My Classe CP700 preamp needs service


Hi all. My Classe CP700 needs service. It doesn't sound too bad however; It needs to go back to Canada. I'm wondering before I send it out if I could benefit from a stateside service center or not. The preamp wants to shut off after maybe 20 minutes of operation. It turns right back on so I don't know what the issue is. I've heard horror stories about some upgrade companies. It seems logical for the factory to look at it. Besides the cost of sending it to Canada, can I benefit from an outside technician who is passionate about equipment? I suspect that big companies like Classe may simply repair to back to factory spec WITHOUT considering upgrades that could be good. Thoughts? Thank you. Joe
128x128jnovak
I owned a Classe CP-700 very happily for a couple of years; their customer service is first rate. My advice would be to have Classe repair the unit (back to factory spec.) and then contemplate the riskier question of letting some upgrade company muck around with the unit as a separate decision point.  If you do the latter and hope to have the unit effectively upgraded and repaired in the first iteration, you could (stress this word as there is a limited possibility of this) wind up with a failed upgrade and repair that could put the unit in a state where Classe might not want to touch it....
I would only send any of my gear to where it was born.......they have the parts, resources, and techs to repair it properly
Classe is a great company that manufactures great products to be their best at a specific price point. If you are having problems ( and obviously, you are), then I would send it back to Classe (Canada) for repair. I am sure that you will find they are passionate about their equipment, and can give you ideas on upgrades if any are recommended. You can read plenty of horror stories about poor service from many companies that advertise for "upgrades" or "mods." My perception is that many mods do not produce the effect they promise. If they did, you would see less of the modded units for sale used here on Audiogon. Also, once some "passionate" tech upgrades your unit it may make it difficult to have anyone else repair it if anything goes wrong in the future. This is just my two cents. 
I sent my Magnum Dynalab MD90 for service a while back.  Fortunately they have a NY address where they receive items so shipping was cheap.  They were great to deal with, in fact they allowed me to trade that unit in for a Certified Used MD102, the tuner I always wanted but couldn't afford.   The repair would have only been $150 which was more than reasonable.....  I thought my tuner plus $700 was more than fair, when I received it I thought it looked like a brand new unit.  

Classe' makes great stuff I would imagine they will repair it for a fair price.