Vintage vs Modern; Class A vs A/B

[sngreen]

Mine are only these, not the highest end but fully enjoyable. All restored and recapped to silmic ii.

 

[dualazmak]

Mine are only these, not the highest end but fully enjoyable. All restored and recapped to silmic ii.

Oh, they look really beautiful and elegant, I may even say sexy (in a good way, of course)!

 

[dualazmak]

You didn't misunderstand -- I did initially mean to keep the E-480, and sell the Pioneer's. But, now I've decided to hold on to the Pioneer.

Yeah, I'm kind of tired of these expensive, pure Class A amps. I plan to build a DIY VFET amp in Class A, so that should cover my "warm", Class A needs. What I meant by "successor" is the next Class A/B from Accuphase -- I guess it would be called the E-580? I can totally see that being an amazing integrated based on what I've learned about Accuphase thus far.

Hello @St1n,

The next to come Accuphase "Class A/B" integrated amp will be E-5000 to be released soon in November 2021 as one of their 50th Anniversary Series amps;
https://www.audiounion.jp/ct/detail/new/185136/
http://www.shimamusen.com/shopdetail/000000013661/004/017/X/page1/order/
https://www.audioshark.org/accuphase-168/true-false-20202.html

The price will be JPYen 990,000 inclusive of 10 % sales/consumption tax.

I will inform you again after Accuphase would put it in their official site in Japanese and in English.

 

[St1n]

It appears they may have increased the size of the meters. I bet it'll be a great amp.

 

[Andretti60]

"Vintage" is not the opposite of "Modern", it means an old product that has still high quality and high value. Therefore you can find good (and bad) product both old and new. I loved my old Pioneer (70s), I liked my NAD (80s) but I was not in love with that, now I really love my new Yamaha (all of them classic stereo integrated amps).
As for class A versus AB, it is the same thing: a power amp should not necessary be built in class A to be good. I don't remember who said that a class A is good if you want to fry eggs
If we really want to compare technologies, we should look for AB versus D

PS my amp now is the Yamaha SA301 model, a modern amp that looks like an old one.

 

[dualazmak]

...
PS my amp now is the Yamaha SA301 model, a modern amp that looks like an old one.

Do you mean Yamaha A-S301?
I use A-S301 in my multichannel multi-way multi-amplifier configuration...

 

[Andretti60]

Do you mean Yamaha A-S301?
I use A-S301 in my multichannel multi-way multi-amplifier configuration...

You are right of course, I don’t know if it was a typo or a Freudian slip, my first amp was a Pioneer SA5300… maybe my brain still thinks that the prefix SA is the right one I was 15, how much I loved that little fellas (my avatar is actually the source selector knob)

 

[NiagaraPete]

I have one of these which I consider to one of the best amps ever built.

Linn Klout Amplifier - Linn's Best Amplifier Ever - 1 of 3

Very highly reviewed and regarded amplifier from Linn, employing a single pair of transistors for each channel providing the most natural amplification you will ever hear. Especially when paired with Linn speakers like some of our currently available offerings. All made in the UK. We have a...

skyfiaudio.com

 

[dualazmak]

Accuphase just launched 50th Anniversary Integrated Class-AB amp, E-5000.
https://www.accuphase.co.jp/cat/e-5000.pdf
https://www.accuphase.co.jp/model/e-5000.html

Looks their English web page for E-5000 is still under construction...

 

[Doodski]

Accuphase just launched 50th Anniversary Integrated Class-AB amp, E-5000.
https://www.accuphase.co.jp/model/e-5000.html
View attachment 162666
Looks their English web page for E-5000 is still under construction...

I checked and it is not available in Canada. I found this dealer and they don't publish Accuphase prices. I noticed upon googling Accuphase over the recent months that there is a noticeable difference in pricing from country to country. Some dealers asking much higher prices. The company seems to be on a very good trajectory.

 

[anmpr1]

I found this dealer and they don't publish Accuphase prices. I noticed upon googling Accuphase over the recent months that there is a noticeable difference in pricing from country to country. Some dealers asking much higher prices.

If you have to ask the price...

Reminds me of Jerry del Colliano's Cello story:

Qualification was demanded of Cello customers. There was no sense in doing a 2-hour demo of a $400,000 system for a guy who wanted to spend $40,000.

Mark and Joe (Cali) were best at getting people to buy more. They were both expert at picking up on the context clues of somebody who could really spend some money if you showed them something fantastic. A typical Hollywood customer would show up wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and some nice loafers.

Cars are a good way to qualify a client but in LA they can also be a bit of a misnomer. ...indicators were his shoes, belt and the best indicator was his watch. To the untrained eye, the guy with a white t-shirt and jeans might look like anybody else out shopping for toys on a Saturday afternoon in Hollywood, but when the guy is driving an Aston Martin, wearing Tods and rocking a Patek Philipe perpetual calendar – you know you have a well qualified customer even before you start asking about his system.

I'm not sure Accuphase is in that league. The Accuphase buyer is probably more like the Mac customer... from the 'Cello perspective' he's the 'guy in the $40,000.00 category. Flies First Class to get to the out of state dealer, instead of using part of his alloted share in a Cessana Citation fractional owership plan.

