Neal and Terry,
Interesting about that room. At the same event, I wasn't as impressed with that combination, and laid it at the feet of the signature diamonds, not realizing what Neal just mentioned. Reason for that impression was I hadn't heard that speaker before, but had heard Classé and B&W together of course, and like the 800 series.

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B&W 802D(2) B&W HTMD2 B&W 803D(2) B&W ASW825 McIntosh MC501(3) MC402 MX-136 MVP-871 Benchmark DAC1 Apple Mac Mini Rega P3-24 RGPC 400 pro WireWorld interconnects

I recently heard a pair of B&W towers with diamond tweeters and all Classe gear and thought it sounded terrible. Then in the same listening room I heard a pair Focal Utopias with all Mac gear and was very impressed. YMMV.

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Its all about setup and room acoustics. Too many dealers seem to miss the boat on that. When I was up in Illinois that dealer had everything set up and sounding amazing. I once read some where a reviewer say he would rather listen to a mid-fi system in a hifi room than a hifi system in a mid-fi room. Thats not only the room but the setup of the speakers in the room.

I enjoyed the McIntosh room the most that evening, but I admit my bias. That being said, I spent a bit of energy trying to get Rebecca Pigeon to sound as good at home. I can't match what they had in that room, but I have gotten close enough for my budget.

I admit that B&W didn't get it's best out their demonstration that night at Georgia Home Theater, and I should give B&W/Classe a new trial. However, my wife just doesn't like the look of Classe.

I thought the whole combination was a bit dead. Neal is probably right about how the room was set up. Still it was B&W/Classe folks who did the demonstration.

Neal, did you know we had another fellow AK/AA person in the place that night? I didn't.

The biggest surprise to me at least is Classe depreciation... I seen an SSP600 selling for approx. $1200.00. I was informed by the sales person an SSP800 selling for $8000.00 is the exact same guts as an SSP600 with added room correction. hmmmm. At least my Mac's hold their value. I almost bought an SSP600 for $8,000.00 last year. I'm so glad I decided on McIntosh instead. At least my MX-136 is still selling for around $3500.00. Makes you wonder if the Classe amps hold their value. I'm not bashing any manufacturer but when I spend $10,000 on anything, it better hold it's value for more than a year. So where does Krell, Mark Levinson, Ayre, Classe stand on performace if comparing to auto's? Would a Mcinthosh be a ferrari and a sony be a kia? lol Just wondering what the chain is. My salesman stated Wilson audio is the ferrari of speakers while B&W would be porsche. I guess its still subjective.

Sorry, whoever you are talking to doesn't know s#$t. The SSP 800 is a totally new design, and actually doesn't include room correction what so ever, just PEQ. Classe decided to go without as they didn't like the current room correction offerings. The reason the older models have dropped is due to the 800, though I have seen most 600s going for $2500, the 300s for $1200, and they didn't cost $8k in the first place. They depreciate about the same as Mc MXs. Classe amps hold their value pretty well. I prefer Mc for my system, but for value the SSP 800 is hard to beat...I am waiting to see the MX150 in action, but for sound quality the SSP 800 is amazing.

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5.1 Theatre: B&W 800Ds, HTM1D, 803Ds, 2 JL Audio F113s, Sound Anchor stands, McIntosh MC501s, MC303, Classe SSP800, Oppo BD93, Mach Mini Music Server, JVC RS2, 119" DaLite, PS Audio Powerplant x2, Symposium fat padz, RB Jrs, Wireworld cabling
2.1 System: B&W 805Ds, Rel R305, McIntosh C500T(Gold Lions), MC501s, Olive 4HD, Wyred 4 Sound DAC 2, Pioneer Exclusive P10/Koetsu Urushi Vermillion, Avid Pulsare Phono, PS Audio PPP, Wireworld Silver Eclipse ICs, Silver Electra PCs

I agree kahuna, the one sales person I talk to is mac hater with a passion, so anytime he can attempt to say classe or rotel is better he will. I think he was just saying that about the SSP because I told him I was thinking about buying an MX-150. He said "why so you can pay all that money for room correction, Just buy an SSP600 and audessy" no point it spending all that money on an ssp800. save some money and buy MY FLOOR MODEL.. LOL. I don't care for sales people bashing equipment just because THEY don't sell it.

I can't offer an opinion about Classe values, but I have sold 4 pieces of McIntosh over the last several months. They have all sold quickly and at or very near my price.

Classe doesn't hold its value seemingly as well as Mcintosh, true, but that takes nothing away from it being top notch equipment. Nothing out there seems to hold its value as well as Mcintosh in components and that doesn't mean they aren't better or equal to Mcintosh just means Mcintosh has more of an appeal. I got rid of my Mcintosh system completely, not because I didn't like it but was just ready for a change and heard another system I wanted. My daughter walks down and looks at the new system for the first time and it was playing mind you. Her only comment was your system looks boring now, nothing on the sound. If Mcintosh was just in a plain black metal cabinet I don't think it would have the following or the resale either. Kooto's to Mcintosh for making it so appealing on the eyes and making it sound good to. I'm not into home theater but have heard the ssp800 and it is amazing. It also has a new software pkg available for it or something that makes it even better from what I hear.