DP 560 01 2018 E

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Test Accuphase DP-560 / Fidelity 01/2018

The Co-Partner
It came as a companion and is leaving as a friend.

It came as a companion to the Accuphase E-270 integrated amplifier. It was always willing to serve and delivered just music, music, music without much ado. Perfectly did it play its role as a source device, leaving the whole stage, every bit of applause and all the laurels to the small integrated amp. The reward: a tiny mention in the report on the E-270 and two little pictures from the photo studio (see FIDELITY no.
34, issue 6/2017). Though the Accuphase DP-560 would really have had every reason to push itself to the fore, at least a little once in a while. But this is out of place at Accuphase's. Honor to whom honor is due  and the new small integrated amplifier sibling seized the lead role. Which the 270 did so well, by the way, that it was not only used at my colleague Stefan Gawlick's home, but also before and after by the editorial team on a permanent assignment.
However, in the meantime the amplifier's supportive companion, the DP-560, left such a pleasant impression so many times that I finally allowed myself to give it a somewhat closer examination. Can the smallest SACD player from Accuphase also shine as a soloist? Is there, behind that unspectacular servitude, maybe an equally unspectacular  and therefore all the more lovable, because true  and absolutely long-term suitable  sound?
I used the DP-560 in different chains, at different places. And in doing so, I have not only come to appreciate the hunky weight of the player: you just can't lug around 20
kilograms [44 lbs.] quickly from A to B, it may well make your arms feel rather heavy.
But when the 560 is set up and ready to play, it gives its owner instantly the good feeling to have something beautiful, valuable and above all good sounding. Normally the player is controlled by the included no-frills remote, which even so has a metal housing in the typical Accuphase color. However, on the occasion of an out-of-town appointment I had forgotten to bring along this conductor's baton, and this actually turned out to be pretty good that way. For if you use the DP-560 in the
classical  mode as a digital player, you will need to step up to the unit anyway for changing the disc. And this is a real pleasure for every button-pusher, hence also for me: all the keys on the device function absolutely flawlessly, without any rattling and with a definite pressure point; moreover they are clearly labeled ... Say again? You think that ought to be self-evident above a certain price range? Yes, it should be the case indeed. But this gorgeous high-cost  feeling of luxury and suppleness, as the
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good camera makers have it down pat, for example, still seems not to be targeted by all designers in the high-end audio scene. Sometimes it's plain embarrassing how cheap many a knob parade appears even in super expensive audio devices in practice. Not so with Accuphase. Here every unit is haptically checked as well during manufacture and prior to its release, precisely readjusted if need be and optimized until everything runs smoothly.
The same, of course, is also true of the player's tray which is made from extruded aluminum. It comes out with a soft purr and accompanies the desired disc inside with an utterly gentle fffft-click . Beside the good old CD, an SACD is likewise welcome.
In fact highly welcome. For Accuphase is one of the few brave manufacturers who stick to the notoriously underrated (and equally notoriously understated) Super Audio