Where most upscale components flaunt bravado and power, the Classé Audio CAP-2100 Delta Integrated Amplifier’s gracefully curved metalwork and sky blue touchscreen display send a very different message. Better yet, the beauty is more than skin deep—fresh thinking is evident in every aspect of its design.

 Classé is a 24-year-old high-end audio company, but its makeover began in 2001 when it joined the B&W Group, which also includes Bowers & Wilkins (B&W) Loudspeakers, i-Command control systems, and Rotel electronics. The group’s financial and organizational resources allowed Classé to enlist a small coterie of skilled software and digital engineers to work with its veteran analog audio engineers. The next step was even more radical:  The company halted manufacturing for almost one year to focus its energies on rethinking the way we humans interface with our components. The Delta Series is just the first of the new generation of Classé Audio designs.

Instead of the usual baffling array of buttons and controls, Delta components feature a touchscreen display, which adds a 21st-century flair, but the screen’s prime raison d’étre is ergonomics. Your installer can custom-name inputs as you like; I dial in “Sirius Radio,” ”CD Player,” and “CD Recorder,” and delete the unused virtual buttons to simplify the display. Technophiles can delve deeper and monitor the unit’s operating temperature and AC power-line voltage, and discover whether it is properly grounded.The CAP-2100 is an integrated amplifier, which means it combines preamplifier functions—source selection and volume control—with a 100-watt-per-channel stereo amplifier to drive your speakers. Both preamp and amp are contained in one beautifully crafted chassis. Stacked with other Delta Series components, such as the CDP-100 CD player, it exudes stately grandeur.

The back of the CAP-2100 reveals its dual mono construction. Left- and right-channel circuits are built in mirror-imaged pairs to minimize signal leakage between the two. Amplifiers are kept separated for better sound. (Click image to enlarge)

A microprocessor keeps tabs on the operating history of the unit, so in the unlikely event the CAP-2100 malfunctions, your installer can learn a lot by just having you scroll through its various screens. For example, it records how many times the amplifier circuitry has shut down to protect itself from short circuits or overheating. Your dealer or Classé’s technicians will know how long the amplifier has been used, down to the minute, or that the left channel overheated twice, and how long it was on before it overheated. The touchscreen is also featured on Classé’s Delta Series of surround-sound processors, preamplifiers, CD players, and DVD players. The screen performs different functions on each model, but it always makes the components easier to use, and it definitely looks cool. Your installer can set up the CAP-2100 to compensate for the varying “loudnesses” of different sources. For example, as you switch from CD player to satellite radio to FM radio, they all play at the same volume level. Which reminds me—your installer can also customize the way the front panel’s silky-feeling volume control reacts to a flick of your wrist. Some folks want a more leisurely response so they can fine-tune the setting, while others prefer a volume control that quickly goes from zero to a satisfyingly high level. The CAP-2100 adjusts to either need. If your kids have wild parties, you can limit the maximum volume level of the amplifier to preserve both the amp and your peace of mind.Audio connectivity options are nowhere near as extensive as on surround processors, but they will be ample for music-oriented systems. You get three sets of stereo RCA inputs, one set of professional-style balanced XLR inputs, plus facilities for a tape deck or a digital recorder, and two sets of stereo speaker outputs. A full complement of infrared (IR) inputs and outputs, DC triggers, bi-directional RS-232 signaling, and Classé’s proprietary implementation of CAN bus control ports should cover virtually any home automation contingencies; strange as it may seem to control a touchscreen-equipped component with a Crestron or AMX touchscreen, Classé makes it possible. The CAP-2100’s operating software is upgradeable via the RS-232 port. If you are still spinning vinyl records, your CAP-2100 can be fitted with the optional modules that can accommodate a wide range of phono cartridge types. The engineers have thought of everything.

The rounded, metal-bodied remote feels more comfortable than typical flat slab designs, and its violet-blue backlighting adds pizzazz.

All of this technical prowess would not mean much if he CAP-2100 did not sound great—and it does, but its unerringly precise and clear sound came as something of a shock. Many of today’s high-end solid-state components try to mimic the sweet warmth of vacuum-tube electronics, but the CAP-2100 instead supplies a remarkably vivid, and dare I say it, thrilling sound.
One of Wynton Marsalis’ most romantic efforts, The Midnight Blues, immediately demonstrates the CAP-2100’s remarkably articulate sound. Marsalis’ trumpet is backed by a lush string orchestra; lesser components sometimes deflavor the strings to the point where they sound like a wash of mushy synthesizers, and the trumpet loses it brassy presence. Not this time. The CAP-2100’s innate musicality melts away those concerns, and I am struck by the playfulness of the horn. This is not something I associate with Marsalis, but the CAP-2100 seems to preserve the intent of musicians better than most. This integrated amp serves up musical nuances like nobody’s business.

Listening to Jefferson Airplane’s Bless Its Pointed Little Head CD, recorded live at the Fillmore East, I am teleported back to my hippie youth. (I was at the show.) Sure, my couch is a lot more comfortable than the Fillmore’s hard seats, and I am not getting a secondary high from a blue cloud wafting over my head, but the vocal duels of Grace Slick and Marty Balin raise the very same goose bumps they did in 1968. The CAP-2100 somehow makes recorded music sound more like the real thing. And that is, after all, the point of high-end audio: To get us closer to the essence of the music.

Evaluating this extraordinary stereo integrated amplifier whets my appetite for close encounters with Classé Audio’s Delta Series home theater surround processors, multichannel amplifiers, and DVD players, and while I am dreaming, I would love to sample B&W’s new 800 Series speakers decked out with pure diamond tweeters! The mind reels!

PRICE: $4,900
CONTACT: 514.636.6384, classeaudio.com