Seemingly nonsense and risky tweaks for CH Precision components

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Last night I home-visited "Simcity", a friend in Hong Kong who is a fans of CH Precision.

Here is his system : Sonis Faber Amati Futura bi-amped by two CH M1, P1 for his Air Force One, C1 as dac for a Denon cdp acting as cd transport and a X1 supplying C1 & P1. The hifi racks are Artesania Exoteryc.
20190912_222710~2.jpg

I visited him a few months ago and noticed that the cd playback last night was never so good. I asked him to share a few tricks/tweaks with me.
He told me that they looked nonsense and risky but they worked!
Here they are :

1. The chassis of CH is made similar to those of Goldmund. Actually both C & H were once Goldmund employees. There are vertical tunnels at the 4 corners, through them stainless steel spiked rods can be inserted, for anchoring the components on racks or for stacking them up. These wells are covered by circular aluminum alloy screwable plates with rubber O-rings when not in use.
20190912_221519~2.jpg

My friend demoed to me that installing or remove all or some of the plates affected sonic performance. In his system, all M1 plates had to be installed whereas all X1 plates had to be removed to get good sound. For the C1, he removed one of the 4 plates.
Was the effect our hallucination? Haha. o_O

20190912_221544~2.jpg

2. There are small telfon cups on each levels of Artesania Exoteryc rack in direct contact to and support the bottom plates of hifi components.

There are several varieties : thin black felt on top, thick felt and no felt :
20190912_223119~2.jpg

My friend told me that the heaviest M1 needs the thick felt cups whereas the other two cups are for less heavy CH components.
Of course the positioning of the cups needs adjustment by his ears.

3. The X1 can accommodate 2 plug-in cards so as to supply 2 CH components.
The M1 can accommodate 2 cards for true bi-amping.
However my friend tested and found that installing 2 cards would worsen the sonic performance. This is particularly serious for the M1 so he removed the 2nd card.
For the X1, he now uses it either for his C1 or P1. His each listening sessions are now either CD or LP.

4. I posted a thread before and mentioned that Taiko Audio Setchi D2 groundbox is a particularly good tweak for CH products.
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/yet-another-groundbox-but-this-setchi-is-quite-special.24081/

I also mentioned that replacing the included 9V battery with Energizer Lithium 9V battery improved the sonic effect a lot.
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/infinite-imagination-tweaking-the-battery-of-setchi-groundboxes.27993/#post-589851

Last night we replaced the batteries of his 2 Setchis with Energizer Lithium batteries. My frd had his jaw on the floor in less than 1 minute!

5. I leave this controversial and risky tweak to the last.
Please think twice before testing or using this tweak. It can be dangerous!

I mentioned several times before that most protection circuits inside audio components worsen the sonic performance.

If you look into the control menu of the M1, you will find an inconspicuous item of "protection circuit".
It can be disabled. The sonic diff is very audible.
Dare to try this tweak? Haha

20190912_223750~2.jpg

Enjoy! :cool:
 
Last edited:

rsorren1

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
365
133
348
Dallas area
5. I leave this controversial and risky tweak to the last.
Please think twice before testing or using this tweak. It can be dangerous!

I mentioned several times before that most protection circuits inside audio components worsen the sonic performance.

If you look into the control menu of the M1, you will find an inconspicuous item of "protection circuit".
It can be disabled. The sonic diff is very audible.
Dare to try this tweak? Haha

View attachment 56944

Enjoy! :cool:
Thanks for the post. Your friend certainly has a beautiful system. Many thanks to him and you for your enthusiasm for our brand. As far as disabling the “PROTECTION” circuits of the M1.1, very risky idea. The microprocessor on the backplane of our M1.1 is constantly communicating with the output stages and checking for issues; DC present, over temp, etc. Disabling this could cause severe damage to the M1.1, speakers, etc. Not sure why we have this as an option. I’ll try to find out and report back.
 
  • Like
Reactions: howiebrou

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
Thanks for the post. Your friend certainly has a beautiful system. Many thanks to him and you for your enthusiasm for our brand. As far as disabling the “PROTECTION” circuits of the M1.1, very risky idea. The microprocessor on the backplane of our M1.1 is constantly communicating with the output stages and checking for issues; DC present, over temp, etc. Disabling this could cause severe damage to the M1.1, speakers, etc. Not sure why we have this as an option. I’ll try to find out and report back.
Hello Ralph,
My friend do understand that there is risk to disable protection circuits in his M1.
This is just a sharing and we never encourage our friends to do so.

But if we look at the phenomenon from another angle, CH should investigate why the current protection circuit can worsen the sound and should find solutions to improve the circuit.
Please convey this message to C & H.
Many thanks!

BTW other Swiss amps got this kind of protection circuit too.
Those of Soulution are even more sensitive than CH's. When I visited my Soulution-owner friends, we often witnessed the protection circuits kept engaging and switching off by themselves.
Is it a Swiss tradition to implement elaborate/extensive protection circuits in amps?
Or is it an EU requirement?
 
  • Like
Reactions: howiebrou

howiebrou

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2012
2,789
3,635
1,470
Hello Ralph,
My friend do understand that there is risk to disable protection circuits in his M1.
This is just a sharing and we never encourage our friends to do so.

But if we look at the phenomenon from another angle, CH should investigate why the current protection circuit can worsen the sound and should find solutions to improve the circuit.
Please convey this message to C & H.
Many thanks!

BTW other Swiss amps got this kind of protection circuit too.
Those of Soulution are even more sensitive than CH's. When I visited my Soulution-owner friends, we often witnessed the protection circuits kept engaging and switching off by themselves.
Is it a Swiss tradition to implement elaborate/extensive protection circuits in amps?
Or is it an EU requirement?
ABS for Amps CK!
 
  • Like
Reactions: CKKeung

howiebrou

Well-Known Member
Jun 29, 2012
2,789
3,635
1,470
CK, did he experiment with his C1 covers one by one and then two by two etc to reach his conclusion of leaving only one cover off? Sounds like a perfect exercise for headache inducement!
 

CKKeung

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2011
3,053
3,172
1,410
Hong Kong
CK, did he experiment with his C1 covers one by one and then two by two etc to reach his conclusion of leaving only one cover off? Sounds like a perfect exercise for headache inducement!
Yes, exactly!
My frd Simcity most probably suffers from severe Audiophile OCD!
:p
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing