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Accuphase A-300 Class A monaural power amplifier, front

The Accuphase story

Designed, built, tested and serviced in Yokohama since 1973, to specifications that are guaranteed, not typical.

Founded 1972 in Tokyo, Japan, as Kensonic Laboratory; in Aoba ward, Yokohama since 1973 by Nakaichi Kasuga and Jiro Kasuga, with Shigemasa (Jim) Saito · accuphase.com

The history and technologies of Accuphase of Yokohama, Japan, and what Pearl Audio keeps on the floor.

Accuphase was founded on June 1, 1972, in Tokyo as Kensonic Laboratory, Inc. by the brothers Nakaichi and Jiro Kasuga, who left Trio-Kenwood with a small number of colleagues, among them Shigemasa "Jim" Saito, to build components that would rank among the best in the world. For about a year Jiro Kasuga's house in Ota ward served as office and design studio. The brand name joined "accurate" with "phase," which the founders considered an important factor in audio technology, and was so unfamiliar that the company was often assumed to be foreign. The founders chose a small production run over mass production, with design, manufacture, sales and service all kept in-house. In June 1973 the company moved to Aoba ward in Yokohama, where it remains, and in August 1973 the first products went into production: the C-200 preamplifier and P-300 power amplifier, followed in September by the T-100 tuner. That autumn the P-300 won the Gold Prize at the Japan Compo Grand Prix, which the company credits with launching its growth, and in May 1974 the E-202, built on the P-300 and C-200 circuits, began the integrated-amplifier line at 100 watts per channel and ¥198,000.

The 1970s brought the M-60 monophonic amplifier in 1975, the C-240 preamplifier in 1978 and the P-400 in 1979. On its tenth anniversary in 1982 Kensonic Laboratory took the name of its products and became Accuphase Laboratory, Inc. Digital arrived in July 1986 with the DP-80 CD transport and DC-81 processor, the company's first two-box digital front end, and the DP-70 integrated player followed in 1987. In December 1991 the A-100, a pure Class-A monophonic amplifier of 100 watts with a MOS-FET output stage, opened the Class-A A series; the A-50 stereo followed in May 1993 and the A-20 in May 1995. The DC-91 processor of 1992 used sixteen parallel 20-bit converters, the beginning of the MDS parallel-conversion principle still used in every Accuphase player. The PS-500 Clean Power Supply of March 1996 and the PS-1200 of April 1997 treated the AC line as a waveform to be corrected by an analog amplifier stage, and the DG-28 Digital Voicing Equalizer of May 1997 began the DG series of measurement-driven room equalizers.

In June and July 2000 the DP-100 transport and DC-101 processor became Accuphase's first separate SACD system. In July 2002 the C-2800 preamplifier, at ¥1,100,000 and shipped alongside the M-8000 monoblock, introduced AAVA, the Accuphase Analog Vari-gain Amplifier, a volume control with no variable resistor in the signal path; every preamplifier and integrated amplifier the company has made since uses it. The P-7100 stereo amplifier of 2006, with the C-2810, brought the instrumentation-amplifier topology, the MCS+ parallel circuit and current feedback together in a flagship, and the DP-700 of December 2007 carried MDSD, the company's double-speed conversion for DSD. The C-3800 of July 2010 added Balanced AAVA, two AAVA modules per channel in a fully balanced pair. The A-200 Class-A monoblock followed in July 2012, the P-7300 in December 2015, the A-250 mono in April 2017, the T-1200 tuner in April 2018 and the DP-750 player in June 2018.

Accuphase marked its fiftieth year early and over several seasons. The E-800 of November 2019, described by the company as the pinnacle of Class-A integrated amplifiers, was the first of the anniversary series. The C-3900 preamplifier of July 2020 was the second, introducing Dual Balanced AAVA and ANCC, the Accuphase Noise and distortion Canceling Circuit, which cancels noise and distortion at the volume control's output stage and gave the company the lowest preamplifier noise in its history; the C-47 phono stage and DG-68 equalizer arrived the same year. The DP-1000 transport and DC-1000 processor of August 2021 were the third, and the E-5000 integrated came that November. In the anniversary year itself, 2022, the P-7500 doubled the P-7300's power to 300 watts per channel, the E-4000 brought ANCC to the middle of the integrated line in November, and in October the A-300, five years in development and the fifth anniversary model, delivered 125 watts of Class A per monoblock. The A-300 made its US debut at AXPONA in April 2023 and in 2024 was named Stereophile's Amplification Component of the Year.

