Classé Delta Mono monoblock power amplifier $21,998/pair. review
July 7, 2020 § Leave a comment
“As you’d expect from a pair of monoblocks, the Delta Monos’ stereo imaging was superbly stable and well-defined. When I recorded male-voice choir Cantus performing Eric Whitacre’s “Lux Aurumque” in Indiana’s Goshen College in June 2007—it was released on While You Are Alive (CD Baby 5637240534)—the nine singers were positioned in an arc in front of the array of six microphones. Before I started capturing the performance, I got each singer in turn to say his name. That way, when I prepared the mixdown, I could make sure that I wasn’t distorting the stereo image. However, I accepted a slight broadening of the images of the singers at the edges of the soundstage in order to preserve enough of the bloom of the hall’s glorious ambience. Listening to the MQA-encoded 24-bit, 88.2kHz master file of “Lux Aurumque” with the Classé-driven Vimbergs, that is exactly what I heard: tightly focused images of the singers in the center and slightly more diffuse images to the sides, with excellent soundstage depth overall. To draw a photographic analogy, the Delta Monos offer superb image acuity.
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