quality, and the best grade of parts is effectively a certification of existing processes and manufacturers, establishing provable reliability and consistency of manufacturing processes and supply. If you read NASA parts procurement guidelines, you will find that they in fact specify use of parts up to and including 'mil-spec' parts of a grade called MIL-STD 975 Grade 1. If you care to read that giant PDF file, you will find capacitor specs starting about 20 pages in.

I think, if you dig through both docs, you will figure out that any audio manufacturer which went through the process of finding good-sounding capacitors and matched them would probably end up with better-sounding and more appropriate capacitors than those taken out of a NASA engineer's parts box. If you read the guidelines and the MIL-STD 975M file and come up with different analysis, I'm happy to be corrected.

Audiozen,
You'll have to forgive my skepticism. 'Quality' as NASA defines it has nothing to do with the sound quality of a part in a particular application. Parts' 'efficiency' in dealing with extreme conditions has nothing to do with electrical 'efficiency' and has only to deal with reliability in meeting specified electrical properties/values within an acceptable minimum range of error under a variety of adverse conditions. The fact that all those parts you mention are 'considered NASA grade quality and classification but are not used in military or aerospace programs but for high end audio products only' means what exactly? Who determines that they are 'NASA grade' if they are not so deemed by NASA?

Nevertheless, I agree that Accuphase uses better-sounding parts, on average, than McIntosh.

Audiozen,
I can obviously get pretty dumb.... I am actually responding to your
comment...
You shouted,

why do you think 100% OF ALL HIGH END
COMPONENTS HAVE NASA GRADE PARTS.. BETTER SOUND
QUALITY

If 100% of all high end components have "NASA grade" parts, then
why bother making the comparison between Accuphase's better "NASA
grade" parts compared to McIntosh' "NASA grade" parts?
Making that distinction is meaningless.

And if V-CAP tells me their caps are NASA grade, but the "lower grade
cap" with the same capacitance with cheaper dialectric materials also
tells me their caps are "NASA grade", then why bother? And the $5
cap? It too could be "NASA grade." The appellation "NASA grade"
doesn't mean any guarantee of quality such as the quality in the V-Caps.

Methinks you are missing the point... I am simply saying that "NASA
grade" means almost nothing in terms of sound-quality, and now that
you have confirmed that 100% of high-end components use "NASA
grade" parts (which I will not disagree with), your original comment is
rendered meaningless. I can absolutely guarantee you that NASA does not
perform listening tests on their caps in audio circuits to determine whether
certain caps meet "NASA grade" standards or not. If you can
provide evidence to the contrary, I will retract everything I said. However, I
think you are relying on some Stereophile reviewer's mid-80s hyperbole.

Your definition of "NASA grade" seems to be the rough equivalent
of "it's really really good." My definition of "NASA
grade" is those parts which meet the specifications of MIL-STD 975M,
which are roughly unchanged in the past 15 years, and remain US DoD
guidelines because the US govt does not abide by 3rd party independent
testing in many cases still. Having read the NASA procurement guidelines
"for fun" a while back, I can confirm that I fully expect high-end
audio components use "NASA grade" parts, because that means
that the failure rate of the electrical components in my equipment is probably
low enough to allow me to plug them equipment in safely.

Taters,
I fully expect they do. In fact, I would expect they have all made efforts to find
good-sounding capacitors within a certain price point of "NASA
grade" parts so as to improve the sound vs the less-good-sounding
"NASA grade" parts. I also expect that all Japanese high-end mfrs
would use parts which would meet or beat "NASA grade" specs for
performance and reliability, despite being made in Japan. Oops... I forgot,
Black Gates are made in Japan. As are Nichicon...

Audiofeil, I too am humbled by the level of experience demonstrated, and the perfection of the logic presented; it is not often that logic forming such a perfect circle is presented in such depth and with such vigor. I certainly have been schooled. I shall retreat to my corner and ponder my navel (which is surely not NASA grade - robust, circular, and enduring though it may be).

As to the OP's questions:
1) It depends on the integrateds. In general, I find Accuphase to have excellent bass, but to be a little rolled off in the treble. If I had to choose between top of the line Accuphase and TOTL McIntosh, I would choose TOTL Accuphase any day of the week.
2) I find Accuphase's 'house' sound signature to be quite detailed but slightly 'softened', and lacking in dynamics. I find McIntosh sound signature to be less detailed, and more 'round' - perhaps similar weaknesses but more pronounced.

Themis,
You got a NASA-grade response.