When Accuphase introduced the E-5000 in late 2021, they surprised everyone by adding such a powerful integrated amplifier to the lineup—whereas previously, one would have had to opt for a separate preamp-power amp combination to achieve such performance levels.
Five years later, with the E-5000 having been out of stock for several months, its successor has arrived. And this time, the E-6000 isn’t revolutionizing anything; it simply aims to do everything even better, starting with its output power, which increases from 240 to 260 W at 8 Ω (+20 W) and from 320 to 350 W at 4 Ω (+30 W). Incidentally, the signal-to-noise ratio has been further improved (from 111 to 112 dB) thanks to redesigned circuits, which incorporate AAVA symmetrical volume control and patented ANCC noise-cancellation technology.
To achieve this increase in power, Accuphase has increased the number of 15-A bipolar transistor pairs in push-pull configuration on each side from 5 to 6, on circuit boards now similar to those of the P-7500 (10 pairs of transistors per channel for 300 W at 8 Ω and, most notably, 600 W at 4 Ω). The damping factor, however, remains at the already excellent value of 1,000 from the E-5000 –a figure that is also equivalent to that of the E-800S and the P-7500. To power this new circuitry, the massive central toroidal transformer has therefore been made even larger, as have the associated filter capacitors, which have increased from 40,000 to 47,000 μF/100 V.
In order to fit all these new components into the chassis, it had to be enlarged. While the width remains the standard 465 mm and the depth is still 502 mm, the height has increased from 211 to 221 mm (+10 mm), bringing it a bit closer to that of the E-800S (239 mm). In fact, the E-6000 features the same LED information bar beneath the glass front panel as the E-800S. Already featured on the latest models, it displays information that was visible in the dark beneath the VU meters on previous versions. The unit’s total weight has also increased, rising from 33.8 kg to 38.6 kg (+4.8 kg), and is now heavier than that of the E-800S (35.7 kg).
Otherwise, nothing has changed regarding the features that have long defined an Accuphase integrated amplifier –which has been so complete for years with its two sets of two pairs of speaker terminals, a plethora of RCA and XLR analog inputs, and two slots for installing a DAC-60 card or an AD-60 MM/MC phono card, for which function buttons are already located in the front panel. The unit also still features bass and treble equalization and balance controls –some features rarely found on high-end integrated amplifiers. The accompanying remote control is now the RC-260 (up from the previous RC-250).
The European price has risen very slightly to 14 490 €. Now we just have to discover the improvements in sound quality as soon as the first units arrive!
