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Accuphase P-300V …. Should it be restored?

jefferylhenr

jefferylhenr

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I have an Accuphase P-300V. It is in excellent condition and I have been through it, cleaning with a detailed visual inspection. Bias was right on spec along with DC. It scopes as expected and sounds fantastic. There is no visual indication of any issues and it’s spotless.

Would it benefit from a restoration? These were produced 1987-1990
 
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If it performing well I would enjoy it as is. I have a P-300 and used it for several years unrestored. It was only after it began to have issues that I had it restored.

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I also have an E-202 that is fully original and sounds great. I am enjoying it as is.

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I have all the new parts for the project. I haven’t been in a hurry and can box them up for the future. Every discussion about these units rant and rave about how they are better sounding vs this that and the other. To me, my Luxman and Sansui Alphas are more musical. It’s what led me to wonder if a restoration would give it that little bit of improvement.

I am driving it here with my freshly restored CL-36 Luxman and I actually like the sound better vs the C-200v. The C-200v actually sounds great driving my Harmon Kardon Citation II.

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It might make more sense to go through the C-200v first. It the same scenario. It lived in a vacation home in Germany and supposedly was only used during holidays and was a single owner.

Always chasing that elusive sound improvement
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jefferylhenr said:
I have an Accuphase P-300V. It is in excellent condition and I have been through it, cleaning with a detailed visual inspection. Bias was right on spec along with DC. It scopes as expected and sounds fantastic. There is no visual indication of any issues and it’s spotless.

Would it benefit from a restoration? These were produced 1987-1990
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I picked a P20 that was restored and a C200. They are a stunning pair. No idea how they sounded before. This old gear rocks
 

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The Harmon Kardon has more presence vs these Luxman MB-3045’s, but probably need different speakers to shine.
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Since I do all my own restoration work, it is a different equation for me. With parts setting there, I keep thinking would they be better in a unit or stay in the box… As you all know, curiosity is a powerful phenomenon
 
This Luxman L-509x was new old stock and never taken out of its box. It’s become my reference along with the Sansui AU-a907 alpha which I fully restored last year.
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If not too expensive to do so, I'd restore it just for the fun of fixing something up to work & look like new again. If you don't really want it after it's working, sell or give it away. Looks like a nice one.
 
Curiosity got the best of me. And this morning I decided to jump in. It went fairly quick and smooth. I did tack some high quality films to the filtering caps on the input board and replaced the 4.7 uf with Wima. I was shocked as it was awesome before. Now it’s much smoother and even more delicious. Random testing showed good reasonable ESR but under spec on capacitance.

So, the trend is clear… new high quality parts sound better than 35+ year old high quality parts and even Accuphase can benefit from a refresh.
 

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I see in your last pic there your C-200V doesn't have side panels. Is that as original? My C-200V from Japan (JDM unit) came with high gloss rosewood-looking side panels. Either way, these are just gorgeous units. I used the Wima film caps when I rebuilt some Mcintosh preamps and they are nice. Congratulations on some great work!
 
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So, I can report that the refresh smoothed out the overall frequency range with the most noticeable in the definition of the base. The overall impression I had before was the sound was a bit analytical and metallic (still great), but now that’s gone and much more enjoyable. I was almost thinking about selling it, but now it’s a keeper indeed.

Don’t hesitate to refresh this era of Accuphase they can benefit beyond stability and lifespan
 
RPGTO said:
I see in your last pic there your C-200L doesn't have side panels. Is that as original? My C-200V from Japan (JDM unit) came with high gloss rosewood-looking side panels. Either way, these are just gorgeous units. I used the Wima film caps when I rebuilt some Mcintosh preamps and they are nice. Congratulations on some great work!
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It’s the c-200v. I am refinishing the panels so took them off
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As for the parts, bipolar were elnas, the Upw for the 100 volt 220’s on the driver boards. 4.7’s were wimas where they would fit and otherwise UKL’s. The rest were UKZ’s. I did go up in voltage, but all values for capacitance kept the same. As a rule I don’t exceed 50% up on voltage. The UKZ’s are bigger so that can be an issue for fit
 
The C-200V is the same vintage as the power amp - have you done any electrical updates on it?
 
RPGTO said:
The C-200V is the same vintage as the power amp - have you done any electrical updates on it?
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Yes, everything I could get to without gutting it. The way it’s constructed, it’s probably 3-4 hours just for disassembly to get to the main components. The service manual is available for the p-300v but I haven found anything for the C-200v. Same for the CL-36 but I did a full restoration on a couple of these. They come apart fairly straightforward. If I get motivated the 200v might be next. I have driven this amp with multiple preamps so I have a good sense of what’s what. And it sounds best with this 200v.

For what it’s worth, supposedly the 200v is a one owner that lived in a vacation house in the German alps and saw little or no use over the years.
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I'd love to find a P-300V to go with my C-200V but the only ones are from Japan. I'm assuming that like the preamp you can switch the line voltage from 100VAC to other global voltages? I'm just a bit gun shy to order anything else from Japan, especially with the additional tariffs charged. Also, I don't care if there is measurable difference after a rebuild - if I feel better about a piece of equipment and feel it sounds better after restore, it's all worth it. Not like a DIY rebuild costs a lot.
 
RPGTO said:
I'd love to find a P-300V to go with my C-200V but the only ones are from Japan. I'm assuming that like the preamp you can switch the line voltage from 100VAC to other global voltages? I'm just a bit gun shy to order anything else from Japan, especially with the additional tariffs charged. Also, I don't care if there is measurable difference after a rebuild - if I feel better about a piece of equipment and feel it sounds better after restore, it's all worth it. Not like a DIY rebuild costs a lot.
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As far as I know, all Accuphase (or at least most) can be voltage converted. Both my 300v and 200v were not at the US standard 120 volts when I got them. It was just a matter of reorientation of the transformer inputs on a mounting strip with the only tools needed being a screwdriver.
 
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