Canadian audio manufacturer Classé Audio was founded in 1980 by engineer Dave Reich and entrepreneur/audiophile Mike Viglas. The name “Classé” was a pun on the fact that Reich was a firm believer in an amplifier’s output stage operating in class-A, where the output devices never turn off (see sidebar). Though the brand was established with the 25Wpc DR-2, the first review of a Classé amplifier to appear in Stereophile, by Larry Greenhill, was of the later DR-3, in December 1985. This review had not yet been reprinted on the magazine’s website at the time of writing this report, but no fewer than 21 reviews of Classé products are available in our free online archive. These include the CAM-350 monoblock amplifier, which was reviewed by Brian Damkroger in January 2001 1 and has been used by Jon Iverson, AVTech’s self-described “web monkey,” as his long-term reference amplifier.
My own experience of a Classé amplifier dates from March 2011, when I reviewed the CT-M600 and CA-M600 monoblock amplifiers. 2 So positive was that experience that, when Editor Jim Austin asked me if I would be interested in reviewing Classé’s new third-generation Delta Mono amplifier ($21,998/pair), I didn’t hesitate to say “yes.”
First, some history Classé Audio became part of the Bowers & Wilkins Group in 2001, with Viglas staying on as chairman and the day-to-day running of the company being handled by branddevelopment VP Dave Nauber. (Reich had joined Theta Digital by that time; Viglas retired in 2010 and passed away in 2018.) In May 2016, B&W was acquired by EVA Automation; a year later, the new owner shuttered Classé’s operations in Montreal and all employees, excluding thenpresident Dave Nauber, were let go.
この記事は Stereophile の July 2020 版に掲載されています。
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この記事は Stereophile の July 2020 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
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AUDIO SALON HOST/ENTREPRENEUR/SYSTEM AND FASHION DESIGNER DEVON TURNBULL'S RECORD-BREAKING ART OF NOISE SHOWING AT SAN FRANCISCO MOMA.
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What's in a name? Denmark-based Gryphon Audio Designs laid down a marker when company founder Flemming Rasmussen chose that name in 1985. Browsing through the current Stereophile Recommended Components list, I only found one other manufacturer that utilizes an animal moniker.
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To watch as Rega very slowly expands its turntable offerings upmarket requires the patience of a Thomas Pynchon addict waiting for each new tome from the notoriously slow-working and reclusive author.
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Give me the seduction, give me the pleasure,\" Ron Sutherland was nearly shouting into the phone. \"I want to turn off the analytical mind and just enjoy myself!\"
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Like romance or car racing, the act of playing records is tactile by design. Like drifting through curves or making out, spinning vinyl is a learned skill that requires users to touch everything with practiced assurance.
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As Jim Austin wrote in this space in the December 2024 issue, following a medical procedure that he had in mid-October, he needed to take several weeks' leave to recuperate. He delegated the magazine's production to Managing Editor Mark Henninger, AVTech Editorial Director Paul Miller, and myself. The three of us worked with copy editor Linda Felaco and longtime art director Jeremy Moyler to produce the issue you hold in your hands.
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Taste is a funny thing. Love cilantro? Millions swear it tastes like soap.