The current range filled out quickly. In 2023 came the C-2300 preamplifier and AD-60 phono board in June, the P-4600 in October, and the DP-770 SA-CD player and the A-80 Class-A stereo amplifier in November; Japan's Audio Meiki Award 2024 gave the A-80 its Gold award and the DP-770, C-2300 and P-4600 Silver. In 2024 the E-700 became the first Class-A integrated with Balanced AAVA, the E-800S succeeded the E-800 with the theme of ultra-low noise, and the A-48S replaced the A-48. In 2025 five models followed: the E-3000 in April, merging the E-380 and E-280 into one entry model, the C-57 phono stage in May, the T-1300, the fifteenth tuner since the T-100, in June, the C-3900S in October and the DP-570S in November. In 2026 the DC-500 converter, DP-470 player and DG-78 equalizer were listed as new alongside the company's third-ever price revision in Japan, effective October 1, 2026, and on September 29 the E-6000, at 260 watts per channel the most powerful integrated amplifier Accuphase has made, was announced.

Accuphase Laboratory today is run by President Masaomi Suzuki and Executive Vice President Fumiaki Wada from the same Yokohama address it moved to in 1973, with Jim Saito as corporate advisor. It is privately held, reports more than 20 years without debt and an equity ratio above 85 percent, employs 84 people, recorded net sales of ¥3.1 billion in the year to September 2025, and has released more than 250 models, about five a year. It makes about 5,000 units annually, slightly more than twenty a day, each operated and tested for at least 24 hours and logged on a history card; the file of cards is complete back to 1973. It sells through about 100 dealer companies in Japan and distributors in more than 60 countries, Axiss Audio USA among them, and publishes a lifetime after-service policy covering every model it has made and a five-year warranty. The company's stated vision is that the ideal audio equipment is equipment that disappears; its slogan is to enrich life through technology.

