Classe SSP-800 Introduction

My familiarity with Classe Audio dates back to college where they were carried at my hi-fi shop of choice back in those days.  The impression that I had, at the time, was of high quality components that straddled the space between high value, bang for the buck hi-fi gear and the gear that soared into the price stratosphere.  In the years since, Classe, along with Rotel, was purchased by Bowers and Wilkins and the new owners have subsequently pushed the company closer to stratosphere while filling the resulting gap with Rotel’s offerings.

In the end, all Audioholics lust for the gear that hovers in the stratosphere—even if being of more modest means—limit the ability to obtain such gear.  So when Gene asked, I was more than happy to take him up on the review and have a closer look at just what Classe has been up to more recently.

In the intervening years, multi-channel audio has gone from its infancy to becoming the dominant player in home audio.  Every high-end audio company that wants to show it is still worth its salt to the audiophile crowd still produces stereo gear.  But, they also produce multi-channel gear now as well.  And in true high-end fashion, these companies tend to change more slowly and maintain the minimalist mantra focused on sound quality in the face of the mass-market rush for every bell, whistle, and blinking light that comes along.

Playing the part, the Delta series SSP-800 Surround Sound Processor, originally released in 2008, was Classe’s first foray into the world of HDMI audio and video several years after hitting the mass market with advent of HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.  During the intervening years, the original SSP-800 that was limited to only decoding LPCM audio in the early days has been updated to include Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio and then a full implementation of HDMI v1.4, while maintaining its core focus on the output of uncompromised analog sound quality. 

The SSP-800 is a statement preamplifier/processor that looks to strike a balance between embracing many of the newest technologies while maintaining enough minimalist focus on two channel audio purity to satisfy the expectations of the target clientele.

Classe SSP-800 Design Overview

The SSP-800 arrived for the review packaged in a white corrugated plastic box, rather than corrugated paper, otherwise known as cardboard, with the Classe logo and other printed text in black.  This construction should make the container somewhat more impervious to the crushing and tearing that can happen during shipping with lesser packaging.

Inside, the SSP-800 was securely seated in thick low-density foam top and bottom liners.  The top liner also held all of the included accessories within a box, further prevention against accidental shipping damage from within the container.  As the final line of protection, the SSP-800 was wrapped in a fitted black cloth.

Of course, for a product of this caliber, one would expect superior packaging, especially considering the replacement costs involved.

                   

Classe SSP-800 Packing

As befits a company that has roots in high-end audio, the SSP-800 features a minimalist, but distinctive, appearance along with a more minimalist feature set than your average A/V gear.

The face and sides of the SSP-800 are formed from a single piece of curved silver aluminum with black top and bottom covers nestled inside of the curve.  Keeping with the minimalist tradition, rather than buttons everywhere, the front panel is simply adorned with an on/standby button with an indicator LED, a menu button, an LCD touch screen, a mute button, an IR sensor, and a volume knob.  The silver face is accented with black aluminum piece where the touch screen is mounted along with the large volume knob, which is also black, and crossed with a horizontal black stripe aligned with the buttons.  I will also note that there are no front panel A/V connections on the SSP-800, as is common with more mainstream audio gear.

There are actually two versions of the unit available from Classe: the standard configuration Delta chassis SSP-800 and the rack mount Custom Theater chassis CT-SSP that eliminates the curved front/side bezel and provides mounting hardware and attachment points.  Other than the differences to the chassis to facilitate rack mounting, the two units appear to be identical, internally and functionally.

The back panel of the SSP-800 is laid out with a three-tier logic to the video and audio connections.  The top row consists of all of the video inputs and outputs.  From left to right, they are analog in, digital in, digital out, and analog out.  The middle row consists of all of the digital audio inputs and output to the left, analog audio inputs at the middle, and with various control ports to the right.  The bottom row consists of all of the analog outputs with the power cord, fuse, and main power switch at the bottom left corner.

The array of analog video connections provided with the SSP-800 includes two of each type: composite video, and component video with a single component video connection out.  Digital video is comprised of five HDMI inputs and two outputs that support a full implementation of HDMI v1.4 including all current HD audio codecs, uncompressed LPCM audio, 1080p 3D video, audio return channel (ARC), Ethernet over HDMI (HEC), 36 bit Deep Color, and x.v.Color (xvYCC).  The SSP-800 supports transcoding of composite video to component and HDMI and component to HDMI.  While the SSP-800 supports 2D and 3D video signals up to 1080p at 24, 50, and 60 Hz, there does not appear to be any scaling functionality beyond that required for transcoding to different formats.

Depending on your point of view, the lack of video up scaling to HD resolutions by the SSP-800 may or may not be of any importance.  At this point, almost all other modern source and display gear has the ability to take care of up scaling.  One could argue that a piece like the SSP-800 should provide the best video processing available to make up for inferiority of any other accompanying components, but the reality is that it is highly unlikely that those who are in the market for a unit like SSP-800 will own any such inferior gear to face this issue.

