lalitk, I see you have E-650 integrated, which is class A amp. class A amps have relatively stable current at different sound volume level, which helps to reduce transient current in incoming power, thus amp self-induced voltage drop is minimal. my question was about your house ac pwr wiring, length, gauge etc. simple way to check if house wiring is okay to turn on vacuum cleaner and look at lights if they are dim or not. if lights dim when vacuum (or refrigerator) turns on, then IR drop issue is not in IEC cable.
New Accuphase Amplifier Experience
I've just completed my months long replacement of my system with the addition of the Accuphase P-4600 Amplifier. This is their new A/AB Amp.
For context my previous systems was:
Macbook Server/Streamer
Benchmark DAC3 HGC
Benchmark ABH2
ATC SCM11 Speakers
New System:
Aurender N20 Streamer
MSB Discrete DAC
Accuphase P-4600 Amplifier
Harbeth 7ES-XD Speakers
Each new component added was a significant upgrade to performance and SQ. The Accuphase was the last and a conflicting one for me as the ABH2 is an excellent amp and IMHO the best you can get under 5K. It is very neutral yet has an impactful bass, plenty of detail and smooth highs. However I did find the upper mid and lower treble a little too neutral and what some might call clinical or thin. That was really the only fault. The soundstage while not expansive has a nice width and decent depth. Its really a pleasant listen and not at all fatiguing. But I felt I could do better now that I had a more revealing system. After auditioning several amps on my list (Bryston 4b3 and Maciintosh 462) I found the Accupahse to have the sound I enjoyed the most. It was also the most expensive. But I decided that since this was probably my last system I would get what I wanted. So after getting a good deal at BEK HiFi in Allentown PA I ordered it the end of March and unfortunately missed the April shipment from Japan so I didnt get it until June 3. It comes well packed with a shipping weight of 80 pounds with the unit at 66 pounds. I felt getting the heavy box home would be an issue but Eric at BEK HiFi offered to deliver it with his dad and set it up for me even though he is a 90 minute drive from my house in southern NJ. While we listened Eric and his father Barry and I had a good hours conversation about music and audio equipment. I can highly recommend BEK Hi Fi. Very easy to do business and very accommodating.
Once out of the box and on the floor I surprised myself. I was able to pick it up the amp and place on the shelf. My upper arm weight exercise is paying off.
I connected the amp and powered it with my audiophile power cable and started listening. It sounded really good for a new component and continued to do so for the next day as well. Then, as most of us do, I decided to read the Manual. In it Accupahse has very specific statements about use. Once that stood out was:
"Using a power cord other than the one provided is PROHIBITED. If you use a different cord it must meet the specifications defined by Accuphase"
. Which means essentially one that is exactly the same as the supplied cord.
This was actually listed as a WARNING. Very odd. So I decided to swap the power cable and use the one supplied by Accuphase. Well at least in my experience the sound improved significantly. It wasn't subtle. So I guess Accuphase knows what they're doing concerning power cords.The stock cord will stay.
The power cord I had I purchased to address those issues I mentioned about the ABH2 and it worked well adding some warmth to the mids and lower treble as well as adding depth to the soundstage. Good synergy. But It was missing the target with the Accuphase. I think because the Accupahse did not have the issues the ABH2 did so the cable was warming it too much and making those areas too prominent. Power cable/Amp matching can be challenging.
The Accupahse SQ is somewhere between a very good SS amp with open smooth highs, plenty of detail, and a solid impactful bass and a very good tube amp with a slightly warm rich midrange and lower treble. The soundstage is very wide with ample depth and instrument separation. Its a beautiful presentation that can be listened to for hours without fatigue. From Large scale classical to jazz, pop it just sounds smooth and relaxed. Vocals in particular are really life like and full.
Accuphase support tells me the amp will not deliver its best and really open up until 200-300 hours of break-in. So hopefully some additional improvements yet to come.
While waiting those two months for the amp to be delivered I had moments of buyer's remorse as the Benchmark ABH2 sounded really good in the new system. I had to keep reminding myself of what I experienced while demoing the Accuphase. Was it worth a price more than 3x the Benchmark? Well I can tell you now I would not want to go back to the Benchmark. So yes I guess it was. .
26 responses Add your response
@jfrmusic C-2300 pre looks cool! four freq. tone control is interesting! I decided a while ago to buy excellent quality analog or digital devices, not mixed ones.. analog stuff these days “never get old”, while digital units age very fast :-). |
@lalitk what length/gauge AC PWR wiring do you have, and how far it is from street transformer? I like nice cables, but many aftermarket cable stuff is just gold painted junk.. need to be careful with cables, because bad termination’ could damage contacts of amp IEC receptacle… same applies to RCAs/XLRs |
@jfrmusic congrats! ..after 40yr Hi-Fi voyage, I moved to Accuphase pre/pwr amps, (C-2450, A-48, P-4500) ASL/ASLC rca/xlr cables, and really enjoy the sound! I would recommend to look Accuphase pre, such as C-2450 with AD-2850 (or AD-2900) phono, which has two separate inputs, and perfect S/N ratio. I have RF tower EM noise in my area, and after moving to Accuphase I forgot all issues’ in the past! Accuphase pre has (free :-)) sounding amazing headphone amp, and plenty of phase correction, tone, filtering options, all’ very handy to deal with different recoding styles. |
@lalitk Thank you. Of these three recommendations, I might be able to audition Zavfino. |
I have long been a fan of hacky face power amps especially the class A (AXX) versions using mosfets. That said not so much a fan of their preamps (2850) which I have owned even the top of the line one. Interestingly my preferences when it comes to Mark Levinson products of 20 years ago or just the opposite love the preamp (32) hate the amps (33x). |
I found it interesting about the warning on the power cord from Accuphase. I have a Bryston amplifier, 4BSST2 that would go in safe mode every once in a while. I called Bryston tech support and their first question was: "Are you using a non-stock power cord"? Evidentially some of those cords can cause issues, don't know why, but tech support seems to think so. The problem turned out to be a ground loop which I was able to resolve. |
You nailed the Accuphase sound! The upstream components are equally important and you have certainly chosen wisely with N20 and MSB. I can easily see this beautiful system as your end game. Enjoy! PS: I am using aftermarket power cord and it complements Accuphase handsomly, a huge upgrade from stock power cord. I encourage you to experiment with PC’s once P-4600 fully broken-in. |