Hello,
I currently own the CP-800 and use it with B&W 803 Diamond towers (latest version). My amps are Hypex NC400 Class D units which are setup in a Dual Mono configuration with one Dual Mono amp per speaker (ie..quad amp'd)
My previous setup that the Classe CP-800 replaced was an all Ayre front end made up of QB-9 DAC and K5xe-MP Preamp.
My impressions of the CP-800 are that it is a very neutral piece of hardware that does very well with all music that I have played thru it so far. I feel that it has a slightly smaller soundstage then the AYRE equipment did. Highs are less rolled off sounding then the AYRE setup but not to the point of being bright. As a whole, bass output sounds slightly less meaty but makes itself known in all the right places when called upon.
As an example when playing an Album with good Drum work like The Who, Who's Next or Jethro Tull's \Aqualung 40th Anv, Disc 1 I feel the drum impacts are more dynamic and startling with the CP-800 as compared to the AYRE setup. Cymbal work sounds more sweet to my ears as well.
Background grunge is all but non-existent (very black backgrounds) when no music is playing with volume level cranked and ear next to the tweeter. Granted, the amp and power company play a role here as well but in any case my ear needs to be literally resting on the tweeter grill to hear any signs of hiss at all.
I think my only gripe with the unit which I knew going into the purchase is that it doesn't do 24/192 over USB. Using the latest firmware release 24/192 material results in drop outs in my setup. Classe support recommends going down a level in Firmware to allow the unit to seamlessly play 24/192 without dropouts. Granted, that doing so will still only result in a down sampled 24/96 tune but at least you can play the higher rez stuff if you have it.
I can confirm that it has no issues running 4 amps via the XLR outputs and drives them to their full output level nicely. I haven't toyed with the Sub outputs or DSP functions yet but plan to do so at some point in the future.
In summary, I can't find any deal breakers or faults in how it operates or sounds and am very happy with my purchase decision. The unit offers a boat load of flexibility for its price point.
I currently own the CP-800 and use it with B&W 803 Diamond towers (latest version). My amps are Hypex NC400 Class D units which are setup in a Dual Mono configuration with one Dual Mono amp per speaker (ie..quad amp'd)
My previous setup that the Classe CP-800 replaced was an all Ayre front end made up of QB-9 DAC and K5xe-MP Preamp.
My impressions of the CP-800 are that it is a very neutral piece of hardware that does very well with all music that I have played thru it so far. I feel that it has a slightly smaller soundstage then the AYRE equipment did. Highs are less rolled off sounding then the AYRE setup but not to the point of being bright. As a whole, bass output sounds slightly less meaty but makes itself known in all the right places when called upon.
As an example when playing an Album with good Drum work like The Who, Who's Next or Jethro Tull's \Aqualung 40th Anv, Disc 1 I feel the drum impacts are more dynamic and startling with the CP-800 as compared to the AYRE setup. Cymbal work sounds more sweet to my ears as well.
Background grunge is all but non-existent (very black backgrounds) when no music is playing with volume level cranked and ear next to the tweeter. Granted, the amp and power company play a role here as well but in any case my ear needs to be literally resting on the tweeter grill to hear any signs of hiss at all.
I think my only gripe with the unit which I knew going into the purchase is that it doesn't do 24/192 over USB. Using the latest firmware release 24/192 material results in drop outs in my setup. Classe support recommends going down a level in Firmware to allow the unit to seamlessly play 24/192 without dropouts. Granted, that doing so will still only result in a down sampled 24/96 tune but at least you can play the higher rez stuff if you have it.
I can confirm that it has no issues running 4 amps via the XLR outputs and drives them to their full output level nicely. I haven't toyed with the Sub outputs or DSP functions yet but plan to do so at some point in the future.
In summary, I can't find any deal breakers or faults in how it operates or sounds and am very happy with my purchase decision. The unit offers a boat load of flexibility for its price point.