analogwisdom
When in doubt, stuff in a WIMA
Very nice!! Does it use relays to select sources?
Kensonic/Accuphase owners show your stuff.
- Thread starter Ds2000
- Start date
tubelectron
Super Member
It's also a fine amplifier @Hawkeye83, and yes, with a great "vintage-modern" look... I think that the present successor in that serie is the E-280 :
Here in France, the tariff is 4990 Euros... So I may wait for a recent 2nd hand, like I did for my E-560 !
T
Hawkeye83
Super Member
Yes it does use relays! Although I don't know if I could tell the difference if it didn't LOL. I'm not yet super-technical regarding the stereo stuff.
I know the "basics" but don't get too in-depth.
I will say the input selector knob has THE most satisfying "clunk" when you switch sources...LOL! I seriously love it! Way better than pushing a button and hearing the tiniest little click. Chunky knobs for sure LOL.
I just could not be happier with the Accuphase. Such an attractive and functional unit, built like an absolute tank.
Only thing I'd like is in the DAC-10 card to have more inputs, and ability to SELECT between inputs.
The DAC-10 just has one optical and one digital coaxial input.
If the optical is active, it's automatically selected. If not, it uses the digital coaxial input.
I have the optical coming from my TV, so anytime the TV is on, I can't use the digital coaxial input.
So if I wanted the TV on but also listen to music, I just have to use an analog source, like an Amazon Echo Dot or record player, or radio tuner.
For the digital coaxial input, I'm using an Apple Airport Express, which I stream to from my iPad or iPhone. I do have to run through a converter box to convert the optical output on the Airport Express to digital coaxial output to feed the Accuphase.
It's not the cleanest setup, but it works, and sounds better than the analog output of the Echo Dot.
"To realize the shortest possible signal paths,all switching is performed by logic-controlledrelays arranged in an optimized layout. Thehermetically sealed relays are high-qualitytypes developed specifically for demandingcommunication applications. The contacts aretwin crossbar types plated with gold for minimum contact resistance and outstanding longterm reliability"
Manual
tubelectron
Super Member
Oh, there's some E-2** Accuphase for sale here... Dangerous ! 
T
T
Mr. Yamaha
Not so much Yamaha lately...
This is my Accuphase yourney so far 
Last year I made my first step towars Accuphase with a nice C-222 I bought in Germany. It sounded fantastic and I gave it a full restoration. Then the itch started for a Accuphase power amp. When the C-222 sounds so good, how will it sound with an Accuphase power amp and how will it compare to my Yamaha B-2 and my Sony TA-N7B power amps?
So I took a dive into the specs of all power amps from the early to mid 80's. The P-266 is the official partner of the C-222, but it has a MOS-FET end stage and I really wanted a BJT end stage. So I settled on a P-300L and I 'won' a fine specimen on Yahoo Japan. I also won a A-8 wood enclosure for the P-300L and asked Buyee (proxy website for buying through Yahoo Japan) to merge them together and to pack it very well. I had very good experience with Buyee in the past and they always used some kind of memory foam around amps and other gear.
But this time they did a horrible job. They placed the 30kg weighing P-300L + A-8 wooden cabinet in a way too large box UPSIDE DOWN and they filled the space around it with hundreds of air pockets (not kidding). The P-300L survived but the A-8 - which are very rare to find separately - was completely trashed
I will never ever use Buyee again, their service degraded drastically. I later found out through recent online reviews that I was not the only one.
How it arrived:
It was working fine and it sounded great. But it was completely untouched and all parts were already 40 years old, so I decided to restore the amplifier boards. I replaced all electrolytics, diodes (except the light emitting LT-8001P's), zeners, fusible resistors, the bias trimmer pot and the DC servo op-amp with a DIP-socket. I also went from old dried out thermal paste and mica sheets to Bergquist K10 kapton sil-pads for the power transistors. I also re-soldered all joints. Man, what a breeze it is to work on these neat high quality PCB's. The best I ever experienced.
But then I realized that the 'real' companion for the P-300L is actually the C-200L pre-amp. They can be connected to each other with a balanced XLR cable. And the C-222 did not have a balanced output. And looking at the schematics, the C-200L seemed to be a serious upgrade from the C-222. That's when the 'always want to upgrade-itch' started to happen again
It made me sell the C-222 to a very nice Accuphase-lover in Germany and he was very happy with it. I started to look for a fine C-200L in Japan and a month ago I found one.
