Hello Bierfeldt how are you? What's new with you and your setup? Last time I spoke with you that you said you're in the middle of upgrading your DAC /streamer and you said you're about to trade in your Raidho speakers for something else. Did you get to upgrade your digital front end source (streamer, DAC or CD player/transport)?
What speakers did you end up getting? Did you get to upgrade your analog rigs as well?
I myself have just changed my linestage stereo analog preamp in my dedicated stereo setup listening room. I was previously using the D'Agostino Momentum linestage preamp and have traded it in for an Audio Research Reference 10 linestage preamp. But I'm still using the D'Agostino Momentum M400 monoblock amps (2 pairs) to drive my Wilson Alexx speakers. My system sounded better with the Audio Research Reference 10 linestage preamp in the chain.
I'm still using the same digital front end components that consist of DCS Vivaldi full four stacks (Vivaldi master clock unit, Vivaldi upsampler unit, Vivaldi DAC unit, Vivaldi cd/sacd transport unit).
But I'm going to upgrade my turntable and phonostage etc. Currently I'm using a Linn LP12 Klimax version turntable with all Klimax upgrades & accessories. I will be upgrading to a Kronos Sparta turntable with an Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage. I will be flying own to San Diego, CA this thursday to visit and demo a Kronos turntable dealer down there, that will be the closest Kronos turntable dealer from where I live in Seattle.
There aren't that many Kronos turntable dealers in the country. I will need to have a thorough discussion with a dealer down there on what tonearm and cartridge would work and sound best with the Kronos turntable. But for sure I will be getting an Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage.
So I will move my Linn LP12 Klimax version turntable to my master bedroom setup that consists of Devialet and Wilson Audio Duette series ll standmount speakers.
Anyways, I think I have told you last year that I will be selling my Classe SSP 800 pre pro and upgrade to a processor that can decode Dolby Atmos, DTS-X etc. I think I might be able to sell my SSP 800 like in May or June this year as I will have to do some major works in my dedicated home theater room to accommodate more channels or speakers eg ceiling speakers etc in order to accommodate Dolby Atmos setup. I can sell my SSP 800 to you for $3k or less. The SSP 800 did originally retail for $9500 and was discontinued last year. Don't know if you are still interested. I thought I will keep you posted on that. I can let it go for around $2700 actually. My dad purchased it in 2011 and it's hdmi v1.4 and capable of decoding DTS-HD Master Audio & Dolby True-HD via bitstream from your bluray player. The SSP 800 is a fully balanced or true differential design preamp processor for all channels. It is a 7.1 or 7.3 processor and you can configure an extra pair of Aux pre out channels (XLR balanced) as two subwoofers outputs if you plan on using more than one subwoofer. It is in mint condition and has no issues at all. No AirPlay no Wifi no tuner or any radio apps or music streaming apps. Pretty barebone. No video processor or upscaler so the Classe simply switches the video signal and pass through 1080p video via hdmi to your display.
Let me know if you are still interested and I can let it go either in May or June of this year.
But let say if you end up buying my SSP 800 pre pro, I would highly suggest that you pair it with very high quality power amps and speaker system or else it will be a waste. Ideally you would want yo pair it with Classe amps like the discontinued Classe Delta series amps or the current model Classe Sigma amps or at the very least I would recommend either the Parasound Halo A51 amp or the Rotel RMB-1585 amp as cheaper alternatives in power amplifier choices. You will need to get speaker system that are in the same caliber as the Classe SSP 800.
The stereo preformance of the SSP 800 for listening to music is phenomenal. You can use the SSP 800 as a high end analog stereo preamp and it has a true analog bypass mode that will bypass the DSP and other digital processings and the unit will function as a pure analog stereo preamp. So if you decide to combine your stereo setup with HT you can sell your Ayre stereo preamp and just use the SSP 800 as both your stereo and multi-channel preamp. Sonically I bet the SSP 800 used as an analog stereo preamp wil at least be comparable with your Ayre preamp if not better. Unless if you have recently upgraded your stereo preamp to something better.
