Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Butler
Hi Mike-48,
Clearly stated, I think it means that the kind of user experience created by products like the CP-800 needs to be reevaluated. Nobody has questioned the fidelity of the products that were in development, but that alone is no longer sufficient in the world we live in today.
Sorry to be vague about what "user experience means", but if you've had time with a CP-800, then the natural question is "is this the best we can do?" Are we offering all the right features, do we make the experience of interacting with the product pleasurable or frustrating? That sort of thing. Frankly, I'm happy that people are asking these kinds of questions.
What will we see in the future from Classé? I couldn't hazard a guess. That said, nothing great begins with asking the wrong questions. We'd like to ask the right ones.
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I appreciate the answer. I have spent years with the CP-800 as my main preamp, so I'm familiar with the interface. The unit has the right feature set
for me; in fact, I find it strange that, with so many audiophiles using subs, so few good components offer bass management. However, in comparison to even some older products with DSP and crossovers, some of those features in the CP-800 seemed less well realized in terms of user experience and flexibility. I would hope that, better realized, the features' value would be obvious to all audiophiles. But who can say? There is a great deal of superstition and received truth in audio-land, I'm afraid.
There is a lot more I could say about the CP-800, but I don't want to do that in a public forum. However, if Classé ever wants some serious feedback, I would be glad to write more, to participate in a focus group, or to be a beta-tester. My qualifications for this are 50 years as an audiophile, 5 years as a commercial broadcast engineer, 40 years as a scientist, considerable use of DSP audio products, and extensive musical, concert-going, and some recording experience. If Classé does make a new product to replace the CP-800, I strongly suggest getting feedback from potential users, rather than development in a vacuum. By the way, I doubt that most dealers, even Classé dealers, are qualified to give feedback about products with DSP -- their interests lie elsewhere.
Regards,
Mike