Quote:
Originally Posted by audiohippo
Would be nice to see a Classe Pre without DAC like the CP700 which was a keeper.
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I can understand that view, though I don't share it, as I use the features in the CP-800. They make sense to combine with a DAC: bass management is a big plus, and IMO that's best done digitally. Once you have digital processing, a DAC is necessity.
From a business point of view, it seems to me that the preamp category is in danger of extinction by the DAC category, except where price is no object. Most new DACs have volume controls and multiple inputs. Some have analog inputs, and the Mytek Brooklyn now has a phono stage. So if DACs are becoming preamps, how can a preamp compete without adding features?
As an example of the alternative: I also like Bryston gear, but consider the stack of stuff one would need to equal the functionality of the CP-800. A streamer, a DAC, a preamp, and a crossover. Cables. And one still wouldn't have the PEQ to reduce the effects of room nodes. Though I'm glad to hear the Delta preamp is being refreshed -- one hopes with a little more refinement in some areas -- I think Classé is combining compatible components into something that, though hardly cheap, gives a great deal of value in a practical sense.