One of the guy I know, who is a professional reviewer for Soundstage Ultra and Soundstage Access, had the SSP 800 and and he had a chance to compare it against the Ayre preamp (couldn't remember the model) in the same setup and system and he told me that they were both comparable in performance.
Let me know Bierfeldt. I can be very flexible with the price as the SSP 800 wasn't mine, it was my dad's and I just inherited it when he passed away. Btw, I'm sure you've heard that recently Classe was sold to Sound United and Dave Neuber, who's a president of Classe, will re-assemble Classe's design and engineering teams in Montreal who were previously laid off when B&W Group shut down Classe's Montreal facility in Oct 2017 and Dave will lead and remain the president of Classe. So they are re-opening the Montreal facility and future Classe products will still be designed and engineered in Montreal but will be manufactured at the Sound United's manufacturing facility in Japan. FYI, Sound United also owns Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Boston Acoustics. Sound United acquired Denon & Marantz early last year (2017). The CEO of Sound United commented that the company is trying to get into a high end hifi market by recently acquiring Classe.
Because before acquiring Classe, Sound United's existing products (Denon, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Technology, Boston Acoustics) only consisted of entry level mediocre to mid-fi product offerings. Also heard a rumor that future Classe's HT pre pros will be equipped with automatic room correction software. So we will most likely be seeing a future Classe Delta series pre pro (replacement for SSP 800) that will be equipped with automatic room correction software and AirPlay and of course will support and decode the latest formats and codecs and it will compete directly with those Datasat and Trinovv processors and will carry a price tag of $20k and up. But we probably won't be seeing that until next year.
But Dave Neuber of Classe said in a statement that Classe will still pair their electronics with B&W 800 series D3 speakers at the shows and at B&W's own facilities.
Hello Bierfeldt how are you? What's new with you and your setup? Last time I spoke with you that you said you're in the middle of upgrading your DAC /streamer and you said you're about to trade in your Raidho speakers for something else. Did you get to upgrade your digital front end source (streamer, DAC or CD player/transport)?
What speakers did you end up getting? Did you get to upgrade your analog rigs as well?
I myself have just changed my linestage stereo analog preamp in my dedicated stereo setup listening room. I was previously using the D'Agostino Momentum linestage preamp and have traded it in for an Audio Research Reference 10 linestage preamp. But I'm still using the D'Agostino Momentum M400 monoblock amps (2 pairs) to drive my Wilson Alexx speakers. My system sounded better with the Audio Research Reference 10 linestage preamp in the chain.
I'm still using the same digital front end components that consist of DCS Vivaldi full four stacks (Vivaldi master clock unit, Vivaldi upsampler unit, Vivaldi DAC unit, Vivaldi cd/sacd transport unit).
But I'm going to upgrade my turntable and phonostage etc. Currently I'm using a Linn LP12 Klimax version turntable with all Klimax upgrades & accessories. I will be upgrading to a Kronos Sparta turntable with an Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage. I will be flying own to San Diego, CA this thursday to visit and demo a Kronos turntable dealer down there, that will be the closest Kronos turntable dealer from where I live in Seattle.
There aren't that many Kronos turntable dealers in the country. I will need to have a thorough discussion with a dealer down there on what tonearm and cartridge would work and sound best with the Kronos turntable. But for sure I will be getting an Audio Research Reference 10 phonostage.
So I will move my Linn LP12 Klimax version turntable to my master bedroom setup that consists of Devialet and Wilson Audio Duette series ll standmount speakers.
