Stereophile reviews Classe CA-3200

[sikoniko]

I thought it might be interesting to start a thread on Kal's review of the CA-3200.

I finally got to read the article. I'm glad to see that he seemed to rate it higher than the bel canto, and only slightly lower than the pass labs, which costs >$4k more. I can't help but wonder how the review would have gone had he mated the amp with another classe piece, such as the cp-700 (2 ch preamp) or one of the ssp's since he is a big multi-channel guy. I am told classe synergy truely brings out the most of the pieces.

Im glad to see classe get the notariety. There are far too few reviews out there of their products. The one thing that did bumb me out is that I would have loved to see pictures of his room. I think it kind of made the article sterile, or clinical with the bench tests and so on, but nothing to make it where I could relate to it, or drool over.

If you read this Kal, I am a little confused, did you plug the CA-3200 into the APC S-15, or was that just used for associated equipment?

[Kal Rubinson]

I finally got to read the article. I'm glad to see that he seemed to rate it higher than the bel canto, and only slightly lower than the pass labs, which costs >$4k more.

???? I've never heard the Pass amp.

The one thing that did bumb me out is that I would have loved to see pictures of his room. I think it kind of made the article sterile, or clinical with the bench tests and so on, but nothing to make it where I could relate to it, or drool over.

Not something that Stereophile does regularly but, if I get a chance, I may post pix at the Stereophile Gallery.

If you read this Kal, I am a little confused, did you plug the CA-3200 into the APC S-15, or was that just used for associated equipment?

The latter.

Kal

[Glen B]

Im glad to see classe get the notariety. There are far too few reviews out there of their products.

Maybe too few reviews of Delta series but not Classé products period. Over the years I seem to recall seeing a number of reviews in various audio publications. In Stereophile alone, between February '97 and March '99 the following Classé pieces were reviewed. That averages out to a review every 3 months.
CA-200
CAM-350s
CDP-10
Model Fifteen amp
M-700 monoblocks
Omega monoblocks
Omega Omicron
Omega Stereo amp

[sikoniko]

???? I've never heard the Pass amp.

My apologies Kal, and everyone else. I've been reading so many posts about those amps, that it kind of blurred. I meant the Simaudio amp.

Not something that Stereophile does regularly but, if I get a chance, I may post pix at the Stereophile Gallery.

That is my understanding Kal and I hope you didn't take it personal. I don't think any magazine does pictures, other than what is available on the product website. I am just getting spoiled by online reviews by fellow forum members. Perhaps that is why I held your review to a higher standard.

[sikoniko]

Maybe too few reviews of Delta series but not Classé products period. Over the years I seem to recall seeing a number of reviews in various audio publications. In Stereophile alone, between February '97 and March '99 the following Classé pieces were reviewed. That's averages out to a review every 3 months.
CA-200
CAM-350s
CDP-10
Model Fifteen amp
M-700 monoblocks
Omega monoblocks
Omega Omicron
Omega Stereo amp

I got distracted when I was typing my post, and didn't finish my thought. perhaps next time I should wait to post until I have enough time to check my own comments...

What I should have added is that since I am biased towards classe these days, I'm not sure if it is more me that is craving reviews, and no amount of write-ups might actually satiate me right now, as I have a new amp (ca-3200) on the way and am trying to soak as much up as possible in the mean time.

[Glen B]

What I should have added is that since I am biased towards classe these days, I'm not sure if it is more me that is craving reviews, and no amount of write-ups might actually satiate me right now,

Its not just you. I used to be like that (craving reviews) but I got over it a long time ago.

[RebelMan]

I finally got to read the article. I'm glad to see that he seemed to rate it higher than the bel canto, and only slightly lower than the pass labs, which costs >$4k more. I can't help but wonder how the review would have gone had he mated the amp with another classe piece, such as the cp-700 (2 ch preamp) or one of the ssp's since he is a big multi-channel guy. I am told classe synergy truely brings out the most of the pieces.

And you would be right. When Kal reviewed the W-8 about a year ago he used the same Bel Canto Pre6 pre-amplifier that he used in the recent CA-3200 review. However, unlike the CA-3200 review, he also utilized the companion Simaudio P-8 pre-amplifier in the W-8 report and made it clear that careful component matching is necessary to achieving optimal performance. I think it is safe to assume that had Kal included, say, the Classe' CP-500 in this review, he would have been equally impressed.

[RebelMan]

That is my understanding Kal and I hope you didn't take it personal. I don't think any magazine does pictures, other than what is available on the product website. I am just getting spoiled by online reviews by fellow forum members. Perhaps that is why I held your review to a higher standard.

You should checkout some of the European periodicals. While they usually don't included whole system pics they do cover multiple angle and internal component shots and have had pleanty to say about the Delta Series.

[dami0n]

That review if anything is a great testament to the Bel Canto, which seems to manage to come pretty close to the Classe at a a large reduction in price. I'm dying to hear a pair of those Bel Canto monoblocs