ACCUPHASE E350

Macspur

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ACCUPHASE E350

Hi,

For all of those who have been following my attempts to divorce myself from the Sugden Masterclass and I know some of you think I must be mad for even trying! I'm back to tell you I have finally found an amp I feel I will be happy with for quite a few years to come!

It may be a bit hasty, it only arrived yesterday, but I quickly realised I was listening to pure class! even though it's not Class A.

The E350 has recently been superceded by the E360 and I wasn't at all sure whether to hold tight and save like mad to be able to afford the newest model in the range, but for the price I have paid and the price I've got for the Sugden, it really wasn't such a great risk, in financial terms anyway. Also these amps rarely come up on the second hand market, so I knew I probably wouldn't get another chance to buy one of these at this price for along time, so just had to go for it.

At 47.6Lbs it's about 10Lbs heavier than the IA-4 and is beautifully machined with a champaine gold fascia and black bodywork.

The input selecter knob clunks firmly with every turn, the volume pot is as smooth as silk. In a concealed solid metal damped fold down flap there are a variety of dials... speaker selection, source recording and best of all, tone controls... these can be bypassed, but with these additions I am now able to tame that boom issue that I've been battling with for so long. It also has a superb built in headphone amp.

How does it sound? well as much as I respect the Sugden, I always felt, apart from the slight base issue, in my system, the music was a bit like looking at an old black and white photograph... this isn't to say the Accuphase colours the music, but it does have a much more lush textured SQ, with greater dynamics and really brings the best out of the Harbeths, having much more grip and control.

I did enjoy experimenting with isolation products and do believe they are a good solution in some systems, but I really don't think I will need to go down that route now... as for cables, I will still be looking to change the SC's and adding matching jumpers, but no urgency now.

Mac
 

CnoEvil

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Mac, that's brilliant......I was hoping that would be the case.

Do you still have the Cardas GR p/c, and have you tried it on the E350?
 

ebentjerodt

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Congratuations Mac!! Accuphase make one of the best (and beauthiful and well made in my opinion) integrated Ams. just have a audition to the E560 wiht the SF Cremonas M and Diapason Astera.I realize why some call it the GOLDEN SOUND of Accuphase. enjoy!!!!
 

Macspur

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BigH said:
Your link does not work,

Did you buy it new, can't find any prices, roughly how much do they cost?

Sorry about that, search for perreaux amps if you want to read the full post.

I bought it second hand... brand new would be approx 6K, but like I say the E360 has replaced it now and that's going for approx 6.5K.

Mac
 

Macspur

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CnoEvil said:
Mac, that's brilliant......I was hoping that would be the case.

Do you still have the Cardas GR p/c, and have you tried it on the E350?

Thanks Cno.

No unfortunately, someone else bought the GR before I made up my mind... I do still also intend to revisit the PC question too.

Mac
 

Macspur

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ebentjerodt said:
Congratuations Mac!! Accuphase make one of the best (and beauthiful and well made in my opinion) integrated Ams. just have a audition to the E560 wiht the SF Cremonas M and Diapason Astera.I realize why some call it the GOLDEN SOUND of Accuphase. enjoy!!!!

Thank you... the guy who I bought the amp from had it paired with the SF Cremonas and loved the combo... only reason he sold was for financial reasons.

Mac
 

chebby

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Accuphase and Harbeths!

Rub it in why don't you?

cry.gif
 
Wow, that's 'pride of ownership' squared!

It is such an enchanting brand, with all its history and survival. Not to mention the luscious sound and drop dead looks. Even the spec takes me back to old days of 'DC to light' wide-bandwidth.

Congrats on a great buy, which will surely give you years of enjoyment. My old Nak has something of the same feel, and I very nearly bought an Accuphase FM tuner about 10 years ago. When I reluctantly returned the tuner the dealer asked me to describe the sound. His answer: you just described the Nordost interconnect I lent you!

Enjoy. :)
 

BigH

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Macspur said:
BigH said:
Your link does not work,

Did you buy it new, can't find any prices, roughly how much do they cost?

Sorry about that, search for perreaux amps if you want to read the full post.

I bought it second hand... brand new would be approx 6K, but like I say the E360 has replaced it now and that's going for approx 6.5K.

