I don't know if this matters now but here goes it just in case:
We auditioned in a head-to-head comparison (for what it's worth) a McIntosh MA7000 (based on the MC252 amp) and the Accuphase E550. They were fed by a Meridian G08 and powered Avalon Ascendants.
We listened to the Accuphase first. I had always been curious about their amps. Immediately it seemed very very detailed and dynamic. After several different tracks though, it came across as fairly dry and the soundstage was very focused but also rather small. Some of my music wasn't as much fun to listen to as it usually is. Everything happened between the speakers and the imaging wasn't grounded, suffering from "talking head" syndrome. I was kind of bummed after all the fanfare the dealer made over this amp.
So then we swapped in the brawny MA7000. Wow, what a change! The soundstages became huge, to the point of being realistic sounding, the imaging was palpable, the musicians were very well laid out in that space and it all sounded so natural. Music just poured out of the speakers with remarkable coherence and clarity. We thought it was fantastic. It made it seem that the only reason the dealer loved the Accuphase so much is because it costs thousands of dollars more. Otherwise there was simply no justification in our opinion.
Of course personal tastes play a huge role in a subjective decision.
Having said all that, I still want to try an Accuphase (Class A) amp in my own system one day to see if it was a fluke or if indeed the Accuphase amps are "dry."
But from what we heard that day, in that system, if you want obvious detail, the E550 is better and if you want music, the MA7000 is the winner. They are not similar sounding at all.
Arthur
