"Soundgravy: If you wouldn't mind, could you share with us what the Classe does that the Rega and the Rotel did not (or vice versa)? Also, how would you characterize your sonic taste and the rest of your system? TIA"
Well the Rega had a wonderful midrange quality about it, heavy weighted bottom end, and slighty dark upper frequency range. But it all lacked a focus in my setup, the soudnsatge was narrow and was not too deep it was pleasant to listen to, but my taste tend to run towards a detailed presentation.
The Rotel on the other hand was more detailed, but lacked the tonal qaulitys of the Rega. The Rotel had a much wider soundstage but was missing that lifelike presentation, instruments and performers were well placed but the space that tied them together was missing. Kind of flat in a way.
Now the Classe seemed to do everything right, it had a wide,deep soundstage,had plenty of detail and was able to recreate the ambiance of where the recording took place. I guess you could say that it put you in the room with the perfomance, whereas the other two always felt like you were listening to a recording.
Do keep in mind that this was how I perceived these players in my setup, and they may act differently in another configuration.
Well the Rega had a wonderful midrange quality about it, heavy weighted bottom end, and slighty dark upper frequency range. But it all lacked a focus in my setup, the soudnsatge was narrow and was not too deep it was pleasant to listen to, but my taste tend to run towards a detailed presentation.
The Rotel on the other hand was more detailed, but lacked the tonal qaulitys of the Rega. The Rotel had a much wider soundstage but was missing that lifelike presentation, instruments and performers were well placed but the space that tied them together was missing. Kind of flat in a way.
Now the Classe seemed to do everything right, it had a wide,deep soundstage,had plenty of detail and was able to recreate the ambiance of where the recording took place. I guess you could say that it put you in the room with the perfomance, whereas the other two always felt like you were listening to a recording.
Do keep in mind that this was how I perceived these players in my setup, and they may act differently in another configuration.