Accuphase preamps

Hi Dave,

Whether you should buy the class A models or the class AB ones it depends entirely on your future speakers and your listening habits, i.e. on the amount of power you need.

The A-45 and A-46 class A models sound indeed better than P-4100. Both class A models have enough power to drive speakers like B&W 802 and/or 802 D/diamond to ear-bleeding levels. On the other hand, sound-wise there is little difference (if at all) between the A-65 and P-7100 (or P-6100 for that matter).

Regarding speakers, Accuphase pairs very well with Focal Utopia (forget Electra), B&W 800 series, Dynaudio Confidence, to name but a few.

How large is your room?

Hi Nvp,

Ok, thanks. That makes sense.

Cool, so are you saying the A-46 is a better amp than the A-65? I would think the A-65 would win because of the bigger transformer and more capacitance, plus it's also Class A.

Ok, cool, I've been looking at the Focals. I'm also looking at the bigger ATC floorstanders.

Why forget Electra?

Thanks.

Oh, and my room is 15x20.

Dave, you misunderstood my post. In my previous post I have "compared": 1) the "cheap" models, i.e. A-46 vs. P-4100 (among themselves), and 2) the expensive models, i.e. A-65 vs. P-7100 vs. P-6100 (again among themselves). I did not say anything about A-46 vs. A-65, but of course, A-65 is better than A-46.

Regarding Focal speakers, Utopia models are much better than the Electra ones. The older Utopia Be models too are better than the current Electra models.

I have no experience whatsoever with ATC speakers.

Finally, you might also want to consider Avantgarde Acoustic speaker. They too work beautifully with Accuphase. Will also make the class A vs. AB issue trivial.

Regards,
Paul

Oh ok, my apologies. Thanks for the clarification. If I can swing the A-65, I'll go for it.

I bet they are, but my budget does not allow for the Utopia models. So Electra it is.

No problem regarding ATC.

Ok, thanks, I'll check those out.