[English Translation Test Accuphase E-650 / Hifi & Musik Journal 03/2018]

Hush… The SecretAmplifiers from Accuphase have a character trait which makes them unique.
Friends of the Japanese brand are pleased to hear this, while others try to turnthis quality into something negative. We’re talking about »tranquility«. And
about signal-to-noise ratios which the competition can achieve at best with
their amps turned off.
No exaggerating: I own a number of CDs with a dynamic range that’s not of this – atpresent rather data-castrated – world: audio carriers that were once recorded by theBerlin Radio Symphony Orchestra and of which expert sound engineers produced an
uncut version with natural, uncompressed dynamics. Alternative versions of typicalbulk CDs, so to speak, on which every little cough, every creaking of chairs was
meticulously erased digitally and where the »loud« dynamic peaks were removed
and the »soft« valleys filled up only to make them also car-compatible. Pure musicwith no limitations: up to 60 dBs of dynamic range are on my agenda or, very
concretely, waiting in the throat of a CD player. Users who – and this I take for
granted in the reader of these lines – put money into hi-fi and high-end, becausemusic with all its facets is holy to them – will appreciate these dynamic gems.
There’s always room for improvement
They will already be happy to leave their amp’s volume control untouched in very
quiet musical moments just like in brutally loud passages: let the music flow, leave it
their way it was originally meant to be. For each turn of the level control destroys theillusion of authenticity. But what takes us away from the impression of attending areal live concert? It’s the little, supposedly inevitable »sounds« of the reproducing
electronics: a more or less »shorn« noise floor which always propagates inpianissimo scenes, in the worst case even accompanied by audible hum. You know
that, right? Keeping both troublemakers under control, curbing and taming them more
and better from one development stage to the next, would in fact be one of thedriving forces of high fidelity. But what if they actually vanished completely? Then themusic would indeed come out of »nothing«, and especially the dynamic valleys would
sound as convincingly natural in the living-room as in the concert hall. The perfectillusion. This is precisely what constitutes an Accuphase amp. Here it shines.
Amazing when starting your relationship with it, later it will become a matter of course.
That’s what Accuphase carries to extremes, at least I don’t know of any other(present) manufacturer who can do similar things all along the »amp line«. But let’s
not be taken in by misunderstandings: the superb S/N ratios, which greatly promote
the musical enjoyment, are nowhere near sufficient to honor an amplifier with areference status.
Music is motion
Music will only capture me if it doesn’t simply »take me along«, but »carries meaway«. It’s got to thrill me with its drama, its grief, its spontaneous esprit, hence its
capability to arouse true, unfiltered emotions and, ideally, »fuel« them. So may I
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introduce – the Accuphase E-650 integrated amplifier which largely works in class-A
mode, a little less expensive than its predecessor E-600, but again heavier than theold one by 21 oz. A component which delivered what others are promising with
empurpled words: big, life-like cinema, the transformation of the canned music intoreality. There’s more to it than dull marketing, and the E-650 is not a product by giftedmusicians either, but by very demanding engineers who know a lot about music andwho above all do not shy away from one thing: costs. When it has a positive effect on
the reproduction. Just take a look at the volume control, which is visually identical toolder models. However, behind it sits an incredibly sophisticated level sensor
mounted in a highly rigid, solid one-piece frame made of extruded aluminum. In
terms of opulence, precision and construction effort, the volume adjustment
controlled with it – called Balanced AAVA – is currently not topped by any amplifier ofwhich I know (see also next double page, above left). When viewing this in wonder,
one will no longer be amazed at the one-off signal-to-noise ratios of the E-650. A
campaign of material which extends over the entire construct: please hold your ear
above this behemoth of a toroidal transformer (with the enclosure closed!). Can you
hear something? Nope, not even the faintest idea of an ultra soft hum is audible.
It’s a kind of magic
Lift the 650 with the strength of your arms: this fine amp puts over 55 lbs on thescales, and not a single ounce of it is for show, everything serves the sound, nothing
but the sound. At times I used to describe older Accuphase amplifiers as having asound comparable to a placid lake where you could look down to its ground, but thewater’s flow fell by the wayside a little. At this point we recognize progress: in thepast few years I didn’t come across any other integrated amplifer which could present
the spectrum between absolute silence and explosive power development in such apersuasive manner. By the way, it never seemed to be strained while doing so, andeven with rather fierce attacks, where you’d rather fear for the lives of certain drivers,
the E-650 kept its supremacy. Sure, by then it had left its class-A mode behind andwas working in the AB mode, yet I couldn’t discern any sound losses during theentire test period. It’s a good thing that even Accuphase amps from the pastmillenium are gladly accepted as payment. So if you own one, you should now toying
with the idea of replacing it – after the first operating hour you’ll know why. To allothers I can only recommend to shortlist Accuphase.
Joachim Pfeiffer2