Classe Reliability : Your Opinions?

I own two Classe 25 amps and Cp-60 pre amp, have had no problems what so ever. I leave all my Classe equipment on 24/7

I've owned a DR5 preamp for fifteen years and it has never required repair and still works flawlessly, even the red indicator light is still operable which is amazing considering it is powered up all the time, something over 130,000 hours! My DR8 power amps have both had many failures of the power switches, they arc and weld their contacts together, at least always failing in the "stuck on" position. Classe no longer supplies the switches despite their "lifetime" warranty but I have sourced replacements from an outside company. For the most part I leave them switched on and power them up through a switched outlet, end of problem. The CA300 I owned for awhile was trouble free.

I own a Classe 70 that has had no problems.

I have a Claase cav 150 that I am very pleased with, the led light burnt out and it was sent to Classe and received it back in less than 2 weeks.

I had a DR9 for over 10 years, never a problem. Even if nothing goes 'wrong' a lifetime warranty would cover things that will wear out over a long period of time like some capacitors so I can see why a manufacture wouldn't do the lifetime thing. I think the 'old' Classe put itself on the map with the unlimited warranty as a way to tell people just how well made those things were.

Very disparaging views of Classe gear. In Audioreview, reviewers have complained extensively about their CDP, being very troublesome. Other complains were about some of their amps, post DR design. It seems that the new CA 101 and on, are fine. But sporadically there are people who do complain about the 200, 300 amps. The DR designs do not seem to break down often and have excellent used market value....as you can see in Audiogon. I do not own any Classe to stand by my views, this is just a reaction to what I have noticed while reading threads.

As another member pointed out to me, the term "Lifetime Warranty" could be interpeted in many ways and probably opened a can of worms for Classe's lawyers.

For those of you who have had a chance to experience the last 3 generations of Classe amplifiers I'd like to know your opinions. Any thoughts on comparisons between the 10/15/25 generation of amplifiers versus the CA 200/300/400 and CA 201/301/401 generations? Not just in terms of musical characteristics but also in terms of reliability and build quality.

Excellent company with excellent product & worthy competitor of Bryston. Like the latter before it made a sales stunt out of it Classe continues to interpret warranties on the customer's behalf very liberally. My guess is that it reduced its legal responsibilities just to be on the safe side. Cautious people those Canucks!

research shows that the average hi end consumer keeps a component for about twenty minutes. a lifetime warr was overkill.

I've owned a Classe CDP1, CP-60, CA-200 and CAV-75 and have never had a day of trouble with any of them. I don't know why the lifetime warranty was withdrawn, but I would guess for financial reasons. They still do maintain remarkable build quality, IMHO.

Regards,
John