- The signal-to-noise ratio is high, and remains high even at low volume settings. Conventional volume controls vary the impedance of the circuit, often suffering significantly increased impedance at normal listening levels (nobody runs their preamp ‘wide open’) leading to increased noise. The AAVA concept doesn’t introduce any change in impedance, so there’s no variation in noise, or frequency response.
- The myriad possible volume steps enable highly accurate, linear and consistent volume control, with no reliance on physical contact being made between the volume control and a potentiometer or resistor ladder. In reality, the Accuphase control operates in 0.5dB steps, or 0.2dB at higher volumes, so what the thousands of possible values make possible is really consistent, no-compromise control right across the operating range
- Left/right tracking error is virtually eliminated as the fixed value modules are identical for each channel and there’s no variation or wear in potentiometer traces, or resistance values. Similarly, Accuphase argues that crosstalk is no longer a problem;
- Other preamp functionality such as channel balance, and Accuphase’s attenuator function, are performed in the AAVA domain and are therefore similarly accurate and have zero impact on performance.
- As well as eliminating issues associated with wear and aging in potentiometers, the AAVA control promises consistent, long-term performance and reliability, always an Accuphase attribute. These are both factors that might not be sexy, but which have a very real (and often under-appreciated) value to the end-user.
My own listening experience with a number of different AAVA-equipped amps certainly seems to bear out those claims. Listening at lower volume levels doesn’t come with a loss of life and vitality in the music, or make the speakers sound flabby and unresponsive. There’s a nice, intuitive feel to the relationship between the action of the volume control and the perceived result, while I’ve become strangely reliant on (or maybe that should be “comforted by”) the clear digital volume display.
The balance of power
The E-5000 uses two AAVA modules per channel, in balanced mode, like the standalone Accuphase preamplifiers (the lesser integrateds get just one). The power amp section, which derives from the previous flagship P-7300 power amp, uses what is generally referred to as ‘instrumentation amp’ topology, which is also fully balanced in operation, meaning that the E-5000 can operate in balanced mode from input to output. Connected in this way, there’s a spaciousness to the performance, a sense of depth and dimensionality beyond what the single-ended connection offers. But it’s not loose or vague – often I’ve found myself preferring single-ended connections (where a choice exists) for the tighter, more grounded and musically ‘together’ presentation it has tended to offer. Not here, though. Running ‘African Marketplace’ (from Abdullah Ibrahim’s live album with the NDR Big Band Ekapa Lodumo [Enja]) in balanced mode, arrays the band in front of you, with clearer front-to-back separation. Individual instruments, whether brushed percussion, trumpet, or Ibrahim’s piano, have a greater sense of their own space, size and shape. This is a joyous track, often chaotic but at the same time full of melody and expressive, exuberant flourishes. The extra spaciousness, organisation and the resulting sense of purpose make it less of a reproduction and more of an event, where we are not just listeners, but participants in the experience.