Incredible L1

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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I always listen L1 with CH amp in Shop,Show,Friends home,so today nothing to do, i connect L1 and X1 to my second system that is

Wadia S7I
First Watt M2
Quad Corner Ribbon,first Quad made numbered in 600 copy from 1949 to 1955,then in 1957 did els 57

Wadia has a volume control and on instruction suggest to not connect a preamp because loose transparency

After listening i can tell that adding L1 and X1 sound is incredible,yes adding a pre to a dac or cd all know will increase scene,depth,dynamic,but sound is also more magic,natural,transparent but sweet,dense with body but very transparent on mid bass and deep bass

All know my love for CH,but really for me are incredible
 

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gian60

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incredible also P1,
added P1 with Swissonor 124,really fantastic
 

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Audiophile Bill

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incredible also P1,
added P1 with Swissonor 124,really fantastic

You prefer the Montagna or the Quads driven by the CH? Or just different things entirely and can’t compare.
 

Elliot G.

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I have a few clients that were using a DAC straight into a power amp and after they tried the L1/X1 they all bought it!
 
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gian60

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I had at beginning C1 and A1 mono
L1 was not avaiable
When arrived i tried L1 and sound was better adding L1 to C1
 
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gian60

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Tried L1 X1 P1 also with Radford STA 15 and ARC D52 B,very good,bought today,600 euro,
sound is always amazing.

Only one pre will be better than L1

L 10
 

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Thieliste

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Any L1 upgrades coming any soon from CH ?
 

Elliot G.

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Any L1 upgrades coming any soon from CH ?
There is a L10 coming in 2020 probably around the Munich Show. This will be addition to the L1 and priced around 70k Euro
 

BMCG

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There is a L10 coming in 2020 probably around the Munich Show. This will be addition to the L1 and priced around 70k Euro
Understand that's for the stereo version...the mono closer to 120k Euro....
 

Thieliste

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There is a L10 coming in 2020 probably around the Munich Show. This will be addition to the L1 and priced around 70k Euro

Yes i'm aware of L10 but this a new line at double the price.
I thought they would upgrade L1 at some point juste like they did with M1.
 

Elliot G.

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The upgrade to the L-1 is an X-1 beyond that I dont think they have any plans but maybe after the L-10 is finished they will have found ways to improve other items. Not saying this is fact just a thought however from a money standpoint it really doesn't make a lot of sense.
They have 34000 L-1
X-1 17000 upgrade and then L-10 at 73000. I don't know if making an L-1 cost more is a good thing for business . Just my opinion.
 

heihei

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Adding an X1 to the L1 is a significant step up. To my mind, the L1 excels in allowing music to flow. Adding the X1 opens up the soundstage and gives much more precise delineation of the instruments, voices etc.
 

Elliot G.

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CH Precision
January 6 at 3:46 AM ·
Happy New Year!
We are off to a flying start! The Absolute Sound awarded no less than 6 of our products with The Absolute Sound 2020 Editors’ Choice Awards! C1, D1, I1, L1, M1.1, P1 received the award. We couldn't be happier, thank you to all the people at The Absolute Sound who gave their vote to our products!
 

PR13

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Dec 15, 2019
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I posted a question at the end of last year about adding either an L1 or X1 to my existing C1. Consensus was, and thanks to those who responded was to go with an L1.
I have recently read an article in HiFi Advice where an L1 was added to the C1 and the writer was not inclined one way or the other, like me he loves the sound he gets from his C1 and begged the question, like in my case with only a digital system whether spending this amount solely for an analogue volume control says something about my frame of mind!!!
 

MadFloyd

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How would you describe the sound of the L1? How is it different from other preamps?
 

Skanda

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How would you describe the sound of the L1? How is it different from other preamps?

The L1 is an incredible preamp - I think just behind the soulution 721 for my tastes but I could see how one would prefer one to the other.
Off the bat, the resolution and transparency allow for everything to be heard and the whole stage+ambience projected with (ch) precision. the sound is just classic swiss purity. but the interesting thing, to my ears, was how it differed from my soulution. It is much more delicate and neutral through the spectrum to the point where soulution seems heavy in the bass. dynamics and drive are top notch and not much different from soulution save for the bass wallop. I wouldn't call it sterile because through the midrange it delivers such beautiful vocals. I think some have referred to CH as the SS triode. Well, I'd say as far as their pre goes it's more SS than triode but the glow to the vocals is very much reminiscent of triode. On the highs, the extension is there and it's a very "pretty" sound. I think thats where the sound is a bit softer and that helps capture the ambiance of the hall

On a broader level, the delicate nature of the sound isn't soft or anything like that - I'm sorry, I'm having difficulty explaining. It's fleet-footed if that helps give an idea. I can see it being a great pre for a system where the owner prefers a pure and neutral sound where speed and resolution take presedence to explosive bass. I find with alot of the high end swiss amps that a full stack is "too neutral" and that often the pres are a better buy than the amp and I'd put CH in the same category. I personally pair my soulution with a kraft 300 and I think swapping out the soulution for a ch would be an interesting next step as it would probably further add to the kraft's beautiful midrange whereas the soulution is currently (and enjoyably, i'd add) to the krafts bass. I don't mean to give the impression that it only does bass well or the ch only does mids well. They are both great all rounders and far ahead of any other preamp i've heard.

