Classe preamps?

[cdfac]

I've been browsing a little for preamps with balanced outputs and fairly good built-in phono sections that run under $900. I really like my current Belles preamp and would love to upgrade to the 28A, but that requires significantly more scratch than I have. Among some other brands, Classe looks like it might have a couple models that would suit me well, such as the DR-5. If you have a Classe or have heard one, what are your impressions? Thanks.

Chris

 

[Glen B]

I own a Classé CP-50. It is warm, smooth, detailed, transparent and very quiet. The MM/MC phono section is excellent, certainly better than the Monolithic Sound PS-2 outboard phono pre with HC-1b power supply (total $878) that I owned for a while. I have also owned models CP-35 and CP-45. They had a similar sound to the CP-50, just not as detailed and transparent, and extended in the bass. I have no experience with the DR models but they are supposed to be very good.

 

[RichPA]

I used a Classe Model 30 for a couple of years. It sounded very good if a bit dark, but it was not dead silent, which is something I expect from a modern preamp. The line stage also had way too much gain for my system. It was their bottom-of-the-line model at the time, but was extremely well built.