SimAudio or Classe for Power Amplifier

I have not compared these amps side by side but, I have experienced them both in my system driving B&W Matrix 801 S3 loudspeakers.

I'll begin by stating the obvious, they're both great amps! My initial impression of the W5 was how similar it sounded to older Classe gear, I presently own a Classe S-1000 amp, and I found the sound of the W-5 to be somewhat similar, albeit I preferred the midrange presentation of my amp a little better.

The new Classe gear is "leaner" to my ears, but I find the vast majority of mewer amps heading that way, Plinius and Krell included. I suppose it's due to the chronic desire of audio gear manufacturers to seek truth in the audio chain, no character of it's own is what they say, but some of us like a little character imposed on the signal.

Anyway, my memories are that I still preferred the Classe 2200, a little better midrange, sweeter highs, and really didn't give up much in the low frequencies.

Good luck in your pursuit, and pick the amp that sounds right to you.

I recommend you take a good look at the W-8, which is Sim's Evolution top model. It is H-E-A-V-Y. The transformers are HUGE. Basically, I'll parallel what someone else already said, that they will drive any speaker, and they have a 10 year warranty to top it off. I have compared it to the Classe 2200, and the Sim wins, easily. It has a tighter, deeper bottom end, and a huge soundstage. It also focuses better, and the top end is more detailed fast and extended. It is NOT aggressive, but very revealing. BTW, Ultra Audio, which is part of Soundstage magazine, just reviewed Sim's top three pieces, the W-8, P-8 and Andromeda, and were very enthusiastic, saying they even beat the mega-dollar Boulders in many respects. Plus, my experience with Classe dealers lately is that they seem to get very pushy, and I feel they are biased. It seems to me that Classe is only demo'd with B&W, and this seems obvious when you realize that they are both sold by the same importer. I cannot deal with a biased dealer, because I naturally feel they are not looking out for my best interests. My Simaudio dealer seems much more up front and honest. Now this may not be true for you, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Classe dealer you talk to plays you Classe with B&W. This is not because the match is excellent (although it is a good match IMO) but because they are financially bound to do so and contractually required by the importer. How can you trust a dealer like that?

I agree that Classe dealers would have a bias towards the B&W loudspeakers.

I don't doubt that the W-8 would sound better since it is twice the price of the Classe 2200. Did you have a chance to compare the 2200 against the W-5, something at a similar retail price?

It is interesting that Jeff Fritz wrote the UltraAudio review (April 2006). He gave it a 'Select Component' award:
http://www.ultraaudio.com/twbas/twbas_20060415.htm

He also did a review of the Classe 2200 (December 2004) in SoundStage. He gave it a 'Reviewers Choice' award:
http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/classe_ca2200.htm

Perhaps they both offer outstanding value at their price points.

audio4ever:
thank you for the reply. I am looking very seriously at the W7 monoblocks and the p8 preamp. Do you actually have Simaudio in your system? What speakers did you hear the Simaudio with? I appreciate any feedback you can give.

You don't give a price range or a willingness to buy used, but you can pick up a pair of W10's for around $4500, which I think is a fantastic buy. I bought a used pair for around that price and have been using them to drive a pair of Dynaudio Confidence C2's, which I find to be a great pairing. I have read that Dynaudio uses Simaudio amplification to voice their speakers - no idea if that's true, but they sound good enough together to be true.

The other thing I like about the W-10's is that they run very cool - I can leave them on all the time and they don't heat the room, and you have to drive them hard before they begin to feel very warm to the touch. They are also extremely powerful. I'm sure I'll convince myself that soemthing is lacking at some point, but for now I can not imagine what would drive me to trade them out shy of a completely different system phiosophy.