An update & an upgrade

dinyaar

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Hi Guys,
Time to update on an upgrade i made a few days ago. Wanted to post earlier but had too much on my plate.
Am sure this comes as no surprise to my friends as they had predicted this six months ago when we all heard the 450 together!!!! Others like Neo will surely say 'I told u so' Hahaha. Nirav i am following your advice!!!
My lovely Accuphase amplifier E 350 has gone to my friend and in its place comes the E 450. The 450 is 180 WPC as against the 100 WPC of the 350. Sonically they are similar with the 450 a wee bit more dynamic, smooth and neutral. If u do an A/B (we did) the 350 will appear to be more lively. My friend will pair it with his Dyna Contour 1.3 SE and he claims its 'heaven'.
I have barely heard the 450 a couple of hours and it sounds reasonably good. Will give it a long run on one of these holidays. I feel the first 10/15 hours of play sees the most radical improvement in the accuphase and then its a seriously slow improvement (if at all).
A few of my thoughts on the brand :-
Its one of the best built amps out there. Attention to detail is superb.
Even the packing is great (as a young friend commented 'It should be it f....g costs as much as a good car') Sadly it does cost a fair bit but so did my Bryston Pre/power and the condition of the packing suggested the amp had been in a conflict zone!!!!!!!
If opting for an Accuphase please stay away from the E250. There is a HUGE difference in the 250 and the 350. I am not on the 10 WPC more as thats ir relevant frankly. The amp to demo is the 350 and onwards.
If u have sensitive speakers and you like your music smooth then do hear the 550. It will amaze u. I hear it often at a friends and i always come back with the sound lingering sweetly in my thoughts. Truly phenomenal. BUT ITS NO ALLROUNDER. I did consider it but that would severely restrict my choice of speakers and more importantly MY MUSIC. The class A/B in comparison has a certain 'rawness' if u get what i mean. The 450 has tremendous attack and superb bass, while being as delicate as any Accu in the upper/mids. If i move to a larger apartment and expect tp get a decent SPL with a level of control, i would have a problem with the 30 watt class A integrated.
If u have a larger budget (than me for sure) the pre powers are truly superb. A doctor friend recently bought the pre power and the basic cdp to drive his avalons and the combo is definately two steps above what i have. The Avalons are good for sure but they did not sound that great with the simaudio gear that i first heard them with.
Most guys who have these amps tend to keep them for ages and i hope this remains with me for a very long time.
Wishing all of u a happy diwali and all the best in the year ahead.
Rgds
Dinyaar
 
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HAHA that is my first 'new' car. Yes i have updated my avatar but i can hardly call it an upgrade!!!! Its about 15 years since i bought this car and it works flawlessly and i dont have the heart to sell it.
BTW the market price of the car will probably not get me a decent inter connect!!!!!!!!!
Recently a friend of mine called me for advice on a 'deal' he was negotiating. He was getting an Accuphase Integrated amplifier in exchange for his 5 year old Skoda octavia (petrol) plus he had to pay some money. I thought this deal was hilarious!!!! A good car Plus some money for a stereo amp!!!!
Rgds
 
Hi Dinyaar
Congrats on your upgrade. Happy diwali to you and your family.
 
Thanks for the update. What in your opinion did you find so special about the 550 btw?

Why go from a 350 to a 450? What did you expect when you made the buying decision? If its not substantial why upgrade at all?

Regards
 
HAHA that is my first 'new' car. Yes i have updated my avatar but i can hardly call it an upgrade!!!! Its about 15 years since i bought this car and it works flawlessly and i dont have the heart to sell it.
BTW the market price of the car will probably not get me a decent inter connect!!!!!!!!!
Recently a friend of mine called me for advice on a 'deal' he was negotiating. He was getting an Accuphase Integrated amplifier in exchange for his 5 year old Skoda octavia (petrol) plus he had to pay some money. I thought this deal was hilarious!!!! A good car Plus some money for a stereo amp!!!!
Rgds


The incident of your friend reminds me a scene from the movie KABHI HAAN KABHI NAA. "Yeh Gadi bech ke, thore aur paise daal ke, ek cycle le lo"

For people who dont understand hifi would consider your friend foolish for making such a deal, but if he likes his music a lot i am sure he will be happy

Hmm... Maruit 800, Yamaha RX100 if i am not mistaken (your first bike) :)
Do you still take the 800 to work?
Sorry for being offtopic
 
Congratulations!

I was, shall we say, a little concerned that the amp restricts your choice of music. I can understand Western Classical and Hard Rock needing special amp/speaker combination. I though everything else will slot well into a good speaker/amp combination.

Happy Diwali.

Cheers
 
Hi,

Dinyaar hearty congrats !! have wonderful time listening to ever lasting music that is Amp will put-forth from now on :clapping: !!

Also wish you "Seasons Greetings" on this festive season ( Am not sure you celebrate but still ;) ) !

Regards.
 
Hi
Thanks Rikhav.
Yes i have my first bike too. Yes i take the 800 to work sometimes but rarely. It does not have an AC (at the time i had stretched to buy the non AC model) so i reach work in a mess, otherwise its perfect. Just repainted it.

