Both are Accuphase, from different ranges - the engineering approach is shared and the differences are mostly in power, connectivity and price.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Power | evenly matched | Effectively the same output - 100W against 90W into 8 ohms is under 1dB, which is not an audible difference in loudness. |
| Grip on hard loads | A | Accuphase E-3000 holds up better into a 4-ohm load: its output increases strongly to 150W, where the other increases modestly. That matters with demanding speakers far more than the 8-ohm figure does. |
| Bass control | evenly matched | Similar damping factor (600 vs 500). |
| Price | B | Accuphase E-280 costs less - $6,995 against $9,500 at list. |
A Accuphase E-3000 B Accuphase E-280
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both amplifiers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
Accuphase E-3000 is ahead, but on only 1 of the measured areas, and it costs about 36% more. That is a lot of money for a narrow margin - Accuphase E-280 is the sensible buy unless a specific feature above decides it for you. If your speakers are a difficult load - 4 ohms nominal, big woofers, or a sensitivity in the low 80s - Accuphase E-3000 is the safer partner, because how an amplifier behaves when the impedance drops matters more than its 8-ohm rating. Think about the whole system: the roughly $2,505 saved by taking the cheaper one would buy better speakers or a subwoofer, which does more for the sound than the difference between two competent amplifiers.
What a spec sheet cannot show: how either sounds with your speakers, how the controls feel day to day, and what the app is like to live with - which is where most all-in-one amplifiers are actually won or lost. Power figures are the manufacturers' own and are not measured to a common standard, so treat small differences as noise. If you can hear both, that will tell you more than any row above.