Their development had started when Classé was still owned by B&W in a video interview, I asked Nauber how come it had taken so long for these products to come to market. The third-generation Delta products-stereo and mono amplifiers and a preamplifier-are the first fruits of the new ownership. Sound United resumed Classé's operations under the leadership of Dave Nauber, now brand director. (Reich had joined Theta Digital by that time Viglas retired in 2010 and passed away in 2018.) In May 2016, B&W was acquired by EVA Automation a year later, the new owner shuttered Classé's operations in Montreal and all employees, excluding then-president Dave Nauber, were let go.įortunately, Sound United, whose brands include Denon, Marantz, Polk, Definitive Technology, and Boston Acoustics, then acquired Classé. So positive was that experience that, when Editor Jim Austin asked me if I would be interested in reviewing Classé's new third-generation Delta Mono amplifier ($21,998/pair), I didn't hesitate to say "yes."Ĭlassé Audio became part of the Bowers & Wilkins Group in 2001, with Viglas staying on as chairman and the day-to-day running of the company being handled by brand-development VP Dave Nauber. My own experience of a Classé amplifier dates from March 2011, when I reviewed the CT-M600 and CA-M600 monoblock amplifiers. These include the CAM-350 monoblock amplifier, which was reviewed by Brian Damkroger in January 2001 and has been used by Jon Iverson, AVTech's self-described "web monkey," as his long-term reference amplifier. No fewer than 22 reviews of Classé products are available in our free online archive. Though the brand was established with the 25Wpc DR-2, the first review of a Classé amplifier to appear in Stereophile, by Larry Greenhill, was of the later DR-3, in December 1985. The name "Classé" was a pun on the fact that Reich was a firm believer in an amplifier's output stage operating in class-A, where the output devices never turn off (see sidebar). Canadian audio manufacturer Classé Audio was founded in 1980 by engineer Dave Reich and entrepreneur/audiophile Mike Viglas.
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