back to Reviews

I decided one day to reduce my "investment" in audio hardware and sold my Classe CA-300. The '300 had been powering the Aerial 10T speakers, and doing a fine job. The Aerials used almost every watt that the 300 watt per channel CA-300 amplifier could send it. But since 150 watts is only 3 dB less loud than 300 watts, I bid adieu to the CA-300, and a CA-150 replaced it. 

I was very happy with the sound and trouble-free operation of the CA-300, but the CA-150 sounded very different. If I described the CA-150's sound, you would think the amp must have been defective. I did! I spent a lot of time on the phone working with the very nice folks at Classe to eliminate the possibility of defects. No, there was nothing wrong with the amp. Compared to the CA-300, it was grainy, flat, poor imaging, etc.

The two amps are supposed to be similar in engineering. They sure didn't sound that way. Go figure.

Overall Rating: 1 LP