Emsa

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
4.60 of 5, 10.00 votes

Price Paid:  $5900.00 from J Audio Spain

Summary:
Fantastic amplifier,very dinamic and incredibly transparent. Better than the Mc Intosh 6900,Krell integrateds and Levinson 383.

Strengths:
A mix of transparency,delicacy and power

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Mc Intosh 6900,Krell KAV-500,Levinson 383

Price Paid:  $5500.00 from lyric audio - roma

Summary:
Extraordinary amplifier. Warm, deep, transparent and power in a perfect mix of very natural sound.

Strengths:
All the compliments in review.

Weaknesses:
???

Similar Products Used:
Accuphase e-530 , Mark Levinson 383 , McIntosh 6900

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from NYC Dealer

Summary:
I totally agree with the previous reviewer Tony, who says "Forget what you have heard before in your life, because nothing is going to be the same afterwards." I just want to add one more word: Forget the Accuphase E-306V or E-307! The 4xx series is in a totally different class! I've owned an E-306V and, man! What a difference! It's not just more power, it's everything! You have to buy one and listen, if too expensive sell your car!

Strengths:
Best Integrated Amplifier I've heard. Much better than E-306V I've owned. Meters are SO BEAUTIFUL AND CLASSY!

Weaknesses:
None

Similar Products Used:
Accuphase E-306V, McIntosh 6850, Musical Fidelity M3 NuVista

Price Paid:  $3000.00

Summary:
The strongest merit of E407 is the smoothness. but there's no loss of resolution & power with wide frequency range. That's greart!

Strengths:
Build-quality is next to none; sonically excellent.

Weaknesses:
A high price

Similar Products Used:
Krell integrated.

Price Paid:  $6000.00 from Laios.

Summary:
A product which arrived in Greece only upon my order, and was tested by Extreme Audio here in Athens. The author of the article agreed on the extreme detail that the Japanese have taken to make sure this integrated will be the best their is. The Macintosh was the only integrated with enough quality to come close to this integrated. I had ordered it blindly since I had heard the Accuphase 211. Which was a very fine integrated Amp, but tainted the music to make it sound even better than what it originally is. It was also less powerful, and the 180 watts per channel which this amp offers is more than enough for speakers with sensitivity over 90db. The only drawback to this amp is this. It cannot drive (to the extent an SAM V2) can an electrostatic speaker.

For the K horns which I bought this amp for, I had tried more than 50, yes 50 amps and pre amps to finally end up buying an integrated amplifier. It took me years to find but was worth the cause.

Down to the nitty gritty.

The 407 will give you enough bass to rock you into a stupor, and yet give you enough low end torque to make you succumb to listening to music at very low volumes. Its neutral vibrant mids, and exemplarity highs prove that wind instruments can be recreated live through a speaker without having to pay tickets for a concert. It is more than apt to cope with classical, and as I will refrain from making this a long and frightful summary, I will not and cannot ignore the fact that whatever you throw at this amp you will receive with complete and utter honesty. It will give you what the recoding has, nothing more, and surely nothing less. If you would like to test your palette with an XRCD then you will experience something breathtaking indeed. The SACD enthusiasts will be thrown off his chair when he realises that music can get this good.

After last nights Athens Hi End Show, we took the XP 777 SACD Sony and placed it with the 407 on my Klipsch Horns. The outcome was something only the few dozen people around us can explain. The room seemed to fill with speakers and voices. If schizophrenia could be explained in sound, this was it. But, chaos turned into calm serene heart warming sound as soon as your cerebellum learnt how to cope with the notes coming from everywhere it seemed. Yes, it takes a few minutes to overcome the utter shock your hypothalamus is driven to.

The same night I took the 407 to play the Final 0.3 speakers which were not able to accept the fine qualities of the Accuphase’s 1.45 Ohm vulnerability. The speaker mind you is an insane speaker to match with almost anything, but I thought that the Accuphase could do it, but I stood corrected in thinking that it was that good. I guess I expected absolutely everything for the money, but I realised this is not the case. What can you get from this amp. Simply amazing results, as long as your speakers do not need to go below 2 Ohms, and not electrostatic. In Greece it is overpriced, for a common Greek to buy this amp, it would be a great expense but maybe for others making 2 grand a month it would be easier.

I have made it simple by telling you that this is an expensive amp, but it is the best that I have ever heard (integrated) for above 90 Db sensitivity. You will enjoy it for many years simply because it is built like a German tank. It also happens to be very well designed so that it will outstand time, even though when some people look at it, it might remind them of their grandfathers amplifiers. The sound is right between a bulb and a hard core MOSFET which destroys the subtle changes between the horns highs and midrange compilation. This amp will be great on many systems, and since I have bought it it has played many speakers and with amazing clarity and response. I can only tell you one thing more that must be known before listening to the E407. Forget what you have heard before in your life, because nothing is going to be the same afterwards. The Accuphase is the reason why amplifiers have a good name in Japan and worldwide. Try it and you will see.

Strengths:
The best amplifier is the one that is physically there, but not accoustically. That should say it all.

Weaknesses:
Cannot drive electrostatic speakers, will not drive as a McCormick, or SAM V2 would.

Similar Products Used:
Sony, Pioneer, NAD, Carry, Yamaha, McCormick, Macintosh, and many more amps