Traditional digital audio inputs are plentiful with four each of coaxial and TOS link connection types and one of each is provided for output from the SSP-800.  The SSP-800’s digital audio connections will accept signals up to 24 bits of depth at a frequency up to 192 kHz, but the documentation points out that TOS link may have trouble at that frequency and recommends using 96 kHz with this connection type.  Both digital audio outputs support 24 bit at 96 kHz.  Analog audio inputs on the SSP-800 consist of a single 7.1 analog RCA input channel, two pairs of RCA input channels, and a single XLR stereo input.  The SSP-800 has 20 programmable source settings that can be configured with any of the available inputs.

The SSP-800 supports 10 analog audio output channels available as either balanced XLR connections or single ended RCA connections.  Eight of the outputs provide 7.1 channel connectivity to a power amplifier and a powered subwoofer.  The two additional channels are configurable either for bi-amplifying the main L/R channels, for additional mono/stereo subwoofer channels, to an additional listening area sharing the primary source, but not as a truly independent zone as is common with many receivers and pre/pros.

The control ports provided on the SSP-800 include an IR in and out, two 12v trigger out, a USB port, an RS-232 port, and a Classe CAN-Bus in and out connections.  The IR in can be connected to an IR repeater for installations where the SSP-800 is out of sight and the IR out is capable of forwarding commands through to other connected components connected further down the line.  In addition, the IR sensor on the SSP-800 can transmit IR commands to third party learning remotes using the Teach IR command found in the menu tree.  The two 12V can be set to operate independently for greater flexibility to operate other equipment.  The provided USB port is for firmware updates from Classe, without any other functionality.  The bi-directional RS-232 port provides connection for external automation such as AMX or Creston based systems.  Note that the RS-232 port becomes inactive when the USB port is in use, but it can also be used for firmware updates for the SSP-800.

Back panel screws on the SSP-800 are plentiful, securely attaching various analog and digital connection points to the chassis of the unit.  RCA connectors in groups have at least one fastener at every other pair of connections and many have one per connection point while XLR connectors are fastened twice per connection point.  This is very much unlike cheaper gear where people complain about tight RCA cable connectors prying on the back panel connections when it really is the other way around with cheap gear not having secure enough attachment of the I/O to the chassis.  Ironically, the same people would likely also complain if cables were loose, regardless of connection quality.

The otherwise high quality construction of the SSP-800 chassis did make a single slight apparent imperfection in the construction apparent.  While not particularly visible, the top and bottom plate form a slight raised seam with the wrap around aluminum bezel along the straight segments but that fits flush at the curve.  Running one’s hand along the seam, the slight offset can be felt.  There is also a slight and uneven horizontal gap between both the top and bottom cover plates and the front bezel.  The gap is widest at the left end of the black faceplate insert, where the touch screen is mounted, that is closest to the curve in the front bezel.

I am inclined to not think of these issues as flaws at this price range, but perhaps a tolerance limit of the of the forming/bending procedure used to make the front bezel.  Perhaps this could be better, but this is unusual construction, so it is hard to say if such is the case or not.

Classe SSP-800 Top View - no cover

On the inside, the design of the SSP-800 shows its audiophile roots.  The power supply consists of two independent sources: a traditional linear toroidal transformer for the analog audio circuitry and a high current, dual output switching power supply for the digital and control circuitry.  Additionally, the audio circuits are isolated from the video and control circuits by optical couplers and low voltage differential signal (LVDS) pathways and all digital and analog signal paths and grounds are isolated from each other between and on the circuit boards.  Throughout the documentation for the SSP-800, Classe takes great pains to describe the care spent in laying out the circuit pathways to minimize trace length and avoid potential noise-inducing issues as well as selecting the electrical components to go into those pathways to maintain purity of the signals passing through the unit.  Such care is, of course, expected in the price realm audio gear such as the SSP-800 occupies.

The innards of the SSP-800 are kept safe from any electrical harm with over/under voltage protection circuitry.  The protection circuit will kick in when either an over voltage exceeding +10% or an under voltage of –15% occurs.  The unsafe over voltage condition will trigger a shut down to avoid damage to the SSP-800 while an under voltage state will trigger a warning indicator to let you know that the processor is having its performance pinched by too little juice.

The SSP-800 provides digital audio processing capabilities and bass management for all two-channel analog and digital signal inputs with the option to bypass processing to retain the unadulterated analog signal for purists.  The 7.1 channel inputs only function in bypass mode, assuming that the source component not only does decoding, but handles any other post processing including speaker delays, speaker levels, and room correction, which is not available on the SSP-800 with bypassed processing.  It is not uncommon for these types of features to be available on source components, but they are often more rudimentary with more clunky implementation than what is often available on sophisticated Pre/Pros.

Classe’s literature on the SSP-800 does not go into specifics about most of the processors driving the digital functionality in the pre/pro.  Digital video processing functionality, such as up scaling, goes unmentioned in the marketing literature and the D/A audio converters are unnamed, but we are assured by Classe that they are high quality, custom configured parts, which is very likely true but cannot be verified.  The only partially named part is the DSP, which is handled by dual TI chips said to operate at 64 bit double precision for floating point calculations.  The marketing literature goes on about how this is done to ensure the most accurate signal processing, suggesting perhaps other products do not go to this extent and that it is significant.

