Stereo C 2410e

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Review in STEREO magazine (Germany), Issue 10/2007
Preamplifier Accuphase C-2410

Shadow-Boxing ?
by Matthias Böde

Accuphase has gone over the - in our opinion "superman-preamplifier" C-2400 and launched it again as C-2410. We were of course more than inclined to compare the new one with its predecessor, but we were also wondering if this might eventually become a dead-end race - or is the newcomer indeed the better preamplifier?
In view of the C-2400's price tag it would seem a bit strange to talk about a reasonable offer here, but the preamplifier from the noble maker Accuphase in Japan is exactly this: in the usual way meticulously crafted, luxuriously equipped,
technologically innovative and built for eternity. Apart from this it could establish itself amongst the best and partly much more expensive preamplifiers on this earth when we tested it for issue 01/2004.
A great deal of this success can certainly be attributed to the complex "AAVA"
circuitry (see inset for further details) which by an ingenious manner from input to output is providing the signal path with a precise, stable and strictly channelseparated volume control. The C-2400 was the first component of the company from
Yokohama to offer this new technology and its upgrade has mainly been dealing with this section.
If, like in STEREO's listening room, both generations are put next to each other, there are a few cosmetic changes attracting the eyes at first. The former round buttons for some secondary functions have been replaced by square ones. The side cheeks, previously in straightforward grey, are now clad with noble ebony panels and thus give the preamp a particular appearance. Lastly, the lettering beneath the red
LEDs of the display is now illuminated.
What remained however is the wide flap which upon pressing a tiny button
(labelled "Open") on its right is gently moving down in order to access the lesser used buttons and controls. They make the C-2410 the most versatile high-end preamplifier on the market; a "wonder of features", indeed. When the flap is closed again the
C-2410 looks like any other purist's preamp.
Instead of the two-tape record selector switch of the C-2400 the successor features only one recording terminal but is equipped with a three-step selector for overall gain of 12, 18 or even 24 dB. For the C-2400 this selector was hidden at the rear panel and we always thought it would certainly deserve more attention. Although factory-set to 18 dB we do recommend the lower value, i.e. 12 dB. It's because with this setting the preamplifier does indeed sound more airy, swinging and eventually more natural. Going higher in gain will gradually result in a tad more dense sonic picture while the airiness gives way to a slightly fatter timbre.

And there is actually no reason for a basic gain higher than 12 dB, because nearly all CD players come with an output voltage so high that even when listening to music at high levels the volume control itself could hardly be set beyond the 12o'clock position. Still, this feature does make sense, for example when - Accuphase may forgive us - Apple's rather "quiet" i-Pod or something similar is to be connected,
which in comparison with a good CD player would usually sound thinner and bleached in sonic colours. A higher gain setting of the C-2410 would remedy this in so far that the flat sound is becoming more vigorous and vivid. The same applies to run-of-the-mill DVB-tuners and other rather standard appliances for music reproduction.