Do i get the old or new Classe amps?

I have two Classe CA-400'S and love them very much. True big diffrence between Ca-200 and Ca-400 in the same system. 301's I have heard at the dealer and found to be hi-fi IN DIFFERENT SYSTEM AT THE DEALER. I am not saying it is due to 301 or rotel source they had, or B&W 802's or Aleph amps or combination as a whole. I am sticking with my CA-400's, plus they look a lot better and cleaner design.

I had a two Classe dealers tell me that the difference was purely cosmetic between the 00 and 01 series. I owned a CA-200 and listened to a CA-201, I couldn't hear the difference. I also like the older cosmetics better. I didn't buy the CA-201.

I'm a fan of the original Classe amps, designed by Dave Reich. They are the DR series...DR8, DR9, etc. You can pick these up used at a VERY reasonable price; pick up a pair and really have some fun. Careful, there's a ton of current flowing from these, if you get carried away you can easily fry crossovers.

I have owned Classe DR10, CA-100, CA-200, CA-300. The CA-100 was truly an improvement over the DR10 especially in low-end bass detail. It separated the instruments better and was slightly more transparent over all.

I have listened to the CA-201 and didn't notice any difference between it and the CA-200. As for hum, I haven't experienced any hum problems with any of my Classe amps. However, some amps can be more sensitive to ground loop induced hum which is not necessarily the fault of the amp but of the setup. One way around hum (in many cases) is to run balanced interconnects.

In my system, the CA-200 was the "sweet spot". No noticable improvement going to the larger CA-300. My speakers are modest Thiel CS 1.5's. I have since sold off all my Classe gear only because I'm experimenting with tubes these days. If I go back to solid-state, it will likely be Classe again.

One additional note. There are TWO styles of CA-200. One with the heat sink fins on the back and the newer style with the heat sinks on the sides. The version with the fins on the sides is the model most identical to the CA-201 electrically. It is the style just before Classe went to the "less pretty" (in my opinion) CA-X01 series.