Welcome to Accuphase!

Accuphase’s philosophy is simple, and one which aligns perfectly with ours:

“Music is an oasis that refreshes us in our journey of life. Music can be soothing, exciting, exhilarating. It can move our hearts and enrich our lives, which is the goal Accuphase seeks through audio technology.”

Based in Yokohama, Japan, Accuphase Laboratory, Inc. was established in 1972 by former Kenwood engineer Jiro Kasuga who, unhappy at Kenwood’s direction, enrolled engineers from Marantz and Luxman to form Accuphase (ACCU from ‘accurate’ and PHASE, a crucial element of audio technology).

At Loud & Clear we have long been admirers of Accuphase, an admiration which has only grown over the past few weeks as we have listened in detail to our first products.

We begin our Accuphase journey with integrated amplifiers: E-380, E-650 and E-800. Here we are unboxing our demo E-800:

First, the E-380 integrated amplifier.
This Class AB amplifier packs plenty of punch at 120W per channel; enough to drive most loudspeakers with ease. It’s a refined sound, with pace and rhythm to lure you in to keep playing music till the small hours. Very nice indeed.

Next up, the E-650 is the first in range with Accuphase’s renowned full Class A operation.
The 30W per channel into 8 ohms would equate to a far, far larger Class AB amplifier and so can power harder to drive loudspeakers, along with the beauty and delicacy that Class A amplification makes its own. It is also the first integrated with the proprietary Balanced AAVA volume control. A significant step up in audio quality, refinement and musical enjoyment. Very impressive indeed.

Now the flagship integrated, E-800. This one almost made us fall off our seats, it is that good.
A wholly new full Class A amplifier with 50Wper channel into 8 ohms – again equating to a far, far larger Class AB amplifier. It also has the Accuphase proprietary Balanced AAVA volume control, which eliminates outside noise and gives an unsurpassed signal to noise ratio. The E-800 will drive even the most demanding loudspeakers with ease, and with a performance to rival high quality separate amplifiers. Incredible musicality, detail, rhythm, boogie, everything; this amplifier just oozes quality. Absolutely staggering.

All of the Accuphase integrated amplifiers have two modular slots to accommodate optional extras of a DAC and/or phono board to be inserted – each sold separately and simplicity itself to install.

Prices for these amplifiers range from £6,800 to £15,000.

We are loving all three of these integrated amplifiers and can’t wait to get our hands on our next Accuphase products.

If you’d like to have a listen to any (or all*) of these, just get in touch on 0141 221 0221 or glasgow@loud-clear.co.uk. We can also walk you through the pricing of all the products and optional boards/upgrades.

*Swapping out of amplifiers in A/B comparative demonstrations here may take us a little longer than usual – the E-800 weighs in at 36kg! 😂