Upstairs, in a room twice the size, hair-shirt streamers Computer Audio Design ran the more traditional, wood-finished El Diablos with four 50-watt, hybrid, Class A, 995 mono’s from Trilogy Audio, a system that delivered delicacy but also space, impact and weight. This was one of the most musically satisfying streaming-based systems at the show: quite an achievement given the comparatively modest price of the CAD components. It speaks volumes about the musical integrity of both the Peak speakers and the Trilogy amps driving them. At €65,000 a pair, the El Diablo finds itself right in the middle of one of the most hotly contested price-bands in the loudspeaker market. In the review we concluded that it was more than capable of looking after itself. This experience in Munich just underlines that fact.
CH Precision D10 and C10 Conductor
CH Precision completed the 10 Series digital suite with the launch of the D10, top-loading transport and the C10 Conductor input signal router/processor. While many were wowed by the lift and pivot lid on the D10, with its auto-darkening window, the visual detail served to distract from the more important internals. A transport only, the D10 plays CD, SACD and MQA-CD. It is a two-box design, with separate, dedicated power supply, like the other 10 Series units. The transport chassis weighs a substantial 45kg, thanks to the massive base plate and beefed-up transport, based on CH’s proprietary MORSe mechanism. Price will be €96,575 (inc. tax) and units will start shipping in July. One detail will change from the pre-series units used at the show. Those had far smaller than standard top-caps over the shafts for the levelling spikes. These will be enlarged in production, although still not as large as the standard units.
The Conductor is also a two-box unit, designed to relieve the C10 DAC of its responsibilities for source selection, processing, up-sampling and phase shifting (for the DSQ DAC array in the C10). That leaves the C10 to perform purely digital to analogue duties, removing potential noise sources and simplifying the power supply demands. It costs €78,000 and will be available in July as well. It also alters the architecture of the 10 Series digital solution. That now starts with the two-box C10, with its built-in streaming capability. To that you can add the T10 Clock and/or the C10 Conductor, making a three or five-box set-up. Next step would be the second power supply for the C10, making that a C10 Mono. Meanwhile, those still wed to disc replay can add a D1.5, with or without an X1 PSU) or just go straight to the D10. That makes a potential total of eight boxes – but getting carried away with the box count isn’t the point. Although the fully blown CH chassis count tops the dCS Varese by two, 10 Series digital solutions start with two (or three – if you include a D1.5 or T10) boxes, a far more cost effective yet still exceptionally musically capable system. In true CH tradition, climbing the upgrade ladder involves zero redundancy – rare indeed in the fast-moving world of digital technology.
The Clarisys Audio Aria Loudspeaker
