Accuphase

Company profile

Accuphase Laboratories, Inc, originally Kensonic Laboratories, is a Japanese high-end audio manufacturer. The name Kensonic is an abbreviation of Kenwood KEN and the word SONIC (sound).

The company was founded in 1972 by Kenwood founder and engineer Jiro Kasuga. The motivation was that Kasuga was not satisfied with Kenwood's views on high end. Kasuga hired some engineers from other well-known companies, including Marantz and Luxman, and started his own production under the name Kensonic. Kenwood owned a stake in the Kensonic company at the time. There were also some other connections with other companies in Accuphase's early years.

Comparing the components of Kenwood and Kensonic from the early years one finds similarities e.g. in knobs, buttons, dials and a similar design of the units. The Accuphase circuit boards are marked with KENSONIC. Kenwood still retained Kensonic company stock until the mid-1990s. Accuphase engineers also contributed to and left their mark on the last Kenwood high-end L-series of 1992, Kenwood L-A 1, Kenwood L-D 1 and Kenwood LV-Z1.

The first Kensonic models were the P-300 power amplifier, C-200 preamplifier, and T-100 tuner. The E-202 integrated amplifier and a revised version of the (T-101) 100 tuner followed somewhat later. All of these units received very good reviews in 1973 and 1974. Accuphase products have champagne-colored bezels and, on amplifiers, two large analog power meters. As production progressed, units with black anodized front panels were also offered.

The name ACCUPHASE was created by combining the prefix ACCU, accurate (exactly) with the word Phase. Phase is a factor in audio technology.

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