Just a wonderment that you may be able to help with. I had owned quite a few Classe Audio components at one time. Owned their best pre and power, CD player and even the Tuner-1. I had enjoyed their units and liked the sound of the CD player with the Ultra Analog chip. With this said, where does Classe Audio stand today? Do they still pursue SOTA 2-channel audio or have they sold out to "home theater"?
So…has anyone tried the Sigma Amp2? I’ve never owned Classé but have been aware of them for years, mainly their older stuff. It appears B&W group owns them now and, yes, it’s made in China. My instinct tells me to run away, but I need to buy something as my Stasis PA5A Mk 2 (a Nakamichi clone of one of the Threshold amps) has finally asked for a divorce by blowing a cap and I have neither the time or ability to change it myself. Has anyone attempted to make the jump from Class A all the way to Class D amps? Thoughts? Thanks!
…….perfect answer wahtjd and appropriate !!! I have owned several Classe product's through the years starting with the original David Reich DR-9 amp. That was a beautiful piece and I had the pre-amp to match. ( MR-6 or something like that ) and this is going back to the late eighties early nineties. Enjoyed those pieces for years. I went back to them a few years ago with the CA 2200 amp and CA 800 pre-amp. Then I moved up to the CA 2300 amp and were all are very good sounding pieces. Then Classe did something stupid and moved all of their production to China as they were originally made in Quebec Canada and the quality control suffered. The company sank and their products value on the used market was next to nothing. So I moved on and from what I have heard they were bought out or financed through a new entity and have come out with some new and really good gear. Overall good company that has gone through some changes but that original DR-9 and their DR-8 ( class A ) amps were really good. Worth a try out in my opinion. I hope this helps.
Well, experience has spoken. And experience can never be underestimated. Kind of like starting less than a dozen threads but responding to over seven thousand. Now that kind of experience should tell us a great deal.
I have owned many Classe pieces during the last 17 years: ca-200 amp, cp47.5 and cp60 preamps, their cdp10, a couple of their recently the ct-m300 monoblocks. Classe gear has a nice warm sound to them. The Classe monoblocks sounded very nice, and these monoblocks has nice features. I bought these amps to power up my new usher x-tower. After a few months I traded the monoblocks in for a ps audio bhk 250 watt. In a different league. I had the Classe ca-200 for many years and like them driving a few pairs of totem model 1, and the arros, and a couple of mani 2’s.
Depends on which system or room. The basic bedroom system is a Nakamichi Soundspace 5, sometimes with an outboard CD player, mainly for going to sleep or wake up. Another is a Magnum 208, with an older ARC cd player and Quad bookshelf speakers and the main system is in flux as I have sold some pieces to a friend recently. It was a CJ ART pre, Classe power and an oppo player and Magnum 108 tuner. I had been in a better FM area, but now I am living without as much good FM available. For FM I lean towards classic Jazz, female vocals and some classical....so mainly college FM stations. Most of the cables have been various Wireworld Eclipse or Gold Eclipse of different generations. I have found myself being fond of the Gold Eclipse III.....but that's just me. I have had different Nordost higher end interconnects (Quatro, SPM et.al.) and speaker wires in the past as well as some Kimber, but no longer....I seem to have hit a "comfort zone" with some of the Wireworld....but of course that is all component, room and taste related. As I have aged I find myself less in the search of the "next" things and more satisfied with what I have...so making fewer changes. I hope all have good Holidays.
Yes, I am in that early stage of trying to catch up with the current high end market. As you well know, it is not easy to cull the real from the hyperbole. The gear I have had the most of in the past would be ARC, CJ, Classe, Bryston, BAT and others. Speakers have usually been from Magnepan, Martin-Logan...and in "the old days" Dahlquist..etc.
I listen mainly to acoustic Jazz and female Jazz/Standards vocals.... as well as the "special 180g pressings" of Lawrence Welk. I hope you and yours have a good holiday season.
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