New M1 Arriving

Priaptor

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Jan 28, 2012
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Well as some of you know, Elliot G, has become distributor for Gobel speakers and cables in NA.

He has also become a dealer for CH Precision.

Until his studio opens, I am the fortunate "break-in" for his new acquisitions. He just received his demo M1 which IF we can get it up the stairs, will be driving my Nola Concert Grands before long. Really looking forward to hearing what some of the best SS can do, especially after hearing the gorgeous D'AG S250 do what I thought no solid state could do.

It will be an interesting demo as my Nola Concert Grands are "meant" for tubes, which sound wonderful on these great speakers, but sounded much better than I could have imagined with D'Ag solid state. Also, I have my MSB Select II driving the amp directly, which will also be interesting with the M1. Lastly, I have been using Elliot's new Gobel cables (speaker wires, USB and power plug so far, still waiting on the XLR) which are outstanding on my tubes and looking forward to their synergy with the CH Precision which is what Oliver Gobel uses as his reference.

Of course, I can't wait to hear the speakers when they ship to him.

Of course I will be a very sad audiophile when he takes all these new toys back to his studio in early 2018. However, I will try to "enjoy" breaking in these new components, no matter how much he forces me to do so.

Will report back after break in and setup.

Howie
 

Elliot G.

Industry Expert
Jul 22, 2010
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www.bendingwaveusa.com
Well as some of you know, Elliot G, has become distributor for Gobel speakers and cables in NA.

He has also become a dealer for CH Precision.

Until his studio opens, I am the fortunate "break-in" for his new acquisitions. He just received his demo M1 which IF we can get it up the stairs, will be driving my Nola Concert Grands before long. Really looking forward to hearing what some of the best SS can do, especially after hearing the gorgeous D'AG S250 do what I thought no solid state could do.

It will be an interesting demo as my Nola Concert Grands are "meant" for tubes, which sound wonderful on these great speakers, but sounded much better than I could have imagined with D'Ag solid state. Also, I have my MSB Select II driving the amp directly, which will also be interesting with the M1. Lastly, I have been using Elliot's new Gobel cables (speaker wires, USB and power plug so far, still waiting on the XLR) which are outstanding on my tubes and looking forward to their synergy with the CH Precision which is what Oliver Gobel uses as his reference.

Of course, I can't wait to hear the speakers when they ship to him.

Of course I will be a very sad audiophile when he takes all these new toys back to his studio in early 2018. However, I will try to "enjoy" breaking in these new components, no matter how much he forces me to do so.

Will report back after break in and setup.

Howie

I think it is safe to say that your speakers although designed with tubes and normally shown with tubes are no longer just speakers that work with tubes. In our last few listening sessions we have certainly learned that they work amazingly well with a non tube device.
I also think it is safe to say that the CH M-1 makes them sing like they have never sung before in your room. Thank you for your help and for providing a great place to listen and test these items. It was no fun getting the amp upstairs as we old guys aren't meant to do this anymore but it was well worth the effort and sweat. I was truly amazed at the results.
 

rsorren1

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
365
133
348
Dallas area
Thanks for the update. Your observations on the performance of the M1 match my own experiences. Now, add an L1, P1, C1 and X1s and watch what happens. The total system will be far greater than the sum of the parts. Good luck and keep your impressions coming!
 

Priaptor

Member Sponsor
Jan 28, 2012
929
19
0
FL
Thanks for the update. Your observations on the performance of the M1 match my own experiences. Now, add an L1, P1, C1 and X1s and watch what happens. The total system will be far greater than the sum of the parts. Good luck and keep your impressions coming!

Thanks. At this point I am heavily invested in the MSB Select II and using its pre stage direct but am loving this amp more and more as it breaks in. Truly a fantastic product. I was going to give my next update when Elliot brings over the Gobel power cords for the M1 and the XLR for DAC to M1

It is truly a captivating product. Have you tried any Gobel cables in your system?

Howie
 

rsorren1

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
365
133
348
Dallas area
Thanks. At this point I am heavily invested in the MSB Select II and using its pre stage direct but am loving this amp more and more as it breaks in. Truly a fantastic product. I was going to give my next update when Elliot brings over the Gobel power cords for the M1 and the XLR for DAC to M1

It is truly a captivating product. Have you tried any Gobel cables in your system?

Howie
Howie, I understand. I have not tried nor am I familiar with Göbel cables. My speakers are Zellaton and the speaker cables are Schnerzinger. The speaker cables made an easy to hear improvement on the presentation of the system. Less grain, better depth, better details. The Schnerzinger power cable on the 20A input of the M1 made a noticeable improvement; more relaxed, better balanced, just more “real”. I use a Swisscable power cord on the 15A input of the M1. I would like to try another Schnerzinger in the near future. Let me know what happens as you experiment with the speaker cables and the two power cords on the M1.
 

rsorren1

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
365
133
348
Dallas area
Forgot to make one other point. As you vary gain and global to local feedback percentage parameters on the M1, you may improve the results you are hearing. As you increase the gain, you can hear the presentation get “hard”, “over-blown”. I currently running at +3db gain in my system. This is totally system, speaker, room dependent. Experiment. As feedback ratio varies, you can hear the bass get tighter but highs get more “strident”, soundstage depth shrinks. Again, system and speaker dependent. I’m running at 20% but have a REL G1 sub integrated with the Zellaton. Without the sub I would likely be at 40% feedback ratio. Experiment and have fun. The amp is very easily configurable with the control app running on an Android device.
 

