Complete review in STEREO magazine (Germany), Issue 3/2011
Stereo Power Amplifier Accuphase P-6100
A Journey to Elysium by Matthias Böde
The new amplifier set C-3800 and P-6100 from Accuphase is promising a trip to the land of Hi-Fi bliss. We were on this trip and tested the power amplifier.
It's always the same questioning myself when I'm to test components from
Accuphase: can this noble maker famous for first-rate craftsmanship and sound quality
further enhance all this? As a general rule yes, but it needs effort as well as some framework requirements in order to achieve this. P.I.A., the Accuphase distributor [in
Germany] leaves nothing to chance. After all, they've just recently been awarded with the treasured trophy Distributor of the Year from STEREO and our PREMIUM PARTNERS
[selected Hi-Fi dealers in Germany].
With our new amplifiers we are to conjure up an Accuphase experience like never before , was the P.I.A.-team wholeheartedly announcing, whereupon they also came up with the following preconditions: the reviewers of STEREO are to audition the super preamplifier C-3800 together with the stereo power amp P-6100 not only with their tried and tested in-house equipment but moreover in a complete Accuphase chain. To which belongs the big SACD player DP-700 as well as the power station Accuphase PS-1210.
The latter was called for protecting the entire chain against corruptive interferences from the mains. Taking the energy from the wall socket, it can be loaded up to 1,200
Volt/Ampère whereby it configures a new current supply in form of stable 230 Volt/50 Hz which is practically free of any interferences or distortions in and from the mains power supply. Well, we had no objections and fortunately there was still Finite Elemente's active rack Emperor , tested for the previous issue, standing around in the large listening room. For highest performance in sound there is arguably no better component platform around these days.
Accuphase spare no efforts
Until the installation has warmed up at least a bit we can have a closer look onto the amps. The C-3800 is reflecting the ultimate ambition of the Japanese which however is not merely assigned to the typically champagne-coloured, painstakingly crafted front panel and the silkily polished cabinet made of persimmon wood. Those who have become aware of the very high price for this preamp of entirely dual-monophonic construction are likely to be awestruck whereupon they would hardly dare to touch the high-precision switches and control dials which convey the feeling of stirring the spoon in a honey pot.
When compared to the hitherto top pre-amplifier C-2810, which, by the way, is going to stay in Accuphase's portfolio, the C-3800 not only comes with a fully balanced circuitry layout from input to output, but also with a fully balanced AAVA circuitry for the left and right channel. The Accuphase Analog Varigain Amplifier is a proprietary development and speciality of the Japanese. This laborious design yields a very fine graduation of the volume range in altogether 65,536 steps. The AAVA circuitry in fact converts the music signal from a voltage into a current, alters gain by means of current switches and reconverts the current into a voltage. Thus, the amp itself becomes an integral part of the
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volume control.
This processing, carried out in the analogue domain, is said to reduce noise and distortions to an absolute minimum. In the meantime Accuphase employs AAVA in all preand integrated amplifiers, even in the entry-level model E-250, yet nowhere as elaborate and consistent as in the C-3800.
The new P-6100 is entirely in the tradition of the big power amplifiers from
