Perfect balanced and detailed sound, built well using high class components. Pleasure to own and listen, but it needs high class source to sound really good. CPA

Heavy and dust gets inside, have to clean every 5 years.

Easily outclassed by many modern amps. This sounds like a public address amplifier at its best. Overhyped product. Just get it if you need power and expect nothing else

Power and nothing else no finesse

This is one of those golden vintage amps that’s extremely desirable. I found it perfect with my KEF Reference 1 and harbeth p3esr in different ways. With KEF, it’s a detail monster with great scale of bass and super airy treble. With the Harbeths, it somehow is more smoother on top end with tight slam on bass although it’s not as full as the kef. Soundstage as expected is holographic with precise imaging. The only thing if I am to nitpick would be slight grain in midrange compared to my gold note s1 signature integrated which is just perfect without any questions in the midrange. I swap between these amps when I need to listen to vocal focused recordings. For example “Hugh Maskela “ Stimela sounds so much real in vocal passages with gold note but accuphase is more dynamic at high notes on the accuphase. Accuphase has more slam in bass, but both amps are equally good at controlling the woofers even though on sheer numbers of damping factor that Gold note is a monster. It has got a damping factor of 450 but how audible it is depending on your speaker cable length and speaker impedance. But I find accuphase not lacking anything in control despite lower numbers. (Japs are amazing !!. I picked up the accuphase used and was recapped at a reputed place in Europe who did the tuning with black gate caps and resistors to replace the gold note. But now I like both and have decided to keep both for different use cases. Although I like the accuphase, I would like to have a higher model of it to see if has “everything perfect” . - I mean the midrange quality of the gold note along with everything I liked about the accuphase. May be a McIntosh would serve me right in that aspect but hard to find the right one.

Slight grain on mid range(in comparison to a GOLD NOTE s1 signature) Otherwise perfect

This is one of those golden vintage amps that’s extremely desirable. I found it perfect with my KEF Reference 1 and harbeth p3esr in different ways. With KEF, it’s a detail monster with great scale of bass and super airy treble. With the Harbeths, it somehow is more smoother on top end with tight slam on bass although it’s not as full as the kef. Soundstage as expected is holographic with precise imaging. The only thing if I am to nitpick would be slight grain in midrange compared to my gold note s1 signature integrated which is just perfect without any questions in the midrange. I swap between these amps when I need to listen to vocal focused recordings. For example “Hugh Maskela “ Stimela sounds so much real in vocal passages with gold note but accuphase is more dynamic at high notes on the accuphase. Accuphase has more slam in bass, but both amps are equally good at controlling the woofers even though on sheer numbers of damping factor that Gold note is a monster. It has got a damping factor of 450 but how audible it is depending on your speaker cable length and speaker impedance. But I find accuphase not lacking anything in control despite lower numbers. (Japs are amazing !!. I picked up the accuphase used and was recapped at a reputed place in Europe who did the tuning with black gate caps and resistors to replace the gold note. But now I like both and have decided to keep both for different use cases. Although I like the accuphase, I would like to have a higher model of it to see if has “everything perfect” . - I mean the midrange quality of the gold note along with everything I liked about the accuphase. May be a McIntosh would serve me right in that aspect but hard to find the right one.

Slight grain on mid range(in comparison to a GOLD NOTE s1 signature) Otherwise perfect

I love my Accu e206 for more than 10 years. It shows clearly no sign of aging while nothing has been changed from the original of 1989. It sounds perfect and crisp with my sonus faber cremona auditor m. Just a few weeks ago i improved my system at least for the next decade: sometimes feeling a litte lack of bass with my twoway speakers i added an active sub klipsch ksw10 - the accu has a pre out, so just simply connected with red and white chinch - and off it goes. Now i really enjoy Haydn AND Metallica the way it should be. No question about that: if you can get hands on for one around 1000 dollars get it quickly. Hook it up and you'll know in under a minute what everybody here is talkin about ;-)

No remote. Keeps you fitter on the other hand!

I have been dreaming of an Accuphse for my whole adult life, but it never realky was the right time. Yamaha receiver, Quad gear and finally more compact whifefriendly gear came across. The I bought a large house with a lot of space, and put my B&O in the living room, some other gear in the bedroom, my french Carat hifi in the guestroom, - AND THEN i bought the old E-206, restored my old JBL112 AND my Bose 901, put it together with my Rega Planar with SME series 3 and Ortofon pickp, AND began buying my old vinyl records on the market.
I'm sold, I'm in love. Accuphase is simply the best. Vintage hifi is SO cool. Gives me the feeling of originalty an seriosity back. Im 57 and feel 18. Cool, cool stuff in every way.

