Classé CP-800 D/A preamplifier Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Analog Sources: Linn Sondek LP12 turntable with Lingo power supply, Linn Ekos tonearm, Linn Arkiv B phono cartridge.
Digital Sources: Ayre Acoustics C-5xe^MP & DX-5 universal players; Apple 2.7GHz i7 Mac mini laptop running OS10.7, iTunes 10, Pure Music 1.86; Shuttle PC with Lynx AES16 soundcard & dual-core AMD Athlon processor running Windows 7, Foobar 2000, Adobe Audition 3.0; Halide DAC HD, dCS Debussy, Benchmark DAC1, Logitech Transporter, Mark Levinson No.30.6 D/A converters; Empirical Audio Off-Ramp4; Ayre Acoustics QA-9 USB A/D converter.
Preamplification: Liberty B2B-1 phono preamplifier, Ayre Acoustics K-5xe^MP.
Power Amplifiers: Classé CT-M600, Lamm M1.2 Reference (both monoblocks).
Loudspeakers: BBC LS3/5a, Emotiva XRT-5.2 X-Ref, Lansche 5.1, PSB Imagine Mini, Sony SS-AR2.
Cables: Digital: DH Labs Silver Sonic. AES/EBU: AudioQuest Coffee, Belkin Gold USB. FireWire: AudioQuest FireWire 400 (prototype). Interconnect (balanced): AudioQuest Wild. Speaker: QED. AC: XLO Reference 3, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Audio Power Industries 116 Mk.II & PE-1, APC S-15 AC line conditioners (computers, hard drive); ASC Tube Traps, RPG Abffusor panels; Target TT-5 equipment racks; Sound Organisation turntable stand; Ayre Acoustics Myrtle Blocks; Shunyata Research Dark Field cable elevators. AC power comes from two dedicated 20A circuits, each just 6' from breaker box.—John Atkinson

Comments

?A pretty Receiver?

Submitted by Et Quelle on August 31, 2012 - 12:53pm.

You gotta love this CP 800, if you are looking for semi receiver like preamp, this one does like the fake stereo in a video game life like Sims3. Its modern, yeah! Pretty neat to have full control over the crossover frequency and a FPGA chip

Too Many "Bells & Whistles?"

Submitted by Axiom05 on September 1, 2012 - 6:03am.

I wonder how many people need or want the DSP equalizer and subwoofer control? I would rather have seen Classe put the money into better DAC resolution and lower distortion. Yes, this is a nice unit, but I was disappointed with the measurements (irrespective of audability). Jitter rejection, however looks great. Not sure this is an improvement over simply adding something like the Benchmark DAC1 USB to a high quality preamp that you already own, e.g. Mark Levinson 380s plus Benchmark DAC1 USB?