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Thoughts and perceptions on the sound quality of Accuphase Digital Products

Hello Audiogoners - and I have a quick question that came up in a recent conversation I had with a dealer as well as with a friend of mine. High End single box CD / SACD players are seen as being limited these days due to the increase in  streaming, but companies such as  Esoteric, DCS and possibly Vitus to just name a few are still making and developing this technology. My question is ; '' where does Accuphase stand on this subject,,,,, '' Do we look at Accuphase as being a leader in the making and development of high end single box CD / SACD players '' ? I read where for their 50th Anniversary they came out with the DC / DP 1000 separates which is CD / SACD player that is supposed to be really, really good. ( but, at a price )  The DP 750 received great reviews and just came out with the newer version the DP 770. 

I owned the Accuphase DP 720 at one time and it was a very musical player and yet detailed at the same time. Also, Accuphase has lowered their prices here in the US due to somewhat of a change in their distribution here and hopefully it will gain some better traction in sales and at a better price than before. With that said, and being very familiar with Accuphase products ; '' is it time to look at Accuphase Digital products seriously and consider them just as good or even better than the Esoteric , DCS players that are out there now '' ........your thoughts and thank you in advance.  

garebear

Showing 3 responses by chadsort

chadsort
17 posts
 

I just came back to my hotel after listening to a demo of the new dp-770 at Audio Union Shinjuku store, paired with their new A-80, and the c3900 preamp on a B&W 804D4.

It sounded good, but not great. As an owner of an Esoteric K03XD, I'd very much rather have the Esoteric K03XD, K01XD, or Grandioso K1X over any Accuphase CD players past and present. Accuphase definitely has a more laidback sound. 

Also worth noting that Accuphase's digital products are still using off the shelf ESS DACs, while Esoteric has gone on to develop their own discrete DACs. 

chadsort
17 posts
 

Don't forget that there is also now the newly-launched Esoteric Grandioso K1X SE, which have major upgrades internally for the discrete parts, and you also have a further upgrade path for adding on a Grandioso G1X master clock, which again brings it up another level.

 


 

chadsort
17 posts
 

@garebear I'm surprised you even considered selling the Grandioso K1X for the DP770.

That's a massive downgrade in my opinion, the DP770 that I heard did not come close to my own K03XD, and I can't imagine even comparing that to the Grandioso, which are 2 levels above.

I'm not talking about just details or low-end extension (where Esoteric has always excelled at), but also every other parameter including soundstage, imaging, depth, width, air, layering, microdetails and spatial, ambient cues, speed, transients,  attacks and decay. Esoteric was better in all of these traits.

The Accuphase does have a beautiful sound, tonality and timbre-wise. But I wouldn't sacrifice all other parameters just to obtain this 'polaroid-like' presentation. It also depends on what music you listen to. If it's just unplugged, acoustic, jazz stuff, and you're all about musical enjoyment (whether truthful or not), then the Accuphase works for sure.

 

The Esoteric Grandioso K1X plays in the league of MSB and DCS with its new discrete DAC, and many user reviews have indeed compared it favourably to these digital giants. You're already close to the end game, imo.

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