Finally heard Accuphase

@thriftyaudio By the way, I heard AN at a private dealer. I compared these field coils from the show ($65k) with their lowest end speakers of the same shape. I found the lower end ones (around $7k I think) to sound more emotional and soulful. The bass was looser but it just made things more enjoyable and lively. The wood cabinet seemed to vibe a bit more as well.

I thought their field coil was sonically denser but not as lively. That might have been what you were hearing.

Guess, my ears are very different, to me Accuphase and AN are end game setups. Both sound wonderful to me. 

AN to me is a bit overpriced, the gear look bland. Accuphase while also being overpriced, at least looks cool. I will say Accuphase tends to be more on the mellow side, everything tends to be more subtle. 

I read where some people say Accuphase is over priced. I just do not see it that way. Or should I say, I do not hear it that way. They compare to the same level of other high end integrated amps in that price point range. Its possible people are using Yahama and maybe others pricing as a baseline. May not be a fair analysis. I’m a super fan of Yahama as a company that puts out high quality products and can produce excellent HIFI equipment. Accuphase business model is purely laser focused on high end audio gear. Also maybe a thought that Japanese HIFI products are mass produced consumer products and are not producers of serious HIFI equipment. Accuphase, Esoteric, TAD, Luxman and others dispels that notion.

My point of reference are Marantz Model 30, Yahama A-S3200, Accuphase E-4000, Pass Labs amps.

I was at the show too and heard the accuphase line as presented by commonwealth Hifi. I will Not say that they sound bad, BUT it did not sound phenomenal. IMO, they sound as same as most of the vendors at the show. YUP, it does have a steep price. I also tend to agree that i also am enamored by the Audio note line. I guess accuphase as a house sound does not capture me by its performance. I heard accuphase electronics at the the Vendors facility early this year as i was auditioning Devore speakers. The Accuphase amps are very very good gear, but in for me, not my liking.  I am a Pass Lab guy, owning a couple of their amps today. For me, the best sounding are the Gryphon room and the Audio Note room. 

Keep in mind most of whats in AN is japanese. Accuphase won't use as high end japanese components inside their gear. I think AN looks amazing with the lid off. 

Solid state with tons of capacitance power tanks will always sound flat and no energy or prat. I also never found Devore speakers to engage me. I wonder how pass labs sounds compared to Accuphase. I never heard it.