Classe' Preamp comparisons

Flat sounding? Try a different brand. Things will open up even with a modest pre like B&K, Anthem or the sumo listed here.

I have owned the CP-35,CP-50 and CJ-14 II and now own an Audio Horizons for preamps. I have two CA-150's as monoblocks and started with one. My speakers were Aerial 8's. The combo of CP-50, CA-150's with the Aerials worked very well. I listen to mainly classical music. I did not think that the Classe sound was flat. I did really like the CJ in the mix. I have friends with B&K and Anthem's and they are a totally different sound. I really hope you can audition them in your system before purchasing them. Steve

Best bang for the buck would be the older units, say a DR-5 or DR-6. If you want a remote, try a CP-50 or CP-60.

Cheers,
John

I sold them years ago and used a DR-5. For what you can buy one for now they are hard to beat.

I use 2 CA150 amps as mono also and run an Anthem tube pre with great results, always wanted to try a Classe but the Anthem fell into my lap with no regrets.

I've owned the B&K MC-101 Sonata, Classé CP-35, CP-40 and CP-50 paired with a CA-300 amp. The CP-50 is a significant improvement over the CP-35 and the best of the lot. I concur on the recommendation above of DR-5, DR-6, CP-50 or CP-60.

Thanks for all of the response! Just to make everyone groan and roll their eyes, after all of the considerations, I've decided to ..... go with tubes! I bought an Audible Illusions M3 becuase I heard one a couple of weeks ago and just became captivated by the silly thing. Haven't had tubes in my system for quite a while so this should be fun!

That's great. NO eye rolling here. I grew up on tubes (literally - from age 13) although I now run all solid state. As long as you're happy with the Audible Illusions that all that matters. Enjoy.

The AI is awesome sounding. I hate dual volume controls...
Time to start tube rolling, you will really notice it when you put NOS mullards or telefunkens in there.

I've read that the factory option phono stage in the CP-50/60 is highly regarded, but compared to what? The phono option seems to add $400-$500 to the cost of these units used (about the same as new!) and they move quickly. So if I went w/o the phono option, how much would I have to spend (used) on an external phono stage to match the quality of the Classe option? Any recommendations?

I've been running a CP-35/CA 200 combination into Thiel 2.2s for about 10 years. I always intended to upgrade the CP-35 (clearly the weak link when I bought the system), but never got around to it until now.

Thanks.

I had a $900 Monolithic Sound phono setup (pre and upgrade power supply) for a while. The CP-50 with phono was significantly better.

Thanks, Gbart. Sounds like the acclaim is well earned.

I just bought a classe model twenty. I like the sound, but the thing is I cant find any info about this preamp anywhere.. Similar looking of the model 30 but w/o phono stage..