By the time I first looked at this amp, I've walked a long road on my search of the best amp. It all started in November 2012 when I changed my good old Kenwood receiver for a used Rotel RA-972 back from the nineties. It simply blew Kenwood away. Then I looked for an amp with a built-it DAC, because I wanted to plug in CD and PC directly and see if it worth a try. It wasn't with Rotel RA-12, the newly marketed amp. It made me feel that Rotel has lost grip as a manufacturer of good sounding products. RA-12 is a mess. Then I looked at NAD 304, built 1994 and highly praised ever since. Not bad it was, indeed. But I wanted more and felt unsatisfied - I wanted to buy a good amp and stop my quest, at least for a couple of years, after changing 3 amps in less than a year. Accuphase E-206 was highly recommended. Why Accuphase? First, NO Accuphase sounds bad. Secondly, all these guys are built like tanks to last seemingly a few decades, not less. Third, Accuphase doesn't produce cheap amps - that's a good sign.
When I listened for E-206, it was a real revelation to me. All that I had been looking for was there - good speed, solid bass, open vocals and crispy highs with a lot of detail. The overall sound character is smooth with a little emphasis on treble. It is almost "tube-like", for a lack of a better comparison. Again, the amount of detail this fella brings to you is just amasing!
As for construction, it leaves no doubt - this is a killing machine. 18 kilos of japanese engineering, front panel is almost 1 cm thick, all major knobs are metallic, binding post for speakers can accept very thick cables, if needed.
My E-206 is most likely built in 1989 and it's in perfect running condition - everithing works as a Swiss watch with no signs of aging whatsoever. For 1000 USD it was a good bargain. I'm very satisfied with this amp. If you ever see one for less than 1000 USD and it's in perfect comdition - buy it on the spot with no doubt! Even if you already have something comparable, you'll be able to resell it with no problem.

Present every strength you can think of at this price and outdo all rivals.

Lack of remote control and powercord was not changeable. But at the time this product was launched, these were not really a must.

This was the Accuphase product I bought and made me poisoned as a hardcored Accuphase follower. This amp is analytical, fast, clean, good control on low and high, warm and open mids and highs. Though it was Accuphase's lowest model, it never falls short of Accuphase's trademark: airy, a bit sweet, smooth yet powerful. The listerning room will get a full house of airy feeling (live music feeling) whenever a record is being played thru this amp. Its sonic character is, to some people, relatively on the bright side, due to its analyticality. It therefore needs right matching of equipments. A decent CD player is a must as it will reveal all the deficiency of the front end source. The best match is of course Accuphase's own CD player. With right matching, it is good for producing all kinds of music with the best at vocals, classic, pop/rock, jazz, chamber. I used to turn it up for 8-10 hours a day to the max loud level. It only goes warm but never sweat and all the time in good order. It is a very reliable machine that builds to last and has been over-engineered comparing to other brands' stuff

Similar Products Used:

Many Accuphase and others

* Very neutral and revealing sound with tremendous slam and authority * Great looks -get one in the colour YOU like best: Champagne or black * Abundance of functions * Built like a tank, great finish and inside-accessability * Very stable, will handle almost any speaker * Great resale-value

* Using the balance-control clearly degradates the sound * Needs an "open" rack to properly dissipate its heat * MC stage sounds great but its hiss almost reaches groove-noise levels

Having lusted for this magnificent beast for a decade or so, I've finally made my dream come true and bought an E-206. The Rotel it replaces was a winner in its own right but at a much lower price-point. Having grown so accustomed to the Rotel's sound, and having had a hard time imagining what the Accuphase could do to better it; once hooked-up, I was immediately struck by the Accuphase's much bigger dynamics, greater openness and ability to reveal details. Regarding bass-reproduction, it really opened up something like an entire extra octave! I use an early Rega P3-Linn Basik LV/X-Dynavector Karat Ruby combo and a Denon DCD-1420 -kindof vintage stuff by now but still very capable: Just HOW capable has only now become clear. My Rogers LS 3/5a's almost sounded relieved, like "Phew... Finally we get the big power-supplier we needed!" They're only now revealing their capabilities in the lower octaves, whereas I had long accepted they just did'nt have any. They proved me wrong! My Stax Lambda headphones also revealed that recordings which always were a bit tiresome to listen to, aren't so bad after all -the Rotel just didn't have the upper-high smoothness needed here. Having been manufactured in the standard champagne-gold AND in black; with a little persistence and patience, you'll be able to find one in the colour you prefer. I personally feel an Accuphase should be champagne, so that's what I got. BTW; on the Accuphase-site, you'll find a comprehensive list of all products they've ever made, including their technical specs. So... It's a winner! Especially when you take in account the current E-212's retail-price... PLUS its -by now non-standard- phono-stage.

Similar Products Used:

Replaces my Rotel RA-840 BX2, used for 17 years. No other amps in current use.

Huge power and extreme accurate sound. Excellent balance in the whole frequency tape.

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The one and only!! Since the first tests (It´snow 7 years ago) with this Amp I changed my religion to Accuphase. Absolute invincible in this price class. I expected a lot and received a lot more!