Is Accuphase a good match for my system?

@cb77

With Accuphase, expect;

1) A warmer, relaxed, refined presentation over Esoteric. The emphasis is definitely on its gorgeous midrange which rivals some of the very best tube electronics out there. There is no lack of high frequency detail or bass but its the seductive midrange / voicing of Accuphase that will likely win you over Esoteric, Luxman or T+A.

2) With 90dB efficiency on Cremona’s, look for E-480 or E-5000 Class A/B integrated.

At the end of the day, it boils down to personal preferences and system synergy. If you like to hear Accuphase, PM me and we can get together. My system is listed under ‘Digital’ here :-)

I had a home audition of the Accuphase E-800 several months ago. My suggestion is to get a home audition and let your own ears decide. No component works well in every system and one person's medicine, is another's poison. 

My current sweet system: Accuphase C2450 (w/ AD2850 phono) pre + Accuphase-XLR brown cable + A48 amp, driving 6Ohms 89db/m speakers.XLR cable from pre to amp (accuphase high grade). I use Esoteric k03xd cd spinner time to time. I also have second Accuphase amp P4500 for summer time, because A-48 is getting hot after couple of hours. Overall Accuphase pre+amp couple sounds very warm, excellent mids/hi, driver speakers smooth but with confidence, amazing tone controls and high grade headphone amp in pre. No complains!  

The key question is, what improvements are you looking for and what sound characteristics are most important to you?  Start with that rather than specific brands. 

I would think given the value of the components you are dealing with that a trip to a city to hear them. Make it a weekend mini-vacation. Schedule time at a couple audio stores for a couple hours of listening to two or three integrated amps… maybe Accuphase, Audio Research, and Pass. 

i have not heard the esoteric or super high grade teac electronics for a long time, and it has also been quite a few years since i heard the cremona m's

with that said, i would venture that pairing accuphase with this speaker will be quite warm and very smooth up top thru the mids, with quite a bit of midrange 'bloom', and strong bass response.... relative to 'dead neutral' i would suspect the presentation to be definitely on the 'dark' side... which may be a positive attribute for a listener if they have a lively room or they like the music uber smooth and rich sounding, if perhaps at somewhat at the expense of a great sense of transparency and air/sparkle to the presentation

@ghdprentice + 1 “maybe Accuphase, Audio Research, and Pass” 

Thanks to everyone for your helpful and considerate comments.  If anyone knows of an Accuphase dealer in Texas or one that allows for home auditions, please feel free to further advise.

@lalitk -- Perfect, exactly what I was hoping to learn and I may PM you later.  See you have a fantastic system with Accuphase/Tannoy.  I also had the Marantz SA-11S2 in the past and really enjoyed it.

@westcoastaudiophile -- Thank you, very helpful.  That does sound like a sweet system--would enjoy seeing a picture of it!

@ghdprentice -- Tracking this and may consider Pass and AR as well as I have not heard any of them in person.  Just always had an initial preference for the designs of the Japanese solid state amps.  Thinking that the Cremona's will likely be my endgame speaker, so looking for the right endgame match.

@jjss49 --  Great description, I do like a warm sound with the music uber smooth and rich sounding so this would seem to fit with where I may want to head with Accuphase.  Prior experience is with Marantz reference series which I understand may be similar.

Any further thoughts or comments welcome.

ricred1,

what did you think of the accuphase compared to your amp?

Urbie,

The Accuphase E-800 didn’t work in my system. In the context of my system the E-800 lacks dimensionality, resolution, and bass articulation. It may be great in other systems.

 “In the context of my system the E-800 lacks dimensionality, resolution, and bass articulation”

@ricred1 

I appreciate your feedback. I just looked at your system, sweet setup in a large space. To be fair, comparing E-800 in your system is like driving Ferrari with a Hyundai Santa Fe engine. Your PL-500 rated at 91db with min amp ratings of 150-400 watts. So I am not surprised that you needed something like JR mono’s with 300 watts ratings in 8ohms to appropriately drive the twin towers and fill the room. 

I believe a more appropriate and fair comparison would have been driving the PL-500 with Accuphase A-250 mono’s and C-2450 preamp. 

At the end of the day, it’s all comes down to finding the right synergy and match between components. And you found that nirvana with JR components! 

lalitk,

That’s why I prefaced my comments with, "In the context of my system." I submit too many audiophiles make it about a particular component and forget they’re listening to a system.

"I believe a more appropriate and fair comparison would have been driving the PL-500 with Accuphase A-250 mono’s and C-2450 preamp." At the time I didn’t have JR mono’s, I actually compared the E-800 to a JR 625 S2. To my ears and in my system the JR 735 mono's are on a totally different level than the JR 625 s2.

I only had the E-800, because I picked it up from one of my friend’s client who tried it. My friend is a dealer and he asked me to listen to it and provide my opinion to him, so I did.

There are no absolutes in audio. If you love Accuphase that’s great, but there’s no universal audio component that will work in every system.

@lalitk +1 

every brand has line of different components, scaled by power, quality etc. rule number one I follow is matching amp with speakers, at least by power and impedance. "difficult to drive” speakers, typically featured with third/fourth order filters in passive crossovers, need extra driving current, which can be provided by higher power amp.