Classé website update
 

From the Classé Web site:

Mike.......It will be great if Classe can pull the rabbit out of the hat. Manufacturing in Japan instead of China might be just the ticket needed for restoring a tarnished reputation.

The rabbit has been in that hat for a long time now! It should be ready to pop out.

(The new Delta components were publicized in magazines in early 2017. Clearly, they were delayed by B&W's shedding the Classé brand.)

Perhaps Classé, in the intervening time, has refreshed the design, using engineering and ergonomics insight from the new owners and from users.

Very few preamps offer the Delta line's set of features, along with excellent sound. That's what keeps me interested in this item, despite the repeated delays in availability.

They showed a refreshed series at RMAF.

I called Classe tech support recently. In the past I would always be able to speak to a live person. This time I had to leave voice mail message twice.
I heard back via email and communicated through some email portal. Person who replied was very knowledgeable about Classe products. But the part needed to do a tweak was no longer in inventory so no longer available. I own two sets of Classe amps so I hope that they make it.

Good luck! Even though my Classe amps had a "Lifetime Warranty", Classe tech support told me that they had abandoned the spare parts, and would no longer repair them, even for pay. See my thread in "No Repair or Tech Support for Older Classé Products!" in the Classe forum...

If it's true that Classe is not able to do factory repair for existing Classe products, I would not purchase their products going forward. I understand costs and everything, but a high end audio company should be able to maintain inventory and expertise to take care of product in the marketplace. Otherwise they are no different from all the "high-end" Chinese manufacturers popular in 2000s and well reviewed. I stayed away from those and it was a good call. They disappeared as fast as they originally stormed US market.

I have no idea how they will raise the Phoenix out of those ashes. :smoking: High end audio is the type of business where you build a clientele base and loyalty to the brand over the years. Now they have lost the old clientele since they abandoned them in hopes of what, bringing in a new group of loyalists? It hardly works that way since most enthusiasts read forums and are well aware. Good luck to them none the less.

Please don't hijack
 

Guys,

I would appreciate, in the future, your not hijacking threads about new products with exchanges directed to past failures or difficulty getting old products repaired.

Hijacking is against Forum rules. Besides, it is free to open a new thread, and we can read all about it there.

Unfortunately, the high-end audio business is hardly known for probity of claims or reliability of its products. Who among us has not purchased a high-end product that did not meet expectations or that failed prematurely? I could list several I've owned that fell into that category, and those manufacturers did not go out of business because of it.

The risks in buying expensive electronics would be a great topic for another thread -- but please, if you want to add something on that topic, don't hijack this thread further -- start one on that topic!

Thanks,
Mike

Mike... :thumbsup: