Accuphase C-265
Documentation on the Accuphase C-265 is thin, and what survives is a little tangled. The manufacturer literature we have is a German-language Accuphase preamplifier manual that describes the C-265 in detail but is filed under the T-104 tuner's document set - an indexing artifact, not a claim that the C-265 is a tuner. What the manual does establish is clear enough: the C-265 is a stereo preamplifier built around a fully balanced signal path.
The circuit is the interesting part. The input amplifier uses signal-current feedback instead of the conventional voltage-feedback arrangement, a topology Accuphase applied to several of its top models. The claim is that gain no longer affects frequency response, so less negative feedback is needed for correction, which reduces phase shift at high frequencies. The output stage uses symmetrical bridged feedback, which lifts the signal clear of the ground connection. Physically, the C-265 is modular, with extruded-aluminum frames around each block. It is also dual-mono: separate amplifier stages, power supplies and filter capacitors for the left and right channels, and the manual explicitly states that electrical interference between channels was rigorously eliminated. A tone control and loudness compensation are fitted. Inputs are switched by logic-controlled relays for the shortest possible signal path, and balanced inputs are provided.
Phono is optional, not standard. The back panel has two slots that accept separately sold input boards. They install in minutes and work in either slot. Fitting one turns the C-265 into what the manual calls a virtuoso LP interpreter, but the standard configuration is a line-level preamp.
Period reception is scarce. The magazine material we have indexed for the C-265 mostly resolves to Accuphase's DC-300 digital preamplifier listings. Audio (October 1999, p.78) describes the DC-300 and its optional input/output cards rather than the C-265, while Audio (October 1998, p.96) is a generic table header. One Audio (October 1999, p.84) preamplifier chart is likewise not a C-265 review. Beyond the manufacturer manual, almost nothing specific to this model is recorded - no independent measurements, no contemporary review text, no original price.
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