Complete review in STEREO magazine (Germany), Issue 08/2011

Accuphase Integrated Amplifier E-460 and CD-Player DP-510

To hear a pin dropby Matthias Böde

This can certainly be attributed to the engineers at Accuphase as the new CD-player
DP-510 and integrated amplifier E-460 inhere an even keener sense of tonality thantheir predecessors.
But where do we hear dropping pins? Well, actually everywhere. For instance, in
our recordings there are plenty of hidden “dropping pins” in form of most minute signalsthat want to become audible. The better this is achieved the deeper our ears can reachdown into sonic as well as musical structures. Sometimes this may not be so important formusical enjoyment, at other times however this can be downright essential.
Like for example the ocean sequence in Rachmaninov's “Études-tableaux” on the
fantastic CD from Reference Recordings: those who are to hear this music through anaudio chain, of which the resolution capability remains more or less on the surface, areinitially to perceive scarcely more than a rather uniform rumbling of the orchestra. So, only
if the chain is able to convey the finest beats, emotional nuances as well as the dying ofreverberations in the concert hall, suspense is created whilst the music is passing on itsmagic.
Just a particularly prominent example: whether there are ambient noises when someoneis playing the guitar or the disquietness of the audience in a live concert. The fine details
are the key to authenticity and to overcome the character of canned music, which is inopposition to the immediate listening experience.
Commitment to details
Lined up for testing, what have the new Accuphase CD-player DP-510 andintegrated amplifier E-460 to do with all these contemplations? Quite a lot, I must say,because both are descendants of the spirit that has been searching for fragile details andthe most remote “dropping pin”. This Japanese noble maker has ever since taken up thecause of this ambitious goal.
And they do indeed spare no efforts and expenses in order to achieve this. The player
features the Accuphase-proprietary CD drive, which is extremely rigid and capsuled toabsorb external vibrations, whereby the laser head rests on viscous dampers. Even thedisc tray shows absolutely no rattle. A bottom plate of triple sandwich construction – aresin plate between two steel plates – make the foundation. Insulator feet made of highcarbon cast iron provide the transition to the underlay, which can hardly be excited in anyway. In order to prevent electro-magnetic interferences, each functional array is located in
its own compartment and separated from each other by insulating baffles.
The main difference to its predecessor DP-500 (tested in STEREO 01/09) howeverlies in the further refinement of the MDS++ D/A-converter circuitry. Instead of four ICs of1

the Type 1796 from Texas Instruments there are now six of them in parallel configuration
working in the “Multiple Delta Sigma”-DAC section. According to the proud statement ofAccuphase, this new implementation is to reduce the error rate of each single device byfactor 2.45. Well, those who are fighting for the last pinch are inclined to grab suchmeasures.
Yet at the same time one should also consider the in-house model hierarchy. The
reason that there is now a DP-510 can be owed to the fact that Accuphase's “entry-level”
DP-400 has sonically come very close to the DP-500 and eventually withdrawn the “rightto exist” for its bigger brother. The DP-510 features two digital inputs and may therefore beemployed as a high-quality DAC for external digital signals up to 192 kHz/24 bit (coaxial).
The more since it has also got a sensitive digital volume control on board. All this wasmeant to duly re-establish the distance within the player family.
And it did that without any doubt. We took the DP-400 for comparison purposes
because the “500” was no longer available, yet actually not really necessary either. Alreadywith the first CD the sonic differences became clearly audible: a sensitive, inwardly live
performance with Jazz-diva Nina Simone and a compassionate audience in the Casino ofMontreux. The DP-510 widened the space by a greater margin whereby it rendered thevibes, charged up with emotions and full of verve, with much finer details than theabsolutely not veiled DP-400. When playing music that's got power and drive, absolute
resolution may not be so important. With this kind of music however the DP-510 canconvincingly organise the structures of sound and excels by enhanced fine dynamics.
Thus, it can set itself apart from Accuphase's “smallest” DP-400 and at the same time –although at a somewhat higher price - from its predecessor DP-500, too.
Switched to MOS-FETs
A price increase for the E-460 can also be noticed when compared to its
predecessor E-450. But then the latter cannot be mixed up with the new one anyway, butrather with its Class-A brother E-560. First, because it also features the digital volume levelindicator and second, instead of bi-polar semiconductors amplification is done through
MOS-FETs which require no control current. Recently, these transistors have also driven
the power amp P-6100 to highest performance in our listening room (STEREO 03/11) andAccuphase's huge M-6000 mono amps rely on them as well. In the new model thedamping factor has been increased, too, namely to take care of the best possible control
over the woofers in the speakers to be connected.
Very typical for Accuphase's larger models of pre- and integrated amplifiers is thewide sub panel behind which a number of buttons and controls for various useful
applications are decently hiding away if not needed. As opposed to many amplifiers of thehigh-end league, the ones from Accuphase are no purists at all when we are to talk about
functions and features. There are plenty of inputs which may either be called up via theremote commander or with the help of the precisely stepped input selector knob, which I'msure will give goosebumps to one or other audiophile precision freak when turning it.
Furthermore, the listener can resort to tone and balance controls, a mono button,
which can often be useful when positioning the speakers in ones listening room, anexcellent headphone output, a recorder facility with monitor function and quite a few things
more. New on board is a phase inversion switch: if music doesn't sound as relaxed andcoherent as one would have expected, switching the absolute phase can sometimes workwonders. In earlier days the “phase” button could be found on many disc players and, yes,2the E-460 allows phase inversion for all sources. The basic configuration of this integrated
lacks a phono stage, yet aficionados of vinyl records may upgrade the E-460 with theoptionally available “Analog Disc Input Board” AD-20. It was made to accept both MC andMM cartridges and can be mounted into one of the two slots at the rear panel of the amp.
Yes, we have become pretty familiar with this board for quite some time and therefore holdit in high esteem. It's adaptable (MC load) and definitely suitable for pick-ups of even thetop class without any reservation. It lets them play in a truly high-end mood and is thus
expanding the amp's sphere of action.
A new kid on the block is the “Digital Input Board” DAC-30. It comes equipped witha coaxial, an optical and even a USB input for all who want to transfer their music from PC.
The optical and USB input can receive data streams up to 96 kHz while the coaxial input
would even accept 192 kHz.
By means of a high-quality digital interconnect we've fed the DAC-30 with nearly jitter-freesignals coming from the transport of the DP-510, whereby the sound quality came very
close to those signals that went through the analogue output of the player. Certainly, theMDS++-circuitry in the DAC-30 is not quite as elaborate as in the DP-510 and therefore
the rendition may not be on par with respect to openness, fine details and transparency,
yet the sonic differences were smaller than we expected.
One step closer to perfection
However we could not affirm the same when comparing the E-460 with the E-450.
The more demanding the recordings the clearer were the audible differences in favour of
the new integrated. Well, its predecessor is likewise a detail fanatic, yet what it would
merely suggest is put right on the spot by the E-460. For example, Cheryl Wheeler's
multifaceted “Walk Around Downtown” on the classy “Reference Sound Edition” from InAkustik was more consequently fanned out by the new one, though without getting lost in
every single detail, but by having things shuffled together to a homogeneous whole. Airystring quartets are mastered by this exceedingly powerful and controlled playing amp withaplomb, just as well as it would master hard rock.
Whether this is due to the MOS-FETs, the “AAVA” volume control - anotherAccuphase speciality – which has been further optimised with respect to precision andshort signal paths, or the sum of the many other bits and pieces each serious model
upgrading is usually subject to: the E-460 goes one step further on the way to perfection.
And those who are going to listen attentively will hear the pin drop.

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