Which leaves us with the step up to the C10/5 and an extra PSU to provide each DAC channel with its own, dedicated, independent supply. Adding that extra box extends the advantages of the C10/4 over the C10/2 still further. Separation, space, focus and dimensionality all improve. Timing is more emphatic, leading-edges arrive with more impact, individual beats within drum rolls are more explicit and instrumental textures more developed and much more natural. As impressive as the low-frequency transparency, the sound of the drums and the temporal evolution were with the step up to the C10/4, they are all extended and eclipsed by the addition of the extra PSU. Dynamic range is increased, along with the overall sense of presence and substance. Instrumental identity is more pronounced, the ensemble playing more impressively cohesive, the phrasing has greater shape, there’s more immediacy and feel to the playing and overall, the performance is far more fluid. Take those things together and in musical terms the difference is pretty dramatic on this most dramatic of music, shifts in musical intensity and density are more profound, adding presence, emphasis and drama to the performance. The whole is simply more believable, more removed from the medium and the system. Instead it comes much closer to a living, breathing event. This is a musically significant and seriously worthwhile step – one that once taken you’ll find it hard to relinquish. The C10/2 to C10/4 is a big step. Musically speaking, the C10/4 to C10/5 is bigger.
Execute a U-turn…
Which raises a serious question. If the extra PSU on the C10/4 can make such a difference, isn’t adding a second PSU a more cost-effective upgrade to the C10/2 that investing in the C10/4? It’s an interesting question, given the price differential between the two options. Lets call (logically enough) the C10 with the extra PSU the C10/3. Does it offer a step up over the C10/2. Absolutely. The C10/3 offers noticeably greater dynamic range and substance, better separation, a somewhat broader tonal palette (but not close to the C10/5 in this respect) and a greater sense of presence and impact. Compare it to the C10/4 and the (more expensive) four-box set-up can’t compare in terms of sheer substance, presence and dynamic impact – but it trounces the C10/3 in terms of resolution, separation, soundstage width and air, instrumental texture and temporal sophistication. You hear the difference clearly in the Festival Overture, but you’ll also hear it in the diminution of the Barber, which totally loses the captivating quality it has on the C10/4. The C10/3 pummels and impresses while the C10/4 grooves and engages. I could also describe the difference as the sonic versus the musical. Undoubtedly impressive in sonic terms, the C10/3 can’t compete with the C10/4’s added musical sophistication, communication and insight.
