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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.
Follow Ups:
I understand. Thanks for the explanation. The Accuphase might indeed be a heavily tweaked transport, and it certainly doesn't look as original as the VRDS-Neo. As you say, they do sound great though, and since I hear great things about your players, it's proof that one doesn't need and over-engineered transport to make great players. But it's true that when dishing out the big bucks, I like to buy as much original/unique engineering as possible.
Best,
JB
< < But it's true that when dishing out the big bucks, I like to buy as much original/unique engineering as possible. > >Understood. If the transport mechanism is your main concern, then there is nothing that even comes close to the Esoteric VRDS-Neo. But it all comes down to pricing and trying to figure out what makes a difference and where to put your money.
So for example, the Ayre C-5xe uses the same Pioneer transport as the Esoteric DV-50 (I don't know what the DV-60 uses, but I suspect the same one also.) And perhaps it is no surprise that the US price of these two player are essentially the same.
We could have chosen to "dress up" the Pioneer transport in a way similar to what Accuphase has apparently chosen to do. But that would have added $500 or $1000 to the retail cost, and I would prefer to put that money elsewhere if I were aiming for a higher price point. Why? Simply because I strongly believe that I could get a much better improvement in sound quality for that same money by investing it somewhere else.
Teac has offered to sell us the VRDS-Neo. (There are actually two versions, a larger one in the "1" series and a smaller one in the "3" series.) There are two problems, both having to do with money. First of all, just the transport mechanism is priced so that we would have to sell our finished product at a cost well over $20,000. Now this wouldn't be so bad in itself, as I am confident that we could come up with a product whose performance would easily justify the price.
But the other problem is that they want us to purchase 50 at a time, payable in cash 6 months in advance. Plus there are no licenses or royalties included. So it would cost us over $300,000 in up-front money to get into that game. I doubt we could sell over five or ten a month at the price we would have to charge, so it would basically just be a money losing operation for us.
Furthermore, anyone interested in paying that much money for a digital player has the specter of the new video format (HD-DVD and Blu-ray) looming over their purchasing decision.
So the final decision is up to you. You can either invest in a machine that has a work-of-art transport and rather ordinary electronics (although to their credit, at least the Esoteric doesn't use a cheap switching power supply), or you can purchase a machine with a more ordinary transport and innovative, state-of-the-art audio electronics, power supplies, and clocks.
Thanx Charles,Informative, honest, and a class operation.
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