CLASSE - Great amps or highly flawed?

Ditto for a pair of CA-400 I have. No complaints here!
I have heard of Krell bashing, but Classe bashing..... ? This is new!

In response to 'Pops', it sounds like you are venting anger at Martin Collom's review, rather than basing this on facts. I don't see what you are basing your belief on that he "reviewed this as out of punishment". He has certainly proven himself to be an articulate and serious reviewer. Further, Bob Reina's review in Dec. 1997 of the CA-100, while positive at the price point, did indicate a number of sonic flaws as well. No, I don't base my decisions on Stereophile reviews, but I do think taking the totality of all opinions sheds some light on the overall sonic of a piece.

I'm the current owner of a DR-15. I also have (in no particular order), a Krell 300i, VTL 100 monoblocks, Quicksilver MV60, and Counterpoint SA-20. The Classe represents the best compromise of the bunch... the Krell's are obnoxious if you don't design a system around them, the Quicksilvers are dark (but very transparent), the VTLs are not too subtle, the SA-20 has a "glaze". Needless to say, the DR15 is powering my main system (Hales Sig 11, VPI TNT 2.5/JMW 10.5/Grado, Nordost cables, Black Diamond cones, Deluxe Justarack, Big Rock 3s and Air Masses throughout).

You could do a lot worse than Classe in its price range or spend more and still be worse off. If I ever got tired of my tube gear, I would go back to Classe equipment with no hesitation at all.

Classe manufactures a VERY WIDE line of amplifiers. I think their top-of-the-line is a $18k Omega monoblock.

Any description that attempts to characterize ALL their amps cannot possibly be true. I've heard the CA-301, and none of your descriptions apply at all. Not even close!

Where are you getting these descriptions and what exactly are they describing? For the most part, those descriptions are useless without the context of the system. The shortcomings could be due to the speakers, cables, room, etc.