Accuphase C245 preamplifier by BRZHIFI reviewed - there's a good reason why patents are expiring!

Awesome, this channel is the best, you review the products I actually care about buying!

Are you going to review the weiliang/brzhifi a100 amp? Class A amp with small price to pay

Preamps with remote would be great!

We should always remember that when we evaluate such items, it is important to keep the p
rice in our evaluation set.
Great work on your videos, keep it up!

is it advised to invest in a "highqualityhifi" fuse ?

Great review and great advice!!

I treated myself out of curiosity to a BRZHIFI X10 based on the TI TPA3255 chip.
It was around £80 .when I bought it 4 years ago.

I stacked it against a £1200 Arcam a39.
The BRZHIFI only gave up when it came to inputs. The onboard DAC is meh but the power felt the equal of the Arcam and the tonal quality was very broadly the same.
It drove my neat motive sx1 speakers effortlessly.
Some of these Chinese products are incredible for the money.

Doing God’s work.

I like these reviews. I've always wondered about these audio products, including cables, whether they were worth the risk.

The pricing is coming near that of the Ladder Bach especially when those go on sale, that begs for a comparison.

GREAT PRICE. IF IT ONLY INCLUDED A DAC. MY AUDIO ALCHEMY DDP-1 DAC/PRE INCLUDES A QUALITY DAC

SUBSCRIBED!
Glad to finally see reviews of these classic clones.
Thank you!😊

I "needed" a balanced Preamp between Denafrips Ares12th & my Bryston amp.
Was toying with the idea of getting the Brz clone of the Bryston P26....But no reviews:-/
Steered away after reading the original has too much gain.
I ended up buying the Denafrips Hestia12th.
It complements the MUSICAL PARADISE MP 701mk2 tube Preamp well, depending on my mood for precision & expression or 3D romantic tonal saturation.
I would have considered this Accuphase clone too....😊
🎵🎶🤫🎶🎵

It seems the MBL6010D preamp clone is also quite popular. If you have the opportunity to review this one as well I would be curious as to your findings,

did you listen through the RCA -inputs?

Excellent Review!!

I couldn't be proud of owning a Chinese knockoff , with the way they feel about my country of America , and with the very real possibility of forced labor used in the product. (even if the paperwork says no slave labor was used.). most Chinese mineral mining, and therefore Chinese metal, uses forced labor.

Circuitry might be the same, but electrical components inside can't match the original at this price tag.

wow, compare to class d ( fosi za3) is it big diff?

Without knowing the price, this preamp could easily pass for a $3000+ unit. I had a Chord preamp once that was built with the cheapest of cheap parts and sounded pretty dire, yet cost many multiples of what this unit does. The dual transformer design for instance is typically found in only the most esoteric preamps. I have owned several 5-figure preamps for instance that just used a common power transformer.
What would be interesting would be some comparison between the cheaper JC2 preamp and the C245. Yes, they both sound great, but does the C245 sound greater, and if so, is that sufficient to justify the additional expense.
The C245 also looks like a modders dream...Im sure that putting another $100-200 in higher quality parts and a couple hours installing them would give a performance that would be difficult to match at many times the cost.

Overpriced. Accuphase/Luxman. Just like Harbeth.

I know I recommended to also take a look at the MBL6010D preamp if possible but since you now have reviewed an Accuphase preamp it would be nice to know how this sounds together with a class A poweramp like the A60 or A75 of the same brand. It is said that class A is the most musical amplifier type that you can listen to.

Hi and thanks for the review! Did you noticed any differences in the sound when using balanced / unbalanced inputs ?

Earlier you explained that you did not need a preamp because the direct signal from dac to amp offered the best quality signal. A question remains, does the preamp like A 245 makes sounds more interesting or any way it limits the resolution? So, your observation are still valid and main purpose of preamp is having option of selection of multi inputs signal plus additional amplification for the cost of sugnal resolution .

Would like to know the polarity configuration of the XLR input and output terminals.

I have been using these Akliam LC5s for 3 months with my Aiyima a07 max on socket extensions without the amplifier covers, they sound excellent! I was very disappointed with the Burson V7 Classics which sounded too hot and muddy making human voices unnatural and centering the soundstage

Thank you for this video.. I would like to know that if you spend this kind of amount is there any modern equipment in the market that will sound as good as this.

An other major excellent review !

You make very interesting videos

Hard to keep your fingers off those nipples, er, I mean knobs.

Hi, thanks for the awesome review.
One technical question, can I connect 2 outputs - XLR and RCA at the same time?
I imagine scenario, where Active studio monitors and subwoofer are connected simultaneously

Good luck!🎉

Will not buy any audio made in China!

I too purchased this exact preamp. I have observed that the level meters are not actually monitoring the output level instead they are monitoring the input level. Case in point, when I plug in my Gustard A26 DAC the needles typically are pegged past +6dB. I have reduced the output of the DAC manually to keep the input signal in the 0 dB range. In fact, I have to adjust the DAC's output by -12dB. Did you also experience this? Is there a way to manually adjust this on the input side of the preamp?

Hello
For Musical Fidelity a1 clone. Which pre amp will be better?

1. JC2

2. C -245

BTW, you mentioned you might be reviewing the C3850 clone in your Cary SLP-90 video. When do you think we could see a review on the Accuphase Reference clone preamp? I too agree with you that the extreme highs seemed to be a bit rolled off even after a 240-hour burn-in. This is confirmed in their frequency response spec from AliExpress. I see that the C-3850 has a frequency response of 5-50kHz with 115dB SNR vs the C-245 @ 20-20kHz, 110 dB SNR. 

To counter act this small bit of HF extension roll-off, I have ordered the Aperion Audio DST Dual Firing Air Motion Transformer Ribbon Super Tweeter. I should get it tomorrow. Unfortunately, it'll be a month before I can seriously consider if the super tweeter, this preamp and the D5Pro amplifier combo is a good match. If not, I may consider ordering the C-3850 clone. 

I do like the holography and natural timbre, Accuphase's "house" sound. I will let you know what I find about my combo setup after the burn-in.

Bought c245 pro clone , but not match with fm300a high version. Sound not as good as wiim pro plus streamer.
What is the best pre amp for FM300a ?

Bought c245 pro clone , but not match with fm300a high version. Sound not as good as wiim pro plus streamer.
What is the best pre amp for FM300a ?

is this the best balanced pre you've tried so far ?

Thanks for the review. I am interested in acquiring this preamp. I am currently running a Wiim Ultra into a Nord power amp with the Wiim acting as a preamp. How would you recommend that I configure the connection between the Wiim and the C245 please and thanks.

Just got mine yesterday on the strength of this review, mine came with the yellow VU meters, rather than the black, which initially i was annoyed about, but when lit up, i think i now prefer.
Sounds great, depth, scale and everything the reviewer here mentioned is accurate…very happy.

Hi Got this one as well. Man what A sound !!! Thanks for the review . I got this more or less based on your review together met the fm300 ( 2 of thoose ) Thanks for that!!

Are repair schematics available for this pre amp?

Are you planning to do review C 2860 plus ? I can see on Ali you purchased one. Im also considering his unit or Goldmund telos t2500. Im wandering if C2860 has same tonal character lack of sparkle as you mentioned on c245?

People allways vote for dictators!