Digital Drive Upsamplers, DACs, jitter, shakes and analogue withdrawals, this is it.

---

[ Follow Ups ] Thread: [ Display  All  Email ] [ Digital Drive ]

---

[ Alert Moderator ]

---

Re: I'm now looking into Accuphase after hearing a DP-78

Posted by Charles Hansen (M) on February 17, 2007 at 17:10:23

In Reply to: Re: I'm now looking into Accuphase after hearing a DP-78 posted by jbcortes on February 17, 2007 at 16:35:29:

<< Just for the record, Accuphase just introduced their own transport as of december 2006. >>

I could be wrong, but I think this is getting to be a question of semantics.

When Teac introduced the VRDS-Neo, I don't think anyone would argue that this was a Teac drive built from scratch, even though they don't build their own lasers or tray motors (for example). It is clearly a ground-up effort, with new innovations not seen before.

On the other hand, when Goldmund added a metal tray to an otherwise stock Pioneer transport, would you consider that their own mechanism? I wouldn't, especially since the tray doesn't even touch the disc during play.

Regarding the Accuphase, I would assume that you are referring to the DP800 SACD player (link below). It's hard to say with 100% certainty based on a fairly low-res photo, but I don't think I would consider this an "Accuphase drive". It's true that they have added a metal tray (like Goldmund). They have also added a large metal "bridge", but all that does is hold the magnetic clamping puck when there is no disc inside. Finally, there appears to be a relatively thick base plate underneath the mechanism.

This latter piece might have some small effect on the sonic performance, but this would be mitigated by the fact that the actual transport appears to be a bog-standard design where the laser sits on a piece of thin stamped metal. This metal piece has some plastic hinges at the rear that allows the laser mechanism to swing up as the tray closes. The plastic hinges will tend to decouple the laser assembly from the thicker base plate.

So from here it looks like they took a standard transport mechanism and added parts that are largely just window dressing (at least in my opinion). It certainly doesn't represent the kind of ground-up, overkill engineering found in the more expensive Esoteric players using the VRDS-Neo mechanism.

None of this is to say that the Accuphase doesn't sound great -- I've heard consistently great things about their digital players. But I certainly wouldn't compare this transport to the Esoteric VRDS-Neo, either in terms of build quality or in terms of original development work.

• PDF brochure of Accuphase DP800   (Open in New Window)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Schiit Audio

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---