Milestones

  1. 1972 Kensonic Laboratory founded On June 1, brothers Nakaichi and Jiro Kasuga, late of Trio-Kenwood, and a few colleagues including Jim Saito found Kensonic Laboratory in Tokyo and adopt the Accuphase name, joining accurate and phase. Jiro Kasuga's house is the first office.
  2. 1973 Yokohama; C-200 and P-300 The company moves to Aoba ward, Yokohama, in June, where it remains. The C-200 preamplifier and P-300 power amplifier enter production in August, the T-100 tuner in September; the P-300 wins the Gold Prize at the Japan Compo Grand Prix.
  3. 1974 E-202, the first integrated Built on the P-300 and C-200 circuits, 100 watts per channel, ¥198,000: the beginning of the integrated-amplifier line that runs to the E-3000 and E-6000.Accuphase E-3000 Integrated
  4. 1982 Accuphase Laboratory, Inc. On its tenth anniversary Kensonic Laboratory takes the name of its products, unifying brand and company.
  5. 1986 DP-80 and DC-81 The first two-box digital front end, in July; the DP-70 integrated CD player follows in 1987 and the DC-91 of 1992, with sixteen parallel 20-bit converters, begins the MDS principle.Accuphase DP-770 SA-CD Player
  6. 1991 A-100: the Class-A line A pure Class-A monophonic amplifier of 100 watts with a MOS-FET output stage, in December. The A-50 stereo follows in 1993 and the A-20 in 1995.Accuphase A-80 Class A Power Amplifier
  7. 1996 Clean Power Supplies The PS-500 of March 1996 and the PS-1200 of April 1997 correct the AC waveform with an analog amplifier stage; the DG-28 Digital Voicing Equalizer of May 1997 begins the DG series.
  8. 2000 First SACD system The DP-100 transport and DC-101 processor, in June and July, are Accuphase's first separate SACD components.
  9. 2002 C-2800 introduces AAVA In July the C-2800 preamplifier, ¥1,100,000, replaces the variable resistor with sixteen switched current amplifiers. Every Accuphase preamplifier and integrated since uses AAVA.Accuphase C-2300 Preamplifier
  10. 2010 Balanced AAVA The C-3800 of July runs two AAVA modules per channel as a balanced pair. The P-7100 of 2006 had already brought the instrumentation-amplifier topology, MCS+ and current feedback together in a flagship, and the DP-700 of 2007 carried MDSD conversion for DSD.Accuphase P-7500 Power Amplifier
  11. 2019 E-800 opens the anniversary series In November the Class-A E-800, in the company's words the pinnacle of Class-A integrated amplifiers, is the first of the fiftieth-anniversary models.Accuphase E-800S Integrated
  12. 2020 C-3900: ANCC and Dual Balanced AAVA The second anniversary model, in July, cancels noise and distortion at the volume control's output with the Accuphase Noise and distortion Canceling Circuit, and records the lowest noise of any Accuphase preamplifier. The DP-1000 and DC-1000 follow in August 2021 as the third.
  13. 2022 Fifty years: P-7500, A-300, E-4000 The P-7500 doubles the P-7300's power to 300 watts per channel; the A-300 monoblock, five years in development and the fifth anniversary model, delivers 125 Class-A watts in October; the E-4000 brings ANCC to the middle of the integrated line in November.Accuphase A-300 Mono Power Amplifiers (pair)
  14. 2023 C-2300, P-4600, DP-770 and A-80 The C-2300 and AD-60 phono board in June, the P-4600 in October, the DP-770 and A-80 in November. Japan's Audio Meiki Award 2024 gives the A-80 Gold and the other three Silver; the A-300 debuts in the US at AXPONA in April.Accuphase P-4600 Power Amplifier
  15. 2024 Stereophile Amplification Component of the Year The A-300 takes Stereophile's award. The E-700 becomes the first Class-A integrated with Balanced AAVA in April, the E-800S succeeds the E-800 in October, and the A-48S replaces the A-48.Accuphase E-700 Integrated
  16. 2025 E-3000, C-57 and three more The E-3000 merges the E-380 and E-280 in April, the C-57 phono stage arrives in May, the T-1300 tuner in June, the C-3900S in October and the DP-570S in November. The E-6000, 260 watts per channel, follows in October 2026 as the most powerful integrated the company has made.Accuphase C-57 Phono Amplifier

Accuphase at Pearl Audio

Pearl Audio is an authorized Accuphase dealer in Portland. We help customers choose among the integrated amplifiers, the preamplifier and power amplifier pairs, the Class-A monoblocks and the DP-770 according to their loudspeakers, room and sources, and we configure option boards, phono loading and gain settings before delivery. We deliver and set up Accuphase systems in the home and compare components there when the choice is close. We also handle warranty registration and service arrangements for Accuphase owners.

All Accuphase at Pearl Audio

Signature technologies

The engineering behind Accuphase

Accuphase gives its technologies names because each one solves a specific problem. Here is what each does, where it came from, why it matters in a system, and what you may hear.

A volume control with no variable resistorSince 2002

AAVA volume control

AAVA, the Accuphase Analog Vari-gain Amplifier, sets volume by switching among sixteen binary-weighted current amplifiers instead of passing the music through a potentiometer. Introduced in the C-2800 of 2002, it is in every current Accuphase preamplifier and integrated amplifier. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

A conventional volume control is a variable resistor in the signal path, and its wiper, its tolerance and its changing source impedance all affect the sound. AAVA, introduced in the C-2800 preamplifier of July 2002, removes it. The incoming music signal is converted into current by sixteen voltage-to-current amplifiers whose gains are weighted in binary steps, from one half down to 1/65,536. The volume knob is only a position sensor: a CPU reads it and closes the switches that correspond to the chosen level, the selected currents are summed, and a current-to-voltage converter turns the result back into a voltage. Accuphase counts the combinations at two to the power of sixteen, or 65,536 steps. Because the signal never passes through a potentiometer or a resistor ladder, the circuit's impedance, noise and frequency response are the same at every setting, left-right tracking depends only on fixed resistors, and there is no contact to wear. Every current Accuphase preamplifier and integrated amplifier uses AAVA: the E-3000 and E-4000 in single-ended form, the others in the balanced versions described separately.

