I Bought a 1994 HIGH-END Vintage Classé Audio Power Amp for CHEAP. But is it Still High-End in 2022? 

*Hey guys. Thanks for stopping by to hear my experience with the Classe Fifteens. Please leave this video a like and subscribe if it was helpful or entertaining to you* Head to squarespace.com/jaysiyagi to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code jaysiyagi Used audio platform I use (canada): www.canuckaudiomart.com/ Used audio platform for USA: www.usaudiomart.com/

Hi Jay, In 1990-91 I picked up a pair of bridged Classe Audio DR-8 power amps and matching Classe DR-5 Preamp all running in balanced mode driving the vintage Mirage M1 si speakers. Still sounds wonderful decades later. 😎

Wow this is my first hi end amp that I bought preowned back in 1998 for 1800 u.s. dollars. And paired it with an amazing brand new rotel preamp. I forgot the model but costed $900. And it was an amazing combo. So much sound it was amazing. I bought the b&w Nautilus 803 Wich just came out in 98. I had an amazing 12 year run with that whole setup.

These amps were famous for being able to drive difficult loudspeaker loads - like Apogees. A lot of the members of the old Apogee Acoustics Users Group owned them. I never bought one but I would probably like to hear one.

I owned a Classe Audio DR-15 for 10 years. This was the model that preceded the Fifteen. The changes between the two were minor. I used the DR-15 with a Classe Audio DR-6 preamplifier. The quality of the build was top notch. At the time, I compared the DR-15 with Krell KST-100, Mark Levinson 29 and Aragon 4004 Mk2 and for me the Classe amplifier was more musical. I used this amplifier with my Rogers LS-7t and after that with my Proac Response 2.5. I had the opportunity to hear it with Apogee Stage panels. In my opinion, this combination was magic. Finally, this amplifier was able to power the most difficult loads. I regretted selling this device.

Hi Jay.Congrats on your latest acquisition. I have the Classe Audio 30 pre amp and the Classe Audio 70 power amp bought new in the mid 1990s. They still sound great to this day driving my Magnepan 1.4 Musical bliss with all types of music.

Great video, Jay! Way to find a gem of an amplifier. I’m rocking a pair of NOS Boulder products and they are incredible. Really great distinction between drivers and amplification advancements.

I love that you bring amps like this to our attention.

Classe makes amazing audio gear and build quality is top level . Thanks Jay

Good video. I'm glad to see you giving some older or vintage gear some time. That is really my market as the new higher end is out of my budget. There are some real gems that are now vintage.

After buying and selling my Luxman M900u, I purchased Audio Research amps pre LS10 (1996) and power D240 MKII (1992). They are an incredible pair especially when upgraded… the designs are both fully balanced and synergistic heaven. Transparency powerful dynamic full range with deep bass and great highs.

Good pick and thanks for sharing a vintage. Pick. I use a Musical Fidelity F16 (50w class A, 200w AB switchable) from the same era. Can't find a modern amp that does the same thing for anywhere near the money.

Great video, classe' always been one of my favorite brands. I have a CAP151 still working like a charm and sounding beautiful through a couple special 25's.

I bought a Classe CA-150 amp and CP-45 preamp somewhere around 1997 and they powered my main system until I sold them just last year. And the only reason I sold them was because they were 25 years old, and I felt I should get rid of them while they still had re-sale value. As you mention in your review, the Classe units threw an incredibly wide and deep soundstage.

Love Classe amps. Still own one I haven’t used in years just sitting in my plié of sad unused gear. I think I’ll likely hook it up again tonight thanks to your vid, Jay. Thanks, Jay. I’m looking forward to dusting off the old Classe. 👍🔊😊🎶

Hi Jay. Excellent move on the classic Classe Fifteen. If you want to take it to the max, you owe it to yourself to try it with the Audible Illusions Modulus 3a preamplifier which is legendary in its own right. Enjoy!

