News

New Classé Preamp Retains Canadian Firm's Audiophile Leadership (6/10/2005)

Classé Audio enjoys a well-deserved, global reputation as source of some of the world's finest and most sophisticated components for music reproduction. With the introduction of its latest two-channel preamplifier, the dual-chassis CP-700, the Canadian maker now solidifies this position among knowledgeable audiophiles worldwide. Conceived for those fortunate enough to be able to choose ultimate performance over budgetary concerns, the new model establishes fresh benchmarks for pure reproduction, underscoring Classé's leadership among dedicated audio fans and serious music lovers.

"It is central to our firm's identity that we consistently offer a design that stands as the standard-bearer among stereo components for performance and sound quality," says David Nauber, Classé's Executive VP, Brand Development. "With the CP-700's unexcelled sonics and innovative design, we are confident that we have once again fulfilled this obligation, protecting our leadership position for years to come."

Like its predecessor in Classé's renowned Delta component family, the CP-700 is a two-channel preamplifier that makes use of obsessive quality of design, execution, component-selection, and materials, to achieve unmatched audio performance. Yet despite its unique sophistication and no-compromise two-chassis layout, the CP-700 remains simple and intuitive to use, with its large, highly legible touch-screen display and intelligently arrayed remote controller.

As with all Classé designs, the CP-700 begins with the foundation of a remarkable power supply. The CP-700's is an impressive, superbly regulated piece of engineering that inhabits an entirely separate chassis and incorporates no fewer than three fully discrete transformers with multiple secondary windings. By thus delivering fully independent voltage and current sources for left and right audio channels (two each, in differential array), and for control, logic, and AC-supply-monitoring circuits among others, the CP-700 supply ensures the ideal of perfect purity in all audio-signal pathways. Another important underpinning, the CP-700's chassis, is a Delta-series-based design combining aluminum and steel, and exploiting damping feet by Navcom(tm), to achieve near perfection in controlling unwanted vibrations.

Of course, the newest Classé preamplifier is a fully balanced design, with all the benefits of noise rejection and signal integrity that only a fully optimized, meticulously executed true-differential layout can provide. To ensure full depth and power of response the CP-700 is also a "DC-coupled" design, free of audio-path capacitors that can limit impact and compromise transient purity: instead, sophisticated DC-servo topology stands guard against unwanted DC in the signal paths.

In order to preserve its unmatched performance in real-world use, for input-selection the CP-700 uses specially designed, shielded low-voltage relays boasting gold-plated silver contacts, rated for more than 100 million operational cycles. Highly sophisticated, instrument-grade buffer-amplifier technology, and input-circuit topology that physically disconnects all unused sources' signals (to prevent signal degradation or cross-talk), further guarantee the ultimate in signal-path quality.

The new Classé preamp accepts stereo line-level sources in balanced or single-ended formats, and of course provides its two-channel output in both formats as well (unbalanced sources are converted via the CP-700's unique three-stage, true-differential buffer stages).

Twinned two-channel volume controls provide level-control with precision and quality, while fully preserving the CP-700's impressive balanced-mode performance. Optional phono-preamp modules can be installed internally to add MM/MC phonograph capability.

While nearly all two-channel audiophile preamplifiers are by nature ergonomically simple and straightforward, the CP-700 improves on this advantage through its inclusion of a bright, highly legible color-TFT touchscreen front-panel display. This not only makes operation all but perfectly self-prompting, it also delivers valuable user-customization options, including source-name labeling; of course, the CP-700 also is supplied with a simple, elegant remote controller.

The Classé CP-700 is constructed entirely at the firm's MontrŽal, Quebec facilities, employing the finest available parts and components, to Classé's meticulous standards. The CP-700 is available August, at a manufacturer's suggested price of $7,000.

www.classeaudio.com