Having owned (and used) Aesthetix IO (2 PSU), Thoeress Phono, Kondo KSL M7 / SFZ , Herron, vdh The Grail xlr and some more,
I am looking for the next step.
Being a pragmatic listener without having a preference for tube or solid state, it just has to make "music" in my ear with all the information needed to also "look" into the music.
I learned over the time, that a step up can be a very good way to get some gain, but that mostly the step up will not match perfectly the Cartridge, so the result is a compromise.
High Gain tube only is on the other hand not perfect for the signal / noise ratio.
So a lot of pros and cons. As I am often tend to change the Cartridge / Tonearm combination, I liked the "current Design" of the vdh Grail, auto biasing the Phono Stage to the Cart.
From there the next step to the CH Precision P1 was short , as input MC1 and MC2 do use the same concept.
P1 in Germany is 28.000,-eur , so I am expecting a lot. Sound wise the P1 is very nice with a lot of resolution. Looking for the infinite punch and deepest and widest room image , the CHP X1 external Power Supply should be the next step (for another 14.000,-eur) , which gives the CHP PhonoPre a price of more than 40k eur.
This price tag reminds me, that the old Boulder 2008 phonostage (production was stopped in 2008) had this 40.000,-eur price in Germany (US $ 35.000,-) already 10 years ago. 10 to 15 years ago the complete High End Pricing was not as crazy, as it is at the moment. So I would expect from a 40k price 10 years ago a higher value of the product.
Fortunatley I had today the chance to buy a used Boulder 2008, so I can make the comparison os the CHP P1 (without X1) and the Boulder 2008 in the next days. Tonight I am just getting everything connected an running.
First impression is already very impressive, but I need some more time to compare this 2 state of the Art phono stages.
Sorry for adding picture of a Lampizator Golden Gate, I can edit the text, but I have not found the function to delete one of the uploaded pictures.
I am looking for the next step.
Being a pragmatic listener without having a preference for tube or solid state, it just has to make "music" in my ear with all the information needed to also "look" into the music.
I learned over the time, that a step up can be a very good way to get some gain, but that mostly the step up will not match perfectly the Cartridge, so the result is a compromise.
High Gain tube only is on the other hand not perfect for the signal / noise ratio.
So a lot of pros and cons. As I am often tend to change the Cartridge / Tonearm combination, I liked the "current Design" of the vdh Grail, auto biasing the Phono Stage to the Cart.
From there the next step to the CH Precision P1 was short , as input MC1 and MC2 do use the same concept.
P1 in Germany is 28.000,-eur , so I am expecting a lot. Sound wise the P1 is very nice with a lot of resolution. Looking for the infinite punch and deepest and widest room image , the CHP X1 external Power Supply should be the next step (for another 14.000,-eur) , which gives the CHP PhonoPre a price of more than 40k eur.
This price tag reminds me, that the old Boulder 2008 phonostage (production was stopped in 2008) had this 40.000,-eur price in Germany (US $ 35.000,-) already 10 years ago. 10 to 15 years ago the complete High End Pricing was not as crazy, as it is at the moment. So I would expect from a 40k price 10 years ago a higher value of the product.
Fortunatley I had today the chance to buy a used Boulder 2008, so I can make the comparison os the CHP P1 (without X1) and the Boulder 2008 in the next days. Tonight I am just getting everything connected an running.
First impression is already very impressive, but I need some more time to compare this 2 state of the Art phono stages.
Sorry for adding picture of a Lampizator Golden Gate, I can edit the text, but I have not found the function to delete one of the uploaded pictures.