Editorial Note about Floating Point DSP:

Classe marketing materials makes a comment about floating-point based calculations used to ensure accuracy in the DSP:

Audio Digital Signal Processing (DSP) is handled by a Texas Instruments-based platform which operates in 64-bit double precision. It uses floating point arithmetic for all audio signal calculations to ensure the most accurate results possible.

This is not necessarily true and doing so represents a technical tradeoff that should only be made if it is necessary.  Machines can represent real numbers, with either a fixed decimal point or a floating decimal point.  Either way, the range of numbers that can be represented is finite, so both are a trade off in data storage size, processing speed, and accuracy for a given numerical range.  Fixed point numebers are an exact representation and are preferable if the numerical range necessary for calculations fit within the data size.  Fixed-point numbers become inaccurate if calculations exceed the size limit because the numbers cannot be defined, leading to overflow errors.  Overflow either truncates the result or reports the result as the largest number that can be defined, creating error in the calculations.  Floating-point numbers allow a greater range of values for a given data size but works by automatically scaling numbers by shifting the decimal point, effectively rounding off the rest of the number below a certain number of places.  Error is minimized by using 64 bit double precision with 16 stored digits rather than 24 bit single precision that only maintains 8 digits.  Incidentally, none of this has anything to do with processors having different bit depths, such as 64 versus 32 bit.

The moral of the story is that gross generalizations that either fixed point or floating point numerical representations are inherently more accurate can be untrue and are highly dependent on the range of numbers and types of operations that are required to be carried out in performing calculations.  Classe does not provide any basis for the need to use floating point numbers for audio computations, but simply implies that other manufacturers perhaps accept overflow errors when it is unclear if such would even occur in the necessary calculations.

Editorial Note about MIPS:

Ironically, the marketing material then cites the MIPS (Million Instructions Per Second) performance of the DSP, which is considered more appropriate for fixed point calculations, as opposed to citing FLOPS (Floating Point Operations Per Second) performance.  Performance rated in MIPS is dependent on the processor architecture/instruction set and programming language, so actual real world computational performance varies for different processors rated at the same MIPS performance.  FLOPS, on the other hand, measures performance of mathematical operations so rated performance does not vary with how many instructions are needed to complete the operations.  One example would be the case discussed above with 64 bit double precisions data being processed on a 32 bit CPU, which would require greater MIPS performance for the same mathematical performance.  The use of MIPS rather than FLOPS is not incorrect, it is just the marketing department conflating technical terms and making a big deal about nothing particularly unusual, and the consumer should be made aware of this fact.  All of it is more or less irrelevant, but I find it entertaining, nonetheless.  All that is required is that the processor handle the throughput required of it because additional capacity does not make anything sound better although it does allow for greater future upgradability through firmware updates.

Classe points out that the DSP module in the SSP-800 is designed to be replaceable, allowing for future upgrades.  My understanding is that Classe has provided upgraded DSP boards for original customers of the earlier versions at no cost and for $995 to those who bought the SSP-800 second hand.  Classe has also made upgraded HDMI boards switching between S-Video and 4 HDMI 1.3 inputs to 5 HDMI 1.4 inputs for $1500 for customers of earlier models.  While not a cheap upgrade, it is far cheaper than replacing an entire older unit and it is consistent with the point that Classe makes about being comfortable with investing in high quality without worry about obsolescence.

Classe includes an independent five band parametric equalizer for each of the 10 output channels of the SSP-800 to provide for room acoustics correction.  The equalizer is manual, requiring proper measurement tools and a working knowledge of room acoustics, or as Classe suggests, the hiring of an acoustician.  Classe claims that the equalization is manual because the automatic routines do not work, providing unsatisfactory results, but my opinion would be that a better option would be to provide an automatic correction algorithm with manual override functionality to get the benefits of both options.  The SSP-800 allows independent equalizer settings for each channel, including the LFE channel, except for the auxiliary channels when they are used for either bi-amping the main L/R channels or for a down mixed monitor channel, which can be used to provide a psuedo secondary zone.

The occasional audiophile trope does make its way into the SSP-800 literature, such as a 300 hour break-in period before the pre/pro will sound its best, which if it were true, would never allow the processor to be heard under the best conditions within the time frame of a typical product review.  Classe also has a section about choosing the appropriate cables, but avoids going too far into that miasma and sticks to speaking about the virtues of balanced XLR versus single ended RCA cables and recommends consulting about cables with your dealer who is, of course, unbiased without a conflict of interest in profit motives.

Editorial Note about Break-In:

Break-in, conceptually, suggests that over a period of usage, something physically changes in the system.  In mechanical systems, such as loudspeakers, it might suggest some minor amount of damage to the material where it loses some of its original stiffness and settles into a stable long-term state without additional damage within normal usage.  These changes happen quickly, as soon as the speaker is driven, such as with brittle lacquers used on linen speaker spiders cracking.  Long-term changes would suggest a load and time dependent phenomenon such as creep, which requires sustained loads applied over a long period of time, but this is not consistent with audio signals that are constantly alternating between positive and negative amplitudes.  In electronics, as an analogy, this would mean that the electrical components would have to break down at the molecular level due to a sustained electrical charge, biased constantly positive or negative.  Such a signal is otherwise known as DC, and it is not much to listen to and it can be very damaging audio gear without much time passing.  No one espousing substantial break in requirements ever seems to explain what physical process is going on that changes the sound, just that it must be happening because a change, real or imagined, is perceived to be occurring.  More so than with loudspeakers, long-term break in of electronics really has more to do with the listener becoming accustomed to slight variations in the sound of the new equipment rather than any significant physical changes to the system occurring over time.

