Passion
for music
Accuphase, gourmet high-end without equal. Stylish, extremely quality
conscious and always maintaining a major restraint regarding the latest
hype. This Japanese elite-brand has been evolutionary rather thanrevolutionary since it was founded in 1972, and fellow-brands that operate
in the same consistent manner are few and far between. During theJapanese-inspired opening show of the new Alpha High-End store in
Brasschaat (Belgium) I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to not only
meet the complete management team of Accuphase, but also to have aninterview with them. All in all, a unique ‘behind the scenes’ look at one of
the more closed and conservative companies in hifi.

On one hand, there’s the clear logic of
only releasing a follow-up to a device
when there is an actual improvement tobe made, but on the other hand you finda distinct lack of noticeable movement
when it comes to changes in thecompany’s direction when the market
seems to demand it, in cases such as
streaming audio. So now I had an
excellent opportunity to find out more
about the people behind this somewhat
elusive brand, and scrutinize their way ofthinking. With the date of the interview
getting closer, I got a personal briefingfrom Accuphase distributer Paul Hattink
about customary Japanese politeness.
That was not just a sign of respect
towards the guests, it really fired up mycuriosity and excitement.

!
Theme: Japan!

On the sunday of the interview, the very
spacious and beautifully decorated newstore had been prepared toaccommodate the large flow ofinterested people that are expected.
Upon entering the store it is clear that theTheme Of The Day is Japan. There’s amale mannequin at the entrance, fully
dressed in a traditional Samurai costume,and there are displays of typical Japaneserefreshments, snacks and Sake
throughout the store. Obviously, the sets
for audio demonstration are made up

ACCUPHASE MANAGEMENT
When you think of Accuphase, youprobably think of a line-up of classy,
gold-finished and extremely well-built
hifi-components that are not only built
using the best possible materials, butalso count among the most reliable andtrouble-free in the industry. Apart fromthis obvious quality, there’s also a lot of
inscrutable mystery to Accuphase.

music from the Japanese-stylepercussion school Tatake Taiko fromBelgium. Frankly, I can think of no better
time and place to do the interview. Afteradmiring the demo-setups that are
made up of this beautiful high-end
brand of electronics, I eventually run into
Paul Hattink and my four guests for theday. Our greeting is respectful andfriendly from the start, and the Japanesedelegation is clearly delighted by theattention for their country, and the many
Accuphase configurations that havebeen assembled for this show.

!
Conservative Thinking!

On this one-off visit, Chairman Of The
Board Jim S. Saito is accompanied by thefull management team of Accuphase,
consisting of three men. Marketing Chief
Tatsuki Tozuka is the international face ofthe company and every contact, fromanywhere in the world, goes throughhim. Vice-President and chief-engineer
Mark M. Suzuki has come along fortechnical explanation and substantiation,
and Yasumasa Ishizuka is head ofAccuphase's European distribution
network. Despite the full schedule offestivities during this opening show,
Alpha owner Sammy Feldman somehow
made it possible for us to use part of his
new shop for the interview, for which I
am very grateful.

TATSUKI TOZUKA, MARK M. SUZUKI, JIM S. SAITO AND YASUMASA ISHIZUKAMy first question is not just for breaking
the ice, but also to involve all four men in
the interview from the start: “When I lookat Accuphase as a brand, I can see somevery distinct similarities, a common
thread if you like. Is there a certain way ofthinking behind this, or is it a logicaloutcome from a way of working?”
Even before the last words of thisquestion pass my lips, the eyes of Mr.
Saito briefly narrow in thought.
Immediately after that, but not after
exchanging a few words in Japanesewith his colleagues, marketing manager
Tozuka answers: “Contrary to what has
become common practice in ourbusiness and therefore to what you may
think, Accuphase products have neverbeen created to satisfy marketing
considerations. The highest possible
degree of sophistication and purity andthe very best sound quality are the only
guides for everything we manufacture.
The composition of our product range isdetermined mainly by what we believe isnecessary to enjoy music on the highest
level.”

Werner: “I totally agree with you, but how
do you deal with new developments suchas Streaming Audio?”
Again, Tozuka answers after briefly
consulting with Mr. Saito and technicalmanager Suzuki: “Accuphase keeps it’s eyes
and ears open for every development thatappears to be more than a fleeting trend. Ifsuch a development appears to be a
durable and high-quality platform as well,
our next step is to start a series of feasibility
studies. What we want to avoid at all cost isthat we start an expensive and timeconsuming development process whensuch a new invention or unstable platform
can still die before it’s time. Because we
maintain this careful policy, Accuphase will
never be at the forefront of trendy
developments. It’s not that we don’t want
to do this by definition, but we do find it
necessary to research the feasibility andviability of such a platform. We owe ourloyal customers this much. As far as
Streaming Audio is concerned: we see thepotential for growth, but we have also
concluded that there are still a lot ofbridges te pass.