Nice amp. Needs the Accuphase rosewood sleeve. Could the company be cheapening out? Probably optional at x-tra cost.

 

[Willem]

This is just porn. These days the real thing is called Benchmark, Hypex or Purifi.

 

[dualazmak]

Accuphase is intentionally restricting their export sales less than 30 % of their total business revenue in order to keep existing as an pure Japanese independent sustainable company;
http://www.accuphase.com/company_profile/a2_management_policies_2.pdf

 

[anmpr1]

This is just porn. These days the real thing is called Benchmark, Hypex or Purifi.

It's just a different market with different aesthetics--> the look and feel, mostly. Benchmark is great, but looks like it was yanked out of a studio rack. Nothing wrong with that--for your studio it doesn't matter. And given its form factor and specs it might be exactly what you want. For the living room? That could be something different, altogether.

Think of it this way, when a guy like Lars Kern leaves his house, he might pull out of the driveway in the S8. Why not be comfortable with nice surroundings? He's got a tough day ahead. But when he gets to the Nürburgring Nordschleife, for work, he's climbing into the GT-2RS. At that point he really doesn't care about a full leather package, or the B&O audio system.

Both get the job done, and both have their place. Just depends upon whatever one is attempting to accomplish. Disclaimer: I have an AHB-2, but it's hidden in a cabinet behind glass doors. If I owned an Accuphase it'd be on top of the furniture, because I'd want to watch the meters and admire the gold-tone metalwork and rosewood sleeve.

 

[Willem]

I had to look up to see who is Lars Kern - I am not into cars, and even less into cars that pollute this much. As for esthetics, I think the AHB2 actually looks rather clean compared to the hideous retro styling of many of these (admittedly rather good) Japanese amps of days gone by. I would certainly not want to see them in our modern minimalist interior, however well they are made. My preference is for invisible electronics. The good news is of course that with modern amplifiers like the AHB2 and Hypex/Purifi electricity consumptions is now so low that they can safely be kept in a cabinet. It is bad enough that for good audio we have to put up with big speakers.

 

[dualazmak]

Both get the job done, and both have their place. Just depends upon whatever one is attempting to accomplish. Disclaimer: I have an AHB-2, but it's hidden in a cabinet behind glass doors. If I owned an Accuphase it'd be on top of the furniture, because I'd want to watch the meters and admire the gold-tone metalwork and rosewood sleeve.

Let me join you with my "Disclaimer"...

Before deciding my amplifiers in my multichannel multi-driver multi-way multi-amplifier stereo project/system, I have actually and intensively tested/evaluated various amps, including AHB-2, in my listening environments, and finally I selected four "integrated amps" as shared here. You would please find my latest setup at here in post #636 on the setup sharing thread.

 

[ZolaIII]

Well it's a complex question really. Vintage as real vintage restored ones or vintage looking alike one's. For instance modern Yamahas with vintage looks and vintage Sanken transistors. Interestingly enough no one mentions vintage implementations with later high tire STK's which should be comparable to modern top tier class D one's regarding SINAD.
Currently have a mid tier Yamaha N402D which is nothing extraordinary but quet OK and call me crazy but thinking of pairing it with Avantone CLA 10 to round it up and call it a blast from the past.

 

[dualazmak]

Also,,, I presently use really reasonably priced Yamaha A-S301 to drive my super tweeters, and even Greg Timbers uses "reasonable and budget" Pioneer Elite A-20 for compression drivers (super tweeters) in his extraordinary expensive multichannel stereo system with JBL Everest DD67000 which he himself designed and developed, as I shared here.

Yes, the right person (gear) in the right place, a little bit out of the scope of this thread, though.

 

[anmpr1]

It is bad enough that for good audio we have to put up with big speakers.

I think it is generally the case that large loudspeakers sound subjectively better. Not all the time, but as a general rule. At least in a medium to large room. Definitely in a large room. As much as I can intellectually appreciate these little two-way Klippelized wunderkinds, unless I was using them up close with my PC, I'd not be interested. That said, I can certainly understand why people are interested in them--especially the self-powered shoe boxes. Practicality and all that is hard to beat.

One point we can make about Accuphase--they are not 'vintage-looking'. Accuphase gear has pretty much always looked the way it does. So it's not as if they are going after the 'vintage look' as some sort of marketing plan--> that is, to capitalize on the nostalgia thing. For instance, in the way Harman/Samsung has, in their recently released JBL SA750 amp.

Accuphase is like McIntosh in that respect, although IMO Mac has pushed it over the cliff with their latest look, which is almost a self-parody of their traditional stuff. I'm talking about green LEDs in the tube sockets and so forth.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

Accuphase is like McIntosh in that respect, although IMO Mac has pushed it over the cliff with their latest look, which is almost a self-parody of their traditional stuff. I'm talking about green LEDs in the tube sockets and so forth.

UGH, now my day is ruined by being reminded of McIntosh's recent obsession with useless and obvious bling.