accuphase compare to mcintosh

Audiozen sounds like he's a dealer. Not a bad thing, but calls into question his passion for Accuphase and his dislike of Mac gear. While I could own a piece, one piece that is, it is not that the Accu brand is over priced but, our pathetic government has pissed away the value of our dollar. Just look at the price of European gear. For a while there they were raising prices faster than I've ever seen prices rise. Mac is not expensive compared to other hi-end makers. Take some of the integrateds they have. Where can anyone get the reliability,resale value and a very musical sound for what nowadays is mid-fi at it's upper end price.
As far as looks go Audiozen, each to his own. I love the look of Accu and Mac gear. Black brushed faceplates, well they just plain suck out loud and they're boring to look at.
If the Jpanese yen wasn't in the tank, the Accu gear would be WAYYY more costly.
NASA grade? Does it really matter the parts quality, as long as reliability isn't sacrificed, it is implementation that is so critical. If parts quality was what made or break a piece of gear, then how would companies with modest pricing be able to come so close and in some cases better the sound of equipment they compete against at much more costly prices. It's execution of the build.
To myself, I have gear to my ears that sounds far more musical than Accu. And too much of what you think is great, along with many other people, can't be found in a live performance. Imaging, soundstage!!! Give me a break. Sounds to me like your more into dissecting the music than enjoying it. Been there done that, and just spent the 'H' out of a lot of money.
May you someday have the capacity to truly 'enjoy the music'.

The high price of Accuphase in the US is mostly due to distributor markup. You will see this if you try to get a unit from Japan. The shipping, duty, and what have you does not cost as much as you think. I don't think Audiozen is a dealer. He's just stating the facts of which manufacturer uses better parts and has better build quality. And that would be Accuphase. Accuphase is also better in sound quality; much more transparent and dynamic. However, McIntosh is not bad at all, and they certainly are in the top 10 of hi fi companies. But their stuff is a bit slow and colored compared to Accuphase. Anyway, that's my take.

I have always wanted to audition Accuphase gear- no local dealer/retailer. And yes, blame our government for the relative 'low' value of the dollar.

Yeah, you'll have to make a trip to audition. I know I have to as well. The list of dealers nationwide is on the distributors site. Again, the low value of the dollar only tells part of the story as I explained in my last post. The dist. does not import hundreds of these units into the US. What is the case most often is an Accuphase component is a special order. This is what I've been told by an authorized dealer.

Both are higher priced because of the brand name, but really, Accuphase is going to be the better one, in most cases.

It depends on your preference for sound, as Esoteric is very good and a bit more dynamic, as is ARC, which still make only stereo CD players, and Ayre is very good, a bit more breath-openness than Esoteric, yet Esoteric has a huge sound stage. Then I find my old McCormack UDP-1 to be more warm and palpable, but less dynamic, while Accuphase is near as dynamic, more air, more lush and one might say warm, then how you define warm? If it means to shadow some detail, the McIntosh may sound better to one so disposed. Personally, I am happy with Esoteric, the two I have and I like the Ayre V-5xe for being a bit more smooth, or a air like presence in the upper mid-range, then both are very good and you would need the best preamplifier and a dam good power amplifier to tell much difference.