Another excellent video on vintage high end. Would love to see you test a Pass Labs next

I've had the fortune to use the Classe 15 paired with its Model 5 Pre-Amp, pushing a pair of Snell Model B minor speakers since 1993-94 era. I can attest to the excellent sound stage, focus and very neutral qualities of this set up. The B-minor has a rear-firing tweeter, which sometime sounded a little edgy but it really is attributable to the signal source/recording quality (I believe). The sound of the Classe pre and power combination is so satisfactory that over the years I didn't feel a tubed system will necessarily beat the sound, so I stick with them for the past 30 years. It's a very very rewarding experience and investment indeed. Prior to that, I was using a McIntosh C28 preamplifier paired with GAS's Ampzilla IIa, powering a pair of Allison 1. Classe offers life long warranty for their products to the original owners, which is a great one but never needed it so far except to repair a malfunctioning main toggle. The pre-amp Five is left own all the time, powered by a separately housed power source, which allegedly optimize its transistors life and function.

Old classe audio is so much better than the new stuff they make. Like a lot.

nice review i recall those having a slightly warm full sound very musical

lol i own 2 of 15's. i bought them new. around 1994 i do bridge them and bi-wire them. i still love them and mine are still covered by the life-time warranty they offered at the time, back when it was a new model. they made these for many years as well.

Keep up these reviews Jay of reviewing older or used gear. I feel like value for money is gears from the 90s and early 2000s. If you could get your hand on one of the older plinius amps designed by Peter Thompson, that would be intersting since I have yet to see a review on them.

I have the Classe Amp2- fantastic. I was considering a more expensive Bryson BSST, a SIM Moon 330 and a Benchmark AHB2. Classe had a little extra when mated with my B&Ws

They are not “old “ binding post, they are purposefully build that why. You can tighten and get a much better contact grip with these.

Great video. I'm all about the vintage gear and am currently enjoying a Class A Pioneer M22 and C31. Really fantastic equipment. I'm Spackler on CAM BTW if you ever want to say hi.

Vintage sounds amazing. And it’s fun to look for

Always lusted after Classe gear.I don't know why I never purchased them..I swap these oldies but goodies in & out of my system . Moon i3se,Harmon Kardon 430/730,Quad 33/405/303,Technics 5770 ,Sansui AU 888 they all sound good to my ears .Keep up the good work Jay :).

Hi Jay. Every amplifier ever made and any future amplifiers that will be made, will degrade the source component signal in varying degrees. Even a piece of wire with gain (perfect amplifier ?) will alter the signal. So, it comes down to what colouration you prefer. Back in the early 1980's i purchased a demo amp for half price. It was a Carver 600 watts/channel continuous into 8 ohms A/B Power amplifier At 30 WPC it was in pure Class A. The sound was fairly "neutral" with a slightly forward mid-range and extended treble.

Nice ..I had a pair of the DR3-VHC’s 👍👍 They’re up with Angie … on consignment…I gotta go back and check 😋

Agree with your eval of the Classe Fifteen. I have owned it and the Twenty Five and loved them both. However, I replaced both with a pair of Hafler DH220 both modified with JFET Cascade upgrade kit from Fantasia Audio. After ABing this against the Classe side by side through same source equipment and speakers, the difference was obvious and immediate, although I evaluated it for about a week using three different preamps and four different sets of speakers...same results with all combinations. I my opinion, the Hafler with new JFET Cascade boards and supply capacitors are the best deal on used market I've come across...and I have done many.

I hope 15 was recapped? If it was this good it will be more better surely. :) I also like older Classe gear. I have pre CP-50 from 1997. Fully recapped still sounds fantastic for the money you spend. It has all the comfort with remote and looks good either. It have quite balanced kinda neutral sound, just a tiny bit on the warm side, but not too much.

Most slightly vintage hi end gear will still perform and sound well... especially if you bring it back up to spec. The real good stuff you can find enough user reviews or opinions to give you an idea on the unit without hearing it and buying it used. Quality internal parts last a long time.

As long as old high end gear is in good condition & easy to repair , its worth it. My friend had classe amps in the 1990s , it was phenomenal. He swapped it out for a big Krell amps & guess what sounded better? In my bedroom system I use Imf tsl50 & Sausui ax 701, Lenco L75 turntable . It sounds great. Old is gold 👍

i used to sell these years ago and we had the cam 350 mono blocks also but i liked the classe ca150 and cap151 intergrated and even with less power the original creek 5350 se was killer also!

Hi Jay, you know what you just did, haha, good luck getting the other Classe' A your wanting for a reasonable price now.... love your channel

Nice review Jay. Always loved Classe and always wanted to buy a Classe 15. I think It would match well with my Classe DR-6 preamp. 👍

I own a Classe DR-2 which is a 25 Watt pure class A amplifier into 8 ohms. It is so musical and it can drive almost any load. I paired it with a Classe DR-6 preamplifier with excellent results. Curious if you could seek out either a DR-2 or DR-3 for evaluation.

