So now that I've had more time with the Classic, I'm here just to post some impressions, others can chime in, and post their feelings about the amp. This is just an opinion, and I'm sure others will disagree with me, but its my first time so bear with me!
Build Quality:
The amp is definitely built quite good, the switches are very stable, and can see them lasting a long time, as well as the casing looks quite nice, very simple. One nitpick I have with the amp though is that when turning up the volume, you are able to hear the electronic steps of the volume knob, somewhat annoying but it's hardly audible.
Features:
Some features that really made the amp stand out were, the crossfeed & tonal balance (bass booster). I liked the crossfeed implementation of the amp, it either made songs more enjoyable, or had virtually no effect. It sounds as if it's bringing the sound closer, i.e. less from left and right of you and more in front. Though when using the crossfeed it felt almost as if the soundstage was a bit smaller, not sure if it's just me but, either way it definitely made most of my music more enjoyable. The tonal balance was a love/hate feature for me, on my headphones (T1/SRH840), it didn't really add to the low end as much as it made everything sound a bit darker. When listening to more bassier songs it did add to the fun of the song, but still not my cup of tea.
Sound Quality:
Since I've only spent a good amount of time with a handful of SS amps, their is not much I can do besides compare previous amps to the Classic, and remark as to how the Classic faired against them. When I listened to the Heed Canamp with the T1's for the first time, I really enjoyed the sound it was a good pairing IMO, but the next week I got the Classic in the mail and it was by far superior with the T1. The Classic is very detailed, on my SRH840 the sound was unparalleled to as it was before, the bass had tightened up especially in the midbass area, and had much better treble extension, it became more transparent and really made the SRH840 sound like a new phone! On the T1's the pairing is great, particularly because the Classic was built around the T1. It doesn't really add anything to the sound of the T1, it lets it be its own headphone, and easily drove it. Though in my opinion this is not the best pairing that can be had with the T1. I've heard the T1 with tube amps, and I thought it really let them shine, I'm sorry as I don't remember the actual amps I tried (it was a while ago), but can say, that I remember they had more body to the T1, not to say it sounds lean with Classic, but it tubes are more musical with the T1, you could sit back and really enjoy their sound. In the end though I am glad I picked the Classic, its still analytical, but without ever sounding overly clinical, and really holds its own in the SS amp category, out of all the SS amps I've tried (all under $1000) I can by far say the Classic is the best I've yet to lay my ears on!
Just some other stuff:
Most of the music I listen to is electronica (not Dubstep, more House/Nu Disco) / Modern Rock (i.e. Red Hot Chili Peppers), and I make sure all the music used is encoded in AIFF, and was well recorded. The DAC, I used with the Classic was Meier's own StageDAC, I spent time listening to the StageDAC on many of my speakers so I could get a feeling as to what the StageDAC sounded like, so I would not confuse it with the Classic.
