But, the one thing that really does bear repeating is the access that curves CAN give you to great performances and recordings via the second-hand market. While certain collectible, early stereo discs attract big money, many contemporary pressings don’t – often because they are sonically disappointing, often because they require something other than RIAA EQ. Classic examples would be the UK pressed RCA Living Stereos. Legendary amongst collectors, early US LSC series pressings can command high prices. Their direct equivalents, the SB series pressed by Decca in the UK generally go for a few pounds. Yet, play an SB with the Decca EQ curve and it’s every bit as impressive as a US Living Stereo – at a fraction of the price! Meanwhile, DGG pressings are almost universally reviled, yet the label had a roster of peerless performers and super-stars. Play those discs with the correct Teldec EQ curve and those recordings are transformed, giving you access to some of the greatest artists, recorded at their best on quality pressings – again for a few pounds, Euros or dollars a disc. If you are a classical listener, or you collect ‘60s jazz or pop, this is not an opportunity you should ignore. There’s a whole world of affordable and (thanks to the internet) available recorded music just waiting to be explored.
When more is definitely better…
Bringing the discussion round to this review and this product, I don’t just love the fact that the P10 offers the option of different EQ curves: I love the curves it offers and I love the implementation, which is even better than the P1’s. As mentioned in the brief summary above, in addition to EMI, Columbia, Decca and Teldec/DGG curves, the P10 adds curves for Capitol/AES, NARTB/NAB and Philips (another sleeping giant lying undiscovered in the second-hand classical bins). Whereas on the P1, switching 
curves meant using the push-buttons on the unit’s front panel or connecting it to a network and the CH-Control App, they can now be switched from the IR hand-set, meaning that you can check the EQ on a given record without leaving your listening seat. You can also select the so-called ‘Neumann Pole’, a high-frequency roll-off applied in cutter-heads to help prevent overheating and/or ringing. Although no single standard seems to have existed in this instance, it generally involved an additional pole (turnover frequency) at around 50kHz and was named after Neumann’s implementation in their cutting electronics. Again – on certain records and particularly DGG pressings – this can have a remarkable impact on the sense of acoustic space and definition. Finally – and on a purely practical level – CH has made use of the full-colour display to help indicate which curve is currently selected. The curve in use is displayed in text in the bottom left corner of the display – but it’s too small to read from any distance. So, each curve also has its own display shade, from white for the ‘pure-vanilla’ RIAA to red for EMI, purple for Decca, yellow for DGG and plum for Philips: you get the idea… It certainly helps you see not only which curve is selected, but to avoid leaving the P10 set to the wrong curve because you forgot to switch it. Of course, if you don’t like the shades that CH has selected, you can adapt or change them – or you can change them all to a single colour if you just want the display to match the rest of the system. The P10’s curve implementation pretty much ticks all my boxes and given the modest price of the option ($2,250 gets you a pair of boards containing all seven additional curves) it’s a no-brainer for me. Fortunately, the option is also cost neutral, meaning that you don’t get punished if you choose to add it later.
