Review and Measurements of Accuphase E-270 Amplifier

[AndreaT]

Really, gear should last a long time. I've found it's hit and miss. Everyone has a story, I guess. For longevity sake, it's best not to go proprietary, if possible.

I've said it before, as much as I love and respect Benchmark, if my AHB ever goes south, and if the company folds, it's just an expensive doorstop. On the other hand, if my 1960 era Mk IV stops, I can easily buy replacement parts and fix it on my kitchen table. I can even change the circuit with aftermarket third party designs. Dave Hafler and Ed Laurent made sure it would work that way... long after they left the scene. I really respect their work, just as much as the work of John Saiu and his team!

I did recap the ST-35 twice during its lifetime, renovated the boards and a couple of resistors, not to mention the ecc83 and el84 tubes…

 

[DSJR]

I do like the comment earlier that a slight reduction in power amp gain seems to 'fix' the issue (which I believe os only shown because the rest is so competent), but to do that, a skilled techie would need to get inside. If that's all it is needed, maybe Accuphase themselves could investigate and incorporate it in future revisions?

 

[DSJR]

Well, I threw caution to the wind and attended the Accuphase Saturday at my local dealer. looking at the brand from a retired distance, I can say it looks absolutely gorgeous, the CD tray perfectly dead centre and slick to use and all the other 'stuff' that ocd types really love about properly engineered audio gear. I had all but bypassed this brand in the past because it's so expensive and knowing what performance is achieved from cheapo folded tin boxes these days BUT and it's a HUGE BUT, if you're able to afford such gear, then why the bloomin' hell not? At least Accuphase provide measured specs which do seem to have third party verification and they keep parts for decades apparently.

Another thought re the gain situation. many mature aspiring owners of brands like this still have legacy analogue sources with low output (by today's standards) and it's my suggestion that if the gain structure internally was altered to suit best SINAD practise, these legacy sources wouldn't be amplified enough, meaning a higher gain line stage and maybe less SINAD again? I no longer have the ability to check this for myself in real terms, taking an old FM tuner (even an Accuphase one which are now legendary) and seeing where the volume control lies compared to a digital source of 2V single ended output.

Nah, the SINAD chasers here can run with the latest Class D wonders or maybe a 'humble' Benchmark power amp which looks too much like a dinky Quad 405 even if it is larger ). There's something about luxury products from Accuphase and Luxman (latter has no third party distributor in the UK so is slightly cheaper than Accuphase but seemingly no less well engineered I feel in the mainstream products) that really does set them apart, especially today - products our grandchildren may still be able to enjoy long after we've gone and long after the bent tin whizz-bang SINAD-specials have ended up in landfill due to high cost of service or transport back to China. You lot here may disagree and that's fine, as there's room for everyone. Me? I've had those wet dreams over flashy gear decades ago and can settle with my motley collection of geriatric and now creaky ugly old gear which still works as transparently as it needs to for my purposes.

 

[AndreaT]

Well, I threw caution to the wind and attended the Accuphase Saturday at my local dealer. looking at the brand from a retired distance, I can say it looks absolutely gorgeous, the CD tray perfectly dead centre and slick to use and all the other 'stuff' that ocd types really love about properly engineered audio gear. I had all but bypassed this brand in the past because it's so expensive and knowing what performance is achieved from cheapo folded tin boxes these days BUT and it's a HUGE BUT, if you're able to afford such gear, then why the bloomin' hell not? At least Accuphase provide measured specs which do seem to have third party verification and they keep parts for decades apparently.

Another thought re the gain situation. many mature aspiring owners of brands like this still have legacy analogue sources with low output (by today's standards) and it's my suggestion that if the gain structure internally was altered to suit best SINAD practise, these legacy sources wouldn't be amplified enough, meaning a higher gain line stage and maybe less SINAD again? I no longer have the ability to check this for myself in real terms, taking an old FM tuner (even an Accuphase one which are now legendary) and seeing where the volume control lies compared to a digital source of 2V single ended output.

Nah, the SINAD chasers here can run with the latest Class D wonders or maybe a 'humble' Benchmark power amp which looks too much like a dinky Quad 405 even if it is larger ). There's something about luxury products from Accuphase and Luxman (latter has no third party distributor in the UK so is slightly cheaper than Accuphase but seemingly no less well engineered I feel in the mainstream products) that really does set them apart, especially today - products our grandchildren may still be able to enjoy long after we've gone and long after the bent tin whizz-bang SINAD-specials have ended up in landfill due to high cost of service or transport back to China. You lot here may disagree and that's fine, as there's room for everyone. Me? I've had those wet dreams over flashy gear decades ago and can settle with my motley collection of geriatric and now creaky ugly old gear which still works as transparently as it needs to for my purposes.

