Networking is all that keeps a journalist well-informed, and my
network never fails. A couple of American manufacturers have,
time and again, alerted me to new brands or models worth
investigating, and it is to one of them that I own the
introduction to Canada's Classe electronics. It's pronounced
'Class A', which is wearing one's heart on one's sleeve, eh? I
was told that they had few if any sonic rivals, that they were
priced realistically (by prevailing high end standards) and that
they deserved all the exposure they could get.

The latter may have something to do with the people from Classe
being really swell guys, but that shouldn't influence a purchase
or a review. This favorable reaction to the DR-5 pre-amp and
DR-8 power amp was repeated on this side of the pond when a
particular high end retailer phoned me -- out of the blue -- to
sing their praises. After much haranguing, begging and general
whingeing, I managed to borrow the combination and I'll tell you
from the outset that none of the claims have been exaggerated.

High end conventions have dictated that we're faced with a
cluster of '19in rack-mountable' boxes with styling which veers
from the wholly functional to the seriously sleek. The latter
includes companies like Krell and Rowland, while the former is
epitomized by Audio Research. Classe follows the functional
approach, only it is accomplished with quite the panache of ARC,
whose 'lab look' has become a style in itself. If anything,
Classe has blundered along Croft lines by opting for a crummy
typeface which detracts from the other initial impression: Classe
gear is built to no-compromise standards.

If the styling doesn't reinforce any notions of perceived value,
then a quick twirl of the knobs or a flick of the switches will
tell you that you are, indeed, in the presence of luxury goods.
The DR-8 is your classic, 24kg high-steel-content lump bearing
handles and an Aragon-like on-off switch, but the finish is
flawless. At the back are the requisite inputs and outputs, but
with a couple of serious inclusions to suggest that the company
has no time whatsoever for mere fripperies. Among the fittings at
the back are a choice of balanced (XLR) or single-ended
(phono-style) inputs, IEC three-pin mains socket, toggle switches
to select stereo or mono operation and the most outrageous
speaker terminals this side of welding tags. Classe fits their
power amplifier with ¬bolts¬. Not screws, not binding posts but
bolts which require a 7/16th inch spanner, supplied with the amp.
They'll accept bare wire or w-i-d-e spade lugs, and you can
torque those mothers till your deltoids collapse.

The lid is removable to allow you to select between balanced and
unbalanced operation (I have friends who consider all audiophiles
as unbalanced, for what it's worth). Inside, it's your basic
gorgeous construction, designer components and acres of heat
sinks. The Classe DR-8 ran cool-ish even when driving sub-2 ohm
loads, so stability should not prove to be a concern. I doubt if
many of you would wish to restrict its breathing by hiding it in
a cabinet, so allow floor-space of 482x380mm (WxD); height is
180mm.

The company describes the DR-8 as a high current/high voltage
design, inspired by the dearer flagship, the DR-9. Ignore the
70W/channel rating; the DR-8 has the drive, slam and resistance
to clipping that suggests 200W/channel, easily matching the
Aragon 4004 for sheer kick. The two channels share only the mains
input and primaries of the massive power transformer, each
channel's power supply being separately rectified and filtered by
proprietary capacitors rated for 80,000 uF in total. Overkill is
the recipe throughout -- those speaker terminal bolts become more
and more symbolic of the Classe -- and the company states that
the output section's power transistor capability is 2kW or 128
amps per channel. Peace of mind is in the form of a single mains
fuse and a DC protection circuit.

The DR-5 has one of those nicely symmetrical, sensibly attired
faceplates designed for instant familiarity (in a right-handed
world). Between the handles, from left to right are four primar
rotary controls: input selector, mode, balance and volume. The
first chooses phono and four line inputs, three identical (CD and
two auxiliaries) with 'tuner' padded down by 6dB to accommodate
what Classe feels to be a tuner's typically higher output. (It
also came in handy when using a D/A converter known to be a few
dB more generous than the norm.) The mode selector offers stereo,
reverse, mono and L-only or R-only. Balance has a no-nonsense
centre-detent, while I counted 32 steps on the volume control
including full-off. All of the rotary controls have the kind of
feel you'd expect of high caliber gear, so forget the Nikon
rattle; this stuff is Leica silky.

The four toggles select tape/source, phono/bypass (for direct
feed of the phono signal past the input selector, tape and mode
switches), polarity inversion and mute. Polarity inversion is
something I've been championing for years, so the DR-5
immediately gained a spot in my heart, while the mute is an
absolute necessity with this pre-amp as their is no mains on/off.
Classe argues that the DR-5 sounds best only after it's been
powered on for a while, and they're right. It took over four days
to burn this in from cold and then it took a good couple of hours
after switch-on for the '5 to sound its best. The DR-5 is
unlikely to make your electricity meter go into a spin, so
leaving it on at all times is advisable.