This time I bought it through proxy website FromJapan and they did an excellent job in packing the pre-amp. It arrived very quickly safe in the Netherlands.
I cleaned the C-200L, because it was very dusty. Also this unit was completely untouched and in a near mint condition. The sound in one channel cutted out regularly and it turned out to be caused by the Stereo/Rev stereo/mono switch which unfortunately is a well known open Alps rotary switch which was completely oxidized. For some strange reason they used relays everywhere for signal switching, but the signal is going through this Alps switch.
I took the switch apart and restored it and now it's not causing problems anymore. Maybe I will bypass it in the future, because who needs this function anyway?
The only problem left is that the sound output on the right channel is lesser than the left channel. I have to put the balance pot on 3 o'clock to get an equal volume from both channels. I will restore this unit in the near future and then I will investigate this problem. But that can be a pretty hard process because the schematics and / or service manual for the C-200L are non-existent unfortunately...
Cheers,
Oscar
Last year I made my first step towars Accuphase with a nice C-222 I bought in Germany. It sounded fantastic and I gave it a full restoration. Then the itch started for a Accuphase power amp. When the C-222 sounds so good, how will it sound with an Accuphase power amp and how will it compare to my Yamaha B-2 and my Sony TA-N7B power amps?
So I took a dive into the specs of all power amps from the early to mid 80's. The P-266 is the official partner of the C-222, but it has a MOS-FET end stage and I really wanted a BJT end stage. So I settled on a P-300L and I 'won' a fine specimen on Yahoo Japan. I also won a A-8 wood enclosure for the P-300L and asked Buyee (proxy website for buying through Yahoo Japan) to merge them together and to pack it very well. I had very good experience with Buyee in the past and they always used some kind of memory foam around amps and other gear.
But this time they did a horrible job. They placed the 30kg weighing P-300L + A-8 wooden cabinet in a way too large box UPSIDE DOWN and they filled the space around it with hundreds of air pockets (not kidding). The P-300L survived but the A-8 - which are very rare to find separately - was completely trashed
I will never ever use Buyee again, their service degraded drastically. I later found out through recent online reviews that I was not the only one.How it arrived:
It was working fine and it sounded great. But it was completely untouched and all parts were already 40 years old, so I decided to restore the amplifier boards. I replaced all electrolytics, diodes (except the light emitting LT-8001P's), zeners, fusible resistors, the bias trimmer pot and the DC servo op-amp with a DIP-socket. I also went from old dried out thermal paste and mica sheets to Bergquist K10 kapton sil-pads for the power transistors. I also re-soldered all joints. Man, what a breeze it is to work on these neat high quality PCB's. The best I ever experienced.
But then I realized that the 'real' companion for the P-300L is actually the C-200L pre-amp. They can be connected to each other with a balanced XLR cable. And the C-222 did not have a balanced output. And looking at the schematics, the C-200L seemed to be a serious upgrade from the C-222. That's when the 'always want to upgrade-itch' started to happen again
It made me sell the C-222 to a very nice Accuphase-lover in Germany and he was very happy with it. I started to look for a fine C-200L in Japan and a month ago I found one.This time I bought it through proxy website FromJapan and they did an excellent job in packing the pre-amp. It arrived very quickly safe in the Netherlands.
I cleaned the C-200L, because it was very dusty. Also this unit was completely untouched and in a near mint condition. The sound in one channel cutted out regularly and it turned out to be caused by the Stereo/Rev stereo/mono switch which unfortunately is a well known open Alps rotary switch which was completely oxidized. For some strange reason they used relays everywhere for signal switching, but the signal is going through this Alps switch.
I took the switch apart and restored it and now it's not causing problems anymore. Maybe I will bypass it in the future, because who needs this function anyway?
The only problem left is that the sound output on the right channel is lesser than the left channel. I have to put the balance pot on 3 o'clock to get an equal volume from both channels. I will restore this unit in the near future and then I will investigate this problem. But that can be a pretty hard process because the schematics and / or service manual for the C-200L are non-existent unfortunately...
Cheers,
Oscar
analogwisdom
When in doubt, stuff in a WIMA
I use Sendico as a Japan proxy service and their packaging is amazing, with insanely good prices and speed using FedEx. The last package I had them send to me got to my doorstep in the US in 18 hours.This is my Accuphase yourney so far
Last year I made my first step towars Accuphase with a nice C-222 I bought in Germany. It sounded fantastic and I gave it a full restoration. Then the itch started for a Accuphase power amp. When the C-222 sounds so good, how will it sound with an Accuphase power amp and how will it compare to my Yamaha B-2 and my Sony TA-N7B power amps?
