This wasn’t just relative to my own tube amps. It reflected what I’d heard from the L1/A1.5 combination too. I wondered to what extent the effect was related to the bigger and more robust power supplies in this ‘grown up’ CH rig? While I could hardly remove the power supply from the amplifier, I could at least investigate by removing the X1 power supply from the line stage.
Priorities, priorities…
I was expected some difference, but not the dramatic difference I heard. My previous experience with the standalone L1 line-stage had made a big impression on me, leaving me with considerable respect for this somewhat unsung product. However, I wasn’t ready for the dramatic effect of removing the X1 power supply. Sure, one expects to hear less dynamic range and a diminished sense of drive, but removal of the power supply had an even larger impact on sound-staging. With the X1 power supply hooked up, I was sitting ten to fifteen rows back from the orchestra with a natural perspective and everything scaled perfectly for my room. Pulling the power supply, my seat dropped back a good ten rows and the sound-stage collapsed in on itself. I’m sure that some of this change might be compensated for by further adjusting speaker placement, just as adding the X1 to a dialed in L1 system would require some compensation, but the musical impact, the loss of presence and drama was seriously sobering. You can imagine just how quickly I restored the X1 to the system. Clearly, there really is no substitute for a robust power supply.
The CH Precision L1/X1/M1.1 combination wasn’t just a miracle digital restorative. Its curative powers worked to similar effect with vinyl. One of my favorite recent recordings is Vikingur Ólafsson’s Bach Goldberg Variations (DGG 486 4559). The clear vinyl pressing is quiet and precise on all of the turntables and systems I have tried it on, but the CH equipment presented it with intoxicating image stability and dynamic authority, really capturing the solid presence and complexity of the piano.
Shortly before installing the CH pieces in my system, I had repeatedly played and enjoyed the recent reissue of Art Blakey’s Olympic Concert on Sam Records, a live, mono recording from 1958. For the first time, it sounded almost stereophonic, with such precise instrumental layering and separation that it defied its humble radio recording heritage. Bobby Timmons’ piano solo on his composition ‘Moanin’’ was so crisp and well delineated that it almost sounded like a different performance than the one I had heard before inserting the CH Power Trio into the system.
If it ain’t stiff…
The compelling image stability I enjoyed from these LPs requires real precision and resolution from the amplification, electronic stability to match the sonic/acoustic stability it generates. To do that you need big power supplies and they need to be clever too. Once again I was experiencing and enjoying not just the scale of the CH supplies, but the sophistication with which they are engineered, from their multiple stages of regulation to the company’s patented Exact Bias system, that prevents the power supply to the output stage sagging under load.
