classe twenty five and classe fifteen

Mofimadness,

I thought the same thing, but when I called B&W/Classe' Audio about 2 years ago to inquire about having my DR-25 upgraded to Twenty Five status, they told me that any changes between the models were extremely minor and that there would be no audible difference.

I'm sure that you are right. As the original owner, I was not entirely pleased with B&W's/Classe's reluctance toward helping me with that. I actually tried to contact Dave Reich, but apparently he is no longer involved in audio.

DR probably works better with forward speakers and the Twenty Five with laid back ones. Regardless, it is a hell of an amp. I don't think I would kick either out of bed ;)

Always heard good things about the first Dave Reich designs, but never actually heard them. Based on specs, they were not rated high on wattage, but I understand that ran in Class A all the way to clipping?

Dlcockrum,

If you look at the product literature, (I still have some), it lists the amps output(s) as A/B. I swear though, that Glen Grue once told me that the amps do run Class A up to a point, but I really can't confirm or deny that. I always thought that they did. I had a pair of DR8's running mono and LOVED them on my Apogee Stages and I had a DR3VHC on a pair of Acoustat Model Sixes that ROCKED!

Sorry, I needed to clarify that the DR3, DR3B and DR3VHC were indeed Class A amps. The DR8 and DR9 were listed as Class A/B amps, but "might" have ran Class A up to a certain level.

I owned both the Twenty Five and the DR25 in the same system, and much preferred the Twenty Five, despite Classe telling me the technical differences were minor. I found it more dynamic, alive, open sounding. I originally explored the Twenty Five, already owning the DR25, after reading the Stereophile review, where the reviewer (LG I believe) very much liked the Fifteen and did not like the DR15 at all. My speakers at the time were Snell B Minors.

The BIGGEST change between the DR-25 and the Model 25 was the removal of Dave Reich's name off the internal circuit board and replaced with Glen Grue's name. I still have the original DR-25 and Model 25 promotional literature and there is NO mention of any updates nor changes to the specifications. Dave Reich is a designer, Glen Grue is a marketer.