Upgrading from P1 to Mono-P1 : experience & tips

[CKKeung]

A good friend of mine nicknamed Simcity is a diehard fan of CH Precison.
He has owned a P1 for several years.
Last week he encountered another used P1 for sale and couldn't resist the itch.
He bought it for upgrading to a Mono-P1 configuration.



According to the P1 manual, setting up Mono-P1 seems to be easy and straightforward but actually devils are in the details!
Why? Let me share with you.

My friend had itchy hands and since both of his P1 were not new, he didn't care about voiding of warranty and opened them up :



The two P1s were made in diff years.
Their main circuit boards got different capacitors!
One P1 got M-caps whereas the other P1 got Jb caps.





It's lucky that my friend had opened them up.
Otherwise if he just used one P1 for right channel and the other for left channel, the sound will never be balanced/even!

In view of his discovery he took out one of the two circuit boards from one of the P1 and installed it into the other P1.

Other than making sure the left and right channel P1 have the same version of circuit board, there may be another possible advantage too :
CH Precision may have measured and matched the two circuit boards inside a P1.
So now the two Mono-P1 will be closely matched as well.

 

[CKKeung]

In fact there is another benefit brought about by my friend's action :
Now there is only one channel of main circuit board inside each of his two Mono-P1.
Each Mono-P1's powersupply section doesn't have to supply two circuit boards.

Also, with only one circuit board per Mono-P1, there will be no cross-interference from another idle circuit board.

 

[arnies]

What your friend did is actually the correct way to upgrade from a single stereo P1 to a dual mono P1. If he had ordered a second P1 from his dealer let's say 2 years after having the first P1, CH would just send him a P1 without any input boards (at a reduced price) and he or his dealer would then remove the second input board from his original P1 and insert it into his new empty P1. It's obviously very simple to do. You then configure one of the P1's as the Master and the second P1 as the Slave. He should also connect the two P1's via an ethernet switch using the ethernet port on the back of each P1 so that they stay in sync with each other when you change the volume. Now, what he should look at doing is adding dedicated X1's to each of his P1's.

 

[CKKeung]

Yes, that's what he has done, except the next upgrade of adding X1 to each of his Mono-P1.

In fact he has a X1 which he has been using for his C1.
Comparing P1+X1 vs his current Mono-P1 (no X1), the latter gives better sonics.

This is not what some previous reviews had said, that adding a X1 to C1/L1/P1 being a better option than upgrading these three components to mono configurations.
Maybe the reviewers had not removed the idle circuit boards from the components when using them in the mono configuration.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Hi 'CKKeung',
Can you tell us what years the two P1's were built ?

 

[mtemur]

They are computer boards so no big deal and no big expectation. As far as I remember from the the factory tour video they are outsourced cause whole video about how they build the case. Same goes for darTZeel.

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

Hi 'CKKeung',
Do you know if your friend did end up buying the CH X1s for his two P1's ?

And if he did, do you know what the improvements were to the sound over a single P1 no X1, single P1 with an X1, two P1s no X1s, two P1s with one X1 and the ultimate two P1s and two X1s ?

 

[gian60]

I have L1,P1 and X1 with 2 board to connect L1 and X1.
Also tried a second X1 to use L1 with X1 and P1 with X1.

P1 with X1 is better in every parameter, scene,more organic sound, more dynamic,ecc

Also L1 and P1 are much better with 2 X1 than one X1 with 2 board,
so same will be with P1 mono with 2 X1

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I have L1,P1 and X1 with 2 board to connect L1 and X1.
Also tried a second X1 to use L1 with X1 and P1 with X1.

P1 with X1 is better in every parameter, scene,more organic sound, more dynamic,ecc

Also L1 and P1 are much better with 2 X1 than one X1 with 2 board,
so same will be with P1 mono with 2 X1

Thank you 'gian60' for your feedback on the P1 with X1. Much appreciated.

 

[gian60]

X1 give to P1,body,more natural and organic sound and more dynamic with bigger scene.
Is a step everyone has to do if can

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

X1 give to P1,body,more natural and organic sound and more dynamic with bigger scene.
Is a step everyone has to do if can

Yes 100% agree with you 'gian60'. It's a fantastic upgrade !

I bought a used one owner CH X1 just before Xmas last year.
So pleased I did after using the CH P1 without an X1 for over 13 months.
Now I am wondering how much better 2 x P1 with 2 x X1 will sound vs the 1 x P1 and 1 x X1 ?

 

[gian60]

I think is a big step, but problem Florian told me that P10 is better than P1 mono with 2 X1,even if could be we can buy P1 and X1 used at a reasonable price, same with L1 and also told me M10 stereo is better than M1 mono

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

I think is a big step, but problem Florian told me that P10 is better than P1 mono with 2 X1,even if could be we can buy P1 and X1 used at a reasonable price, same with L1 and also told me M10 stereo is better than M1 mono

But two used P1s and two used X1s is still much cheaper (and with being bought over a respectable period of time to save up the funds for each upgrade stage - i.e. P1 to P1+X1 to 2xP1 + X1 to 2xP2 + 2xX1) than buying a brand new P10 in one go.
Maybe one day in the distant future when some used P10s come up for sale I may consider it and I already have the L1 and M1.1.

The P10 would also have to sound amazingly brilliant and far up in the clouds so the speak than from the performance of 2x P1s with 2x X1s and to get the best from it would mean also buying used a L10 and M10 (which I can't see ever happening on my future budget - work earnings and future retirement funds!)

 

[pweg]

But two used P1s and two used X1s is still much cheaper (and with being bought over a respectable period of time to save up the funds for each upgrade stage - i.e. P1 to P1+X1 to 2xP1 + X1 to 2xP2 + 2xX1) than buying a brand new P10 in one go.
Maybe one day in the distant future when some used P10s come up for sale I may consider it and I already have the L1 and M1.1.

The P10 would also have to sound amazingly brilliant and far up in the clouds so the speak than from the performance of 2x P1s with 2x X1s and to get the best from it would mean also buying used a L10 and M10 (which I can't see ever happening on my future budget - work earnings and future retirement funds!)

i just moved to a single P10 from a 4 box P1 set up. Unfortunately the P10 is much better .

 

[Bonesy Jonesy]

i just moved to a single P10 from a 4 box P1 set up. Unfortunately the P10 is much better .

Hi 'pweg', specifically how is the P10 much better than the 4 box P1 set-up ?

 

[pweg]

Significantly quieter. More dynamic. More see through and more depth to soundstaging. And just a stronger sense of making the speakers disappear

 

[Elliot G.]

CH Did these demo's at Munich and the differences were easily heard even to those with zero interest.
Ten series gear is better IMO no matter how you want to try to position the 1 series or 1 series mono's .

 

[Elliot G.]

I think is a big step, but problem Florian told me that P10 is better than P1 mono with 2 X1,even if could be we can buy P1 and X1 used at a reasonable price, same with L1 and also told me M10 stereo is better than M1 mono

it is and they are!