There are simply not enough parametersthat have been laid down in applicablestandards. As far as we are concerned, thedevelopment of Streaming Audio stillleaves too much to be desired to meet ourstandards, so we will not start such a costly
process yet. Besides that, there is still a lot of
legitimacy for existing physical media, bothin Asia and other parts of the world, so we
unabatedly continue to improve those.
Even today, these media have not yet
reached the peak of their performance andwe believe that they still sound better thanwhat we have heard from Streaming-Audiosolutions.”!
New Media!

Werner: “But when I look at the newgeneration of Accuphase sacd-players, I see
USB-support and a DAC that is also capableof playing High Resolution Streaming Audioand even DSD.” Chief-designer Suzuki
chuckles, and with a serious smile heanswers: “The fact that we do not build aStreaming Audio device of our own does
not mean that we want to boycot adevelopment that is already in use, evenexpanding. On the contrary. Beneath thesurface, our players have worked with ahigh-resolution internal data-signal formany years now, so at first it looked like a
relatively small step to implement external
data as well. But this turned out to bemuch harder to do than I expected. Forinternal data, we can use our own
transports that generate a very accurate
data stream. But when you use external
data sources, that are usually much lessprecise, you run into a mountain of trouble.
For some time it even looked like we would
be unable to clean up the external data
enough to get real Accuphase quality atthe end of the process. That would havebeen a legitimate reason not to provide
this service, but fortunately we pulled it off
just in time. So there you have it: a small
glance into the possible future ofAccuphase Streaming Audio. Because
everyone who has heard digital music files
through our new DP-550 sacs-player has
been stunned by the quality that turns out
to be hidden in these files after all.

ALPHA BRASSCHAAT - LARGE LISTENING ROOM / CONCERT HALL

But for now, there are still too manybumps in the road, mainly concerning
standardization and support. So for us,
the signal to release our own Streaming
Audio products is still on Red.”!

Werner: “Besides Streaming Audio, thereis this other novelty called Class D
amplification, that is gaining a lot ofpopularity. Has Accuphase looked into
this technology yet, and what are yourfindings? Is it possible that we will see
Accuphase products with this technology
in the near future, and if not, why?”This question causes some mild
excitement among the otherwise relaxedlooking delegation. This time it ischairman Saito himself who answers, inimpeccable English. “Class D is not strangeto us. In fact, in the past we have built the6-channel PX-650 amp that used thistechnology, but we stopped using
Class-D technology shortly after that.
The main problem of Class-D, eventoday, is the relatively high noise-floor
caused by the relatively low carrierfrequency. That carrier-frequency isinherent to this technology and it
always gives you more distortion anda certain unrest in your playback,compared to a well-designed
conventional circuit. Everyone who isgiven the opportunity to compare toa Class D circuit and a conventional
circuit in a well-prepared an
conscientiously preformed listening
test will hear the differences
immediately. Especially with ournewest generation of conventionallydesigned components, we have taken

another big step on the path towards truly
realistic playback. Because we have beenable to lower the noise-floor with every
new generation, the music gets a truly
breathtaking sense of softness andrealism.”!
The Future!

Werner: “Being known as a relatively
conservative company, how does
Accuphase see their future in the everchanging world of hifi?” Saito: “Iunderstand what you mean, but I would
like to explain a little bit about that
reputation of conservatism before I answer
your question. At Accuphase we do a lotof research during the early stages of every
new technology or platform that we deem
relevant. But where most companiesmaterials that are available worldwide,
where absolutely nothing is left tochance. In daily practice, this philosophy
enables us to make products that will
work flawlessly - and to their original
specifications - for fifteen, twenty oreven more years!”!
Accuphase Old And New!

will always keep an eye out for what themarket wants, but the actual
implementation of new products will only
take place if we can produce a productthat is worthy of the name Accuphase. It’sin our genes and therefore in our motto:‘Enrich life through technology’.

!
!
And he continues: “By saying that, I
have also taken an advance on ourfuture. We look upon it with the utmost
confidence. Even if we are notcompletely able to evade a certain
worldwide market-development, we areaware that our target group reallyappreciates the stability and quality ofour products. I am absolutely convincedthat there will always be a market forreal quality. Beyond that, Accuphase is
one of the oldest and most stable hifi
companies in the world, and our nameand reputation are legendary. It is no
coincidence that a lot of first-generation
Accuphase products are still used every
day, without problems. Of course weACCUPHASE OLD AND NEW

would approve them too quickly forcommercial reasons, we usually give things
a lot more consideration. We really don’t likemaking ad hoc decisions that are of no use
to our consumers, who are extremely
sensitive to quality. And yes, that may giveour company a reputation of being
conservative, but you get a very different
perspective when you consider the extreme
effort we make to improve products that weare actively working on. Quality is ourhighest goal, we are not interested inquantity. Those who choose Accuphase giveus their unconditional trust, and that issomething we want to handle with theutmost respect. Our customers must feel
confident that they have acquired a productthat is built to the highest standards ofquality and reliability, by using the very best

Original Dutch text and photography by Werner Ero, English
translation by Max Delissen of Makz Media.