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You see, the CD-1s offers a unique function being not merely a player but also preamplifier. Additionally, the E-250 is equipped with a main-in for an external AV processor. I took advantage and compared the preamplifier sections of player and amplifier. Although the Ayon did a good job preparing the CD-1s signal for the power amp, the Accuphase AAVA-II stage was much better. Without doubt, the sound was more resolved and dynamic but mostly, showed a far richer treble. The brass from the Mobley disc turned live as did the Doris Drew vocals. When the power amp section of the Accuphase was driven directly, the sound was not bad at all, even good. But the Accuphase engineers designed something into the integrated that improved the sound in almost every aspect. Interesting enough, timbres and their colors were better using the E-250 as integrated amplifier rather than driving it direct from my tube-powered Lektor Prime CDP reference! In the latter case, resolution and definition decreased and only saturation was better.


The Ayon + Accuphase combo offers a thoroughly even yet never depersonalized sound. A big kudos for this goes to the player. And, the amplifier's transparency freely passes on the Ayon's sonic assets. As I said earlier, the Accuphase won't be bossed around yet neither is it deaf. After judging the Ayon+Accuphase setup versus the reference system which costs five or six times more, dynamics diminished. This is natural but must be taken into account. If one thing may be blamed on the amplifier, it's its sparse reproduction of dynamic peaks. There it plays it rather safe without big splashy waves; precisely why the CD-1s makes such a good mate since it does not lack in that department. This unifies certain discs and recordings while allowing stress-free listening at diverse levels. The system sounds nice playing soft and loud. In the low settings, some treble and bass disappear but that's not due the components but our hearing. This system won't aggravate this phenomenon because it does not compress dynamics. Those seem linear regardless of volume. I am sure this is due to the AAVA-II preamp stage since dynamics suffered while running the Accuphase CD-direct. This system's soundstage is not particularly deep, hence it's worthwhile seeking out loudspeakers which won' flatten it further. The first plane is mostly active but without the forward projection ahead of the usual stage as occasionally did happen with the direct connection.


Because it's important, I will repeat that this is an incredibly well-balanced system that neither lacks nor exaggerates anything. It plays all manner of music and treats everything the same. This is a significant step-up from the E-213 and CD-1. Although the new amplifier is much more expensive than its predecessor (the dramatic rise of the Japanese yen only aggravated that balance), it also offers a lot more. While the old amplifier was nice, you really had to tinker to blend it into a system and show off its strengths while not exposing its liabilities. The new entry-level Accuphase integrated is far more universal in that regard. It will not impress with super-honed dynamics like the Pass Labs INT-150 Pass nor with the extraordinary resolution of the L-550A II Luxman. Still, it combines the best of those into one neat package. The Ayon fits perfectly into this aural aesthetic, then adds its own ten cents. Together with the Oyaide signal and power cabling, we arrive at a well thought-out complete system. If we would like to improve anything, we would have to pay far more and cosmetic changes would rather make things worse.


Description: The CD-1s is the newest and most affordable entry into Austria's Ayon Audio digital sources. Introduced in late 2008, it is a derivative of the more expensive CD-2. Thanks to the latter, it received a new enclosure and drive, a switchable upsampling module, a far better display, and -- this is important in times of music from the Internet and alternative sound sources -- a digital input. So the CD-1s is a compact disc player with a tube output plus integrated preamp functionality. However, the volume control operates in the digital domain. With each diminishing volume level, we also lose resolution. Converting the signal from 16 to 24 bits in the upsampler helps to alleviate some of that since at the upper volume range, we only truncate interpolated bits and not the music signal (similar to Wadia). But it must be said that this is only a partial solution. I would recommend using it only under appropriate conditions. The output level is higher than the standard 2V by the way so be careful while comparing other players.


The machine benefits from an extremely solid and rigid enclosure made from 5mm thick aluminum plates (the tester was black). This is a classic top-loader where the disc gets placed directly atop the motor spindle. Unlike the CD-1, there is no separate puck. That is integrated with the heavy acryl lid of the transport chamber. I am not sure if sonically this is a good idea but it surely improves user convenience. The puck won't get lost and you never need to consider it. TOC is read in after the acrylic cover closes down on a micro switch.


The CD-1s enclosure has rounded corners (quarter cylinders, not bent plates) and a nice red dot-matrix display. Adjacent sits a red 24/192 icon to confirm upsampling. Red-lit command buttons sit on top. There are also ventilation holes for the tubes covered by attractive chromed mesh. On the back we have the IEC power inlet and digital S-PDIF i/o ports (the input can be activated from the remote) with fantastic American CMC RCAs. There's also an unbalanced analog output on the same type of RCA sockets placed on either end of the back panel to suggest dual mono construction. The machine sits on very solid aluminum feet with a milled recess for a rubber O ring. The power switch is on the belly close to the left side.


