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Originally Posted by fitzcaraldo215
But, Audyssey is the Integra's sonic secret weapon that elevates its performance considerably. I think I said best I had heard. I have not heard the Classe 800 or a lot of other newer things, but I did extensively audition the Classe 600, among other high end pre/pro's, last year before buying my Integra last November. Also, now having experience with Audyssey, I am a true believer in its considerable sonic merit. I would never again be without Audyssey (now upgraded to Audyssey Pro) or some comparable EQ in my system.
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You know this is very interesting as I have been debating between Integra DTC 9.9 soon to be and the Classé SSP-800. I wished Classé had incorporated the Audyssey Pro, but they said it doesn't work !! Like you I love SACD multichannel music for classical music. My point of reference is the LA Philarmonic playing at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
http://www.laphil.com/
Having said this, I want to hear both units before making a decision on spending my hard earn money. I have a few Classé amps and think they work very well. I also have an old Integra Research RD-C7 and it works fine but I wanted to get a new pre/pro with HDMi 1.3 and DTS Master Audio as well as Dolby Digital Tru HD as I am a big movie buff. I wished high end companies would be less snobs when it come to technologies from other established firms. I guess they figure if you can spend 8K for a pre/pro you can fork an other $2500 for Audyssey pro if you really want it! You know what is interesting is that they had in the SSP-600 an Automated EQ system as well. I guess they are trying to cut corners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by fitzcaraldo215
I still do not particularly like the architecture of the 800 in many ways that I think are objective and rational. But, it probably sounds really terrific with the right source formats.
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You said you have not heard the Classé SSP-800 but say that you don't like the architecture what do you mean.
Classé uses Texas instrument 64 bit DSP chip where as Integra uses three TI 32-Bit Processing DSP Chips. I think that Classé is using a lot more powerful processing which of course does'nt mean it is better but still. Again I am looking to hear both and make a decision for myself.