Why it matters in a system

The volume control is the one circuit every signal passes through at every listening level, and most controls are at their worst at the low settings where people actually listen. AAVA's noise and channel balance do not change with the knob position, so a late-night level has the same character as a loud one, and the control behaves the same after twenty years of use.

What you may hear

Andre Jennings of The Absolute Sound noted that Accuphase feels this approach removes the effects of impedance changes; in practice that is a background that stays quiet and an image that stays centered as the volume comes down.

Two volume controls per channel, in mirror imageSince 2010

Balanced AAVA and Dual Balanced AAVA

Balanced AAVA runs two complete AAVA modules per channel as a fully balanced pair from input to output, so induced and internal noise cancel. It arrived in the C-3800 of 2010; the C-3900 of 2020 doubled it again as Dual Balanced AAVA, and the C-2300, E-700 and E-800S carry the balanced form today. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Balanced AAVA, introduced in the C-3800 preamplifier of July 2010, runs two complete AAVA modules per channel as a fully balanced pair from input to output. The positive and negative halves of the signal travel through identical circuits, so noise induced from outside and the noise generated inside the circuit appear equally on both legs and cancel at the output. Accuphase quotes the C-2900's Balanced AAVA as cutting noise 21 percent against the earlier C-2850. The C-3900 of July 2020 went further with Dual Balanced AAVA, which drives two complete Balanced AAVA units in parallel; summing two identical circuits lowers their uncorrelated noise by the square root of two, and the company reported output noise 30 percent below the C-3850, the lowest in its preamplifier history at the time. The C-2300 of 2023 adapts the C-2900's Balanced AAVA to a smaller chassis, with separate left and right circuits and transformers, residual noise of 5.6 microvolts and a guaranteed signal-to-noise ratio of 111 dB. The E-700 of 2024 was the first Class-A integrated amplifier with Balanced AAVA; the E-800S and the E-6000 use it as well.

Why it matters in a system

A preamplifier's job is to pass a small signal to a power amplifier over a cable, and balanced operation is the standard engineering answer to the hum and interference that cable picks up. Doing the volume control itself in balanced form means the signal is never converted to single-ended and back inside the box, and the gains in noise show up at the low levels where detail lives.

What you may hear

Positive Feedback's Wojciech Pacuła, on the C-3900, found a signal path with no variable resistor and symmetrical from input to output; the practical result is a lower noise floor and quiet backgrounds behind soft passages.

Accuphase Noise and distortion Canceling CircuitSince 2020

ANCC

ANCC is a feed-forward circuit that senses the noise and distortion at the AAVA's current-to-voltage converter and injects their opposite, cancelling them at any volume position. Introduced in the C-3900 of 2020, it is now in the integrated amplifiers from the E-3000 up, the current players and the C-57 phono stage. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

ANCC stands for Accuphase Noise and distortion Canceling Circuit. It is a feed-forward sub-amplifier attached to the current-to-voltage converter at the end of the AAVA volume control. The sub-amplifier samples the noise and distortion components present at the converter's input and injects a current of equal size and opposite polarity, so those components are cancelled before they reach the output. Because the correction acts in the I-V stage rather than on the volume setting, Accuphase states that it is effective at every volume position, and the company describes it as patented. ANCC first appeared in the C-3900 preamplifier of July 2020, came to an integrated amplifier with the E-5000 in November 2021, and reached the middle of the line with the E-4000 in 2022, whose predecessor E-480 had none. It is now in the E-3000, E-4000, E-700, E-800S and E-6000 integrateds and the C-3900S preamplifier, in the I-V converters of the DP-770, DP-570S, DP-470, DC-1000 and DC-500 digital products, and in the moving-coil head amplifier of the C-57 phono stage. The C-2300 and C-2900 preamplifiers use Balanced AAVA without it. In the E-6000 the sub-amplifier is built around a 1.5 nanovolt-per-root-hertz operational amplifier.

Why it matters in a system

The last active stage before the output sets the floor under everything upstream, and it is usually where a volume control's residual noise and distortion are added. Cancelling them there, rather than filtering afterward, is why the E-4000 is quoted at 20 percent lower noise than the E-480, and why the same circuit could be moved into a D/A converter's output stage and a phono stage's input.

What you may hear

Peter Katsoolis of StereoNET, describing the E-3000's noise-cancelling feed-forward stage, called the amplifier a sublime music-maker that is endlessly listenable; the audible gain is a quieter background at low volume settings.

Rated at the Class-A limit, doubling into every halving of impedanceSince 1991

Pure Class A: the A series

Since the A-100 monoblock of 1991, Accuphase has built a line of pure Class-A amplifiers whose output devices conduct over the full rated output, eliminating crossover distortion. The A-300 delivers 125 Class-A watts per monoblock, the A-80 65 per channel, and the E-800S and E-700 integrateds 50 and 35, each doubling as impedance halves. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

In a Class-A output stage both halves of the push-pull pair conduct all the time, over the full rated output, so the crossover region where one device hands over to the other never enters the signal. The cost is heat and efficiency: the A-80 draws 260 watts from the wall for a rated 65 watts per channel. Accuphase's Class-A line began with the A-100 monophonic amplifier of December 1991, a pure Class-A MOS-FET design rated at 100 watts into 8 ohms; the A-50 stereo followed in 1993 and the A-20 in 1995, then the A-200 of 2012 and the A-250 of 2017. The ratings are set at the Class-A limit and double as impedance halves: the A-300 monoblock delivers 125 watts in Class A into 8 ohms, 250 into 4, 500 into 2 and 1,000 into 1 ohm; the A-80 65, 130, 260 and 520 watts; the E-800S integrated 50 watts rising to 300 into 1 ohm; and the E-700 35 watts into 8 ohms and 140 into 2. Above the Class-A region the amplifiers continue in Class AB rather than clipping, which is why a 65-watt A-80 behaves into a difficult loudspeaker like a much larger amplifier.

Why it matters in a system

Most loudspeakers present impedances that dip well below their nominal figure, and an amplifier that doubles its power into each halving is delivering current rather than a specification. Class A adds to that an output stage with no switching artifacts at any level, which is why Accuphase reserves it for its flagship monoblocks and its two top integrated amplifiers.

What you may hear

Jason Victor Serinus, reviewing the A-300 in Stereophile, wrote that the more he listened, the more he wanted to listen, and summed the amplifiers up in one word: joy. Michael Johnson of The Absolute Sound called the E-800S's output high-current Class A watts.

Current, control, and a MOS-FET where the relay used to beSince 1991

Paralleled output stages and guaranteed damping factor

Accuphase drives its Class-A amplifiers with banks of parallel power MOS-FETs and its Class-AB amplifiers with high-current bipolar transistors, up to ten push-pull pairs per channel. A MOS-FET switch in place of the speaker relay and balanced remote sensing at the terminals let the company guarantee damping factors of 600 to 1000. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Accuphase uses two families of output device. Power MOS-FETs, fast and thermally stable with a gentle overload character, drive every Class-A amplifier: ten push-pull pairs of 33-ampere devices per channel in the A-300, ten N-channel and ten P-channel in parallel in the A-80, six pairs in the E-800S and four in the E-700. High-current bipolar transistors drive the Class-AB amplifiers: ten parallel push-pull pairs of 150-watt, 15-ampere devices per channel in the P-7500, six in the P-4600, four in the E-4000 and three in the E-3000. The E-4000 marked the change in the integrated line, replacing the E-480's three-fold MOS-FETs with four-fold bipolars matched to the P-7500. Two further measures turn that current into control over the loudspeaker. The mechanical speaker relay has been replaced in every current model by a MOS-FET switch with an on-resistance as low as 0.96 milliohms in the E-700, and balanced remote sensing takes the feedback from both signal and ground at the speaker terminals, so the resistance of the internal wiring and the switch falls inside the loop. Accuphase guarantees the resulting damping factors: 600 for the E-3000, 800 for the E-4000 and P-4600, and 1000 for the E-700, E-800S, P-7500, A-80, A-300 and E-6000, with measured figures the company puts well above 2000.