Yes, as they say in Lombardia “Il mondo è bello perché è vario” (The world is beautiful because it shows differences”).

In the end, what counts it is how happy you are with your purchase.

However, ASR offers the discerning music lover a tool, and an indispensable one, to steer and guide your choices illuminating them with an extra layer of knowledge.

When Amir writes “There is lack of isolation/independent power supply for the pre-amp.” (among other observations and measurements) he offers to us an important element to go beyond the marketing brochure (and the impression of Accuphase Saturday) and to decide if our $ 5,000 are well spent on this integrated amplifier.

My experience in buying music electronics dates back from the days of cassette players and MM Shure Bros. styluses, when to achieve a S/N ratio > 40 dB was a crowning achievement, THD < 0.5 % was near SOTA, and 17 W/channel was considered a power amplifier. I have experienced a gigantic improvement through better DACs, better speakers and more powerful amps, and greater usability through digital audio and music servers. This progress has been possible also through reviewers like Amir who help us to reward the best and their innovation, modulating the evolutionary pressure for electronics along the citius, altius, fortius motto.

It is impossible to prove how better electronics have elevated my enjoyment of music, because in the past 50 years I have also improved my home (larger listening room), my chair (Stressless Ekornes), the distance of the speakers from the back wall, and probably my overall focus when lost in Music.

In the end, you should purchase the Accuphase if you decide it is affordable and enjoy it. I prefer to spend less and achieve better results (power, THD, SINAD) because it makes me happier and it allows me to purchase more Music, more BSO subscriptions, more books and Blu-ray.

 

[Maximus89]

I love how a budget amp in their lineup not measuring well can ruin an entire brands lineup here. Their top of line units are built to extremes. They always show their measurements and accurate specs. They also do come with their unbalanced analog interconnects- possibly due to Japan xlr configuration with pin 3 hot so unbalanced is for more universal use? Would that different xlr config alter measurements if Amir was using a US xlr config input and cable?

 

[DSJR]

Yes, as they say in Lombardia “Il mondo è bello perché è vario” (The world is beautiful because it shows differences”).

In the end, what counts it is how happy you are with your purchase.

However, ASR offers the discerning music lover a tool, and an indispensable one, to steer and guide your choices illuminating them with an extra layer of knowledge.

When Amir writes “There is lack of isolation/independent power supply for the pre-amp.” (among other observations and measurements) he offers to us an important element to go beyond the marketing brochure (and the impression of Accuphase Saturday) and to decide if our $ 5,000 are well spent on this integrated amplifier.

My experience in buying music electronics dates back from the days of cassette players and MM Shure Bros. styluses, when to achieve a S/N ratio > 40 dB was a crowning achievement, THD < 0.5 % was near SOTA, and 17 W/channel was considered a power amplifier. I have experienced a gigantic improvement through better DACs, better speakers and more powerful amps, and greater usability through digital audio and music servers. This progress has been possible also through reviewers like Amir who help us to reward the best and their innovation, modulating the evolutionary pressure for electronics along the citius, altius, fortius motto.

It is impossible to prove how better electronics have elevated my enjoyment of music, because in the past 50 years I have also improved my home (larger listening room), my chair (Stressless Ekornes), the distance of the speakers from the back wall, and probably my overall focus when lost in Music.

In the end, you should purchase the Accuphase if you decide it is affordable and enjoy it. I prefer to spend less and achieve better results (power, THD, SINAD) because it makes me happier and it allows me to purchase more Music, more BSO subscriptions, more books and Blu-ray.

That's absolutely fine and what I've done with selected used gear for my own cheap systems (some was inherited though). I wouldn't say Accuphase is poor performance though (maybe just a few gain tweaks could sort it as suggested earlier possibly) and this one tested here was a bottom model too in fairness, albeit an expensive bottom model!

I come at it from 1973, where I first discovered B&O when they were a proper separates HiFi company which looked elegant and Sony's better stuff, then 1974 as Saturday boy in one of a tiny handful of UK high end stores, where we routinely sold Crown amps with (now) huge IMF transmission lines (the DC300A amp back then was judged a 180W - ish per channel animal to be treated with huge respect) and fondly remembered big Spendors and AR LST's amongst others (we had a pair of JBL L200's when I started but they're ridiculous size for UK rooms sadly. We took on (Kensonic) Accuphase, BGW, Phase Linear, Dunlap Clarke, Ampzilla and, once Linn and Naim had fried our young brains into submission, our sales manager took on Threshold and Electro Companiet (we foolishly preferred the Naim 250 but looking back.......). Naim today is silly-high money for the finish, feel and basic performance is just good-enough judging by Stereophile tests (admittedly better than the 80's 'CB versions).

