Classe CDP-202 impressions

[Asr]

Actual impressions to come later, only a pic for now. Plinius is less deep and slightly shorter, and the curves are sharper on it.

[purk]

nice...nice...

Waiting to hear your impression!

[Asr]

Initial Impression

There's no doubt in my mind that both the Plinius and Classe are supremely awesome sources. They both sound really good - amazing in fact. I can't really say which one I like better - they have some similarities, and differences of course, but they both have a sound that's very rewarding to listen to, in different ways.

I'll highlight their differences and similiarities at some point in the future, but for now all I can say is that it's going to be complicated picking these apart. For all their differences (as few as they are), they're also kinda similar, and I can tell it's going to take a while to pinpoint exactly where they differ, and the Gilmore Lite won't be a sufficient tool either. Definitely going to need to use a higher-end amp that I have on order and expecting to have before the year is over.

I had some anxiety about the Classe going in but so far it's living up to expectations. No sonic complaints yet - well a few, but I suspect they could be rectified by alternate cables (headphone, IC, or power cord).

[tkam]

If nothing else the Classe certainly looks the part.

[Sherwood]

Do you worry about noise introduced through the video components in the Classe? That touch screen would wear on the back of my mind every time I used it.

That being said, I'll bet it sounds fantastic, if it sounds anything like other classe gear I've heard. Give it a spin on the SRM-T1

[tom_hankins]

I've been lucky enough to hear the Classe in two systems including a friends for several hours and it is one of my favorite redbook CDP, regardless of cost.

[Asr]

Almost-Final Impression

Well, it's been fun listening to the Classe but as nice as it sounds, I'm 99% positive that the Classe will be a short-term ownership, which will leave me defaulting to the Plinius.

I'd go into specifics - I'd like to share, and I'm sure some people will want to know about it, but I won't disclose anything further at this time about how I hear the Classe sounds, because I foresee selling it, and writing my impressions may negatively affect a sale. I don't know yet for sure if I'll be selling it though as I don't have my finalized balanced dynamic rig yet and will wait until I do to determine whether or not to sell.

[grawk]

so in other words ,you think it sucks, and want to rip someone else off?

[Asr]

Do you worry about noise introduced through the video components in the Classe? That touch screen would wear on the back of my mind every time I used it.

No I don't worry about that, I'm not that neurotic. (aggh @ the annoying 15-min edit window)

so in other words ,you think it sucks, and want to rip someone else off?

I don't think it sucks, it sounds perfectly respectable, it's just nowhere close to my sonic preferences (and the Plinius doesn't meet all my preferences either but it meets more than the Classe does). And in the world of subjective writing about audio, I know that other people (not on Head-Case but elsewhere) who might read what I write will either misinterpret or draw unintended conclusions. And have you ever seen me rip other people off when it comes to selling gear? Maybe you should STFU.

[grawk]

I don't know anything about you or your motivations, which is why I asked. It certainly sounded like you thought it sucked and that you should keep your mouth shut so that someone would buy it.

All I know about you is what I've learned from reading your self-important reviews. You rarely have anything to say about anything, and use as many words as possible to say it. It seems to have gotten you a lot of attention, which you apparently like, so I'm not sure why you keep pretending that you're going to stop doing it, but whatever, that's your thing. But as far as I'm concerned, you haven't earned any special privileges, so if I see something I feel is questionable, I'll continue to question you on it.

[luvdunhill]

I don't know anything about you or your motivations, which is why I asked. It certainly sounded like you thought it sucked and that you should keep your mouth shut so that someone would buy it.

well, his approach is definitely more on the up-and-up than praising the inferior unit prior to selling it...

[dvse]

All I know about you is what I've learned from reading your self-important reviews. You rarely have anything to say about anything, and use as many words as possible to say it. It seems to have gotten you a lot of attention, which you apparently like, so I'm not sure why you keep pretending that you're going to stop doing it, but whatever, that's your thing. But as far as I'm concerned, you haven't earned any special privileges, so if I see something I feel is questionable, I'll continue to question you on it.

Good to see I'm not the only one who thought this of Asr's nearly random overlong 'reviews'.

[Sherwood]

You can find a handful of ASR's reviews (which I enjoy) here at Stereo Mojo.

He writes under the pen name "Steve Ham".

[Asr]

Internal Pics (click any for a larger version)

All I know about you is what I've learned from reading your self-important reviews. You rarely have anything to say about anything, and use as many words as possible to say it. It seems to have gotten you a lot of attention, which you apparently like, so I'm not sure why you keep pretending that you're going to stop doing it, but whatever, that's your thing.

I don't know where you've gotten the impression that I like any attention from posting reviews, because I don't. The only reason I've posted the reviews I have is to share my experience for whatever it's been worth or because other people told me that I had a reading audience, because I've long assumed I didn't have one, or at least not a large audience anyway. In any case I got tired of writing reviews back in '07 which led me to quit a writing gig with StereoMojo and the "independent" reviews I did on HF. Somehow I get the impression that you haven't actually read most of my HF reviews either, if you think I did them to seek attention, but if I'm wrong then feel free to correct me.

Good to see I'm not the only one who thought this of Asr's nearly random overlong 'reviews'.

Yeah I know most of my past reviews have been overly long, I've done them like that historically for two primary reasons: (1) catering to the lowest-common denominator of the reading audience (as in, not everyone might get my point immediately so I stretch it out), and (2) writing in general (at least when it comes to non-technical subjects) isn't something I'm used to shortening. In any case, I'm open to criticism and will take this into mind for my last review here on HC of the BHSE.

[Blackmore]

So many things inside, but not a single VALVE, did I miss something...

Internal Pics (click any for a larger version)

I don't know where you've gotten the impression that I like any attention from posting reviews, because I don't. The only reason I've posted the reviews I have is to share my experience for whatever it's been worth or because other people told me that I had a reading audience, because I've long assumed I didn't have one, or at least not a large audience anyway. In any case I got tired of writing reviews back in '07 which led me to quit a writing gig with StereoMojo and the "independent" reviews I did on HF. Somehow I get the impression that you haven't actually read most of my HF reviews either, if you think I did them to seek attention, but if I'm wrong then feel free to correct me.

Yeah I know most of my past reviews have been overly long, I've done them like that historically for two primary reasons: (1) catering to the lowest-common denominator of the reading audience (as in, not everyone might get my point immediately so I stretch it out), and (2) writing in general (at least when it comes to non-technical subjects) isn't something I'm used to shortening. In any case, I'm open to criticism and will take this into mind for my last review here on HC of the BHSE.