Classé Audio Delta SSP-600 Surround-Sound Processor

For those of us who love premium sound, the component category that’s on fire right now is surround processors. Between the Bel Canto Design PrePro, Anthem Statement D1, Lexicon MC-4 (review in the works), Meridian Audio G68ADV, and a slew of others, the last 12 months have been a real windfall. But few products have whetted the audiophile appetite like Classé’s new Delta SSP-600 ($6500 USD). Just a glance at its curvy lines and gorgeous design -- plus the knowledge that its good looks will be matched by Classé’s reputation for topnotch sound -- were enough to get me interested.

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Though Classé recommends a 300-hour break-in period for the SSP-600’s audio circuits, my sample sounded great straight out of the box. I started with a few movies with big orchestral scores. The opening fanfare of Star Wars crashed through with the power it deserves, but what I really loved was the sense of depth, the overlay of a real orchestra in a real space that came through in the delicate moments. Bernard Herrmann’s masterful score for North by Northwest features braying horns and banging start-stop percussion that, through the SSP-600, made the size of the orchestral scoring stage audible.

Bear McCreary is writing, for Battlestar Galactica, some of the best TV music I’ve heard in years. At the age of 26, he shows signs of the level of genius of his mentor, the late Elmer Bernstein. Again, while the SSP-600 reproduced the booms and bangs perfectly, what impressed me more was the delicacy of the simple scoring for the sadder moments.

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Bottom line: The SSP-600 sounded wonderfully coherent, natural, and realistic. I loved it.