Uber expensive repair at United Radio

Considering that Classe went out of business at one point, I think you were fortunate to get it repaired at all.

 I go out of my way to buy US-made gear and prefer point to point design, in part because I want it to last and be repairable. 
Recently bought a used, near-state-of-the-art phono stage for $3k from an Audiogon member.  It had a loud hum; might have been undisclosed damage, or could have been damaged in shipping. Cost $1500 to fix (effectively, an upgade to the power supply transformer.)  50% more was a painful, unanticipated delta!  My point is that it was a point-to-point wiring design that may be repairable for a few hundred years. Classe, not so much.

dasign"I would never send my gear elsewhere than the authorized manufacturer's service center"

This guy sounds like a common, typical, every day American who wants 5 star service at McDonald's pricing because he is so special, precious, and entitled so dignified, expert, and privleged.

That's why car repair places I deal with just tell you how much to do a job. Forget about the hours. It's irrelevant. If they don't know how much it will cost, either get a narrow range or go somewhere else.

Don't complain about the hours and the rate. Would you feel better if he said 7 hours and $240 and hour? The price is the price.

Didn't know they were the authorized repair center. If they had schematics, they probably even have a basic service manual. That 16 hours just went out tha window. Should have been 1/2 that. Takes minutes with the proper tools to change 16 pin ICs.
That typical everyday American owned an electronics repair business and ran a couple others. He seems to know a lot more about the business than people bustin on him.

Another reason to like point to point wiring.
Seems excessive price to pay for replacement for two 16 pin chipsets, can't estimate their troubleshooting time.