Quote:
Originally Posted by 70sMac
Dilettante..... There's a lot here to digest, but I like having that problem. 
When you say that the both the Classe SSP 800 Pre-Pro the Classe Sigma SSP Pre-Pro do not support 4K video, are you saying that it won't pass a 4K video signal through to our OLED TV? I really don't mean to muddy the water, because all of this A/V/D information is complicated enough, but I've seen this mentioned several times now. You see, we're presently routing the video signal coming out of our Sony X800M2 directly to the TV via a high-speed HDMI cable. We have recently viewed a few 4K UHD movies and, apart from being a bit disappointed in the jump from blu ray to 4K UHD blu ray, it worked fine.
If you will, please give us the basics on 4K video "support" and why it's important when it comes to a good pre-pro.
Thanks again 
|
Bill,
I noticed that your Sony X800M2 4K bluray player has dual HDMI outputs, one for audio and the other for video. If this was your only 4K video source, then you can run the video only HDMI out of your Sony X800 directly to your 4K TV for video only and run the other HDMI out (audio only HDMI out) of your Sony X800 to either the Classe SSP 800 or Classe Sigma SSP for audio only, assuming that you could find a used SSP 800 or Sigma SSP online. And run whatever source component you have for stereo music to either the SSP 800 or the Sigma SSP. Today you can usually find several used ones of these Classe AV preamp processors (SSP 800 & Sigma SSP) online eg Audiogon, eBay, AudioMart, Chuckmart, etc as people are trying to get rid of them since they don't support latest formats eg 4K HDR Dolby Vision Dolby Atmos DTS-X and look for something that supports those latest formats eg 4K HDR Dolby Atmos DTS-X.
To answer your above question, the SSP 800 & the Sigma SSP do not pass through 4K video signal. These processors have been discontinued. The SSP 800 has been out since 2008 and the Sigma SSP has been out since 2014/2015. Unlike Denon & Marantz, a small high end boutique brand such as Classe is very slow to adopt to the new latest audio video formats with their home theater processors.
But you can run one HDMI out of your Sony X800 4K bluray player direct to your 4K TV for video only and run the other HDMI out of the Sony X800 to either the SSP 800 or the Sigma SSP for audio only.
I'm a current owner of the Classe SSP 800 and have had it for almost 9 years now. It is one of the best sounding HT pre pro for both stereo music and surround sound movies. For stereo, the SSP 800 is probably one of the best sounding AV pre pro and competes well with many high end stereo preamps. Only very very few ultra high end AV pre pros (processors) that will sound better than the SSP 800 in stereo for listening to stereo music.
Both the SSP 800 and Sigma SSP stereo performances are top notch, but for surrounds (movies) the SSP 800 is better sounding than the Sigma SSP.
I pair my SSP 800 with Classe amp as well, but you can use any very good capable amps.
The original retail price of the SSP 800 was $9500 and the Sigma SSP was $5k. The Classe Sigma SSP Mkii version originally did retail for $6k.
The Sigma SSP Mkii version does support Dolby Atmos, DTS-X & 4K video but not HDR & Dolby Vision.