Classe SSP-800 Setup & Configuration

Basic setup for the SSP-800 is not unlike that of any other modern pre/pro or receiver, although Classe makes several statements to the effect that you should really just let your dealer set up the unit.  This is fine for some, but of course, we here at Audioholics like to do this kind of stuff for ourselves.

The manual goes through the obligatory basic physical setup of the SSP-800, spends some time discussing the basic types of surround sound formats and the number of channels involved, surround post processing to increase the number of channels or add effects, and then finally to the menus.

At this point, I will note that the menu structure of the SSP-800 is arranged a bit differently than is typical with mass-market gear and uses some slightly different terminology. This terminology, in some cases makes more sense and sometimes it is a head scratcher.  Either way, the terminology is a bit different.

When first plugged in and the rear power rocker switch turned on, the SSP-800 will take several minutes where the standby/on indicator will blink and the unit will not turn on until it is finished.  Once the standby/on indicator quits blinking, the unit can be switched to the operating mode, but this brings up a statement about initializing on the front display panel, a boot up process that takes a little longer than just turning on the unit.  Once complete, the touch screen display shows the Home Page menu screen.

Here is where things start to get a bit different in how the workings of the SSP-800 are described by Classe.  There are two basic menu structures, one used for regular operation and other for setting up the unit to operate.  The first menu, for operating the SSP-800, is referred to as the Home Page throughout the documentation but not as a menu, although it is a menu.  The other menu is referred to as the Menu System or just Menu, which is the menu to access all of the setup options on the SSP-800.

Unfortunately, the users manual leaves something to be desired in clearly establishing the menu hierarchy and layout.  The Home Page menu is described in the user’s manual under the heading Using the SSP-800/CT-SSP while the Menu System menu is described under the heading The Menu System in the users manual.  The user’s manual attempts to organize the menu hierarchy with sidebar titles and use of bold, normal, and italicized text, but the subheading items are not always listed in the main heading or in consistent order when they are subsequently described, so it is hard to keep track of where a given feature is in the hierarchy.  The lack of clarity is further exacerbated by the pdf file of the user’s manual alternating between some unreadable, low-resolution images of the various menu screens that are pixilated to the point of uselessness and some more readable moderate resolution screen images.

              

Overall view of the OSD                                     Close up of the OSD

I will go through some of the functionality tucked away in these menus without generating the full hierarchy myself.  The various menus will always display on the touch screen, which can be set for various levels of brightness, colors, and a delayed off when not in use, but the SSP-800 can be configured to present the menus as an onscreen display on the monitor television.  The OSD covers only the lower left part of the screen and can be programmed to display for different user actions, time duration, or disabled completely.  The front panel touch display, itself, fits up to six menu items on screen at once along with a More button when there are additional menu items and a Home button to take the user to the Home Page, both of which are located at the top of the screen.  The display will also show a scroll bar to the side when there is a longer list of submenu options.  All of the menus on the SSP-800 can be set to one of six different languages that are further customizable by local Classe dealers for regional variation in dialect and custom.

The Home Page menu display lists four options: Source, Video Preview, Mode, and Controls in addition to showing the current input selected, processing type, and volume level, both numerically and as a relative slider bar at the bottom.  The Source menu option should be obvious in that is selects one of the assigned input sources for playback.  The Video Preview button turns the face mounted touch screen into a video display of the currently selected source, which can be useful for out-of-the-way custom installations where line of sight is obstructed.  The Mode menu command accesses all of the possible decoding and post processing modes.  The Controls function brings up commands to temporarily adjust relative speaker audio levels (trims) and delays, Dolby late night dynamic compression as well as selecting listening/speaker configurations, and a trim reset to the programmed settings.  All of the temporary settings are lost when a new input is selected or the SSP-800 is powered down to standby.

The documentation for the SSP-800 makes a distinction between decoding and post processing of signals.  This is a logical distinction in that decoding outputs the signal in its native format and number of channels while post processing alters or expands the decoded signal to other formats and numbers of channels.

The setup Menu System menu is for setup of the SSP-800 is accessed by either the Menu button on the remote or the physical button on the front panel of the SSP-800.  This is where all of the more permanent settings are made for the SSP-800.  The manual does not provide a listing of the subdirectories under the System Menu heading, only a blurry picture of this menu and its pathways, and then jumps right in on the next page to describe the subdirectories.  The missing list of items is as follows: System Setup, Teach IR, Display Setup, Dolby/DTS, Remote Fkeys, and Status.

