Accuphase E-202 Integrated

I sold my Levinson 383 and replaced it with the accuphase e-202 (as I was scaling back my investment prior to an overseas move) and it was not a signficant loss in detail with similar if not superior solidity in the bottom end. I have taken my accuphase overseas and now run it through 240V without it missing a beat (a simple switch on the back). I had Goertz terminate some MI2 copper cables with tiny spades that fit the rear speaker terminals solving one of the biggest beefs with this unit. I am unable to use a more serious power cord but seem to get best results when I put the nite cord on my cd player anyway. The e-202 really makes my Virgo II's sing and it has done so on several continents. Yours is absolutely mint. Please let me know if there is a tweak or upgrade that makes a significant/demonstrable improvement to the unit's sound.

Thanks. Good tip on the speaker wires as those lugs are a pain. I saw some "converters" sold buy a guy in Hong Kong that might be a solution, as well - but still one more connection.

After some other input, and considering that this one coul dnot be more mint unless it was brand new, I am nearly certain that I will not be going the uograde route with this piece. I contacted both Accuphase and Accutech electronically and have heard nothing in return. I have heard through the grapevine that Accutech charges on the order of $700 to do a complete tuneup on an E-202. I will not be doing that if such is the case. Anyway, I may ultimately eschew any work, at least for the immediate time. I popped the hood, and from the looks of the screws and the pull of the foam adhesive around the periphery, I'm certain I was the first. I did the DeOxit job on all the pots and switches. Upon visual inspection, there are no swelled caps or anything of the sort - looks as pristine inside as outside. In fact, there was virtually no dust to speak of, either. My seller said that he had kept it boxed for over 10 years and thought that the original owner had kept it boxed for most of its life. If the lack of interior dust is any indication, I doubt it has sat out on a shelf more than a couple hunderd hours.

In addition, this things sounds SO good that I think I'll just use it in a retro system my son and I are building and maybe revisit updates if we start to hear anything untoward or scratchy. Thanks again for the advice.

I have bought two sets of the small spade converters from that ebay Hong Kong seller for my vintage McIntosh amps. They take about 2 weeks to arrive and work great.

If your amp hasn't been used much, it probably doesn't need an overhaul anytime soon. $700 sounds like the right ball park though.

Arthur

Arthur, yes, the $700 would be for a thorough going through and replacement of most every cap, relay, diode etc., and re-soldering all PC connections from my understanding of their process (though I haven't heard from them at all). Initially, and given that it is 30 years old, I figured electrolytic caps should be replaced and maybe a relay or two. Still may do that just as a preventative measure but this thing sounds too good to mess with much, I'd say. Wish everything sounded this good dollar-to-sonics wise.

I have rebuilt 3 McIntosh amps myself that were a minimum of 42 years old each. One of the amps really needed the overhaul but the other two were pretty good still with all their voltages and biases just right. Of course, with age, capacitors loose their dynamic capability even when statically they are still good so you would probably benefit from the rebuilding but it isn't in dire need just yet.

So far in my experience, changing out the diodes/rectifiers makes an even bigger difference than new caps when you check the waveforms on an oscilloscope. I suggest HEXFREDs and not NOS parts as technology has advanced greatly in diode design in the last 30 years.