Why it matters in a system

Damping factor is the ratio of the loudspeaker's impedance to the amplifier's output impedance, and it describes how firmly the amplifier holds the woofer between notes. Paralleling output devices lowers that impedance and spreads the heat; the MOS-FET switch and remote sensing remove the last few milliohms that a relay and a run of wire would add. The guaranteed figures, not typical ones, are what the owner can rely on.

What you may hear

Chris Frankland of hi-fi+ described the E-700's bass as deep, tight, agile and easy to follow. Stereophile noted the A-300's 20 push-pull MOSFETs across two parallel modules; High Fidelity's Wojciech Pacuła called the A-80 full and dense but also fast.

Balanced from input to output, in parallelSince 2006

Instrumentation-amplifier topology, MCS+ and current feedback

Accuphase builds its amplifiers as instrumentation amplifiers, balanced from input to output with equal impedance on both legs, so noise picked up on the cable cancels. MCS+ sums several identical gain stages in parallel to lower noise, and current feedback keeps bandwidth and phase constant regardless of gain. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

An instrumentation amplifier is the laboratory circuit for amplifying a small difference between two signals while rejecting anything common to both. Accuphase builds its power amplifiers on that principle: the balanced input stage, the voltage amplification and the output are balanced from input to output, with equal impedance on the positive and negative sides, so hum and noise picked up on the interconnect appear on both legs and cancel. The P-7100 of 2006 presented the topology in a flagship together with two companions that remain in every current amplifier. MCS+, for Multiple Circuit Summing, runs several identical gain stages in parallel and sums their outputs, which lowers uncorrelated noise by the square root of the number of stages; the A-300's Double MCS+ parallels two complete amplifier units. Current feedback returns the feedback signal as current rather than voltage, which keeps bandwidth and phase response constant regardless of gain and, in Accuphase's words, ensures excellent phase characteristics in the high range. The P-4600's amplification stage is described as entirely comprising an instrumentation amplifier, with its gain selector acting on the input amplifier rather than attenuating the signal, and the C-57 phono stage applies the same current feedback and parallel-transistor input to its moving-coil head amplifier.

Why it matters in a system

The input of a power amplifier is where a few microvolts of noise become audible, and a circuit that treats the two legs of the signal identically rejects what the cable brings in. Parallel stages and current feedback keep the result stable and wide in bandwidth, which is how the P-7500 and the A-300 reach signal-to-noise ratios of 130 dB.

What you may hear

Stereophile observed that the A-300's amplification section operates like an instrumentation amplifier, with equalized input impedance on both sides. Andre Jennings of The Absolute Sound found the C-3850 and P-7300 never ventured into the bright and fatiguing, nor into the soft and dull.

Eight converters per channel, since the DC-91 of 1992Since 1992

MDS and MDSD parallel D/A conversion

Accuphase feeds the same data to several identical D/A converters and sums their outputs, so random conversion error falls by the square root of their number; the DP-770 uses eight per channel. MDSD applies the same array to DSD with half-step clock delays, so it also acts as a linear-phase low-pass filter. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

MDS, for Multiple Delta Sigma, feeds the same data to several identical D/A converter channels and sums their outputs. The signal adds linearly with the number of converters while each converter's random error adds as the square root, so relative error falls by one over root n: eight converters per channel improve performance by a factor of 2.8. Accuphase traces the idea to the DC-91 digital processor of 1992, whose MMB section used sixteen parallel 20-bit converters to approach true 20-bit performance. In MDS+ and MDS++ the converters' outputs are no longer simply added; normal- and reverse-phase outputs are summed in the amplifier stage, which the company says gives excellent circuit stability and extremely low noise. MDSD, for Multiple Double Speed DSD, applies the array to SACD and DSD streams: the parallel converters are clocked with half-step delays and their outputs combined, which doubles the effective time resolution and makes the array behave as a linear-phase moving-average low-pass filter, removing DSD's high-frequency noise without a separate analog brick-wall filter. The DP-700 of December 2007 carried it. The DP-770 uses an ESS ES9028PRO with eight DACs per channel, MDS++ for PCM and MDSD for DSD, with ANCC in its current-to-voltage converters; the DC-1000 uses eight ES9038PRO channels per side.