Gobble there is something about class A that is special. U will have to hear one to get it. Maybe someone technical like cranky or soundsgreat can explain why a class A sounds so much smoother than a class A/B. To me its better than most tube amps i hear around me. It offers smoothness with so much more.
Reason the differences are not too pronounced is that the amp has barely been powered on for about 2 hours. My 350 sounded brittle when i first powered it on and sounded wonderful in a short while(few days of playback). Have heard a run in 450 and it is one of the best amps i have heard.
Lastly this was an arrangement where everyone 'wins', as in my friend gets what he wants and i get what i want and i dont shell out too much money. Having more power means i can have a larger choice of speakers to upgrade to and that is an important factor for me.
Venkat, thanks a ton. Well western classical /opera is something i listen to all the time but that is handled well, its the rock (hard esp) that the 550 takes the zing out of. Its also very unkind to poor ( read older) recordings. We did an A/B a while ago at the dealers with music ranging from Eva cassidy, Fourplay, Allan Taylor, Mark Knopfler, Def leppard, dianna navarro and loads of classical and i felt the 450 is a 'safer' bet for ME.
Rgds
 
Hi,

Dinyaar hearty congrats !! have wonderful time listening to ever lasting music that is Amp will put-forth from now on :clapping: !!

Also wish you "Seasons Greetings" on this festive season ( Am not sure you celebrate but still ;) ) !

Regards.

Thanks SG. Come hear it when u come to bbay.
Well i celebrate anything really. Diwali too. In fact i am the 'uncle' who has to even light the damn bombs in my housing complex for the kids!!! The little diyas look lovely and i dont have a problem with the noise.
Rgds
 
Hi
Having more power means i can have a larger choice of speakers to upgrade to and that is an important factor for me.
Rgds

Hi Dinyaar
Congrats on your upgrade.

I'm sure Dinyaar this Diwali you will be listening to more of music rather than listening to fire works.

Also do let me know when you intend to change your small B&W speakers.

--
Bryston + B&W
 
Sir ,
Congratts!!
Wish you a happy musical new year!
Wish we ( me and madjack) want to hear the combination at your place...

Hemant

P.S. - Any "uprade" in watches too??
 
Hi
Thanks Helium. Hoping to keep this speaker for now.
Hemant u and madjack are always welcome . No boss no upgrade on watches!!! Spent all the money on these amps!!!!

I thought by now i would not get excited by the purchase of a new amp, a bike or car for sure but i just had to hear it long enough so stayed up till 2 AM and am up now and the first thing I'll do is start the HIFI !!!
Rgds
 
Dinyar, Congratulations !
the B&Ws love power and the extra 80W (very conservatively rated) should have definitely benefited it !
 
Hi Dinyaar
The E-450 has an option for installing add-on cards just like a PC. One is a DAC and other for phono and extra line input
Never had heard of such kind of an arrangement in an amp :)
 
Congrats Dinyaar. Accuphase is a really nice amp. Always thought the 450 made more sense than the 350. Its good to have a few extra watts in reserve. Maybe your next upgrade should be their cd player.
 
Hi Rikhav , Prem& Arj,
Rikhav the option boards (phono & DAC) can be installed in the E 350 as well. I did consider (am will get it from abroad) the DAC though i have never heard it, and use my yamaha as a solid transport.
Prem the cdp was always on the radar but the DP 500 is the one i want and @ over 5L i'll wait!!! The Dac may be an option to try. The 700 is in a different class, sadly so is the price and all i got was a 7 min audition in sgpore till the guy realised i wasn't a genuine buyer!! The yamaha does Ok when using the XLRs and i have compared to almost every cdp i can lay my hands on.
Arj u are absolutely right on the B&Ws and their power requirements. Though i must mention that the 100 W E350 drove them and a few other speakers beautifully.
I just heard from a chap i met recently at an audio dealer. He swapped his E250 for the 350 just yesterday!!!! He also took the DP 400 cdp and his speakers are the Micro Utopias. He swears that even in the initial listen the combo is superb. Will definately hear it soon.
Rgds
 
Hearty congratulations, dinyaar!

Wow! An Accuphase E450! In the last 6 months your journey saw you through the Brystons, the Marantz sa11, the Arcam FMJ A38, even the Cayin A-88T for a couple of weeks, then the Accuphase E350 and finally the E450. I hope you find what you are looking for in this one.

I may be in Mumbai early next year. We should surely meet if you are in town.


I did consider it but that would severely restrict my choice of speakers and more importantly MY MUSIC.
Dinyaar

Dinyaar, you always say something like that, but always stick to the B&Ws (apart from a short stint with the Contours, as far as I know).

Happy Deepavali to you and family and to everybody else in the forum. Enjoy and do not do the crackers (you may actually be in trouble for that) :D.
 
Class A takes away the hardness in the sound associated with Calls A/B.
A neutral amplifier/ setup should do all genres well. I really do not subscribe to the view that you need special setups to enjoy western classical/opera etc
This view gained popularity because there are quite a few brands out there which are tuned for certain genres. Such gear color the music to suit certain genre.
It is true that if the gear/setup is very neutral/resolving, recordings which lack dynamics can sound dead/dreadful. As the system evolves it becomes more and more revealing of the shortcomings or strengths of the recording.

Recently I had the pleasure of listening to the Pi Tracer transport by 47 Labs (Arguably the best transport in existence) in a very neutral system. One of the greatest strengths of this transport was its ability to differentiate between shortcomings or strengths of the recording and give you deep insight into the music irrespective of the genre. When you play music like hard rock, it lays it bare and gives you insight into the music. The wall of sound which is expected is replaced with the musical genius of the band. A hard core rocker who is used to the PA / Klipsch wall of sound will be letdown but a musician will sit transfixed immersed in the music.
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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