Join me as I repair one of my all-time favourite pieces of hi-fi equipment, the astonishing Accuphase DP-90 CD player.

Welcome back everyone, for variety we’re talking about classic CD players again today, and this one is dear to my heart as I own one of these beauties – the incredible Accuphase DP-90 Precision Compact Disc Player, to use her correct title.

Before we continue, though, I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to all customers, readers and friends of Liquid Audio who appreciate and support my efforts here. I’m fortunate to have so many great customers, industry colleagues and friends of the business. Good people like all of you are why I continue to do this 🙂

Background

This Accuphase DP-90 (and matching DC-91 DAC) purchase and subsequent repair came about in mid-2024, from a customer who initially purchased a consultation where we discussed a few considerations, including the pros and cons of him obtaining an Accuphase DP-90 and the Accuphase DP-91 DAC.

This is a personal story for me because I own an Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91. They were the top-of-the-range digital products from Accuphase at the time, and that means the top products available, along with just one or two others. They were always my aspirational digital purchase, since learning about them many years ago.

I’ve written a little about them, with more to come. My customer read that and, after our discussion about this series of equipment, decided he had to have a pair. He already owned a nice Accuphase preamp, a C-260 from memory, and very much enjoyed it, so this was confirming something that he suspected would be good, and I was able to give him a bit more inside information about this rarer than hen’s teeth combo, from an owner’s perspective.

To cut a long story short, my customer bought a pair from a seller in Germany. They arrived reasonably well-packed, and both powered on, but the DP-90 wouldn’t read discs. This could have been catastrophic, but thankfully, I was able to repair this for him, and that brings us here.

Where I can spare the time, I make an accompanying video. You can watch that here:

Top-Tier

Early 1990s Accuphase equipment is some of my favourite. Accuphase were ramping up build quality in a way no other manufacturer was. My former reference, Accuphase C-280V, was part of this shift, many kilograms heavier than the already excellent C-280L that preceded it, but with even higher build and parts quality. My current C-290 is part of this new series of extreme gear, likewise, the C-290V, like this one I serviced recently:

These are all absolute end-game statement pieces, even now, but in 1995, one can only imagine the attention the DP-90/DC-91 pair received, costing more than a decent car at the time. The Accuphase DP-90 cost a cool $7,495 USD in 1995, equivalent to around $15,000 USD now or $22,500 AUD, based on the wallet inflamation calculator I use 🙂

The matching Accuphase DC-91 DAC is even more outrageous, costing $13,495 USD in 1995, equivalent to around $28,000 USD now or $41,650 AUD. This is equipment so otherworldly compared to what $2,000 – $4,000 buys you these days that it’s truly comical. Once you’ve seen, heard and delved inside pieces like this, it’s staggering to consider what you can buy them for now.

For many, this is the pin-drop moment with this S-tier equipment, no matter when it was made. The problem with equipment like this is its scarcity. Hardly anyone has ever heard, let alone owned pieces like these, so very few can speak with any authority about them. There are certainly only a handful of Accuphase DP-90 / DC-91 owners in Australia. Let me know if you are also one!

These two, of course, have great specs and unmatched engineering, but the proof is in the listening. I’ve never heard CDs or streamed files sound better, and I hear a lot of equipment. The DP-90 crushes as a transport.

Accuphase DP-90 vs DP-90B

I should clarify that my DP-90 is the later, improved and even rarer Accuphase DP-90B. These things are unicorns, so buy one if you find one. How can you tell? Well, I learned that only through research after noticing one day that the characteristic early-90s slab-faced design on the DP-90, DC-91, C-290, etc, was subtly different on my DP-90.

My player, if you look closely, has a rounded-off bottom edge to the front fascia. This was brought in towards the end of the ’90s and the DP-90B was one of the last of this extant series of equipment to feature the softer new fascia design, before much less loved DP-100 and DC-101 landed.

Having worked on my DP-90B and a couple of other DP-90s, I can confirm that the DP-90B has improved processing and lacks the kludges visible on the earlier boards. Kludges, on Accuphase’s most expensive gear? Yep, kludges are common, especially on early iterations of low production volume equipment.

Features

The Accuphase DP-90 is technically a transport, meaning that it outputs a digital signal, rather than an analogue one. To use the DP-90 or any other transport, you’ll need an extraordinarily good DAC, ideally an Accuphase DAC with HPC connection, a server-grade glass fibre BNC-style connector and 150MBPS spec far ahead of what Toslink can offer.

