After an agonizing wait, it finally arrived yesterday.
Nicely boxed with molded hard styrofoam inserts to brace the contents and protect it from rough handling during shipment
I was initially happy with my previous amp, a Manley Stingray, but after having enjoyed this set up for about a year, I felt that somehow there was more to be experienced with my Harbeths. After checking out possible options, I decided to go with the Accuphase from one of my favorite dealers - FLD of Sounds N Images. I opted to also get the DAC 30 option board installed. My source consists of a Jolida JD100s now serving as a transport and an Onkyo NDs1 dock for my ipod, both now connected via coax and optical cable respectively to the DAC 30.
The Accuphase makes my set up really shine. The music is really fleshed out, instruments are more defined with nice clear separation and yet I still get that nice touch of warmth that I would experience when listening to a tube amp. Nice detailed highs but sweet sounding without sounding harsh. I like the bass even if it isn't as tight compared to the other set-ups I've heard. For my untrained ears, it 's not boomy or muddled -- sounds just right especially for the kind of music I listen to. Vocals are nicely rounded out with depth. Compared to my old set-up, I feel that this one now has a more defined character, with a lot more emotion coming out of the music being played.
I also tried using the tube output section of my cd player by attaching this to the CD line in of the amp. The tubes highlights the middle at the expense of polished but less detailed highs. Sounds good but I think it's more a matter of preference on which kind of sound you would want. As for me, I prefer using the DAC 30.
I'm not an audiophile and since we're in the Sounds n Images section, I'll take this opportunity to talk about customer service which is something I deal with especially in the industry I'm in. If there's one thing that has made emptying my savings account almost painless, its dealing with dealers like Ferdie. He is the kind of dealer that makes interacting with him always a welcome experience - whether it's to ask for audio advice, inquire about a product -- Ferdie always makes it a point to find time to promptly respond to my inquiries (even if it was obvious that I had no intention to make a purchase). I felt that he would always give me the platinum treatment regardless if I was a buying or non buying customer.
Often, my experience in making a purchase (not just with audio gears) is once I've made my payment and the item has been delivered, that's the last that I would hear from the seller or dealer. Not so with Ferdie - he makes a genuine effort to get in touch with me to make sure that the item has arrived. He would then call back an hour or so later to find out if the gear is functioning well according to specs and if I'm satisfied with the quality of my purchase. In short, he genuinely makes an effort to make sure that a purchase experience is something that would always be memorable. Thank you Ferdie again for helping me to experience a little taste of heaven thanks to the products that you sell and the brand of service that you provide in bringing them to your customers.