      

Main Menu              System Setup

Several of these menu items have relatively simple and straightforward functionality.  Teach IR allows for programming the SSP-800 and the remote for additional IR commands.  Display Setup allows the OSD to be set to different colors, screen position, brightness, timeout duration, programmed for which events trigger it to display, or disabled.  This submenu is also where different languages can be set for the SSP-800.  Dolby/DTS contains the usual Dolby ProLogic and DTS Neo6 settings for center width, panorama, and dimension along with settings for use with Dolby Volume.  The Remote Fkeys submenu is where macros can be programmed for the remote control.  Status displays information including firmware versions and hardware versions for various internal components, sensor data including temperature, voltage, line phase, and grounding states, and provides access to Classe’s CANbus configuration menus.

System Setup is the primary menu to configure the SSP-800 for operation with the following functions:  Volume, Input, Triggers, Profiles, Room EQ, Configuration, and Black Level.

As with the menu level above System Setup, a number of the functions are straightforward.  Volume is where settings for maximum and startup volume can be set along with settings for relative input levels and mute settings, which can be varied from full mute to any preset level or an amount to decrease the volume from the current setting.  Volume settings on the SSP-800 can be made in 0.5 dB increments from –99.0 dB to +14.0 dB.  The Triggers menu allows the two triggers to be activated and programmed.  Each trigger can be set for a full range of functions beyond just turning on the unit including setting inputs and processing modes.  The Black Level menu allows the SSP-800 to be set for either 7.5 IRE consistent with North American sources or 0 IRE for sources from elsewhere in the world.

The Profiles function allows the creation of two separate customized submenus that are the Home Page with up to six commands each that is useful for accessing frequently used commands buried deep in the menu structure.  When this functionality is active, the named profiles, default or user assigned, will show on Home Page menu.

The Input submenu is where the twenty input channels can be associated with source input connections.  Independent audio and video connections can are assigned in separate submenus and the audio can be associated with a default processing mode, an independent level adjustment called offset, and a group delay for lip-synching.  Each input can be given a customized name and can be associated with one of the six programmable configurations as a default.

      

Input audio connection assignment                  Configuration submenu

The Configuration submenu is where permanent audio settings are stored for speaker setup.  Unlike a typical surround receiver, six different speaker arrangements can be created, which allows for a fair amount of customization.  Each configuration can be given a custom name, set for a different number of speakers, and programmed for different relative levels, distance/delays, speakers that are or are not crossed over, crossover frequencies, crossover slopes, and how the auxiliary channels are assigned.  Using configurations would allow one to create a specific setup for using surround sound versus stereo listening with and without subwoofers, respectively, perhaps a five channel versus a seven channel arrangement for sources with different numbers of discretely recorded channels, or a DTS versus Dolby surround mode.

There is some redundancy in the required input for each Configuration such as the delays for the speakers.  Setting different configurations of which speakers to use with different levels and processing makes sense.  Perhaps different relative speaker levels when a different number of channels or when a different processing mode is used, but the delay settings will likely all be the same unless one is attempting to program their own concert hall modes or perhaps just likes an echo chamber effect.

As for the actual settings that can be made for the speakers, they allow for a high level of precision.  Level setting for each channel pair can be made in 0.5dB increments.  The distance settings for delays can be made in 2 inch (0.051 m) increments, which is very likely closer spaced than your two ears.

Room EQ settings

The Room EQ menu brings up the settings for the manual five-band room correction equalizer for each of the ten output channels.  The equalizer can be activated or deactivated for each channel independent of the other channels and each band within a channel can be turned on or off independently.  Center frequency settings for a band are made in 1 Hz increments from 20-200 Hz, 10 Hz increments from 200-2000 Hz, and 100 Hz increments from 2000-20000 Hz.  The corresponding gain is adjustable from –64.0 dB to +5.0 dB in 0.5 dB increments and width can be set for multiples of 1 to 20 in integer increments.  Because of the fully manual implementation of the room correction equalizer on the SSP-800, equipment and/or software capable of taking room acoustics measurements, or a dealer with the aforementioned items, is required to put the feature to effective use.

There are a couple of foibles in the implementation of the different functions and menus on the SSP-800.  For example, the SSP-800 can be set to display either relative or absolute volume, but despite whatever setting is selected, the mute setup menu only displays absolute volume.  Speaking of volume, while the SSP-800 has settings to adjust how quickly the volume changes with the remote control and with any connected automation, the physical volume knob on the front is very sensitive and has no such control.  A few degrees turn will cause the volume to change by many dB and a half turn will take the SSP-800 from –99 dB to –20 dB, so a careless turn of the knob could lead to hearing and speaker damaging levels.  It really defeats the purpose of having 0.5 dB fine volume adjustment when touching the knob causes the volume to take off like a bat out of hell.  I also want to mention that the OSD will not display on a TV without an active source component selected. This is not always an issue, but if occasionally one wanted to make some setting changes to the pre/pro when it is first powered on, it cannot be done without first powering up and selecting a source.  There is another issue with applying names to speaker configurations.  The name given to a speaker configuration is never shown within the Configuration setup menu except under the submenu to create the name, otherwise they are simply Configuration 1, Configuration 2, etcetera, but it does show up in the Input menu where a default speaker configuration can be assigned to the input.  These aforementioned really are minor issues that could be fixed with a firmware revision, but they can be irritating nonetheless.