I’ve used two very good DACs with my DP-90, my previous Gustard A-26, which I rate highly and was a superb-sounding DAC, and my current, matching Accuphase DC-91, which sounds noticeably better, despite being 30 years older. I’ll leave you to ponder that incredible fact, but if you ever see, hold or hear a DC-91, which unfortunately most won’t, you’ll understand. Then you’ll question all the constant ‘improvements’ we’re told so much about.

You have to experience this epiphany for yourself, of course, but I’ve written about how and why CD transports sound different from one another, and why vintage CD players and DACs can be such great buying. Oh, and if you think they must be making better lasers and transports now, you’re wrong. This was the peak of laser and mech quality and engineering, though good transports and lasers still exist.

You can read more about the Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91 in this excellent Stereophile review. Stereophile raved about this pair, and from what I’ve heard, I completely agree. Here are some more features:

• HPC (High-Performance Connection) for the lowest possible jitter (it is audibly better)
• Built-in RF amplifier in laser pickup to minimise the effects of interference
• Balanced drive circuit that does not depend on the ground for servo motor drives
• 8mm thick solid aluminium chassis structure and panels
• CD mechanism with sapphire spindle bearings and magnetic slides that guarantee durability and reliability
• Auto-locking mechanism to prevent tray resonance
• Gold-plated Teflon PCBs with an emphasis on sound quality
• Dual power transformers
• Multifunctional remote commander

The Accuphase DC-91 DAC is even more extraordinary with its 16 PCM-63K hand-selected DAC chips PER CHANNEL – 32 in total! I will go into more detail on the DC-91 in a later article; otherwise, I’ll never get this article written!

Accuphase DP-90 Specifications

Service & Repair

As mentioned, my customer purchased his Accuphase DP-90 and DC-91 from Germany. Both arrived seemingly unscathed, until he tried to play some CDs. The loader wouldn’t open, a common issue with CD players, no biggie here. A bigger deal, though, when he did finally get it open, was that the player wouldn’t read CDs.

This, my friends, is a scary moment for all who’ve experienced it, or something like it. It can mean any one of many issues is present, including the worst of all in the case of the DP-90 – a dead laser. In this case, though, the loader needed service, and the spindle that holds the discs, a superbly machined stainless steel affair resting on a sapphire ball bearing, had come loose.

This meant the disc and spindle were fouling the laser, so that the laser could not ‘park’ itself. It also meant that the disc would not spin up as it was not being gripped properly by the disc platter. It also meant that focus could not be achieved. Thankfully, I resolved this issue for my customer and cleaned and serviced the player for him. Let’s take a look.

A note on this repair technique: In terms of setting the correct platter height, there is a precise specification for this, typically X mm +/- 0.1mm. There is also a way to relocate the platter into its original position, in many cases, through careful use of ‘feel’ and the right tools. It doesn’t always work but it gets easier with experience.

In terms of laser cleaning: Don’t ever touch the laser optics, ie the lens, unless you absolutely know how to do that WITHOUT harming them. I’m not going into detail here, but most of what you read about cleaning lasers is wrong and often results in failure due to impaired optical performance or damaged lens suspension. That, of course, cannot happen here, under any circumstances!

Results

I’m extraordinarily pleased to say that I was able to repair this epic Accuphase DP-90 for my customer and he’s been enjoying it since then. I believe he plans to bring it back to me for some additional work, but this was a really good save on what could have been technically a write-off, in the wrong hands, and believe me, this happens.

I’m fortunate to have been given the opportunity to repair this one and stocked to own the ever-rarer DP-90B. I know her owner absolutely loves this player and I’m sure it will give him many more years of enjoyment.

To replace a treansort like the Accuphase DP-90, you’d need to look at something like the Accuphase DP-1000, the modern functional and marketplace equivalent. These cost a cool $32,500 AUD.

Review

The Accuphase DP-90 is superb, the best transport / CD player I’ve ever heard. I’m sure there will be people reading this and thinking: “Ah, but Mike, the dCS Rossini is better…” and you know what? Maybe it is, but those things are 40K AUD, and my DP-90 cost me 3 grand. I bet it will last longer, it’s still running perfectly 30 years on, AND it’s heavier!!!

Anyway, I highly recommend these and encourage folks interested in Redbook CD playback to consider one.

Thanks!

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoyed this article on a piece of equipment very few have written about. If you found the article informative, I encourage you to like, share and subscribe.

If you’d like me to service or repair your Accuphase DP-90, or any other beautiful Accuphase CD player, you are always welcome to contact us.