Audio E 260 02 2013e

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Complete review in AUDIO magazine (Germany), Issue 02/2013

Accuphase Integrated Amplifier E-260

The Prince's Palace
By Johannes Maier

The least expensive amplifier from Accuphase doesn't come with an abundance of power. In spite of this, it may well show other amps where to go,
owing to some ingenious technologies inside.
Nearly all fair-minded reviewers or testers of hi-fi equipment are inclined to approach the component to be tested in a friendly, decisive and detached-objective attitude  no matter which provenance. Not quite so with Accuphase. Some of these gentlemen would already take a deep bow in front of the still closed Accuphase shipping box upon its arrival. And, yes indeed, this always double-walled, over 6 kg heavy and extraordinarily bullet-proof  cardboard certainly deserves some attention.
And while taking a look at a new, unpacked Accuphase component even the most demanding reviewer will pause to have a minute's silence. In case of the new entrylevel E-260 its ancestor E-202 from the year 1975 may initially come to mind,
followed by its successors from E-203 to E-213 and finally the E-250 launched in
2009. Not even one of these integrated amplifiers has been disappointing. In fact, all these amps were subject to step-by-step improvements over the years with respect to increased power, signal-to-noise ratio and reduced distortion
And Accuphase continued to bring the circuits to perfection: The new E-260 is driving the speakers with the tried and tested working horses  from Sanken
(2SA1186, 2SA2637, 10 Ampere, two of each combined in parallel push-pull configuration). The complex balanced duplex amplifier at the input section of the power stage has also been refined by the Japanese. As usual, one is driving the proximate circuit while the other  via semi-conductor base points  affects the current flow of the stage after next, whereby the output sends the current feedback signal back to the transfer point. Very clever!  the knowledgeable hi-fi buff may remark here. It's because with this ingenious current-voltage hybrid circuitry
Accuphase has attained some headroom for tuning: by adjusting the current feedback loop, which is affecting the input circuit, the engineers can thus determine the sonic tendency of the amplifier.
Nevertheless, this all appears to be a trivial matter when compared to the efforts Accuphase has put in the preamplifier stage of the E-260. Silver, gold and even the best of intention are relatively useless for this crucial module if the music signal has to squeeze through a conventional potentiometer. To stay in the picture:
after the brave leap off the slider the poor signal has to run through a truly adverse carbon film obstacle track. Then with the common position of the volume knob being
halfway up  a kind of spring-loaded lifesaver  collects the exhausted signals just after the substantial loss of fine information.
Fortunately, Accuphase has made an end to this evil game in its integrated
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amps and preamplifiers launched in recent years and also in the new E-260. Left and right input signals are initially sent to five buffer amplifiers in parallel configuration.
Five of them because they are on one side to achieve a significantly higher signal-tonoise ratio (the noise level is increasing randomly, the musical information however as scheduled) and on the other side to drive the novel control circuitry named
Accuphase Analog Vari-gain Amplifier  (AAVA) with ample impact. On the respective