Nah, I don't have the funds and do agree for the likes of me, ASR is a very valued and trusted resource (as long as we're not wetting ourselves over cheap SINAD chasers which go wrong a bit too often and lack power, inputs and so on. The looks and feel matter so much you know if the head is taken out of the equation and you can afford the engineering.

All this stuff I mention above above would cost many thousands if made today and surely some of it is still worthy enough to be considered for a GOOD vintage system. Give me a few days and the eye-fest will be put back in the 'box it came out of' and won't matter any more

P.S. I'm still going to try to remind you lot that the eyes have it where the average audiophile is concerned. A pair of small anonymous boxes with the best Purifi modules inside may well 'do it' better (on paper if not ears) and for far less money, but it ain't the same

 

[Willem]

I agree looks matter. However I find this retro bling fugly. I think I have said it before, but for me the potentially invisible Sonos Amp is the best looking modern electronics, out of sight, but also when in full view.

 

[DSJR]

I agree looks matter. However I find this retro bling fugly. I think I have said it before, but for me the potentially invisible Sonos Amp is the best looking modern electronics, out of sight, but also when in full view.

Oh Willem, that makes it so boring

I'm caught between you and @restorer-john here. I LOVE the old bling-Fi I used to sell (and own sometimes), acknowledging that a goodly proportion of it wasn't very good under the skin (crossover distortion and related? TID and inability at very low impedances), but I also have to move to this decade and the rise and rise of Class D

You see, I all but ignored the Quad 606 as I couldn't stand its original appearance, yet even the original performed well and the latest Artera version is delightful for a now vintage design.

 

[MinimumFaze]

Great review and thread here. Has there been any follow-up to confirm if the XLR SINAD penalty exists on other Accuphase integrateds?

 

[Bob101]

I agree looks matter. However I find this retro bling fugly. I think I have said it before, but for me the potentially invisible Sonos Amp is the best looking modern electronics, out of sight, but also when in full view.

I too think looks matter Big Time, however it's silly to choose them over performance. A few years ago I was in the market for an entry-level high-end integrated, so of course I eyed the likes of Accuphase and Luxman. They look stunning, and even if they're not your style, their looks ooze quality. Price of entrance: starting around 5.000,-, but :what are you going to do?
Well, I got the Adiophonics HPA400 with Purify modules. With a nice Dac/preamp: 2.200,-; and if you'd want to throw vynil in the mix, well, that would be just another box and cables I guess. Accuphase asks 1.000,- for the optional card...
Recently I have had the chance to hear the purify side by side with the Accuphase E270 at my place, and it's no contest. More clarity, more power, more bass control. Purify FTW. Well, it looks 'ok' I guess and it's very black, but every time I play music I couldn't be happier.
Class D is the future, and it sounds great. Clean, efficient power in a compact frame. AB will become a niche like valves. Not soon, but eventually. And that's a good thing. When was the last time thing in audio got better AND cheaper?

 

[AweLoi]

As I understand this review most of the problems are connected to bad power isolation for the pre. Then this might then not be a problem with Accuphases standalone preamps since they do not share PSU with power amp? I am currently looking at a used standalone Accuphase C-2150 preamp. Looking at the specs for that preamp the XLR problem does not seem to be present either if specs are honest. It is also a pricier product than the E-270. Do you guys think this might be a safe buy? I am a little bit hesitant after reading this review.

 

[Willem]

How about an RME ADI-2 as a preamp? The regular one only has digital inputs (which is fine with me), but there is now also a more expensive version with an analogue RIAA equalized input. I don't think you can get anything better.

 

[GXAlan]

As I understand this review most of the problems are connected to bad power isolation for the pre. Then this might then not be a problem with Accuphases standalone preamps since they do not share PSU with power amp? I am currently looking at a used standalone Accuphase C-2150 preamp. Looking at the specs for that preamp the XLR problem does not seem to be present either if specs are honest. It is also a pricier product than the E-270. Do you guys think this might be a safe buy? I am a little bit hesitant after reading this review.

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If you live in the US, consider drop shipping this to Amir for testing. The older E270 is not a fully balanced design which shows up in the XLR having worse performance than the unbalanced one. This Accuphase is rated at a much higher SNR. You can expect the SINAD to be around 108 dB at 18 dB of gain.

That said, Accuphase is like buying a Leica film camera and comparing it to a Minolta CLE, which is a film camera that also uses Leica optics. You are paying for looks, feel of the knobs, and repairability and sustainability. You can get gear that sounds as good for less, but with less reliability. It also depends if you are going to take advantage of the phono stage. If you have modern gear, you may not need gain on your preamp and just need attenuation, at which point the Schiit Freya S is a surprisingly impressive option.