At the back is a row of gold-plated sockets and a switch to
select between m-m and m-c operation. Loading is accomplished
automatically through the use of self-adjusting impedance
circuits, but m-c gain is user selectable. Classe supplies a kit
of resistors to allow the user to vary the factory setting of
24dB gain (in addition to the m-m gain of 35dB) in 2dB steps; the
range is 20dB-40dB, so you'd be hard-pressed to find an m-c
cartridge which can't be accommodated. The resistors are fitted
internally into gold-plated press-fit sockets, and silver solder
is supplied for users who wish to make the change a permanent
one. This technique, while less convenient than a rotary selector
on the front panel, is about as practical and thorough a method
as you could hope to find.

The DR-5 also sports and IEC mains input and the choice of
balanced or single-ended operation, and my sample also offered a
pair of 'convenience' mains sockets which I thought were a
super-no-no in the UK. Not that any blue-blooded audiophile would
use convenience outlets to power their ancillaries if they were
allowed...

Operation, aside from fine-tuning the m-c stage, is virtually
instinctive. All you must do is make allowances for the lack of a
mains switch on the pre-amp by employing the mute toggle whenever
changing plugs at the back. Despite the Spartan appearance, the
DR-5 offers everything one could require for full control of a
complex system, with the exception of a second tape loop and
record-out facility. I'm not too bothered though, because I
consider tape and VCRs as secondary sources, so a few quid spent
on one of QED's marvelous switch boxes or passive pre-amps will
turn the Classe's lone tape loop into a mixing desk if so
required.

The Classe devices were substituted in turn for the Audio
Research SP-14 and Gryphon pre-amps and for power amps including
the Aragon 4004s, Beard P100 monos and Lumley 150s; the rest of
the system included the Basis/SME V/Koetsu Urushi analogue source
and the CAL Tempest II SE and Marantz CD-12 CD players, Apogee
Divas and Stages in bi-wire mode, Celestion SL700s and Sonus Faber
Electa Amators. I prepared for the sessions by burning in the
Classe DR-5 before doing any close listening; the DR-8 was
already primed.

Let me give you sense of perspective by revealing at this point
the prices of the DR-5 and DR-8; otherwise you won't quite
understand why I'm drooling all over my PC. The DR-5 costs #1998
and the DR-8 #2591.

This, of course, is chicken feed only by, say, Robert Maxwell's
standards and I know that applying the term 'bargain' to a
pre-power combo just shy of #5k is grounds for execution in the
southernmost quadrants of the '081' dialing zone. But this must
be referenced to prevailing standards for a given level of
performance at today's prices. And, believe me, five grand is not
a lot for what the Classe products will do.

I'd like to dispense with the power amp first, as it's the less
mind-blowing of the two products. Rowland-like in its lower
registers, the DR-8 is one of those curious amplifiers that comes
on like Tyson in the power stakes, yet always seems polite if not
quite restrained. You detect nothing which suggests clipping,
you're hard-pressed to drive it to a point where it sounds like
it's straining. Even so, you note that the bottom octaves are not
going to satisfy owners of the latest Rebel MC epic, nor is going
to give a Krell a run for the money. This, though, is an amp for
transparency and midband fanatics, the kind of hardware which
will probably do things with electrostatics which probably never
even crossed Peter Walker's mind.

More to the point, it's an amp that's made in heaven for Apogee's
diminutive Stages. Although the Stages can benefit from better
bass control and damping such as is available from the Aragon
4004 or any Krell, what you do get is well above the 'acceptable'
level. Why? Because the crucial midband region is so open and
natural and the trebles so sweet and clean that you really don't
give a damn about what's happening below 90Hz.

Don't misread the above. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the
Classe's bass is lumpy or soft or soggy. It isn't. It's merely,
shall we say, 'reticent' compared with that of other power
amplifiers. And it's not even noticeable on wholly acoustic works
short of Wagnerian juggernaut degree. Listen to the DR-8 with a
diet of solo instruments or small groups, string quartets and the
like, and you won't have a clue as to its one primary flaw.

That's because the Classe sings throughout the rest of the
spectrum. It offers precision, absolutely phenomenal
three-dimensionality (at last, an amp to make the most of a
Decca), speed and detail just on the right side of over-etched.
But most impressive of all are the dynamics, the amplifier
swinging from a whisper to a scream with as much facility as the
Aragon, and with greater ease than the hideously expensive but
heart-expanding Carver Silver Seven.