I have Classe monoblocks (CAM-350) that I bought new around 2005. They are back breakers at 85 pounds, but deliver 80 watts in class A or 350 in class A/B. They double into 4 ohms and almost double again into 2 ohms. I have been upgrading my system with new pre, DAC, etc., and was thinking I should replace them. I now use very efficient speakers and they are overkill in regards to power. Plus, they are almost 20 years old. Working with a retailer, he advised that these are still killer amps and questioned why I wanted to replace them. Maybe I’ll keep them! Thanks for the timely review!

Hey Jay! Great review! Did you ever considered to test accuphase?

Hi Jay, nice find. Where do you do your searching? Here I mainly look at Echo Audio and The Music Room.

Thanks for sharing Jay. If you want to snag another power amp that will surprise you for the money grab a new in box class ab Monoprice Monolith 2x for $1100. Made by ATI in the USA. 48lbs. 800kva transformer. 6 output devices per channel, with their own heatsinks. 200 watts into 8ohms, 300 watts into 4ohms both channels driven 20hz to 20khz.

Excellent video. I'm using a vintage amp from Denon (if early 2000s counts as vintage) because they are so inexpensive on the used market. Why would I spend 400€ on an entry level integrated amp of today when I can get the top of the line amp from 20 years ago for even less money? Class AB amps didn't change that much in the past so always look for older modeln so save money

nice video Jay, interesting stuff, high end closer to the masses with these. I woas wondering about the kenwood l07, are these mosfets power transistors inside this replaceble now a days? thats a concern.....dont know i hope i am wrong

And that's why I buy vintage, have the gear serviced and enjoy for a long time without losing money, most things are now more expensive then when I bought them. Vintage is the only way to be an audiophile without throwing buckets of cash at the hobby

Nice video. Jay are you able to use for example a Yamaha RXA 2080 or Denon AVR 3600 as a pre amp and be just as happy when compared to the ones you now use?

Thank you so much for the fantastic informative review of this vintage amplifier. I very much hope that you continue along this line and feature some more vintage gear. Used vintage gear happens to be much more in the realm of affordability for myself and probably many more of us out here. There really isn't anybody giving any decent reviews on the vintage gear, that I have found anyway. I really think you're straightforward understandable way of explaining things could really be a useful resource for us out there playing in the used vintage equipment market . Thank you again.

Hi Jay, I have had many power amp, SAE, Phase linear 400 , quad 402 I think, Adcom 555, sumo clase a, Bryston 4 classe mono blocks, moon 5 , my favourite is VTL 150 TUBE AMP

Hi Jay, I’m an ardent fan of your RU-vid as well as Thomas and Adrian’s. In your opinion, how is the Classe amp sound compared to their contemporaries like ML, Krell, etc? How’s this vintage gear sound compared to mid priced NAD and Parasound of today? Thanks.

Finally a refreshing take from a recognized face of the Hifi industry. Most reviewers would’t dare take that stance by fear of losing credibility or opportunities. The reality is that like it or not the hifi industry is mostly flatlining on many aspect since the mid 70s. Vintage Hifi doesn’t have to die for the modern one to be successful. Vintage gear represent a good opportunity for any new comers to experiment and gain important experience in that hobby. Many entry level integrated from the 70s represent a very good option for beginners cause they sound very good, are cheap and are easy to repair. On the other end of the spectrum some high end stuff of the 70s, 80s and 90s (if restored) can compete with the best of today’s market.

Hi Jay, I own the Classe DR-25 (big brother to the Fifteen) and two DR-9s (predecessor to the Fifteen) and agree that they are extraordinary amplifiers. Two things I would share with you: 1) the early Classe preamps and amplifiers (DR series/Fifteen & Twenty Five amplifiers) are NOT truly balanced. They use cheap opamps to convert the single ended signal to output through the XLR outputs. I used my DR-25 for years using expensive XLR cables from the XLR outputs of a Classe DR-6 preamp and later an Ayre K-1xe preamp (truly differentially balanced preamp) before a friend told me to try the DR-25 using the RCA inputs. The sound was much better using the RCA inputs. More life, dynamics, and sparkle. Made the XLR inputs sound dull (what the hi end used to call “dark”). Please try your Fifteen with the RCA single ended inputs. 2) I tried bridging my two Classe DR-9s and the results were a mixed bag sonically. I ended up just using one of the amps in stereo mode. I thought my system sounded better that way vs the two bridged DR-9s. Also, when bridging, speaker impedance load that the amp sees is doubled, making it very taxing on the amplifiers if using speakers with lower than 8 ohms impedance. Best of luck, Dave