So I took a dive into the specs of all power amps from the early to mid 80's. The P-266 is the official partner of the C-222, but it has a MOS-FET end stage and I really wanted a BJT end stage. So I settled on a P-300L and I 'won' a fine specimen on Yahoo Japan. I also won a A-8 wood enclosure for the P-300L and asked Buyee (proxy website for buying through Yahoo Japan) to merge them together and to pack it very well. I had very good experience with Buyee in the past and they always used some kind of memory foam around amps and other gear.
But this time they did a horrible job. They placed the 30kg weighing P-300L + A-8 wooden cabinet in a way too large box UPSIDE DOWN and they filled the space around it with hundreds of air pockets (not kidding). The P-300L survived but the A-8 - which are very rare to find separately - was completely trashed
How it arrived:
View attachment 3195952
View attachment 3195953View attachment 3195955View attachment 3195956
It was working fine and it sounded great. But it was completely untouched and all parts were already 40 years old, so I decided to restore the amplifier boards. I replaced all electrolytics, diodes (except the light emitting LT-8001P's), zeners, fusible resistors, the bias trimmer pot and the DC servo op-amp with a DIP-socket. I also went from old dried out thermal paste and mica sheets to Bergquist K10 kapton sil-pads for the power transistors. I also re-soldered all joints. Man, what a breeze it is to work on these neat high quality PCB's. The best I ever experienced.
View attachment 3195959
View attachment 3195960
But then I realized that the 'real' companion for the P-300L is actually the C-200L pre-amp. They can be connected to each other with a balanced XLR cable. And the C-222 did not have a balanced output. And looking at the schematics, the C-200L seemed to be a serious upgrade from the C-222. That's when the 'always want to upgrade-itch' started to happen again
This time I bought it through proxy website FromJapan and they did an excellent job in packing the pre-amp. It arrived very quickly safe in the Netherlands.
View attachment 3195963
View attachment 3195964
View attachment 3195965
View attachment 3195966
I cleaned the C-200L, because it was very dusty. Also this unit was completely untouched and in a near mint condition. The sound in one channel cutted out regularly and it turned out to be caused by the Stereo/Rev stereo/mono switch which unfortunately is a well known open Alps rotary switch which was completely oxidized. For some strange reason they used relays everywhere for signal switching, but the signal is going through this Alps switch.
I took the switch apart and restored it and now it's not causing problems anymore. Maybe I will bypass it in the future, because who needs this function anyway?
The only problem left is that the sound output on the right channel is lesser than the left channel. I have to put the balance pot on 3 o'clock to get an equal volume from both channels. I will restore this unit in the near future and then I will investigate this problem. But that can be a pretty hard process because the schematics and / or service manual for the C-200L are non-existent unfortunately...
Cheers,
Oscar
I have been auditioning an Accuphase C-2410 control amplifier for a few weeks as a potential replacement for an all tube preamp in my main system. I have come to really love the quieter noise floor and overall sound of this Accuphase unit and am headed down to my local dealer to seal the deal this afternoon.
yadvinders
New Member
Any recommendation of the best matching pre amp from Accuphase with P-600, tried tube pre , feeling lack of Low end response, any reason.
seppstefano
New Member
Hi all, C-222 a long time user of a second-hand unit here.
Right today I decided to clean some oxidation on the several jumpers and bypassed most of the elcos of the signal boards (the PSU unit is still unaltered). and with my headphones I could not hear any noise even when volume at full scale. Don't know if/how much was the usual placeb effect, but the first listening of some well known tracks sounded with a lot of additional realism and clarity. Now, I'll have it settling a bit and then will maybe attack the PSU unit as well
Right today I decided to clean some oxidation on the several jumpers and bypassed most of the elcos of the signal boards (the PSU unit is still unaltered). and with my headphones I could not hear any noise even when volume at full scale. Don't know if/how much was the usual placeb effect, but the first listening of some well known tracks sounded with a lot of additional realism and clarity. Now, I'll have it settling a bit and then will maybe attack the PSU unit as well
seppstefano
New Member
Hi,
I had similar issues with mine and the culprit was a defect (crack?) in the cheap RCA plug assembly of pre-out.
Can you spot any crackle in the assembly and/or have you ever checked the levels before the assembly?
