Classe' has been going through changes for the last couple years. Some which you may know like production moving to China and some which you may not like the departure of some key players that made up the Classe' Design Team. To be honest I had some worry regarding both but after my recent visit to CES I can safely say that neither is any longer a reason for concern. Production at the new plant is going smoothly and the new design team is going strong as ever. In fact, these two changes have helped put Classe' in the formidable position to add value to some existing products and to produce some totally new ones. The first are enhancements to the CP-800 and the second is an all new amplifier.
The CP-800 is going to be getting an all new digital board to replace the existing one. Originally Classe' was planning to release an upgradeable daughter card to support Airplay over WiFi and Ethernet. This is no longer the case. The new board will still support Airplay over Ethernet but it will not have WiFi built-in. The new board will also get the new 192kHz USB chipset and processors that will handle all hires sampled content, improve sound quality and lower noise by a further 10dB! In addition to the new hardware comes an all new IOS application that allows full graphical control of the CP-800 in the palm of your hands! The new board will be priced at $1000, is estimated to debut in April and will be field upgradeable. The price of the updated CP-800 will rise to $6000. Later in the year around summer time a $500 phono board will be made available as well.
Classe' is going to release for the first time in company history a Class-D amplifier called the CA-D200. It will produce 200 wpc into 8 ohms, 400 wpc into 4 ohms and is stable down to 2 ohms. It features a 1000 watt amplifier module and a switched-mode power supply with power factor correction, similar to the CP-800. It is expected to debut around April and will carry a $4000 price tag.
I have some pictures but my current status limits my ability to post them. I think I'll have to change that.
