Description: Integrated amplifier with remote volume control. Inputs: 3 unbalanced line, 1 balanced line, 1 phono (phono input optional; 4 line inputs are available without phono option), 1 tape loop. Power output: 100Wpc into 8 ohms (20dBW), 150Wpc into 4 ohms (18.75dBW). Frequency response: –0.4dB at 20kHz. Input impedance: 33k ohms (unbalanced line), 12k ohms (balanced line), 50 ohms (MC phono), 47k ohms (MM phono). Output impedance: 0.17 ohms. Remote control: Volume up/down, Mute.
Dimensions: 19" W by 5" H by 17" D. Weight: 34 lbs (net).
Serial number…
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Sidebar 1: Specifications
Sidebar 2: System Context
I ended up with the CAP-100 in my system quite by chance. In January, I was in Classé's room at CES getting the story on their $1995 CDP-.5 CD player for my CES report, when Classé's Mike Viglas started to tell me about their new CAP-100. It struck me that the CAP-100 might be a good amplifier to use with the $3990 Diapason Adamantes II loudspeakers I was about to audition for a Follow-Up report (see the June 1997 Stereophile). The only other amplifiers on hand were lower-powered British integrateds, which might not have realized the potential of the Adamantes…
Sidebar 3: Four Integrated Amplifiers: Four Different Recommendations
As much as I liked the CAP-100, I'll still recommend the Rotel, Linn, and Audio Note integrated amplifiers...but for different systems. If your budget prevents you from spending $2000 on an integrated amplifier, the Linn Majik ($1095, $1195 with phono, reviewed in December 1996, Vol.19 No.12) is a top choice. The Majik proved itself musical and involving over the long term. Just be sure to match the Majik with loudspeakers that aren't too demanding (Linn's $799 Tukan is a good choice). I spent a lot of enjoyable hours…
Sidebar 4: Measurements
The CAP-100 ran cool not only while playing in my listening room, but also when run at 1/3 rated power into 8 ohms. I could easily keep my hand on the chassis top.
The line input impedance measured 33k ohms (unbalanced) and 12k ohms (balanced), exactly as specified. The phono input measured 160 ohms in the moving-coil position, more than triple the 50 ohm specification. The CAP-100 doesn't invert polarity from its line inputs to loudspeaker outputs. DC offset at the loudspeaker terminals measured 2.4mV (left channel) and 10.2mV (right). Volume-control…
Sidebar 5: Personnel news
It saddens me to announce that this issue, containing his review of the Classé CAP-100 integrated amplifier, is the last to which Robert Harley, one of Stereophile's two Consulting Technical Editors, will contribute. Bob joined us in May 1989—he had previously worked at a CD mastering house—and rapidly established himself as one of the leading reviewers of digital equipment in the US. His essay on why double-blind listening tests are not necessarily the best way to uncover subjectively important differences between components ("The Listeners' Manifesto," January…
"He's putting the drums in the rear channels?!?"
I was talking with John Atkinson on the phone about surround-sound audio formats, and he was telling me about a Manhattan presentation run in parallel with Home Entertainment 2001 in May. In remixing the Van Morrison catalog for DVD-Audio release, veteran producer Elliot Scheiner had demonstrated how in some songs, such as "It Stoned Me," he placed the drum tracks in the rear channels. Unfortunately, this little example of revisionist mixing might become the multichannel norm if record labels don't get a grip on how and why music was…
The lacquers from which LPs are pressed are cut in a straight line, and that's how the LP groove should be traced. Even when set up perfectly, a pivoted arm describes an arc across the disc surface, maintaining tangency to the groove at only two points on that arc. Yet despite numerous attempts at building and selling linear-tracking tonearms, few remain on the market, and most are fraught with technical problems. Linear-tracking arms can be anything but linear, committing more sins of geometry as they meander across the record surface than do their pivoted brethren.
One problem…
"In any arm/cartridge system, the arm should hold steady while the cantilever remains free to extract information from the groove. If the two were dancing partners, the cantilever would 'lead' and the arm would follow. In an undamped high-mass system the 'tail' (arm) begins to wag the dog (cantilever). Unwanted cantilever movement creates unwanted electrical output. In addition, any electrical output created with the coils uncentered in the magnetic gap is nonlinear, thus making it virtually impossible for the cartridge to act as a linear transducer, which is its job. Cantilevers can…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Air-bearing, linear-tracking tonearm. VTA continuously adjustable during play. Optimal cartridge weight: <9gm.
Dimensions: Effective length: 184mm. Effective arm mass: 13gm vertical. Weight: 4.5 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed: Not noted.
Price: $8000. Approximate number of dealers: 15.
Manufacturer: Kuzma Ltd., Hotemaze 17/a, SI-4205 Preddvor, Slovenia. Tel: (386) 4-253-54-50. Fax: (386) 4-253-54-54. US distributor: TheMusic.com, 1027 N. Orange Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90038. Tel: (323) 466-9694, x22. Fax: (323) 466-1437. Web: www.…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog source: Simon Yorke S7 turntable, Graham 2.2 tonearm, Lyra Titan, Graham Nightingale II phono cartridges.
Digital sources: Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista SACD player, Alesis Masterlink CD recorder, Arcam DV-27A DVD-Audio player.
Preamplification: Musical Fidelity kWP preamplifier, Manley Steelhead phono preamp.
Power amplifiers: Musical Fidelity kW, Wavac SH-833.
Loudspeakers: Rockport Merak/Sheritan.
Cables: Interconnect: AudioQuest Cheetah, Sky. Speaker: AudioQuest Kilimanjaro, Harmonic Technology Magic Tweeter. AC: Richard Gray's High…