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
2,503
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Hi
why if you have L1 you increase +3db the gain of M1?
I never tried
 

Priaptor

Member Sponsor
Jan 28, 2012
929
19
0
FL
Forgot to make one other point. As you vary gain and global to local feedback percentage parameters on the M1, you may improve the results you are hearing. As you increase the gain, you can hear the presentation get “hard”, “over-blown”. I currently running at +3db gain in my system. This is totally system, speaker, room dependent. Experiment. As feedback ratio varies, you can hear the bass get tighter but highs get more “strident”, soundstage depth shrinks. Again, system and speaker dependent. I’m running at 20% but have a REL G1 sub integrated with the Zellaton. Without the sub I would likely be at 40% feedback ratio. Experiment and have fun. The amp is very easily configurable with the control app running on an Android device.

Thanks for the advice. Funny you bring that up as I just got an email yesterday from Raphael recommending a +2db as what they like. Right now during the break in, I have it at 0db and 0 feedback but have just purchased and cheap android tablet and installed the app which works flawless and look forward to controlling both on the fly from my sweet spot. I love the flexibility especially since I am driving it with the MSB Select II and look forward to optimizing it.

It sounds like you have an awesome system. Congrats.
 

Elliot G.

Industry Expert
Jul 22, 2010
3,286
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Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.bendingwaveusa.com
Hi
why if you have L1 you increase +3db the gain of M1?
I never tried
Gain is the level at the input of the amplifier and CH says that plus 2 is their is their suggested "sweet Spot" however if this level is too high it can over load the input and cause clipping. This is what some described earlier in the thread.
I have not had the opportunity to compare the plus 2 and 0 db settings to see if there is an audible difference in Priaptor's system.
Since the gear is in his home hopefully he will have more time to see if there is any audible differences.
Plus 3 could be to much so do it in small stages.
Elliot

remember that this setting does depend on the level of the signal coming into the amplifier and it is very possible that the MSB and the L-1 are different in that regard
 
Last edited:

Elliot G.

Industry Expert
Jul 22, 2010
3,286
2,958
1,360
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
www.bendingwaveusa.com
Thanks. At this point I am heavily invested in the MSB Select II and using its pre stage direct but am loving this amp more and more as it breaks in. Truly a fantastic product. I was going to give my next update when Elliot brings over the Gobel power cords for the M1 and the XLR for DAC to M1

It is truly a captivating product. Have you tried any Gobel cables in your system?

Howie

First I know that maybe my opinion on this products will sound a bit jaded since I have decided to become a CH Dealer and they have allowed that to happen. I want to be above board and honest..
Last evening after a delay of around 10 days,, Priaptor was ill, I finally got the opportunity to hear Howie's system with all the Gobel cables and it all nicely burned in. He has been running it since we installed the balanced cable and the two power cords on the M-1.
We talked before the session ans decided that we were just going to listen to a few albums and not do anything but listen which is in my mind why you own all this stuff. Howie has a huge selection of music on his server and always seems to find some cool things to listen to so it is his home and he played DJ. I want to say that many of my previous thoughts about audio have been erased and changed for ever.
I was and still am a fan of the Nola speakers. I was a dealer for them and worked for a short time as the National Sales Manager. They were and are designed with tubes and as far as I know Carl still listens to and shows then with tube gear. My longtime preference has also always been tubes and I have never heard a SS amp that made me want to change. We have tried in this system a few high end SS contenders over the last two months here at the Priaptor cafe. We did a listen to the latest Dag S-250 which was a very good sounding amplifier and certainly beautiful to look at. It was almost there for me but at the end I would not have changed it out for the GS-150 that was there to start with. We then tried a new amp, that is still a prototype so I will not mention the brand or the name since it is not fair until it is actually a product, that I had listened to at another friend who also has a great ear and a wonderful system, and again it did some things really well and on many pieces of music was quite excellent but at the end again was not it for me. So we get back to last night!
I don't know how to express how enjoyable it was to get totally lost in the music sitting in someones home. The M-1 is just a beast. The amp totally gets out of the way and just plays. Soft, loud , complex or simple it just plays without getting in the way. It is like you have unlimited power and headroom. No matter how complex the music is or how delicate it just plays. The combination of the amp and the cables has produced a perfect black background to the music to just appear and float in the listening space. One of the albums we played is one of my favorite albums of all time. I love it period and have turned many of my friends on to the artist and this particular album. I have always enjoyed it and thought it was a good recording but never could go all the way to say more until last night
If you don't know Anders Osborne you might want to check him out. The album is called " Coming Down" and its easy to get, not an audiophile record, has real songs and real music. He was born in Sweden and grew up in New Orleans. He is a blues/rock artist and a guitar playing singer songwriter. His music comes from his life and and his heart. If I had to give some basis of comparison or perhaps influences he is like Van Morrison meets Dr. John with a dash of Leon Russel.
Ok we listened to the whole album and it blew me away!!!! Songs like " Oh Katrina" " Miss you when I am gone" "My Old Heart"are incredible but "when I am back on my feet" this New Orleans bluesy , funky, soul piece comes on it was like I have never heard before and the M-1 just let it rip. Anders bears his soul in his songs and wears his heart on his sleeve. It was just incredible and I wanted to get up and applaud. He as there with us PERIOD.

