Accuphase E-460 vs Luxman 509u vs Moon 700i

Disclaimer, I am very found of Accuphase :).

Melbguy1, I am a bit surprised to read your comments about Simuaudio vs. Accuphase. My experience is that it is very hard to really moped the floors with an Accuphase, especially when comparing "mass marketed" products at comparable prices. I did not hear the Moon 700i integrated so I am not saying in any way that you might not be right.

To defend Accuphase, I should say that 1) the Accuphase AAVA volume control is one of the best available (I find it hard to believe that there are that much better implementations out there), and 2) the E-460 integrated is also a dual mono design in that it has completely separated circuits for the left and right panels. My experience is that two toroidal transformed don't always work better than a good one. For example, I have seen a Musical Fidelity A5 (not a particular special design) moping the floors with a NAD M3 (supposedly a much more advance design) when driving the Dynaudio S1.4 Contour speakers. Also, power ratings can be very deceiving. For example, my Accuphase E-550 (30 watts in 8 ohm in class A mode) had much better control over the woofers of B&W 802D than A Bryston 4BSST power amp (not to mentioned the A5 I used to own), and this in a large room (but at moderate listen levels).

Kiza, I would also consider the Accuphase E-560. It is better than the E-460 and it will have no problem to drive your Carbon 7 speakers. Regarding Accuphase prices, I have too agree with you - they are laughable. Yesterday I noticed yet another increase in their prices. Here in Europe, the prices increased with 30% in the last year and they were rather high to begin with. You might want to look also at the previous generation, i.e. E-350, E-450 and E-550. The differences compared to the newer models are not significant and you can get them for 60% of the price.

Finally, the best advice anyone can give you is to do what ever it take and listen these integrated in your room (or at least driving your speakers). All three integrated you considered are top notch and in the end it is just a matter of preference and/or system matching. Be patient.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Paul

Hi Paul, on reflection I think I was a bit generous in my comments about the Sim. In reality the two amps are probably closer than that. I can't say i'm a huge fan of Accuphase, though I love the look of their gear. I agree with your comment about figures not indicating real power. I own a Boulder 1060 which is rated at 300 watts continuous power into any load, yet in a shootout at with a Dealer, the Boulder was thrown up against a pair of Krell Evolution 900 monos & sounded much more dynamic and powerful (especially in the low bass).

Coming back to integrateds, the only ss integrated I would consider buying at the moment is a Vitus SIA-025, but that's not on my radar. Right now, if I was giving advice to the OP, for less money i'd advise him to look for a 2nd hand McCormack DNA-500 amp & new LD-2 pre & live happily ever after.

Melbguy1, thanks for the reply. It seems I too have exaggerated when talking about the Accuphase prices (not deliberately of course). At least in Benelux,
Accuphase prices increase every year with 10-12%. For example, in december 2009 my E-550 integrated was a bit less then 8.5k, whereas now its evolution, i.e. E-560, costs a bit less than 11k . That is almost a 30% increased but over a period of 2 years and a bit.

I have heard the accuphase integrated and pre power. The integrated is nothing special. In fact i think it sounds not that good. I dont understand what the fuss is all about.
The pre power sounds quite diff though

Even though this thread is almost 3 years old, thought I would throw in my opinion on these three brands --their flagship models...
I have heard the Luxman 590ax in my system. Heard the Accuphase E-560 in my system and heard a couple Moon integrated amps at a dealer.

I purchased the Accuphase...

The Luxman was good. It was musical, engaging and fun to listen to. Had a soulful quality but the last details were masked. I just kept wanting to turn up the volume. Maybe with a diferent DAC, instead of my tube based DAC, Im sure one could coax more detail. So the Luxman is still a great choice in the right system. It just wasn't right for mine --to much of a good thing.

The moon gear just sounded synthetic. No 'real' or natural tonal qualities at all. This was with Vandersteen speakers, so there should of been no issues there... I just couldn't get pas how 'wrong' everything sounded. Like a mechanical facsimile of the music I was so familiar with.

The Accuphase E-560 had it all and I cant find any complaints after a year or so of solid regular usage. System synergy, I suppose, but this integrated is best I have heard. Listened to a list of tubed Int. as well --Ayon, Manley and Mac. The Accuphase easily won.