Bass Management Options

With the inclusion of the bass management settings within the Configuration menu, all of the subwoofer settings can be adjusted independently for every user defined speaker configuration.  Want to run the left/right mains as full range for two channel music listening but have them crossed over to the sub(s) for multi channel movie soundtracks?  The SSP-800 allows for a level of versatility in creating such arrangements that few, if any, other surround processors will allow.

Within a defined speaker Configuration, each speaker group/type is set as Full Range or Crossed Over, which is more straightforward equivalent to setting speakers as large and small in typical A/V receiver/pre/pro parlance.  When crossed over, each speaker group/type can be set for an independent crossover frequency in increments of 10 Hz from 40 Hz to 140 Hz.

            

Configuration menu speaker crossover settings             Auxiliary channel subwoofer assignments

When subwoofers are enabled within a speaker Configuration, they will function as an LFE channel with low pass bass from all of the crossed over speakers.  Additionally, the SSP-800 has a setting called E-bass, that when activated, sends low-pass information from all of the speaker channels, regardless of their cross over settings, to the subwoofers.  When the subwoofers are disabled within a configuration, the LFE channel is routed to any of the speakers that are set to full range within the Configuration according to the users manual.  Each Configuration can also be set to either a 12dB/octave or 24dB/octave high and low-pass crossover slope that is independent from the other configuration sets.

The two auxiliary outputs on the SSP-800 can be assigned as additional subwoofer outputs for a total of three subwoofer LFE channels without requiring a Y splitter cable providing an effective 7.3 system for those keeping count.  The subwoofers can be configured for either one or two additional subwoofers as mono channels, L/R stereo, or L/C/R for one or two additional subs, respectively.  It is worth noting that the SSP-800 will allow the auxiliary channels, when used as subs, to have independent level trim and delay settings for each of those subwoofer channels.

Remote Control

Classe SSP-800 Remote

Following through with minimalist approach typical of more Audiophile oriented gear, the remote control that is provided with the SSP-800 is equally minimalist with far fewer buttons than many mass-market remote controls.  There are no number keys, no key to directly select every input or every possible surround mode available on the pre/pro, and no keys to directly control other home theater equipment as is common.

All of the basic necessities are present, however, with power standby, mute, volume, sequential up and down input selection, info/status, adjust display brightness, and an enter key surrounded by four arrow keys.  There are also keys to access the main menus, Home and Menu, select alternate surround modes, set temporary trims and lip synch timings, select alternate speaker configurations, access profiles, and four Fkeys to control user programmed functions.

The remote, itself, is solid and heavy, made of approximately 1/8” machined aluminum with a 3/8” thick screw-in cover plate for the battery compartment.  The black tinted aluminum shell is complimented by cobalt blue backlighting that activates when any button is pressed.

Classe SSP-800 Sound Quality Tests and Measurements

The primary market for a pre/pro like the SSP-800 is for two channel aficionados who don’t want to compromise on a multi-channel preamp that cannot do good old analog stereo correctly.  To that end, listening tests of the SSP-800 were performed in two environments: my multi-channel theater setup and my dedicated two-channel rig.

In the theater setup, the SSP-800 was paired with a Sony BDP-S300 source, an Atlantic Technologies A-2000 seven-channel amplifier, and a cast of Infinity Beta speakers, wired with various Monster M series analog and Ultra series HDMI cables.

The stereo setup consisted of a California Audio Labs Delta transport/Wadia 12 D/A converter, a PS Audio 100-D dual mono power amplifier, and my reference Infinity Kappa 600 speakers wired with various Audioquest analog cables and Cardas digital cables.  Here, the SSP-800 sat in for my reference SimAudio Celeste P-4002 analog preamplifier.

Using the SSP-800 for multi-channel listening, I found it to be clean and dynamic without sounding overly analytical suggesting slight but unobtrusive warmth to what otherwise could sound sonically cold and calculating.  The pre/pro provided excellent detail and micro dynamics with clear output at high listening levels.  Throughout my time with the SSP-800, at no point was there indication of any sort of dynamic compression or homogenization of separate sounds being squashed into a sonic mush, regardless of the volume setting or the complexity of the music and sound effects being reproduced.

In a stereo setting, the SSP-800 was quite comparable with my reference preamplifier.  The sound of the SSP-800 was slightly leaner with a correspondingly slight increase to the perceived level of detail and a bit less forward.  The presentation of detail by the SSP-800 came across as natural, without the suggestion of using any sort of emphasis in the frequency response, which is sometimes used to fake the illusion of detail.  The SSP-800 clearly showed its ability to satisfy the discerning connoisseur of two-channel analog audio reproduction.

I have always found that the best audio gear produces sound that simply gets larger and more immersive to create a corporeal presence in the instruments and voices at volume rather than just sounding louder.  The SSP-800 excelled at filling up space and creating solidity to this illusion.