Anyways, I think I have told you last year that I will be selling my Classe SSP 800 pre pro and upgrade to a processor that can decode Dolby Atmos, DTS-X etc. I think I might be able to sell my SSP 800 like in May or June this year as I will have to do some major works in my dedicated home theater room to accommodate more channels or speakers eg ceiling speakers etc in order to accommodate Dolby Atmos setup. I can sell my SSP 800 to you for $3k or less. The SSP 800 did originally retail for $9500 and was discontinued last year. Don't know if you are still interested. I thought I will keep you posted on that. I can let it go for around $2700 actually. My dad purchased it in 2011 and it's hdmi v1.4 and capable of decoding DTS-HD Master Audio & Dolby True-HD via bitstream from your bluray player. The SSP 800 is a fully balanced or true differential design preamp processor for all channels. It is a 7.1 or 7.3 processor and you can configure an extra pair of Aux pre out channels (XLR balanced) as two subwoofers outputs if you plan on using more than one subwoofer. It is in mint condition and has no issues at all. No AirPlay no Wifi no tuner or any radio apps or music streaming apps. Pretty barebone. No video processor or upscaler so the Classe simply switches the video signal and pass through 1080p video via hdmi to your display.
Let me know if you are still interested and I can let it go either in May or June of this year.
But let say if you end up buying my SSP 800 pre pro, I would highly suggest that you pair it with very high quality power amps and speaker system or else it will be a waste. Ideally you would want yo pair it with Classe amps like the discontinued Classe Delta series amps or the current model Classe Sigma amps or at the very least I would recommend either the Parasound Halo A51 amp or the Rotel RMB-1585 amp as cheaper alternatives in power amplifier choices. You will need to get speaker system that are in the same caliber as the Classe SSP 800.
The stereo preformance of the SSP 800 for listening to music is phenomenal. You can use the SSP 800 as a high end analog stereo preamp and it has a true analog bypass mode that will bypass the DSP and other digital processings and the unit will function as a pure analog stereo preamp. So if you decide to combine your stereo setup with HT you can sell your Ayre stereo preamp and just use the SSP 800 as both your stereo and multi-channel preamp. Sonically I bet the SSP 800 used as an analog stereo preamp wil at least be comparable with your Ayre preamp if not better. Unless if you have recently upgraded your stereo preamp to something better.
One of the guy I know, who is a professional reviewer for Soundstage Ultra and Soundstage Access, had the SSP 800 and and he had a chance to compare it against the Ayre preamp (couldn't remember the model) in the same setup and system and he told me that they were both comparable in performance.
Let me know Bierfeldt. I can be very flexible with the price as the SSP 800 wasn't mine, it was my dad's and I just inherited it when he passed away. Btw, I'm sure you've heard that recently Classe was sold to Sound United and Dave Neuber, who's a president of Classe, will re-assemble Classe's design and engineering teams in Montreal who were previously laid off when B&W Group shut down Classe's Montreal facility in Oct 2017 and Dave will lead and remain the president of Classe. So they are re-opening the Montreal facility and future Classe products will still be designed and engineered in Montreal but will be manufactured at the Sound United's manufacturing facility in Japan. FYI, Sound United also owns Denon, Marantz, Polk Audio, Definitive Technology, HEOS, Boston Acoustics. Sound United acquired Denon & Marantz early last year (2017). The CEO of Sound United commented that the company is trying to get into a high end hifi market by recently acquiring Classe.
Because before acquiring Classe, Sound United's existing products (Denon, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Technology, Boston Acoustics) only consisted of entry level mediocre to mid-fi product offerings. Also heard a rumor that future Classe's HT pre pros will be equipped with automatic room correction software. So we will most likely be seeing a future Classe Delta series pre pro (replacement for SSP 800) that will be equipped with automatic room correction software and AirPlay and of course will support and decode the latest formats and codecs and it will compete directly with those Datasat and Trinovv processors and will carry a price tag of $20k and up. But we probably won't be seeing that until next year.
But Dave Neuber of Classe said in a statement that Classe will still pair their electronics with B&W 800 series D3 speakers at the shows and at B&W's own facilities.