i really like your speach being young you are more expert than those who think they are experts like people in their 50´s and still don´t know what a turntable is, today there are many new ones but expensive and with no quality at all ,fluance is maybe the best , cheap and some quality in them compared to pro-ject or rega ,a friend said to me "i´m going to buy a Pro-Ject ,and i told him ,you have the best turntables and cartridges ever made why buy a piece of crap but when hearing it ,it looked simple but nice and i recognise it had good sound, this with power and pre amplifier from 71 from demidoff signature brand and some very good and powerfull B&W from the 80´s and i told him that i thought it wasn´t possible to have a pro-ject with aceptable sound, the talk changed when he tells me that between the turntable itself and the cartridge he spent 14.000€´s,so not for me,this to meet late 60´s quality in cheap turntables with diamond tip

Hi , I have been buying used gear for over 30 years and currently have a Classe' CA 100, CP 35, Classe' 70 and DR 4. I completely agree with your assessment. I have been using them with Quad and Focal speakers . Love these amps, preamps .

Hi Jay, I see the LS50 keep coming back in your video, even if you seem very entusiastic of your Sonus Faber. Is it because you want to test gears with a known reference setup?

I saw this model on Canuck but went with a Simaudio moon amp instead which wasn't quite as old.

Very nice. You should pick up a Bryston Jay :) 20yr warranty, recording studios and post production facilities love them. Probably my favorite amp brand overall right now, let alone Canadian like Classe. They aren't picky and sound amazing with just about every speaker. 75-150w Class A/B power even with efficient JBL/Klipsch/Altec horns sounds so good in HT or 2ch. The headroom helps and they are dead quiet. Accuphase from Japan also another favorite of mine. Warmer sound but great pairing for a number of speakers. If you like the Luxman chances are you'll love Accuphase. Like McIntosh even their vintage stuff holds its value a lot. Not that HiFi is an investment or should be looked as such, but resale value is a nice plus.

Jay, can you review a pre-amp network unit 2k ish money, I brought the R8 Wilson amp after watching your review a few years ago and very happy with the sound, look forward to the , thanks bri uk

Have you tried a threshold FET 10 preamplifier? I’d love to see your review of an older Adcom GFA 555 Mark one

After the review it would be nice to listen to a few fragments of music from this amplifier. Words are not enough. Best regards from EU!

Damnit. They were cheap while it lasted

Just thought you might want to know. This is a Glen Grue design and was not made until 2008. And when bridged you are summing both outputs creating more noise in mono, they will not sound as good as they do in stereo. At the time Classe offered m 700 mono and m1000. I had the m 1000 excellent mono amps now using a Classe omicron mk2

Haven't managed to live with quite a few pieces that I'd like to try. Did own amps from Bedini (100/100), Perreaux (2150b), Coda (model 11), Levinson (27), Aavik (u300), Clayton (M300), Rowland Model 6) and a Buckeye et-7040sa. All had their strengths, but there are so many potential associated component variables that ranking or drawing a lot of conclusions about them might a fools game. The most recent system went from Clayton M300 mono blocks to Buckeye 7040 mono blocks. With my component chain, the Claytons seemed to provide a little more controlled and richer sounding low frequencies, but the Buckeye 7040 monos are by comparison shockingly good and have an msrp that's one sixth of the M-300 amps, (no small feat since by many accounts, the M-300 amps out perform many more expensive competitors). I'll now be keeping an eye out for older Classe amps and would be very interested in hearing your take on Clayton amplifiers in the future.

Hope u can find a Alchemist Forseti APD20A power amp and give your review. Another classic power from the 90s

I would mention that at the time, Classé was Montreal based. I believe they have since moved their production to Japan.