Blu-ray: Kingdom of Heaven, Directors Cut

From the theme music at the start screen of this film, the SSP-800 showed off its capabilities in spades.  The micro dynamics and inner musical detail revealed by the Classe while watching the film were impressive, producing a sound quality of notable smoothness across the full audio band.  Simultaneously occurring sound effects were rigorously propelled around the channels by the SSP-800 without any affect on the Classe’s ability to reproduce the coincident musical subtleties.

The opening theme, as the returning Crusaders ride into the French village, the SSP-800 revealed detailed micro dynamics in the percussion and strings.  Solo vocal and choral parts were delicate and airy using the per/pro, in particular the female vocal as Balian recalls his deceased wife, which was beautifully delicate and airy.  The richness of the low strings under the violins conveyed through the SSP-800 projected the depth of sorrow as Balian returns to his life while a delicate choral part surged up from underneath.  The substantial dynamic range the pre/pro is able to generate while maintaining subtleties were fully displayed on numerous occasions in the film.  From the swelling of chorus and strings as Balian arrives at Messina to the gloriously engulfing brass during the caravan attack lead by Guy de Lusignan, to the ominous undercurrent of low strings as the armies of Jerusalem and the Saracens march to confront each other before the gates of Kerak, at the return to Jerusalem, and to the soaring choral and strings at the death of the King Baldwin of Jerusalem, the SSP-800 made a fine showing in keeping the richness and detail of the score intact.

The Harry Gregson-Williams score makes considerable use of various Middle Eastern instruments that are woven, both subvertly and overtly, into the traditional Western instrumentation and choral arrangements.  Ethnic guitars and wind instruments were rendered with intricacies of timbre and expression fully intact, providing immediacy and solidity to the performances.  Notable examples were the Middle Eastern winds, strings, and percussion during arrival at Jerusalem and the ethnic guitars as water flows in Ibelin.

Dialog throughout the film was rendered as tangible, well founded by the SSP-800, with a very high level of clarity.  I found this to be true even under extreme circumstances such as before the gates of Kerak where the cries and utterances of the small group of knights from Ibelin as they charged into seemingly certain death before a vastly superior force were discernable through the thunder of hooves and the surging musical score.  The sound effects in the film were presented as imminently immersive by the SSP-800.  In particular, a convincing envelopment of the ocean storm and shipwreck at the crossing from Messina to Jerusalem was developed by the SSP-800 and the sound effects of the final battle were flung around the speakers with vigor and assurity by the Classe.

Blu-ray: Steven Wilson: The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories)

The recently released The Raven That Refused to Sing is a sonic feast of neo-progressive jazz-rock fusion.  After remastering King Crimson’s back catalog for Robert Fripp in multi-channel surround, Steven Wilson came to the realization that the jazz component prevalent in early progressive rock had been missing from current neo-progressive music.  To remedy this omission, Wilson has assembled a cast of fine instrumentalists to realize his musical vision including former Miles Davis keyboardist, Adam Holzman, saxophonist and flautist, Theo Travis, and guitarist Guthrie Govan.  To apply the icing, Wilson coaxed the legendary Alan Parsons out of semiretirement to engineer and produce the album.  The result is an album of progressive jazz-fusion that pays homage to likes of King Crimson, Yes, Jethro Tull, and others, while remaining wholly distinct.

Throughout my listening, the SSP-800 produced a fully formed and coherent sound field with instruments entering from various directions with clarity and authority.  Vocals were, again, notably clear, and various instruments, particularly acoustic wind instruments, floated ethereally in space using this pre/pro.  The SSP-800 easily pulled apart the complex layers of sound and helped them all find their places in the space around me as I listened.

Luminol opens the album with a bass and drum groove that came through the SSP-800 tight and clean, carrying a solid weight.  The flute and the layered vocals simply hovered in the air while multiple layers of guitar were pealed apart cleanly.  The Rhodes was simply gorgeous and Steve’s vocals were rendered with an extremely natural sound quality by the SSP-800.  Towards the middle, in typical Steve Wilson fashion, the song pulls a 180 from the loud up-tempo grove to quietly strummed undistorted guitar while another guitar performs delicate jazz licks from various channels, all occurring in the SSP-800’s coherent and enveloping sound field.  The weight of the drums and bass were again apparent as the song picks back up, showing off the ability of the SSP-800 to handle micro and macro dynamic shifts at all volume levels without any sacrifice to clarity.

Drive Home again displayed the SSP-800’s ability to create an enveloping sound field.  The layers of vocals were very detailed and the upper end of the SSP-800’s treble performance was illustrated by the immediacy of the high hat cymbal and the clarity of the stick on metal.  Flute and soprano sax were well separated from underlying strings and jazz guitar parts.  The SSP-800 held the shifting sound field together from the front channels to the surround channels as the electric guitar gives way to a an acoustic guitar with pickups.  I found that all of the rhythmic transients to be well controlled by the Classe and in particular, a clarity and smoothness to the presentation of the drums and metals.