While externally very similar to the CD-1, the guts are completely different. The circuit is split between a few PCBs for the power supply (with a few digital parts), drive, display, I/V conversion, amplification and output buffers. Except for the drive control board, all others run thick gold-plated OFC copper traces. But let us start with the drive. It is hung from the top by means of soft rubber washers, then affixed to an aluminum plate bolted to the top cover. The control board nests below the drive. Its heart is the SAA7824 and related bits are also from Philips, custom programmed for Ayon by ex Philips engineers. After reading and decoding, a short ribbon cable routes the signal to the next board which also receives the digital input signal via shielded cable. The digital receiver is a Cirrus Logic 8416. Then we have the disc/input selector before we enter the asynchronous Burr-Brown SRC4193 upsampler. This suggests that the upsampling also works on the digital input. Adjacent to those chips we spot a beautiful, mechanically and temperature compensated TIC word clock.


Further on the same PCB we see separated sections for D/A and I/V conversion. The DAC is a Burr-Brown PCM1792 IC, a quality multi-bit 24/192 affair with sigma-delta modulator. Then come the filters and Burr-Brown OPA2134 chips neatly socketed to allow for op-amp rolling. The I/V stage is symmetrical but the buffers aren't. The output buffer uses Jantzen Audio Standard Z-cap coupling. I couldn't see a resistor ladder or separate volume IC so this likely occurs in the digital domain of the Burr-Brown converter. The output is buffered by Russian Sovtek 6N30Pi-EB tubes, a splendid double triode used exclusively by BAT during the mid 90s when this bottle was nearly impossible to procure due to Russia spy ware using it. Ayon couples its halves with a polypropylene SRC capacitor and the relay-keyed output gets a Mundorf polypropylene cap.


The power supply is extremely elaborate and based on a big R-core transformer with many secondary windings. I counted seven rectifiers but am not sure I spotted all. Most power supply sections are filtered by Rubycon capacitors but in the audio part beyond the stabilizers and filters, we see the more expensive and better Nichicon Gold Fine on the input and filtered outputs. Wherever possible, there are Wima capacitors and all resistors are tight tolerance metalized units. One could of course roll the filter ICs and coupling capacitors but we should first consider the incredibly good sound in this price range and the splendid attendant construction. That is possible only because Ayon sources the enclosures from China. The RC-1A remote control is a metal unit to boot.


E-250: Accuphase introduced the E-250 in late 2008. Otherwise similar to the E-213, it is a bit higher and the front panel sports the signature x50 series split dividing the face into the bigger upper and smaller lower part. With its champagne-colored face plate and knobs, cosmetics are typical Accuphase. We get two small VU meters in the center covered behind smoky Acrlyic. On either side we have big knobs, one for volume control, the other for input selection. The first one works like a classic potentiometer but actually is just an encoder. The E-250 uses the AAVA-II circuit for attenuation to control current, not voltage. This avoids the classic issue of impedance variations with volume setting. Below the acrylic display sit six small knobs and four switches to turn the E-250 into a system control center with many inputs and outputs. We get treble and bass controls plus balance. We can activate the two speaker outputs in parallel, one or the other, switch them both off; access the power amplifier section or activate the tape loop. We can choose mono or stereo mode, MM or MC cartridge


The back sports comprehensive socketry with 4 x RCA and 1 x XLR inputs, a tape loop and a main in. The loaner had no phono which requires an optional card in its own slot which can also take a DAC or additional line inputs. The loudspeaker outputs are twinned and easy to lock. The IEC sits below. The XLRs are wired with the hot pin being 3. If we connect a classically wired CD player via XLR, it's worth inverting polarity with the speaker cables (in both channels of course).


The insides are typical for Accuphase and many others. The input signal encounters a small PCB with a selector for Omron relays. Here the JRC4580 chip creates a balanced signal which, via shielded wires, arrives at the vertically installed AAVA-II module on the right. This is much smaller than in the more expensive models and works in single-ended mode. In front of it we have a nice double Alps pot in malachite color. The class A/B power amp sections are mounted on significantly sized heat sinks on either side of the power supply. The outputs run two pairs of bipolar Sanken transistors in push-pull for an exclusively solid-state circuit. The central power supply runs a big shielded EI transformer and two large filtering capacitors. Between boards, the signal gets transferred on medium-length shielded flying leads. The machine sits on high-carbon steel feet.
Ayon Audio website
Accuphase website