I bought a mid nineties Yamaha MX-2 and haven't looked back. They drive my Tannoys xt8f with ease.

ty jay i have a nacamachi recever old school that sounds very tube like vintage sounds different

I have a pair of 10s in mono. I heard they built them to drive Apogee Duetta/Divas

I always wanted one of those Classé amplifiers back in the 90's when they were new in the high-end store I saw them at in my town, however, they were always WAY out of my price range and my extremely meager budget! I would love to find a good used one of those in really nice working condition sometime! Or even better yet, a pair of them so I can do the bridged setup like you mention in the video... I just don't understand though, what you meant in the beginning of this video, when you said that the purchase of this amp was a "mistake", if you like it as much as you seem to... What's up with that? You never explained that statement.

When will you review Schiit TYR? thx

I had one for four years and bought a Plinius SA-100 Mk II.

Should listen to earlier David Reich units, the DR9 and the the DR3’s especially the VHC

Hey Jay thanks for the content! QQ about matching a older simaudio W3 amp with the Willsenton R8 for biamping. I have a Bryston preamp and I’m just wondering the gain of the R8?? I know from my tech manual the W3 is 31db. I can’t find technical doc for R8 and the gain number more specifically. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone listened to a Classè Omega? There's a pair selling that I'm strongly considering, these are massive paper weights

also what do you think about their smaller brothers l05m ? same quality just less watts?

What preamp did you use? I am thinking about a tube preamp with a solid state amp. Maybe a Prima Luna preamp with a Classe 10? Any thoughts?

you should listen to it with vintage altec lansing speakers it will blow your mind ....

Let me f8rdt say that I do enjoy your Chanel and thanks for your objectivity but I have a question what sites do you use to purchase used items .

i have the classe dr8 love it

Hi, can you give some details about the grey diffuser pannels behind the amp, are they from a brand ? do it yourself? If yes, can you provide some sort of scatch or plan or a link ,thank you!

Much better than spending all that money on bookshelf speakers. eBay has all sorts of used esoterica at somewhat affordable prices.

Wanna see those tape wheels turning

What kind of sound difference can I expect if I go from a McIntosh MC2105 to this? powering quantum 2 speakers

Love Classe gear and yes hi end 4 sure

Iyagi Clan....ASSSSEMBLE!!

I have the same filing over vintage quad 606. 🙏

The problem right now with the Used market is that most items are overpriced now, in some cases it's simply worth it to purchase new... In some cases on that side, by the time shipping is included, you wind up spending 70% of what new would cost, just not worth the risk.

Ok, I bought one of these a few days ago. Still in the process of moving. So haven’t hooked it up yet.

Any love for the kinki ex-p7 preamp ?

Jay, because of the age, Wouldn’t corrosion, Dendrite and Fretting Corrosion be a factor and that all contacts have to be cleaned?

A litlle of topic jay but do you have any ideia on why my speakers only appear to make bass to the outside of the room and not to the inside? it´s a normal setup with a tv at the center and the speakers on the side. it´s so weird.

i can tell you that i have several power amplifiers and the more older they are the better sound they have ,so if working properly would be better than a new one even those that cost around 50.000€ ,the best i have integrated one already in 1969 or 71 demidoff signature brand, but the best in general are acuphase, carver(engenier),pioneer ,sansui ,technics and yamaha, the ones i own, there are more but i don´t own them allthough when in the 90´s nakamichi released the stasis power amplifiers i was struck by lightning a matter of speaking, but sold it maybe 12 years ago by 7x the price i paid for it new and i was around a car to buy my second hobby so i sold it to have money to buy a new Mesaratti V8 70´s style(the design)

It seems that the Denafrips preamps appear to be extremely good, perhaps even better than their Dacs.

A look at the insides would be nice? Has it been recapped? ~28 years is a long time for power caps - all of the caps, actually.

B&W uses Classe testing they're speaker designs, or used to.

still using a CAP-80 bought in 1990s as my amplifier.

With typical heat loss....is 1200 continuous possible?

Dann you for making it more expensive to find another 15. I've owned many Classe amps and I think the 15 is best.

Can someone tell me what is the absorption of Classè Audio Ten (100+100W)

the best decade without a doubt for good components were the 70´s than they decreased a lot but with exceptions and in late 80´s or 90´s several quality hi-fi components were released

Jay, another integrated amp worth checking out is a Karan Acoustics KAI180mk2. It’s a gorgeous sounding completely balanced design, which is Class A using sliding bias. It’s got all of the advantages of Class A but without the heat and excess power consumption.

how could it possibly not still sound good?