Thoughts and perceptions on the sound quality of Accuphase Digital Products

donquichotte

Which Power Cord (PC) are you enjoying with your DP550 SACD player?

Happy Listening!

@chadsort , Accuphase does use off the shelf DAC chips, however quite a few in parallel to cancel out errors as the conversion is completed, plus a few other methods, see here on how this is accomplished. 

@garebear , it's unfortunate that in the US, the price of Accuphase in the past is double that of Japan, tantamount to extortion. At high prices the brand does not gain much traction in the US, however in Europe, Australia, Malaysia and of course Japan, the brand is very well known for many years now. If Hifi shark is visited, Accuphase products are mainly offered from Europe and Japan, the used prices from the US are still over and above new prices anywhere else.

I bought my first E-205 amp in 1988, still have it and it works, a testament to reliability. Also E-450 integrated, P-4200 Power, C-2420 Pre, DP-720 SACD, DC-901 DAC & T-1100 tuner, so, very familiar with the sound. The DP-720 and the DC-901 are similar, however the main differences with the DC-901 are positional accuracy and spacing of instruments in the vector space away from the centre image with uncanny accuracy. This is of course with very good recordings of which only a handful really exist! 

I play both CDs, SACD, and digital from a Lumin U1 streamer, power cables are mainly Oyaide Tunami, Furutech silver, signal cables are all Accuphase grey and blue RCA, gray XLR.

I haven't heard Esoteric gear, so difficult to compare SQ. Like Esoteric, Accuphase make their own drive mechanism, not some pressed steel rubbish that looks fine in a computer. Often users of Accuphase sell their equipment, then deeply regret that decision, so I keep all my gear, still used. 

Not a point sonically, but I couldn't live with the design of Esoteric gear, far too rounded, much rather prefer classic traditional audio.

Digital gear from Accuphase is certainly worth the audition. Accuphase amps tend to be matched with B&W gear for some reason, I have used KEF reference instead and enjoy them every day. Feed them good music, and they sing. Compared to Playback Designs MPD-3, Accuphase digital is night and day. The MPD-3 is sitting in a corner, the DA doesn't work any more, garbled audio coming out of it.

FWIW, Damien Plisson founder of Audirvana has an Accuphase E-650 integrated for listening to the software he develops.

In Europe, especially in Germany, Netherlands and Italy, Accuphase is very common and favorable. The reviews are very good, surely pushed by the distributors, as common in the business anywhere…

I have a DP-750 and love it. Never had any other digital Accuphase gear, and just some older FM tuners in the past.

The aesthetic of the unit is fantastic, I like this classic, elegant style with wooden box, orange and green lights. 

The sound is not warm, soft and rounded, but indeed on the very pleasant side of truth. There are many colors, plenty of body and flesh, powerful images, and an excellent flow. Very good images and room dimensions. I don’t miss any small details, even if they are not unnaturally spotlighted.

I would indeed like to here some of the latest esoteric as K1XD and Grandioso 1X, or even the now new updates of them.

But if you liked the 720, I would recommend to take a listen to a 750 or the now new 770 (not heard yet), it could be an interesting comparison, even after some years with an Esoteric player.

....thank you breezer and rms 456 as you made some very good points about the sound of Accuphase digital products as well as how they are viewed outside of the US which I was aware but now confirmed. I have a whole Accuphase system outside of my single box CD player the Esoteric Grandioso K1 x.....and enjoyed the comment of ; " on the very pleasant side of truth ''. I would agree with that perspective. However, they really do not keep their value here in the US large in part due to the price that is charged here in the US so it does not make them a prudent buy. Then again no high end equipment should or can be viewed in that light but more of how the music is presented to you and if you enjoy it. That's what important to me. Thank you again and I continue to look into the DP 750 and or the DP 770. Enjoy.....     

@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.