HTH,
Stefano
Switching to A or AB must be done with power off only! Never with power on, you can brick the amp or see the white magic smoke.
You bought of from HiFido in Japan?
Not true all units made in the 80’s were mostly mosfet. I have the P300X and P266. They both have mosfet devices
I've had a P300 for about 5 years that is missing one of the driver boards but otherwise all there. Just recently I found a parts unit that is also missing a board but a different board. I now think I can finally make a complete unit. I will need to replace the electrolytic caps and who knows what else. I've read there are some transistors that can go noisy with age but I'll start with the caps. Fingers crossed. This is the parts unit. It has a quite nice faceplate so I'll probably use that one in my final config.
This is my Accuphase yourney so far
Last year I made my first step towars Accuphase with a nice C-222 I bought in Germany. It sounded fantastic and I gave it a full restoration. Then the itch started for a Accuphase power amp. When the C-222 sounds so good, how will it sound with an Accuphase power amp and how will it compare to my Yamaha B-2 and my Sony TA-N7B power amps?
So I took a dive into the specs of all power amps from the early to mid 80's. The P-266 is the official partner of the C-222, but it has a MOS-FET end stage and I really wanted a BJT end stage. So I settled on a P-300L and I 'won' a fine specimen on Yahoo Japan. I also won a A-8 wood enclosure for the P-300L and asked Buyee (proxy website for buying through Yahoo Japan) to merge them together and to pack it very well. I had very good experience with Buyee in the past and they always used some kind of memory foam around amps and other gear.
But this time they did a horrible job. They placed the 30kg weighing P-300L + A-8 wooden cabinet in a way too large box UPSIDE DOWN and they filled the space around it with hundreds of air pockets (not kidding). The P-300L survived but the A-8 - which are very rare to find separately - was completely trashed
How it arrived:
View attachment 3195952
View attachment 3195953View attachment 3195955View attachment 3195956
It was working fine and it sounded great. But it was completely untouched and all parts were already 40 years old, so I decided to restore the amplifier boards. I replaced all electrolytics, diodes (except the light emitting LT-8001P's), zeners, fusible resistors, the bias trimmer pot and the DC servo op-amp with a DIP-socket. I also went from old dried out thermal paste and mica sheets to Bergquist K10 kapton sil-pads for the power transistors. I also re-soldered all joints. Man, what a breeze it is to work on these neat high quality PCB's. The best I ever experienced.
View attachment 3195959
View attachment 3195960
But then I realized that the 'real' companion for the P-300L is actually the C-200L pre-amp. They can be connected to each other with a balanced XLR cable. And the C-222 did not have a balanced output. And looking at the schematics, the C-200L seemed to be a serious upgrade from the C-222. That's when the 'always want to upgrade-itch' started to happen again
This time I bought it through proxy website FromJapan and they did an excellent job in packing the pre-amp. It arrived very quickly safe in the Netherlands.
View attachment 3195963
View attachment 3195964
View attachment 3195965
View attachment 3195966
I cleaned the C-200L, because it was very dusty. Also this unit was completely untouched and in a near mint condition. The sound in one channel cutted out regularly and it turned out to be caused by the Stereo/Rev stereo/mono switch which unfortunately is a well known open Alps rotary switch which was completely oxidized. For some strange reason they used relays everywhere for signal switching, but the signal is going through this Alps switch.
I took the switch apart and restored it and now it's not causing problems anymore. Maybe I will bypass it in the future, because who needs this function anyway?
The only problem left is that the sound output on the right channel is lesser than the left channel. I have to put the balance pot on 3 o'clock to get an equal volume from both channels. I will restore this unit in the near future and then I will investigate this problem. But that can be a pretty hard process because the schematics and / or service manual for the C-200L are non-existent unfortunately...
Cheers,
Oscar
Shipping a heavy amplifier in it's wooden case is a no-no and and a lose-lose. I've seen this happen time after time with Mcintosh gear. Case and amp have to ship separate to avoid tragedy and tears.
C-200V, Luxman DU-50, T-106, P-102. I love this gear. I bought the T-106 first because it was a bargain on ebay ($99). Once I had it I fell in love with the look and performance and a new obsession with gold anodized Accuphase gear was born. I couldn't afford any of the Accuphase SACD players I saw but the Luxman was a worthy addition. Turntable at the top is a Rek O Kut K33 in a DIY rosewood custom plinth with SME 3 arm and Shure V15 V cart.
