everything class'e has to offer.

none for the price

Do not waste your time or money the 300 is very close,if not as good.

Similar Products Used:

class'e 300

smooth, strong, easy to listen too

a bit laid back

I recently went shopping for a new amplifier to drive my new Ariel 10T’s. The 10T (Stereophile Speaker of the Year a few years ago) is a great speaker, but really needs a strong amplifier to deliver the stunning transients of which they’re capable (I’m a drummer and know transients, and these speakers still scare me). They also need upstream equipment that provides a smooth midrange or they can play a little hard. I’d already eliminated the Mark Levinson etc. types as too mechanical sounding, and was figuring “big tube amp”. Then I heard that the designers at Ariel were partial to Audio Research tube amps and Classe, so I found a dealer that had both and ran a Classe 301 against an ARC VT100MkII. The result? The solid-state Classe was just as smooth as the tube amp from ARC, and did everything well. The ARC didn’t give up much of anything in bottom end control, noise level or detail (like tube amps are said to do), and came across as super clean, controlled, and musical. Of course, every 2000 hours you have to replace the tubes in the ARC, for a cost today of $570 for the set, but some people don’t mind that. The big difference was that the VT100 came across as more forward and in your face, whereas the Classe was more laid back. I thought the Classe would be great for acoustic jazz and vocals (sounds like I’m describing a tube amp), and the VT100 would be better for more dramatic material. I personally liked the punchier sound of the VT100, and was going to buy it, when for fun I substituted a Classe 401 for the 301, and the result was startling. The 401 is not just 100 watts stronger, but has a different character that is immediately apparent. Its just as smooth as the others, but the soundstage opened up from being mostly in between the speakers to occupying the whole front of the room, and the impact from something like a Dave Mathews CD went from good to Oh-my-God. This amp changed the experience from listening to a great stereo to getting completely lost in the music. I was not planning on spending $6,900 for an amp, but after hearing the CA-401 there’s no way I could leave with anything else.

Similar Products Used:

Motif, VTL, ARC VT100mkII

Super tight bass, mid-range as natural as the sun rising, highs are extremely extended - but with no sense of brightness of fakeness

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Well, what can I say? This amp does it all. It is a vertible bargain in the high end world. It squashed similar Mark Levinson and BAT products that I have listened to.

The bass is deep, tight and controlled. The mid-range is just so natural, you don't notice you are listening to recorded music. The highs are very extended, but without a drop of brightness or forwardness.

It controlled the bass more the the Mark Levinson No. 336. The BAT VK-500 is syrupy dark in comparison. And, well, I never liked Krell, so of course I don't like it in this case.

This amp is a must audition.

Similar Products Used:

Coda Continnum Audio Stage, Mark Levinson No. 336, BAT VK-500, Krell FPB-600

I have compared the CA301 with the Classe Omega and have also auditioned other amps like the Krell FPB300c and the Mark Levinson 335. I found the CA301 to be somewhat bland and too laid-back compared to the Omega, which has fat better resolution. However, my issue with both the Omega and the Ca301 is that bass definition is not as good as the Mark levinson or the Krell.

300Watts 8 ohms, 600 Watts 4 ohms ($5,000-5,500 US). Top to bottom coherence sound, effortless power and dynamics, goes deep with amazing pith definition, seductive and romantic midrange, silky, sweet yet detailed and airy highs and holographic three dimentional sound field.

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How can I convey my feelings about this wonderful amplifier from Quebec, Canada?

I have heard a lot of power amplifiers from Mark Levinson ( No. 334, No. 335, No. 33), Kell (FBP 600), Bryston (3B ST, 4B ST, 7B ST), ect... and I have not heard any better than this new CA 301 (the CA 301 circuit Topology is a near replicate of the amazing Classe Omega dual monaural amplifier). It is the only solid state amp that I have heard to date(other than the big Class Omega and the CA 401) that can bring out the best characteristics of sound that are generally reserved for tubes amplifiers, i.e: magical midband. It also delivers effortless power required to achieve life like sound into the bottom most octaves - i.e: bass that is tight, detail, couple with correct pitch definition. At the same time the upper midrange and the high frequencies are reproduced with astounding tranparency. One can hear layering of images in their proper placements/locations in a deep, wide and countinous three dimentional sound field. The sense of air surrounding the images is so natural that one can almost reach out and touch ....

When I listen to music with the CA 301 in the chain, I am surrounded by musical life like sound - I don't have to concentrate or think about the music and sound that I am listening to. This is not the case with other brand amplifiers. For example, the Levinson No. 33 ($35,000 US) may have a hair better control in the bottom most octaves and finely granulated details in the mid band but I continually have to open/strain my ears to hear all the information that is going on deep into the sound stage - In this sense, I find the No. 33 a little dark souding. The Kell FBP 600 provides lots of details in a deep, wide three dimentional sound field but the details are just not potrayed with life like naturalness. The Brystons are powerful, punchy, transparent but they don't sound at all seductive or romatic in the midband.

In my opinion, the CA 301 is so close to the Classe Omega that it is not worth it to shell the extra $10,000 US. I may upgrade to a CA 401 (400 Watts into 8 ohms, 800 watts into 4 ohms, $7,500-8,000 US)in the near future and live happily ever after!

My associated equipment are as follow:

-Classe CDP 1.5 CD player (upgrading to Mark Levinsion No. 360S DAC with Theta Data Basic transport), Bryston BP 20 preamp (upgrading to Mark Levinsion No. 383S preamp), Classe CA 301 power amp (upgrading to Classe CA 401 power amp), Mirage M1si Bipolar speakers, Cardas golden cross, golden reference, quadlink interconnects, and Space and Time Quantum II speaker cables.

Similar Products Used:

Classe S700, Classe 10, Caver TFM 35

Too many to name!

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This posting is in addition to the one I had posted earlier in December.

In my review earlier I had mentioned the likes of ML No. 33, No. 335, No. 334, Krell FBP 600, and Bryston 3B,4B,7B ST power amplifiers in comparision with the Classe CA 301 power amplifier. I have listened to these products for extented periods of time in the dealers' rooms. Those rooms were equiped with the lastest and greatest gears from those brands', respectively, and they were all broken in for a considerable amount of time prior to my auditionings. The rooms, no smaller than 16'W x 10'H x 23'Deep, were also properly set up with room tunes, diffusers, tubetraps, ect..., therefore, the rooms were pretty well set up and treated to allow for optimal sound reproduction from the soureces. I was pretty confident that what I had heard with those equipments in the chains were about as goood as they get.

Having said that, I still find the CA 301 power amplifier superior in reproducing natural life like music when compare to those above mentioned equipments from Mark Levinson, Krell, and Bryston.

If you looking for an amplifier that will reproduce music with supreme sonic realism then the Classe CA 301 or the CA 401 (I am uggrading to the CA 401 soon) or the Dual Monoraul Omega for that matter is a must audition. Frankly, sound reproduction does not get any better than this and this is about As gooood As It
gets!

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned ML No. 33, ML No. 335, ML No. 334, Krell FBP 600, Bryston 3B,4B,7B ST.

Used Classe S700 (5 years), Classe 10 (3 months).