Why it matters in a system

A single converter chip's errors are fixed by its manufacturer; running eight of them in parallel is Accuphase's way of pushing beyond that limit with its own circuit design rather than a different chip. For DSD, the same array removes the need for a steep analog filter that would otherwise add phase shift at the top of the audio band.

What you may hear

The DP-770 is specified at 0.0004 percent distortion, 121 dB signal-to-noise and 2.2 microvolts of output noise. Edgar Kramer of SoundStage! Australia, hearing the DP-570S, which shares the DP-770's converter, against its predecessor at the factory, found it more refined and neutrally balanced.

A drive machined to a thousandth of a millimeterSince 2000

In-house SA-CD transports and HS-LINK

Accuphase machines its own disc drives rather than buying a mechanism: the DP-770's uses an outer-rotor brushless DC motor under a gold-anodized bridge, with the pickup on viscoelastic dampers. HS-LINK is the company's own interface between its transports, processors and players. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Most disc players, at any price, are built around a purchased drive mechanism. Accuphase machines its own, in a separate process alongside its front panels, and states that the mechanisms are made to a precision of one thousandth of a millimeter. The drive in the DP-770 is a new design: an outer-rotor brushless DC spindle motor under a heavy gold-anodized bridge that the company describes as both a vibration absorber and a rectifier for the turbulence a spinning disc creates, with the optical pickup isolated on viscoelastic dampers of two hardnesses. The player reads SACD and CD, and WAV, FLAC and DSD files from data discs, and shows the sampling rate and the effective bit count of what it is playing. HS-LINK is Accuphase's own digital interface between its transports, processors and players, carried on an HDMI-style cable; Version 2 passes PCM to 384 kHz and 32 bits and DSD to 5.6 MHz. The DP-770 has HS-LINK input and output, so it can serve as a transport for a DC-1000 or DC-500, and takes USB, coaxial and optical inputs to act as the converter for a streamer or computer. Accuphase has built two-box digital front ends since the DP-80 and DC-81 of 1986 and SACD transports since the DP-100 of 2000.

Why it matters in a system

A disc drive is the one moving part in a digital system, and its vibration and servo activity reach the converter as noise and timing error. Building the mechanism in-house also means Accuphase can keep making and repairing it, which matters for a player an owner expects to run for decades.

What you may hear

Fewer artifacts from the transport itself, and a player that stays in service: the DP-770 carries output noise of 2.2 microvolts against the DP-750's 2.5, and Accuphase's published service policy covers every model it has made.

Eight transistors in parallel for the smallest signalSince 2008

Phono stages: the C-57 and the AD-60 board

The C-57 is Accuphase's standalone phono stage, fully balanced, with an eight-transistor parallel moving-coil input, current feedback and ANCC. The AD-60 option board brings moving-magnet and moving-coil input to any current integrated amplifier or the C-2300 through its rear option slots. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Accuphase offers vinyl playback two ways. The C-57 of May 2025 is its only standalone phono stage, the successor to the C-27 of 2008, the C-37 of 2014 and the C-47 of 2020. It is fully balanced, with a moving-coil head amplifier built on eight parallel low-noise bipolar transistors with current feedback and ANCC, and a moving-magnet input on three parallel junction FETs. Gain is 64 or 70 dB for moving coil and 34 or 40 dB for moving magnet; moving-coil loads of 10, 30, 60, 100, 200 and 300 ohms and 1 kilohm are selectable, with 60 ohms new to this model, and each of its four inputs, one of them a balanced moving-coil-only input, remembers its own settings. Input-referred noise is specified at -156 dBV for moving coil and -136 dBV for moving magnet, RIAA accuracy is guaranteed within 0.3 dB from 10 Hz to 20 kHz, and the power supply uses a toroidal transformer per channel and eight 15,000-microfarad capacitors. The other route is the AD-60 board of 2023, which fits one of the two rear option slots in every current integrated amplifier and in the C-2300 and gives moving-magnet and moving-coil input with 66 dB of moving-coil gain; the DAC-60 digital board and the LINE-10 line board fit the same slots.

