[Rob Babcock]

Anyone have any opinions of the amps from Classe (from Canada)?  I've read some good reviews, and they seem to be built like tanks.  Anyone here own one?

[Upstateaudio]

I have a CA150, it is built like a tank is powerful and on voiced to sound slightly warm.

Their classic preamp the DR6 is a great buy on the used market.  I have owned one for several years.

By the way, their facotry service is superb.  I bought both of them used on Audiogon and have had them serviced in Canada without a problem.

[ScottMayo]

Anyone have any opinions of the amps from Classe (from Canada)?  I've read some good reviews, and they seem to be built like tanks.  Anyone here own one?

I auditioned Bryston, Classe and Aragon at one point. Roughly equivalent in price at the time.

Everyone in the family could distinguish between these 3 amps in a blind test. My wife liked the Aragon and I liked the Bryston.

I think I could have been happy with any of them. The Classe was warmer than the (very neutral) Bryston, but that's not always a bad thing and the build quality was impressive. I'd recommend giving a Bryston a listen as well.

[electricbear]

From a retailers stand point I really like the Classe. The customer support they offer is first rate. The amps work well with just about any speaker , the power is clean with as prevoiusly observed, a slight warmth. Very listenable and very musical and very reliable.

[DARTH AUDIO]

Hey Bob, I listened to the Classe CA-2200, CP-500 and the CDP 100 at a local stereo shop in Chicago. I have to say that I was Un-Impressed!! The sound was flat with ZERO emotion!! They were playing this through some $12K B&W speakers. I am a tube fan as my system would show but they replaced the Classe amp with the McIntosh 402 and it blew the Classe away. If pushed I could live with the McIntosh amp. But then again it's a SS amp built by tube guys

This is just my opinion based on one listening session. It could have been the room or set up? Not sure. The equipment sure looked nice. I'm sure this is great equipment for those who enjoy that sound. Just not my cup of tea. Go take a listen if you can. I did based on the reviews. Not sure what all the fuss was about???

Have a good one,

Gary

[Glen B]

I own/have owned a number of Classé components over the years.  Classé products and service are exactly as Upstateaudio described.

[Levi]

Anyone have any opinions of the amps from Classe (from Canada)?  I've read some good reviews, and they seem to be built like tanks.  Anyone here own one?

Classe produces excellent Amps.  They are warm, powerfull and clean sounding depending on the amp model.  They use WBT for internal wiring more or less high grade components.  They are somewhat pricey but you can get great deals at Agon.  My CAV-180 5 x 180 Watts amp is built to last.  


Their  customer service are also one of the best!

[thorman]

I owned a dr-5 preamp for for a few years and always thought it was one of the best of the many peices of electronics I have ever owned. Sounded slightly laid back with a slight toobyness with wonderfully sliky smooth control knobs.Best feeling knobs I can remember.No pun intended!  Very good company to deal with....

[mclsound]

hi guys,i know this is an old thread but i was wondering if anyone compared a Cav-180 to a ca-200 performance wise.
I have had a ca-400 on my ATC mids and thought they were wonderful,not to harsh,tubey like sounding yet powerful,and at a 4ohm load.
I am looking for comparisons in the classe line only.
thanks John

[rydenfan]

Wow pulling out a 3 year old thread. Nice detective work!

[Glen B]

John,
What exactly are you looking to do ?  Other than a slightly improved input differential stage and a few additional bypass caps in later production CA series amps, they all share similar circuitry, with the output stages and power supplies of the various models tailored to meet rated power output.  I have not heard a comparison of the CAV-180 and CA-200 but I will make an educated guess that performance differences between those two amps if anything are going to be subtle.

Glen

[mclsound]

i am comparing older amps because the ca400 i had was a 1996 model and worked well with my mid/hi.
The newer models are brighter and i dont want brightness.
john

[Brown]

Actually perfer the older models like the DR25. Great company great service if needed [ rare ]. When I blew mine up, it was repaired for FREE and upgrades were installed without asking for FREE. Havn't heard their latest creatipn to comment.