The products in the ‘source rack’ were grounded to the Telos Grounding Unit, with its active noise reduction technology. The power amps were grounded to the CAD GCR, while I installed a separate GC3 for the network components. Power distribution was via Nordost QB10s, with a QB8 for the network. In each case, the AC distribution for each set of components was grounded to the parallel grounding unit.
Up until now, you’ll notice that I’ve been silent on the question of speakers. As well as all the CH 10 Series components, we also had to take delivery of, unpack and install a pair of Göbel’s Divin Sovereign sub-woofers – a mere 145kg/320lbs net, each! Given that we have a gravel court-yard they had to traverse, that’s no joke. The two subs took some considerable effort to wrestled into place – although it has to be said that, once unwrapped they do look remarkably attractive for a product category that’s physically big and almost universally ugly. After the Sovereign, placing the matching Divin Comtesse speakers was a breeze. We finally had a complete system up and running to conduct three separate reviews, including the necessary components to conduct comparative listening between stable and fully warmed-up electronics, in the case of the CH Precision 10 Series digital components and the new Reiki X Series.
But that’s a long way from being the whole story. In one sense, unpacking so many boxes at once simply magnifies the physical problem. The incoming units displace the ones already in situ – which have to be stored – while the boxes still remain, a significant storage problem in their own right. Add to the CH cartons the two, large flight-cases in which the subs arrived (plus the five pallets that were necessary to transport the incoming products) and you’ve got a serious space planning challenge to deal with – especially as the CH pieces will need to be re-boxed in the not-too-distant future for their trip to Vienna. Keeping the boxes to hand is a desirable goal.
But the system refresh also extends to the Reading Room system. Along with all the other arrivals, we received a pair of the latest Peak Consult Sinfonia loudspeakers, which implement a number of series improvements. These needed to be uncrated and moved upstairs to the Reading Room, for comparison to the earlier version. That meant removing the Living Voice R25 speakers and the Jadis JA30s currently in use, reinstalling the original model Sinfonias and moving a CH Precision P1/L1/X1 and M1.1 upstairs, along with the Wadax Studio Player. This system then had to be installed, levelled and wired up with Nordost’s Valhalla 2 cabling. That’s no small task in itself, given the weight of the CH power amp and the Peak speakers.
Despite having a willing and able helper on hand, what I’ve just described took four days of serious effort to achieve. The upside is that I’m now ready to proceed with no fewer than four reviews, including the first step in a major, multi-product project. At the same time, the groundwork has been done for other reviews whose preparation was already underway when we started on this system refresh. I’ve been running in Cartridge Lab’s fascinating Testina Clab Ebony Titanium cartridge, mounted in the Kuzma Stabi M and 4Point, installed in the Reading Room. Now I’ve got the system in place to start serious listening: initial results are extremely promising.
