Maybe late to the party, Accuphase is as well built as any McIntosh piece. Accuphase is far more popular in Japan; with their first AMP, the P300, you could have grabbed one new in the early seventies for under $1000.00. Rated at 150 watts, easily broke 200 without clipping. Now 50 years later, the Amp will run you $2000-$3000K and up. That is your cheapest point of entry, a 50-year-old piece of equipment. One above poster was correct, actually, two engineers from Kenwood wanted to build the finest audio they could. Kenwood was not open to a higher line, so the two left and started with the name Kensonic and the P300 and preamp, and the matching tuner were all named Accuphase, then all equipment later was solely named Accuphase. Teac was their importer, of course with reel to reels in the 70's Teac was a decent company. You can't find them much in the United States any longer because the market is so small for their extreme price points, and there are very few independent stores left, but their builds are the best. I have my Accuphase amp connected to a Mac C50 Pre-Amp (needed a remote) feeding some B&W's. I think most of you will find that Accuphase, once opened up and reviewed the materials and attention to detail, is about some of the finest you can buy. Ask the techs that work on them. In addition, nobody can say MacIntosh doesn't make fantastic equipment either, Accuphase I would say is the pinnacle of audio. I surely can't afford their stuff, and most people do buy it used, for it will outlast all of us. Maybe both are too good? But enjoy if you can, either brand!