Mac

Thanks, I see that is a bit much for me.
 

Macspur

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nopiano said:
Wow, that's 'pride of ownership' squared!

It is such an enchanting brand, with all its history and survival. Not to mention the luscious sound and drop dead looks. Even the spec takes me back to old days of 'DC to light' wide-bandwidth.

Congrats on a great buy, which will surely give you years of enjoyment. My old Nak has something of the same feel, and I very nearly bought an Accuphase FM tuner about 10 years ago. When I reluctantly returned the tuner the dealer asked me to describe the sound. His answer: you just described the Nordost interconnect I lent you!

Enjoy. :)

Thank you, I really do feel fortunate. got a Nak myself, without doubt the best cassette deck I ever owned... used to spend hours putting together compilations onto tape... kind a miss those days.

Mac

Mac
 

CnoEvil

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plastic penguin said:
Congrats Mac. I do hate you, though. ;)

Oh how I yearn just to hear one. Mind you the overall cost, you'd be better off saying Jupiter, Venus, Mars...

Enjoy! :bounce:

You should keep your eye out for a Luxman.
evil.png
 

Macspur

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plastic penguin said:
Congrats Mac. I do hate you, though. ;)

Oh how I yearn just to hear one. Mind you the overall cost, you'd be better off saying Jupiter, Venus, Mars...

Enjoy! :bounce:

Thank you PP... you too are most welcome to come and have a listen.

I have been pretty fortunate in my wheeling and dealing and the overall outlay hasn't been too painful.

Quite honestly, music plays such a major part in my life... I'm not in the best of health generally so I don't feel at all guilty for the expense... I don't drive so don't have that expense to consider, don't smoke, don't watch much TV, drink in moderation... as long as I've got music, manage to have a decent holiday once a year and the footy team wins, I'm happy!

O, and most importantly, a lovely wife to share it all with

Quite a simple guy really.

Mac
 
Macspur said:
plastic penguin said:
Congrats Mac. I do hate you, though. ;)

Oh how I yearn just to hear one. Mind you the overall cost, you'd be better off saying Jupiter, Venus, Mars...

Enjoy! :bounce:

Thank you PP... you too are most welcome to come and have a listen.

I have been pretty fortunate in my wheeling and dealing and the overall outlay hasn't been too painful.

Quite honestly, music plays such a major part in my life... I'm not in the best of health generally so I don't feel at all guilty for the expense... I don't drive so don't have that expense to consider, don't smoke, don't watch much TV, drink in moderation... as long as I've got music, manage to have a decent holiday once a year and the footy team wins, I'm happy!

O, and most importantly, a lovely wife to share it all with

Quite a simple guy really.

Mac

Wicked. That's all that matters. Happy environment. Happy hi-fi. :cheers:
 
CnoEvil said:
plastic penguin said:
Congrats Mac. I do hate you, though. ;)

Oh how I yearn just to hear one. Mind you the overall cost, you'd be better off saying Jupiter, Venus, Mars...

Enjoy! :bounce:

You should keep your eye out for a Luxman.
evil.png

Do you know (Michael Caine mode), can't think of any amp that'll usurp the Leema for the money I paid. As long as it doesn't croak it'll remain the mainstay of the system.
 

robhifi

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The same Accphase lover here!!

I used to own a e460 before switching to the c-2420, a35 combo early this year.

They work so so well with Spendor 1/2 (and Spendor A6 before that).

By the way, I am Chinese living in Shanghai.
smiley-cool.gif
 

Macspur

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robhifi said:
The same Accphase lover here!!

I used to own a e460 before switching to the c-2420, a35 combo early this year.

They work so so well with Spendor 1/2 (and Spendor A6 before that).

By the way, I am Chinese living in Shanghai.
smiley-cool.gif

Hi and welcome.

Before I decided on the E350, it was recommended I go for an E460... any idea how, apart from more power, they differ? Just curious to know as much as I can about Accuphase, such fantastic kit! just a pity they're so expensive in the UK.

Why did you change from the E460 to the pre/power?

Have you ever heard Harbeth with Accuphase? a beautiful match too.

Mac
 

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