Anyone heard a Classe CA-400 amp?

Glen, thanks for the response and explanation. It's a CA-400 that I've found and well, it's probably overkill, although my Dahlquist DQ 10's (notoriously difficult to drive) have been paired with 500 watt amps (I think Hafler made one, originally). The room size is not overly large and I don't tend to listen at ear bleed levels, but the sound stage opens and the bass improves with increases in power.

My preamp is an EC Zana Deux:

http://www.eddiecurrent.com/Zanadeux.html

while my sources are an MR 67, Meridian 508.24 and a Teac X1000r. I also have a Dual TT, but no pre, at this time.

I've been listening to SS for over 30 years. I like the ZD's welcome liquid flow and would like to translate that sound to my speakers.

Is it worth waiting out a CA-300 find or will I lose anything in purchasing a CA-400 (again, do not typically listen at loud volumes)?

Again, thanks!

John
 
P.s. a friend wrote the following and I'm just wondering if the members here would agree:

John, the 400 never sounded right, to me, or other Classe guys, for what ever reason, but we shared them.

The 300, or CA200 is ok too, both delver solid power.


thanks,

John
 
I have never heard any such opinion of the CA-400. The CA-400 circuitry is identical to the CA-300, just with an additional pair of output transistors, larger transformer and increased filter capacitance. Without knowing what other components were paired with the CA-400, I would take any comments with a grain of salt. I think you would do fine with a CA-300. Another option open to you is a pair of CA-200s run in bridged mode, for which they are 4-ohm rated. BTW, IMO the Classe amps deliver more 4 ohm power than the Haflers. I owned a Hafler XL600 for a while in the late 1980s.

My system is:
Marantz Reference Series SA-11S2 SACD player (w/ Furutech IEC power inlet upgrade)
Denon DP-59L TT (captive signal cable replaced w/ Furutech RCA sockets)
Audio Technica ATOC9 phono cartridge
Classé CP-50 (w/ Furutech IEC power inlet upgrade)
Classé DR-10 (w/ Furutech IEC inlet and WBT posts upgrade)
Classé CA-300 (w/ Furutech IEC inlet and WBT posts upgrade)
Classé RC-1 remote interface
PSB Stratus Gold i speakers
DIY 3-way balanced AC power conditioner w/ Furutech and Oyaide outlets, all OCC copper and silver internal wiring, gold and silver plated copper wire terminations.
Acoustic Zen and NeoTech cables
Oyaide and Furutech power connectors
Dedicated 20A line
 
Last edited:
Glen,

again, thanks!

Glen, I know you're saying I'd be fine with a CA - 300 and I'm sure that's very true. However, it's a CA - 400 I have my eye on. Am I better off waiting for a CA - 300 find? Or, ultimately, does it not make that big a difference?

thanks,

John
 
Either amp is happy driving a difficult load. The difference between them is the extra headroom. IMO you can't go wrong with either amp, but if you have your heart set on a CA-400, by all means go for it. You can't have too much power, and by getting the CA-400, you would avoid having regrets in the future, if the CA-300 did not quite meet your needs.
 
Last edited:
it looks like i'm buying back the CA-400 that i sold a little while back. i have to agree with Glen B: it's not quite as transparent as some other nice amps i've played with, which can flatten the soundstage a little, but it's very well voiced overall. i'll be using it to drive a load that reaches down to 1 Ohm at its worst -- i may not need the extra power per se, but the extra heatsinking and massive power supply will really help.
 
Thank you, both. I've had transperancy at the expense of musicality. I'd like to move towards a more liquid sound and am hoping the combo of a Classe with my tube pre will do the trick. I guess there's only one way to find out.

Again, thanks,

John
 
Sometimes things happen for a reason. Keep looking, one is bound to show up for sale. Also consider a bridged pair of CA-200s. Bluebook for the pair would be $2,440, versus $2,540 for the CA-400. Also, if the DR-25/Model 25 is anything like my DR-10, it should also not be counted out, even if it is rated less than the CA-400.