The only criticism I can think of is body and tonal density. I think some may prefer a heavier sound but I also feel that that is very pairing dependent. To my ears, after the speaker, the preamp is what "injects" the most tonal characters in a system. In my experience, swapping pres has had more noticeable differences than swapping amps - so if you share this experience i'd say either the ch or the soulution are worth listening to in your system. If not, then you'll probably find them to be nice, neutral, and expensive but not worth the cost.
 
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MadFloyd

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Thanks for the reply. I totally agree about the preamp injecting tonal density. I feel it's the heart of the system (apart from speakers).

I've had Soulution gear in my system and I (and a couple other local audiophiles) found it to sound very fake - almost like a plastic timbre 'one-ness' to the sound. I'm guessing this is a result of too much negative feedback and while I totally appreciate a clean signal/black background/instrument separation I'm sensitive to timbre.

Currently I have a Dartzeel preamp that has very good timbre and great tonal density. It's not perfect (nothing is) and I'm hoping to improve on certain aspects by making a switch. I own the CH P1/X1 combo and love it so really want to see if the L1 will work in my system. Lately I have tried a few other preamps (Nagra Classic, Spectral DMC-30sv, Music First Audio Classic V2) and enjoyed them all to varying degrees but feel that the L1 may have the most potential. I'm intrigued because I've read various opinions of it having a tube-like midrange but also it being on the light side when it comes to tonal weight.

I think there are audiophiles who love to listen into the music and appreciate a clean window, and others who want to feel the musicians are in the room. It's very hard to get both.
 
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Skanda

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Thanks for the reply. I totally agree about the preamp injecting tonal density. I feel it's the heart of the system (apart from speakers).

I've had Soulution gear in my system and I (and a couple other local audiophiles) found it to sound very fake - almost like a plastic timbre 'one-ness' to the sound. I'm guessing this is a result of too much negative feedback and while I totally appreciate a clean signal/black background/instrument separation I'm sensitive to timbre.

Currently I have a Dartzeel preamp that has very good timbre and great tonal density. It's not perfect (nothing is) and I'm hoping to improve on certain aspects by making a switch. I own the CH P1/X1 combo and love it so really want to see if the L1 will work in my system. Lately I have tried a few other preamps (Nagra Classic, Spectral DMC-30sv, Music First Audio Classic V2) and enjoyed them all to varying degrees but feel that the L1 may have the most potential. I'm intrigued because I've read various opinions of it having a tube-like midrange but also it being on the light side when it comes to tonal weight.

I think there are audiophiles who love to listen into the music and appreciate a clean window, and others who want to feel the musicians are in the room. It's very hard to get both.

I hear you on the soulution. It can be too much of a good thing. Every now and then a 710 or 700 pops up at a good price and I'm very intrigued to pair it with the 721 pre but I ultimately pass knowing that the pairing with the kraft is better for my ears and to buy with my ears rather than with my eyes :)

If you've tried the 721 in your system and found it too one note, then the 725 might be worth a look. The 725 has a bit more glow and warmth but it is not as brutally transparent as the 721. If you look at my post history I've written a bit more about the CH and soulution pres and was trying to give the rough spark notes here. Where do you feel the dart is lacking and what are you hoping to gain? I might be able to offer some suggestions.

The ch gear really is great. For me it's too expensive at the moment and way too ocd inducing with the need to get the x1 with it. As a general rule, I feel powersupply upgrades are usually worth it and the x1 would be no different. No solicitation intended but I have a friend who's looking to sell some ch gear (he loves the phono and will be keeping that in his rig), so I'm happy to put you in touch. On a practical level, CH seems to hold value better than soulution but soulution trades at nice discounts and I think in the $10k mark it's hard to find a pre that would really better it.

BTW for what it's worth, I've heard that CAT pres and Symphonic Line amps have amazing synergy. I'm not sure if a symphonic line pre with a cat amp would be the same but might be worth looking into.
 

MadFloyd

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The Soulution pre I had was the 720. I actually owned this for a while but also tried a stereo amp with it (forget which model) and at one point an integrated from the 500 series.

I feel the dart is lacking in a few things. I'm being very critical by mentioning these, it's not like it's a bad preamp; I think it's a very good preamp.

openness: One audiophile friend has always found it sounding constrained in terms of soundstage bloom (not size of instruments), that the soundstage was always between the speakers and having tried it in his system and having the other aforementioned pres in my system, I now see what he means.

resolution: while I'm not necessarily a detail freak I find it glasses over some information. It has great deep bass but not as articulate as I would like and violin resolution could be better.

separation of instruments: sometimes I feel like the dart is amplifying an audio signal vs individual instruments, sort of illuminating the noise floor and sounding like acoustic instruments are being amplified (e.g. mic'd and fed through a PA system). The dart also hisses through my speakers and although not audible at the listening position, other preamps I've tried are dead silent and I wonder how much noise I'm hearing that might contribute to the impression I just described.

upper midrange quality: perhaps somewhat related to the above, I listen to a lot of classical music and woodwinds sound a bit hard (and perhaps not as natural as I'd like).

Again, I do think the dart is a very good preamp and my situation is such that I'm mixing brands (between preamp and amps) so synergy plays a big role. While I love the midrange and soundstage of a good tube preamp I dislike the distortion that comes along for the ride. I mention this in case you're going to suggest a tube preamp.
 

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