Classe DELTA PRE MKII

The Classé Delta PRE MkII is a high-end stereo preamplifier and processor. It sits between your sources and a separate power amplifier, handling switching, volume and digital conversion, and it has no amplification of its own for driving speakers.

Classé is a Canadian company with a long history in high-end amplification, and the Delta series is its current flagship line. The PRE includes network streaming, which is why AirPlay 2 appears on a component of this type at all.

What Apple Home actually does with it

This is an AirPlay 2 device rather than a HomeKit accessory.

• It shows up in the Home app as a speaker you can play to, and as an AirPlay target in Control Centre.
• You can assign it to a room and group it with HomePods for synchronised multi-room audio.
• Siri can send music to it by room name.
• It can be the audio output in a scene or an automation.

It is not an accessory you switch on or set the volume of from the Home app. Power, input selection and volume stay with the unit, its remote and its own app.

Before you buy

A preamplifier only makes sense as part of a separates system. You need a power amplifier and speakers to go with it, and at this level those choices matter more than the preamplifier does.

Consider what you actually want from the digital section. Buying a preamplifier with streaming built in means the streaming ages at the same rate as the analogue electronics, which historically has not been the case: the digital side dates faster.

Specifications