Review in AUDIO magazine (Germany), Issue 01/2008
CD/SACD Player Accuphase DP-700

Sky Highby Joachim Pfeiffer

The CD player Accuphase DP-700 is reaching for the stars - and wins moresonic points in the AUDIO test than any other integrated CD player ever before.
Audio components from Japan's noble manufacturer Accuphase are usually
not coming out of the blue. In other words, the German importer P.I.A. is always
going to announce them many months ahead. This time things were different, though.
P.I.A.'s boss Yasumasa Ishizuka and his sales manager "Winni" Andres agreed notto breathe a single word about the new CD player DP-700 until the upcoming spring
season. Then all of a sudden there was a complete reversal of events when AUDIO
was searching some worthy components to be reviewed especially for the 30th
anniversary issue which you are holding in your hands now.
The focus was to look for products which in the past 30 years were closely tied
up with AUDIO - just like the ones from Accuphase. In view of this project it can well
be assumed that the gentlemen from P.I.A. had an insight and, more or lessovernight, took the wraps off their secret named DP-700. However the claims they've
put onto this new integrated player would even make a seasoned audio reviewer tobecome filled with doubts: Accuphase, so they said, has seriously aimed at the same
sonic fingerprint of the brilliant transport/DAC combination DP-800/DC-801 we tested
in issue 03/2007.
Private Transport
That's gutsy, indeed! Even on the premise that the Japanese would, after all, haveaccess to their own transport developed for this dream combination, rather than toacquire it off the shelf from OEM suppliers. Because only two months after thetriumphant appearance of the two-part digital reference Accuphase presented theDP-500, an integrated player featuring the genes of the combination, like for instancea stripped-down version of the proprietary transport. No question, the "little one" issonically on top, although it could not quite get to the 125 sonic points of the DP-75(tested 09/2006) of which the modified transport was originally from Sony still. Albeit
in view of the substantial price difference in favour of the DP-500 it's all forgiven.
Now from claims to reality: there is no denying the fact that the dream score of140 sonic points for Accuphase's super-reference DP-800/CD-801, actually deemed
impossible, has in the first place been achieved by the transport. And this can beeasily proved by simply docking a variety of D/A converters to the DP-800. Then justlisten and be amazed…..

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Music is Flowing
As soon as the Accuphase transport was calling the tune, the subordinate external
DACs could really shine and show what they are made of. With the DP-800 assource the flow of the music was simply more beguiling. In all fairness, though, wemust say that the symbiosis of perfect timing and the tonally correct, breathing - andthus breathtaking - rendition could be completely experienced only in combination
with the DC-801!
The same transport is at work in the DP-700. Some bits and pieces not
stripped down or axed? No way! A further glance at the circuitry design andcomponents used for making this player is leading us to a clear conclusion: it deems
that the engineers at Accuphase have principally taken all ingredients of the bigcombination and put them into one pretty cabinet.
Aficionados of SACD will be enjoyed to read that DSD-signals also are
optimally processed in the DP-700. They are first routed through an upsampler whichis then going to pass them on to eight D/A converters per channel, with a minute timedelay each. This exceedingly sophisticated circuitry is simulating a digital low-passfilter, which, by the way, is an obligatory component in every SACD player. However
no other manufacturer is building that filter as elaborate as Accuphase.
No Compromises
It's true that PCM-signals from CD are processed by the DP-700 without thatluxurious detour, but nevertheless with the same consequence. The sum of allcomponents is eventually determining the quality: just have a look at those accurate
circuit boards holding the D/A converters. They are equipped with the finest parts andmade of Teflon in order to ensure the lowest possible dielectric constant. The good
performance can also be owed to the robust mechanism of the components, whichhave been tuned to the most efficient low-resonance behaviour from head to toes.
Well, the latter are made of cast iron with a high content of carbon - a material whichis said to provide excellent damping properties.
It is usually a rather time-consuming business to audition and evaluate CD
players in the AUDIO listening room. In particular when candidates from the upperclass (also price-wise) are to compete with each other. The triumphal procession of
the DP-700 however came all of a sudden and rather surprisingly.
The listening panel was gathering there for a completely different reason,
because the evaluation of the Klipsch Palladium (see review page 170) had more orless divided the jury into two camps. Some colleagues regarded this speaker to besonically at the same level as the magnificent KEF 207/2 while others considered it
not quite on par. The testing continued by listening to the entire stock of Pure-MusicCDs (Nr. 1 to 5) in order to get to a final verdict. At this time the DP-78 was still used
for playing back these disks. Lothar Brandt and yours truly could not agree with
Bernhard Rietschel to have the Klipsch scoring 103 sonic points, while Malte Ruhnke
was torn between KEF and Klipsch. For the time being, we just didn't come to afriendly agreement.
Perhaps changing the source component could lead to more clarity, said oneof my colleagues and switched from DP-78 to DP-700. Exactly this happened
although in a different way than we expected. Klipsch and KEF were still in a neckand-neck race, yet sonically the DP-700 left the DP-78 behind with an almost
shameless sovereignty. It goes without saying that the sonic differences between
2speakers are in any case bigger than between two digital sources. But KEF andKlipsch were all of a sudden playing at the same sonic level (this is why Messrs.
Brandt and Pfeiffer eventually gave up their objections against 103 sonic points for
the Klipsch Palladium). In the meantime the DP-700 has pushed the benchmark for
integrated CD players to a much higher level.
What has become evident through the initial checks was further emphasised in
the following in-depth listening session: with the DP-700 each CD sounded different
from what we've heard to this date. Sonic windows were opened and which allowed amuch deeper insight into the genesis of the sound carrier. You'll hear the recordingvenue in a more authentic way. You'll learn and understand with ease how differently
mixing consoles and microphones can sound. And you'll simply get to know muchbetter those people who make music and those who record it.
SUMMING UP
There is currently no way around Accuphase if one is demanding the best possible
rendition of CD. Yes, the top components of the Japanese are mastering SACD as
well, but in view of the absolutely outstanding performance with CD this could only beconsidered a nice additional benefit. It may sound paradox but owing to the latest
developments of Accuphase it's actually no longer necessary…

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