The phrase “a place for everything and everything in its place” springs to mind. The five-box offers a natural perspective and sense of balance based in no small part on its incredibly low noise-floor, sheer linearity and temporal precision. Timing is explicit yet fluid, dynamics emphatic and the ability to shift pace, track dynamics and change density without apparent effort makes the music both expressive and engaging. What doesn’t the CH set-up do? Bass isn’t over-weighted or exaggerated, but the timing, focus and concentration of low-frequency energy makes for impressive (overly impressive?) impact. Harmonic development isn’t as full as some, resulting in what some might perceive as a cooler overall balance than those DACs that swamp the signal in false warmth in order to ‘protect’ poor recordings. CH takes the opposite path, mining those recording’s’ underlying musicality. It’s the more difficult if ultimately more rewarding route and it’s brilliantly executed here. There’s no romance in the sound of the D10/C10/T10, but there’s truth and honesty. There’re also three more boxes to come and, if my previous experience with the more complex CH multi-box digital systems is anything to go by (the 1 Series will extend to nine-boxes if you so desire and I’m one of the relatively few people to have made that journey) I’d expect gains in terms of harmonics, tonal shading, the length and tail of notes, added bottom-end weight, shape, sophistication and overall dimensionality. Time will tell.
For the moment, the D10/C10/T10 is the very model of neutrality, in the best sense of that term. As impressive as the 1 Series is (and I expect it to become more impressive still, once it ingests the experience gained in developing the C10) the 10 Series shows more and begins to show what’s possible. What flaws it has are subtractive but do not diminish the music, its pattern, its sense or its expressive and emotional impact. If anything, it’s temporal integrity, explicit dynamic graduation and focussed energy heighten that impact. It’s as sonically impressive as it is musically engaging. In many ways it reaches that rarest of audio goals, delivering both neutrality and fundamental musicality. At an all-in cost of €229,500 (inc VAT)/$237,500 USD (plus local sales tax) it’s far from affordable, even in the context of other, high-priced digital systems. But what it does do is demonstrate, with a brutal clarity, just where so many of those systems are found wanting. So much so that I might just have to revise my opinion, agree with Florian Cossy and accept that yes, CH Precision really is, first and foremost a digital company. If you actually want to hear what’s on your discs (or files) and why the musicians put it there, the CH Precision 10 Series digital components are going to tell you just that. Be careful what you wish for – it might well prove expensive…
Price and availability
CH Precision D10 Transport: $105,000 / €100,000
CH Precision C10 DAC: $105,000 / €100,000
CH Precision T10 Time Reference 10MHz Clock: $27,500 / €29,500
