Classé CA-101

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amey01

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Joined
May 23, 2005
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Location
Queensland, Australia
Amp - Classé CA-101

$MSRP - No idea 'cos I'm in Australia. I'm sure you don't want me to give the $AUD amount 'cos it's about five times what US based people would pay (even with exhange rates).
$USED - $AUD 3,500 - 4,000

Specs: 100w (8 ohms, 20Hz-20,000Hz, +/- 0.1dB, both channels driven) or (350w mono)
200w (4 ohms)
Input Impedance - 75,000 ohms
Output Impedance - 0.034 ohms
Balanced and SE inputs
Full specs available from www.classeaudio.com but who cares? - it's the sound that counts, I hope?

Used with: See my system page for more details
Driver: Copland CTA-305 valve preamp
Driving: ML Vista

Experience: Fantastic amp - when I first bought my MLs, I was driving them with a Primare integrated. From the get-go, it couldn't cope so within a week I was back at the audio shop. I auditioned my MLs on a Classé, but that was just coincidence. I settled for a Rotel 1080 in order to try and save some money, but that couldn't cope either. I returned it the next day. You can't skimp on amplifiacation with MLs. Once I knew I was going to be spending more than I had anticipated I started the search. I spent a whole day at the audio shop auditioning amplifiers - valve/SS/new/second hand/English/European/American/Canadian/Australian - everything. I was very partial to an ARC VT-60 for many reasons, not least being that I just wanted ARC. But it was the Classé that won the day. It did all things adequately without doing anything wrong. While it didn't have the warm fluidity of the VT60 or the incision of a Gryphon I also auditioned, it was certainly the best compromise.

Discontinued now, but I'm sure they're not too hard to find when you've a tool like Audiogon at your disposal. Audiophiles in Australia might have a harder time finding one - and you're not getting mine!

Picture is my actual amp, installed in my listening room.
 

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