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Accuphase Experiences

In my search for a new amp I recently a look at Accuphase. I’ve watch numerous demonstration videos to get a sense of their sound characteristics and I find them very appealing especially when directly compared to Luxman and MacIntosh. They tend to be on the slightly warm side of neutral with a very life like beautiful mid range, a smooth extended treble and a tight but not overwhelming bass. In fact bass is the only region where they are a light but not by much and only in comparison to other amps that excel in this range. But the area they excel for me is soundstage. It’s very wide and depth is very good but not like tubes. Also instrument separation is excellent . The whole presentation appears real and expansive. I liked it so much I’m going to drive 90 minutes to a dealer that has several models to demo. Hopefully next week. I really want to hear the P-4600 amp and the e4000 integrated. 
 

So has anyone had any experiences with Accuphase?  I would love to hear you opinions and experiences. 

jfrmusic
Post removed 
jfrmusic OP
276 posts
 

Sorry. Been busy and forgot to post the results of my amp auditions. 
 

I liked the Bryson 4b3 demoed with the same DAC, Streamer and Speakers I own. The amp was very dynamic with a nice soundstage. Nothing to complain about but nothing that was significantly different from my current amp. This audition was at Overture in Delaware where I purchased my Streamer, DAC, and Speakers. 
 

My current system is

Aurender N20 Streamer, MSB Discrete DAC, Harbeth C7es-XD Speakers and the Benchmark AHB2 amplifier. 
 

I then auditioned the Accuphase P-4600. Few dealers around me but I found BEK in Allentown PA that actually had a P-4600 on demo and they had Harbeth Speakers. In this case the 5s. Eric who is the owner used a Accuphase preamp and a Chord DAC. The Accuphase sounded wonderful.  Very natural with a beautiful midrange and an expansive soundstage. It was however almost twice the price of the Bryston. So I wanted to give it some thought and maybe hear the Bryston one more time. The next morning I called Eric at BEK and told him while I really like the Accuphase I was conflicted over the price difference with the Bryston. After some discussion Eric gave me a great deal and since I really preferred the Accuphase I ordered it. It’s coming on the next shipment to the distributor which was scheduled to leave Japan on April 10. So hopefully I get it by end of April. 
 

BEK is A 90minute  drive from me. As part of the deal Eric is going to deliver and set up the amp for me which is great as its shipping weight is 80 lbs while amp is 66lbs. 
 

Bottom line is the Accuphase amp and sound had the exact characteristics that appeal to me and the characteristics I was able to detect listening to the YouTube demos especially the ones from Asia that are extremely good recordings. 

map
25 posts
 

Did you bring the AHB2 with you to compare, sighted though the comparison probably would have been? It's easy to travel with! (I have one.)

jfrmusic OP
276 posts
 

No I didn’t bring the AHB2 with me however the Accuphase clearly had a more expansive soundstage and better instrument separation as well as a slightly more larger presentation that wasn’t confined to a between the speakers image. Also vocals were slightly behind the speaker plane vs at the plane or slightly  in front with the AHB2.

map
25 posts
 

I was also considering replacing my AHB2 with a P4600. Was going to drive to Safe and Sound in Massachusetts (about 250 miles, but near a friend's house) with the AHB2. I was looking for more "warmth". Went with an equalizer instead.

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