#1Accuphase E-600

The summit isgolden
The biggest integrated amplifier from the dream brand Accuphase has
been around for some years now – and has good prospects. A paragonof sustainability. The reason for this report.

The best stories are still taken from real life. This is the hallmark of our magazine, thisis our program. When I think of Accuphase, two incidents come to my mind. One ofthem occurred before my professional career as a hi-fi journalist.
Back then I was a collector who kind of put every available Deutschmark into hishobby: I was addicted to devices, the sheer smell of new components stimulated
euphoric reactions in my brain and purchase actions at my dealer’s. Probably for thisreason I owned not one, but two Thorens TD 126 turntables, one even with an EMT
configuration. Finally there were three (!) tape machines rotating on the shelf, and mylast acquisition in the early days was a Nakamichi Dragon, a cassette recorder for amind-boggling 4000 Deutschmarks. Since my former expert retailer plausibly assuredme that amplifiers actually didn’t produce any sonic differences, I went for a Luxman
amp which I used to drive Cabasse loudspeakers. So that’s how my equipment
looked in the end. An end which I hadn’t foreseen.
A dull day in the mid 1980s. November weather – perfect for hi-fi. Without concretebuying ambitions I was heading for my new dealer, some sort of a guru who, inmarked contrast to his rather prosaic predecessor, had of course found and waspreaching about huge differences in the realm of amplifiers. It was him who
recommended to me a used amp combination from Accuphase, »just for a trialcheck«.
Without overly high expectations I was hauling the units, which had a champagne
finish already back then, into my apartment and – at the first note played over thecombination it was crystal clear that I had made a mistake. My whole collection
turned out to be a succession of errors. What the cozy Luxman had withheld, slurredor sunk, was now revealed by the Accuphase amps with a naturalness I had neverknown at all. With one of my tape machines (Tandberg TD 20 A SE) the sound image
was airy, floating, and only the turntable brought resolution, space, color anddynamics into play.
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This had consequences, in fact for life. Because instead of buying now the secondhand Accuphase amps, I sold off my entire system tutto completo. A mix of wrath andcognition: next time I wanted to do everything right and focus on the sound – thismarked the birth of a high-ender.
Since that time I haven’t had merely some vague notion, but a precise idea of»sound«; this is due to Accuphase. My friends were wondering then why, after sellingmy stuff, I didn’t put up a »budget« replacement system. I couldn’t have endured itssound, hence the complete waiver. Some years later I realized my conception withan adequate audio system which was indeed aimed at the sound. The amplifier camefrom Accuphase.
A decision which I made all alone, neither affected by test reviews nor by my dealer’s
missionary zeal. And even less so by all the arguments which I heard years later inthe daily editorial routine. That the service of the distribution was excellent and evenafter long years older devices could be brought back to top condition time and again.
In the late 1980s I didn’t give a fig about this. Or that a second-hand Accuphasewould hardly go down in value. How should I have become aware of that back then?
Sustainability, this term didn’t even exist in those years of the former Federal
Republic. Today it is vital, because people like you and me are essentially willing tospend a lot of money for a commodity only if the investment pays off: by means ofdurability and value maintenance. And not by dwindling fun.
A second and yet untold episode regarding Accuphase shows more than any
previous reviews, including my own, why the products from the Japanesemanufacturer are so incredibly stable in value.
In the early 1990s the Accuphase C 280 V preamp served as reference in thelistening room of my editorial office at the time. Every day it was called in for delicate
acoustical decisions – and at the end of its stressful job it looked accordingly»battered«: the fine wooden enclosure showed scratches, the permanent setup andremoval in the listening room had left their marks.
Had my great moment arrived? Its performance didn’t suffer in the least from that.
Therefore I had a hard time parting with this gem: it had always been able to defend
its reference status and was unthroned only by its successor C 290. When I asked
them if I couldn’t buy the ex-champion I got an unexpected answer: by no means
would they sell it in its current cosmetic condition. This would only be possible after acomplete restauration, however at a price that wouldn’t be attractive for me. Got that?
Nobody, above all no journalist, will ever get something even a tadbit cheaper fromthe German Accuphase distribution office; no percentages, no discounts and, as amatter of principle: no gifts. Others also make good products, yet this consistentsales demeanor ensures the value maintenance. Simple and efficient.
Sublime sound, durability and nonetheless maintenance of value, these are thecriteria. And for this reason alone you can’t go wrong with the purchase of an E-600.
But what makes it stand out against the smaller integrated models and also theseparate pre- and power amp components next in size? Are we speaking of nuancesor are we talking about acoustic worlds? As paradoxical as it may seem: both is true.
The currently most expensive and at 25 kilograms (55 lbs) also the heaviest2

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integrated amp from the Japanese brand comes as a class-A amplifier. Instead ofamplifying the negative and positive half-waves in class A/B mode with a variable
quiescent current as usual, the class A mode takes care of the sine waves in theirentirety.
Class A has its price Roughly simplified, this works with a continuously highquiescent current. Hence the A-class draws quite substantially on the public mains
grid. In order to keep both the heat development and the costs within an acceptable
limit, the power output is rather modest on principle. Specifically the E-600 produces
no more than 30 watts per channel. Which are either fully sufficient – or not. Thisdepends primarily on the choice of loudspeakers you wish to drive and also a little on
the favored music genre.
If, for example, the latter is dominated by synthesizer basses and shall be playedback at extreme levels, an E-600 threatens to hit the brick wall. In that case a lessexpensive, but more powerful Accuphase might be the better option.
Nuances or worlds? But this is not the rule. Objectively – here my veteran hi-fi
dealer was right somehow – the sonic gradations between amplifiers, especially ifthey come from a manufacturer like Accuphase, are small. Just nuances. To turnthem into »worlds«, each must conquer for themselves. »Enrich life throughtechnology« is the motto of the Japanese. The high-end lover is open-minded, hetakes the time and allows himself to be taken on musical discovery tours, literally»working playfully« on this world. Here the E-600 is a wonderful companion to him, adoor opener into the concert halls and studios of these, past and future times.
Subjectively (and for the owner also objectively) the gaps to less sophisticated amps
will get bigger and more important solely through dealing with this matter. Theinteresting fact which is mocked – because not understood – by non-high-enders: anintegrated amplifier such as the E-600 does not obstruct the way up to the next level,i. e. the separation between pre and power amp. In the royal class this life-enrichinggame will begin once more. A game that, with Accuphase, knows no losers. This
excellent E-600 can be the end of all dreams or merely a step towards this goal.
It is important not to go round in circles (like I did with my first chain before
Accuphase), but to gain more experience and musical understanding with each newstep.
How we evaluate I have been listening intensely to the E-600 for several months.
Attesting a notable strong suit in one of the typical audio disciplines to it, is not justdifficult for me, I’m simply running out of words. Or maybe that way: the E-600 does
everything right and this with an absolute naturalness. How well it performed,becomes evident only after it’s been removed again and other components take its
place. For instance, this total silence from the speakers in »idle« mode, without any
hum or noise artefacts. Or if afterwards you are running a preamp which undoubtedlysounds fantastic, but whose volume control can’t compare regarding the sheer tactile
quality of that on the E-600. Those are virtues an Accuphase owner knows andappreciates. Coupled with a musicality which redlines or – equally fatal – favors nogenre. The 600 is the culmination of integrated amp building. It’s the end of the road.
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Which is why we have presented it in this issue. At the very front.
Joachim Pfeiffer

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