Vocals were again presented with a natural presence throughout the nearly 12 minute long The Watchmaker by the SSP-800.  The acoustic guitar came through airily and the flute part again floated.  As the song starts to pick up, metals were rendered by the Classe with exceptional detail, clearly revealing timbre.  The sound field the SSP-800 developed expanded and intensified as the music builds, and despite the intensity, everything from the electric guitars, flute, sax, and percussion came through with pristine clarity.  Returning to the verse, the SSP-800 conveyed the timbre of the piano well while shunting delicate cymbal work around all of the channels.  A bass guitar solo that appears out of nowhere was propelled into the room by the dynamic capabilities of the Classe with transients that moved through the room to interact with the bass drum, generating subsonic transients.  As the song moves to a conclusion, it becomes simultaneously beautiful and ugly as delicate and angry sounds are interchanged without the SSP-800 mashing the delicacy underneath the power.

CD: Peter Murphy: Secret Bees

Secret Bees is a companion EP to the recently released Ninth, containing both additional tracks and extended versions of songs from the main album.  As often is Mr. Murphy’s musical disposition, the songs contain dark, dense ambient layers flavored with interesting harmonic complexities and a multitude of vocal layers at varying degrees of intensity.  The SSP-800 portrayed the album with a large, open sound field that was well imaged and smooth, particularly at the upper end of the frequency range with the metals.

Using the SSP-800, I found the opening track, Gaslit, to be detailed with an open treble and a midrange presentation that was at ease.  Transients and micro dynamics, particularly in the percussion were crisp and well realized by the pre/pro.  There was a clear ambience to the presentation of the vocals, which were well balanced and neutral on the Classe.

The acoustic guitar that pervades Rose Hunter was presented throughout with excellent timbral character by the SSP-800 in a large and very open sound stage.  The song has a cacophonic chorus that can easily descend into sonic mush with lesser audio gear, but was laid out cleanly before my ears with inner parts clearly discernable.

The chanting that opens Secret Silk Society came through the SSP-800 with a good deal of clarity.  Underneath the song, guttural layers of percussion and synthesizer noises were presented with spacious ambience by the Classe.  Throughout the song, I found that the harmonically dense layers of guitars, bass, synthesizers, and percussion were kept sonically open with inner detail of the instrumentation well separated.

Measurements and Analysis

Using an Audio Precision SYS2722 Audio Analyzer, the following measurements of the analog sections of the Classe SSP-800 were performed.

Classe SSP-800 Frequency Response

The Classe SSP-800 exhibits ruler flat frequency response to the test limits of the AP audio analyzer (10Hz to 200kHz). 

Classe SSP-800 FFT Distortion Analysis

 

At 1Vrms output, the SSP-800 exhibited virtually no harmonic residuals with the 2^nd order harmonic being about 110dB below the fundamental.  With the output cranked to 4Vrms, we still see an almost sterilely pristine output.  The 3^rd order harmonic dominates, but it’s about 110dB below the fundamental.  Excellent measurement!

 

Classe SSP-800 Crosstalk

 

With one channel driven, the adjacent channel crosstalk was measured.  At least 60dB isolation at 10kHz is a good design goal.  The SSP-800 meets this with ease exhibited excellent crosstalk performance (-110dB at 10kHz and > -100dB at 20kHz).  Classe did their homework in making sure a clean layout was achieved for the analog sections of the preamp and it shows.

Classse SSP-800 Conclusion

As a multi channel solution for those who prefer just two, the SSP-800 succeeds admirably, providing superior two channel performance and flexible speaker customization options geared to allow the consolidation of what some would consider two separate systems into one.  As a multi channel audio/video preamplifier/processor, the SSP-800 provides all of the necessities with a clear focus on audio quality, but only perfunctory video functionality.

In a multi-channel setting, I found the sound quality of the SSP-800 preamplifier/processor to be quite detailed, revealing much about the inner workings of the source material it was fed, but never to the point of sounding harsh or overly analytical.  All of that detail was presented with an ever-larger envelope to the surround field at volume, with just enough warmth to keep it balanced. 

Inner detail could be discerned using the Classe at all levels of sonic intensity and it easily kept delicacy from colliding with power into musical unintelligibility.

In an analog two-channel setting, the SSP-800 proved more than capable of playing the role of replacement to a dedicated stereo preamplifier.  The SSP-800 was effectively neck and neck with my reference preamplifier, trading off in tonal balance and slight levels of perceptible detail.

While it may seem that I picked on some of the marketing bluster and documentation a bit, the SSP-800 is never the less an excellent surround sound processor with superb audio reproduction capabilities.  The output voltages alone put the SSP-800 in rare company, as it will drive the heck out of whatever amplifier with which it is paired.

The performance of the SSP-800 will likely pull and push all the other gear in a home theater, particularly the power amplifier, in all but the very finest systems to overachieve.  What can be said that is bad about that?

So if you are in the market for a statement quality A/V preamplifier/processor that is clearly more A than V, it is definitely worth looking at the Classe SSP-800.

 

USA & Canada • Classé Audio Inc.

5070 François Cusson • Lachine • Quèbec • Canada • H8T 1B3

Tel +1.514.636.6384 • Fax +1.514.636.1428

www.classeaudio.com • email: cservice@classeaudio.com

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Frequency Response Linearity
Multi-channel Audio Performance
Two-channel Audio Performance
Bass Management
Build Quality
Fit and Finish
Ergonomics & Usability
Features
Remote Control
Performance
Value