I say this only because I went through the process myself. I had Accuphase Class A gear which really made my JBL S2600’s sing. Sighted bias? Probably. But still, it sounded great. However unlike the concept of the iMac being silly (“when you upgrade your computer, you are forced to upgrade your monitor”) I have fully adopted active speakers, and then ended up selling my Accuphase gear.

My Marantz PM-10 remained my favorite pure analog integrated amp. It doesn’t have pre-out’s, which also limits it somewhat. If I didn’t run active speakers, that would be my setup of choice.

 

[AweLoi]

That said, Accuphase is like buying a Leica film camera and comparing it to a Minolta CLE, which is a film camera that also uses Leica optics. You are paying for looks, feel of the knobs, and repairability and sustainability. You can get gear that sounds as good for less, but with less reliability. It also depends if you are going to take advantage of the phono stage. If you have modern gear, you may not need gain on your preamp and just need attenuation, at which point the Schiit Freya S is a surprisingly impressive option.

Yes, I am aware of the fact that I am paying for the brand and looks. However, it is a used one so I would pay only 57% of retail price. And Accuphase have a good second hand value so I might be able to get all of my money back if I feel like moving on to something else.

I am thinking of pairing it with a NAD M23 power amp and use the Accuphase to ad a little flavour. Today I have a Classé class AB power amp.

Yes, I am planning to buy both the phono card and the DAC card.

I live in Europe so I won't send it to Amir unfortunately.

My plan B is to go all in with the Benchmark setup but I am somewhat concerned that it might sound to sterile for my taste. The "studio sound" is a little to dead in my opinion but I have not heard their stuff so who knows, I might love their gear.

And thanks for the input!

 

[GXAlan]

Yes, I am aware of the fact that I am paying for the brand and looks. However, it is a used one so I would pay only 57% of retail price. And Accuphase have a good second hand value so I might be able to get all of my money back if I feel like moving on to something else.

That’s a good way to think about it. Imagine if you could rent Accuphase gear for 20€ a month? Worth it. Even if you lost 500€ reselling it after 2 years, it would have been a reasonable trade off.

I am thinking of pairing it with a NAD M23 power amp and use the Accuphase to ad a little flavour. Today I have a Classé class AB power amp.

I have owned Accuphase Class A gear and what I notice is a very consistent sound. If you want flavor, you’ll want something like tubes .

Have you tried the Marantz PM-10? On the used market, they are real bargains and it puts in one box, a great phono stage, an Accuphase level pre-amp and bridged HypeX NC500s along with a bunch of Marantz specific safety features on top of the HypeX items.

The PM-10 doesn’t get much respect but it is that very clean but just a tiny bit of non-transparency that works out well.

I only sold mine for financial reasons since I could keep the PM-10 *and* the active speakers I was looking at (Meyer Sound Amie).

If the PM-10 was sold by Accuphase, it would be 2X the price just for the name alone.

 

[AweLoi]

I have owned Accuphase Class A gear and what I notice is a very consistent sound. If you want flavor, you’ll want something like tubes .

Have you tried the Marantz PM-10? On the used market, they are real bargains and it puts in one box, a great phono stage, an Accuphase level pre-amp and bridged HypeX NC500s along with a bunch of Marantz specific safety features on top of the HypeX items.

I have a tube preamp (Vincent SA-T8) today as well as a tube RIAA (an EAR 834 clone) but I'm somewhat fed up with tubes. There is some hassle with tubes and also I can hear the distortion and it bugs me. Sure, neither my Vincent or the EAR are the priciest and the best tubes can offer, but I have listened to high end tube gear and I tend to like solid state better, but not to analytical and sterile. I have not listened to Accuphase and if I am going to buy this pre I won't have time to do so since it might be sold to someone else, but from what I have read Accuphase is a little warm and relaxing but also resolving so looks like it might be something for my taste. Might be worth a shot.

The Marantz certainly looks interesting too.

 

[Willem]

There are virtually no, if any, sonic differences between well designed solid state amplifiers, whether preamp or power amp.They are simply transparent, and that is all there is to it. So my advise, and particularly if you are in Europe, is an RME ADI-2 DAC/preamp, and a Hypex or Purifi based power amplifier such as by Boxem. Both are completely neutral, measure exceptionally well, and are well made. The RME DAC/preamp is more attractive than many alternatives because it also has traditional preamp goodies like tone and balance control, plus extras such as dynamic loudness, parametric filters, and more. The controls allow you to shape the sound to your room and your preference.