Classé SSP-800/ CA-5200/CA-2200 - Classé Audio

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Classé SSP-800/
CA-5200/CA-2200
Stunning all-round sound from these sexy home cinema amps
Price SSP-800 £6950/CA-5200 £6450/CA-2200 £3950 ★★★★★
Design miracle Powerful home cinema kit is nothing new, but a system able to
match the best high-end hi-fi for stereo transparency is something very special
Tempted? If one system really can deliver the best of both worlds with minimal
(or no) compromises on spec or performance, then who wouldn’t be interested?
Abeautiful home cinema amp
is a rare thing. Quite why that
should be so is hard to define:
possibly it’s because, as home cinema
kit is intended for use in a darkened
room, looks matter less than flexibility
and power. Whatever, it means that
most modern AV amps exude a stark,
slab-fronted brutalism, with all traces
of a curve ruthlessly expunged.
Not so the Classé Delta Series kit on
test here. If ever a stack of multichannel
muscle can merit the epithet ‘sexy’, it’s
this one. Viewed in isolation, each
Classé component’s fascia, its front
panel formed from a single, machinecurved
slab of aluminium, is simply
delectable: put all three items together,
as we have in our picture above, and
they become positively alluring.
Of course, it takes more than good
looks to make a great system, but in this
instance, the style on show is directly
relevant to Classé’s design priorities.
According to the company’s executive
vice-president Dave Nauber, “Our sonic
evaluations always focus on music
playback: if you can get music right,
the emotional involvement comes
naturally with movies as well.” In other
words, this is hi-fi that also does home
cinema, rather than the other way
around. Hence the need for some nod
at living-room acceptability: you’ll be
using this system as much in stereo as
in surround sound. Given that it costs
£17,350, perhaps that’s just as well.
Of the three products, two are
familiar: we’ve looked at the CA-5200
and CA-2200 power amplifiers before,
and remain hugely impressed (for more
details on them, see over the page). The
new element here is the SSP-800, an
HD-Audio-friendly surround processor
able to perform equally well as a stereo
preamplifier. At first glance, it’s similar
The SSP-800’s fascia is one
single piece of aluminium,
curved by machine to form
an exceptionally rigid (and
gorgeous) structure
>
How it works
It’s all in the processing
Unlike many home cinema amplifiers, the Classé doesn’t
abound with processing options: it doesn’t have the ability
to handle Pro-Logic IIz or Audyssey DSX, for example.
But the issue here, Classé asserts, is not the quantity of
the processing options available, but the quality. Correctly
decoding HD Audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD can
involve processing as many as 270 million instructions per
second (MIPS), about 90 per cent of the capacity of the DSP
chipsets fitted to many cheap AV amps. The remaining
headroom on kit like this has to perform any processing
needed, so the more post-processing modes you switch on,
the greater the chances of you harming your sound. The
Classé solution? Power: the SSP-800’s platform is a Dual
Texas Instruments DSP, with each chip operating at speeds
of 2800 million instructions per second. That’s 5600 MIPS!
The SSP-800 is an
HD-Audio-friendly
surround processor
able to perform equally
well as a stereo preamp
Reproduced from WhatHifi November 2010 | www.whathifi.com

Designer’s notes
“If you get music right, the
emotional involvement
comes with movies as well”
* Dave Nauber
Executive Vice-President, Classé
How it works
Combining power amps
2
1
At the very pinnacle of home cinema, it’s
common to see a one-box amplifier split
into its constituent ‘brain’ (processor)
and ‘brawn’ (power) elements. In our test
system, the SSP-800 is the swottish type,
but there’s an awful lot of brawn on show
too. Take the CA-5200 power amplifier 1,
which weighs 55kg, consumes 1056W
in use and outputs a prodigious 5 x 200W,
rising to 370W per channel into 4 ohm
speakers (such as the Monitor Audio
Platinum models we used for our test).
It runs very hot, but usefully features an
extensive range of inputs, with both XLR
and RCA sockets included.
Its ‘little’ brother, the CA-2200, 2, is the
same in most dimensions save depth and
weight: it’s 47cm deep, rather than 53, and
weighs a ‘mere’ 36kg. Still, with 2 x 200W,
it’s equally potent, so the two power amps
running together can output a prodigious
2590W into our speaker reference system.
What’s so clever?
1
LCD touchpanel
Offering a video preview of
your DVD or Blu-ray plus a simple
touchscreen user interface, the
Classé’s display is easy to use,
although products such as the
iPhone make it feel old-fashioned.
2
Top-specification DACs
The Classé employs Burr-
Brown PCM1792 DACs for its front
channels (left, right, centre and sub)
plus lower-grade (but still very
capable) PCM1796 models for its
surround channels. It will handle up
to 24/192kHz digital audio signals.
3
Twin HDMI outputs
Although it can’t handle 3D
video, the Classé complements its
four HDMI inputs with a pair of
matching outputs. Together with its
extensive analogue hook-ups (via
either XLR or RCA, as you need) that
allows for multiroom use or, if you
prefer, connection to both a TV set
and your big-screen projector.
to the SSP-600 model that preceded
it, but internally the SSP-800 is fully
equipped to decode and process every
key form of surround audio, including
the latest HD formats.
Enough features to satisfy
True, it’s still not quite as well-specified
as many cheaper amps – but given the
SSP-800’s target audience, the absence
of 9.1-channel processing isn’t likely
to be a deal-breaker, and the fact the
Classé can’t switch 3D through its four
HDMI inputs isn’t terminal either:
if 3D support is really what you lust
after, a twin-output Blu-ray player such
as Panasonic’s BDT-300 is a must-buy.
Then again, this Classé trio sounds
so good that there’s every chance you
won’t be thinking about video – 3D or
not – for quite some time. Listening to
CD, it’s simply brilliant: the presentation
is perhaps little languid next to, say, a
Naim amplifier, but it’s transparent to
the source, as rhythmic as many purist
hi-fi alternatives and, thanks to the
provision of powerful, high-quality
DACs within the processor, well suited
to use with a range of digital sources,
including our Olive media server.
Switch to movie listening, and the
first thing to strike you is the smooth,
natural and intoxicating warmth of the
Classé sound: it’s neither overly soft nor
excessively cloying, but it’s still such a
contrast to the balance favoured by
most AV kit. Here, the presentation
exudes imperious finesse, with the
SSP-800’s supreme detail-resolution
brilliantly complemented by the grip of
the CA-5200 and CA-2200 power amps.
Even when you crank the volume up,
the Classé combination deftly injects
just the right degree of bite to the
sound, and no more.
It’s this completeness – of sound ,if
not of spec – that makes this Classé kit
so impressive. It’s far from cheap, but
little can match its all-round ability.
Rating ★★★★★
FOR Fabulous sound with both music and
movies; stunning build and style; fair spec
AGAINST Not as fully equipped as some rivals,
including cheaper alternatives
VERDICT Can one amplifier really deliver highend
sound with both music and movies? This is
the best solution we’ve heard yet
Tech specs
Channels/power
7 x 200W (8 ohms)
HDMI 1.4 No
HDMI inputs 4
3D capable No
Surround modes
PCM, Dolby Digital
Plus, Dolby TrueHD,
DTS-HD, DTS-HD
MA, DTS-ES Matrix/
Discrete 6.1, Dolby
Pro-Logic IIx, Neo:6
Size 17x44x42cm
(processor), 22x45x
53cm (CA-5200 amp)
Reproduced from WhatHifi November 2010 | www.whathifi.com