Why it matters in a system

A phono stage adds more gain than anything else in the system, so its input transistors and its power supply set the noise floor for every record. The option-board approach lets an owner start with an integrated amplifier and add phono or digital inputs later, inside the same chassis, without a second box or a second power cord.

What you may hear

Chris Frankland of The Ear wrote that the C-57 simply makes the music make sense, and that it offers superb sound and good value for money. A quiet moving-coil stage shows up as record surfaces that recede behind the music.

Slightly more than twenty a day, every one tested for 24 hoursSince 1973

Built, tested and serviced in Yokohama

Everything Accuphase makes is designed, built, tested and serviced at one factory in Yokohama. Output is capped at slightly more than twenty units a day, each is run for at least 24 hours before inspection, every unit has had a history card since 1973, and the published service policy covers every model back to the first. Read the deep diveClose

What it does

Accuphase has designed, built, sold and serviced everything it makes from one site in Aoba ward, Yokohama, since June 1973. Production is deliberately limited to slightly more than twenty finished units a day, about 5,000 a year, from a staff of 84. Every unit, not a sample, is operated and tested for at least 24 hours, goes through vibration testing and a final inspection, and carries a history card that logs each process step; the company holds a complete record of those cards since the first product of 1973. Parts come only from suppliers with a Japanese manufacturing base or their authorized Japanese distributors, and published specifications are guaranteed figures rather than best-case ones. Front panels with the smallest mark are rejected and recycled. The service department has run since the company's founding, and the published policy is lifetime after-service: repairs are accepted for every model back to the C-200 and P-300 of 1973 as far as possible, major parts for all models are stored in quantity, hard-to-find parts may be remanufactured in-house, and every unit received gets an overhaul-level inspection. Warranty is five years on audio products sold from June 1, 2023, and a second-owner registration program gives used units two years of coverage. Model cycles run at least four years, some more than ten.

Why it matters in a system

A component bought for decades depends on the company still being there to service it, and Accuphase is privately held, more than 20 years without debt, with an equity ratio above 85 percent. The 24-hour test and the guaranteed specifications mean the unit delivered performs as the one that was reviewed.

What you may hear

Michael Johnson of The Absolute Sound wrote that the E-800S's build quality guarantees it will likely outlive us all. Edgar Kramer, after touring the factory, concluded that within reason, Accuphase takes no chances.

Accuphase at Pearl Audio

The Accuphase range we represent

All 11 Accuphase products
Accuphase E-800S Integrated — factory product view Accuphase E-800S Integrated $21,975 Accuphase E-3000 Integrated — factory product view Accuphase E-3000 Integrated $8,975 Accuphase E-4000 Integrated — factory product view Accuphase E-4000 Integrated $13,975 Accuphase E-700 Integrated — factory product view Accuphase E-700 Integrated $16,975 Accuphase DP-770 SA-CD Player — factory product view Accuphase DP-770 SA-CD Player $26,575 Accuphase C-2300 Preamplifier — factory product view Accuphase C-2300 Preamplifier $14,975 Accuphase C-57 Phono Amplifier — factory product view Accuphase C-57 Phono Amplifier $13,975 Accuphase P-4600 Power Amplifier — factory product view Accuphase P-4600 Power Amplifier $13,975 Accuphase P-7500 Power Amplifier — factory product view Accuphase P-7500 Power Amplifier $25,975 Accuphase A-80 Class A Power Amplifier — factory product view Accuphase A-80 Class A Power Amplifier $26,575 Accuphase A-300 Mono Power Amplifier — factory product view Accuphase A-300 Mono Power Amplifiers (pair) $49,950
Arrange a Accuphase audition

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