Classé Audio, Bowers & Wilkins, DR Acoustics


All prices listed in Canadian dollars.


For a couple of years now at the Montreal Audiofest, Classé Audio and Bowers & Wilkins have been exhibiting together. That’s no surprise considering that both brands are owned (for the moment at least) by the same company, Masimo. (Medical-device manufacturer Masimo may soon be spinning off the former Sound United home–hi-fi brands.)


But there may be more to it than just a sharing of a parent company: Undeniably, , these two brands dance well together, almost as if they were planned to be matched. The two manufacturers’ products, at this show and previous ones, melded well together, musically, and functionally.


At the Montreal show, the system included a Classé Delta PRE Mkll preamplifier with DAC and phono stage ($16,000), a pair of 300W Classé Delta MONO monoblocks ($15,000 each), a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 801 D4 Signature speakers ($72,000/pair), and a pair of 2000W Bowers & Wilkins DB1D subwoofers ($6500 each). Cabling was by DR Acoustics.


On Qobuz-sourced files, the music sounded bold, substantial, rich-hued, explicit, direct, and of a piece. A live recording of a small ensemble delivered a believable sense of a band playing live together on stage, life size and musically real.

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