Larger power cords, such as my own Clarus Crimson, can too easily be accidentally pressed against the switch during insertion, thereby toggling the switch to Off. This switch is in its Off position when the side next to the inlet is pressed. Near the upper left corner of the rear panel are the Power rocker switch and grounded IEC power inlet. Also on that black strip, between screen and knob, are: an IR sensor an asynchronous, charge-enabled 24-bit/96kHz USB input dedicated to Apple portable devices and a 6.35mm headphone jack. The latter is tastefully positioned along a black strip that leads the eye to a large, nicely weighted volume knob of black, brushed-aluminum. There’s a small Power button at far left, and a Menu button to the right of the touchscreen. The rest of the Delta Pre’s faceplate is clean, with only three physical controls. I much preferred the CP-800’s blue on white-it’s more modern and engaging. Classé’s familiar 16:9 touchscreen remains, granting access to the input and menu selections, but you can no longer change the display color: characters appear only in white on black. The Delta Pre is anodized dark gray and weighs 29.7 pounds, or almost six pounds more than the CP-800. The Delta Pre occupies the same aluminum case as the CP-800, measuring 17.5″W x 4.8″H x 17.7″D, but there the similarities mostly end. In much the way the CP-800 was a revolutionary leap forward over the CP-700, Classé’s Delta Pre ($9999) leapfrogs the CP-800. The CP-800 remained largely unchanged until late 2016, when it, too, was discontinued. In 2013 I reviewed the CP-800, our editorial team named it a Reviewers’ Choice, and I made it my reference preamplifier. In 2011, Classé Audio introduced the CP-800 preamplifier-DAC ($6500, all prices USD) to replace the well-received, analog-only CP-700 preamplifier ($8000) both models are now discontinued.
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