Just last night I was listening to some Cassandra Wilson [Bluenote Records] and Antonio Forcione [Naim Audio label]. With the DR-10 hooked up to my power-hungry 2.7 ohm PSB Stratus Gold i's, the "little" 100W amp sounded like an amp more than double its rated power, and with a sweet, well balanced, holographic sound.
 
Thanks, Glen, for your words of wisdom, encouragement and recommendations. I'm sure you're right, about "reasons" for things that happen. I will keep watch, hope that something comes along, as I'm sure, in time, it will.

I will keep you posted and again, thank you!

John
 
i'm listening to my recently reacquired CA-400 right now. a heck of an amp, better than i remembered and a very good match to big ol' Infinities. the only speakers i'd be careful about are ones that are already muddy-sounding by nature, which might be better suited to very transparent and clean bipolar outputs rather than MOSFETs.
 
Hi guys
I have a CA-300(p301) and CA-400 and will say this:I love my silver CA's and versitle(I bridge the 300 on my CC).These are the ultimate HT ampsand as long as you donnot listen to them at absolutely stupid volumes:they are a excellent amp for the money.The BASS(only at high volumes)is a little less controlled compared to Sim or Krell but the mid/hi make up for it.If you donnot listen to 2ch more than 100-110db,you will not complain.
I have had several amps while having the 300/400 and still have them

Bryston-14bST/SST and 4bSST.....Better bass at high volumes but mid/hi are to crisp

Krell-KSA 250/FPB 700cx....Best BASS!!!! I prefer the KSA bass but was incedibly ""HOT""-12amps as soon as you hit power(I will love to try a KSA 300s)...The FPB has power(LOTS!!!!!) but the bass seems much leaner(Like the KSA hits 20hz and the fpb 35hz)...The Krell is marginally better than Bryston in mid/hi

Mark Levinson 333-Similar to krell
Simaudio Titan(7ch)-I was impressed with this 200 watt HT amp...great bass control and mid/hi was in the middle of Classe and Bryston.

Pass Labs-X250...the bass was the exact same as the CA-400 which made me chuckle...the mids sucked back and gave you a sense of a deeper sondstage(which was cool)but at high volumes sounded super solidy statey
 
I owned a CA400 for many years and can vouch for its good sonics. To my ears it certainly excelled in absolute control over the woofers and a very smooth, slightly thick midrange. It runs very warm though and in a "green" world is not very practical. Burns 400 watts just idling not to mention once you get it going. My power bills certainly felt the extra draw the years I ran one.
 
mine was recently biased and gets just a bit warm at idle. doesn't seem like the heat from 6+ 60W light bulbs, but there is a lot of heat-sinking square footage so it probably wouldn't get that warm anyway...:scratch2: OTOH, my BX-1 Class A 100W monoblock supposedly burns 400W all the time and it does get incredibly hot, even with a pretty decent amount of heat-sinking.

i see the Classe CA-401 supposedly burns 360W at idle according to specs (can't find the CA-400 specs), and i'm not sure what the differences between them are.
 
cdfac, I was always under the impression that Class AB amps do not draw full power at idle (if i remember correctly, my Bryston 4B drew 60 to 100 watts at idle, was a 250w rms, class AB, amp). If the CA 400 is class AB, I doub it draws full power at idle:

Class AB
amplifiers differ from Class B amplifiers in that they have a
small idle current flowing from positive supply to negative
supply even when there is no input signal. This idle current
slightly increases power consumption, but does not increase it
anywhere near as much as Class A.
 
for one, an amp can draw higher power at idle if the outputs are biased higher into Class A. also, input stages are often Class A and will be responsible for part of the idle power. 400W may seem like a lot for a Class AB, but if this were a 400Wpc fully Class A amp, it would probably draw closer to 3000W from the wall, if not more.
 
Back
Top Bottom