I have read many nice comments about the M-1 and a few that were obviously misguided ( probably those that cant carry it or afford it) in my humble opinion if you are looking for a system center piece you should go check this bad boy out. Its not what I expected and for that I am happy and grateful since it has totally changed my mind about what a SS amp can do. BRAVO CH

Thank you again Priaptor and dinner was great!!
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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Manila, Philippines
CH does the same for me Elliot. Funny how many of us are tube heads deep down but gravitate to CH. I think we are from the subset of tube lovers who prize the resolution capabilities of certain tube types. CH is certainly more Telefunken than Mullard or Amperex which, I believe, is sound the larger subset goes for. More 2a3 than 300B or more KT88 than el34. More 211 or 6c33 than 845. It's hard to describe what they do in my system. It's like the air in my room is really clean, like mountain air clean not black, inky or velvety. Pure tones just sound that, pure. I don't think I've come across SS that does middle treble resolution this way. Very OTL like in some ways too.

Have you played anything with lots of backing vocals yet? The first time we did we were cracking up. You can actually understand what the background singers are singing instead of inferring from the lead's lyrics. Mind blown. It was such an odd observation because it was so unexpected. To me at least, obscurity and unintelligibility were always a given for popular music.
 

Priaptor

Member Sponsor
Jan 28, 2012
929
19
0
FL
CH does the same for me Elliot. Funny how many of us are tube heads deep down but gravitate to CH. I think we are from the subset of tube lovers who prize the resolution capabilities of certain tube types. CH is certainly more Telefunken than Mullard or Amperex which, I believe, is sound the larger subset goes for. More 2a3 than 300B or more KT88 than el34. More 211 or 6c33 than 845. It's hard to describe what they do in my system. It's like the air in my room is really clean, like mountain air clean not black, inky or velvety. Pure tones just sound that, pure. I don't think I've come across SS that does middle treble resolution this way. Very OTL like in some ways too.

Have you played anything with lots of backing vocals yet? The first time we did we were cracking up. You can actually understand what the background singers are singing instead of inferring from the lead's lyrics. Mind blown. It was such an odd observation because it was so unexpected. To me at least, obscurity and unintelligibility were always a given for popular music.

It's funny you bring up that particular issue. When we were finished listening we brought that particular point up. It is a pretty amazing amp. And it doesn't end in vocals as I have never heard the detail and separation of instruments as well as last night. Needless to say, we were both blown away by the abilities of the system.

I truly love this amp AND on speakers that aren't supposed to work with solid state no less. I have had Constellation and D'Ag on these speakers and a not allowed to be told new solid state amp on these speakers and IMHO, the Constellation just doesn't work for me, the D'Ag was excellent and the soon to be released secret solid state, while very good, didn't have the overall capabilities of the M1. The M1 is just an amazing amp. As I have said elsewhere, no one has heard the Nola Concert Grands until they have heard them in my house. I don't think Carl Marchisotto of Nola every heard them the way I am hearing them.

The whole system is just tremendous.

Howie
 

marty

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Apr 20, 2010
3,025
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United States
It's funny you bring up that particular issue. When we were finished listening we brought that particular point up. It is a pretty amazing amp. And it doesn't end in vocals as I have never heard the detail and separation of instruments as well as last night. Needless to say, we were both blown away by the abilities of the system.

I truly love this amp AND on speakers that aren't supposed to work with solid state no less. I have had Constellation and D'Ag on these speakers and a not allowed to be told new solid state amp on these speakers and IMHO, the Constellation just doesn't work for me, the D'Ag was excellent and the soon to be released secret solid state, while very good, didn't have the overall capabilities of the M1. The M1 is just an amazing amp. As I have said elsewhere, no one has heard the Nola Concert Grands until they have heard them in my house. I don't think Carl Marchisotto of Nola every heard them the way I am hearing them.

The whole system is just tremendous.

Howie

I loved reading about your experience with the CH M1's. It's really the first time I have read a reliable report comparing them to the D'Agostinos. I've only heard the M1's once, in Gian's system, and they certainly left a great impression. So, in the realm of fantasy land, I'd love to know if anyone has compared them to that other beast, the DartZeel 458's, and of course the new upgraded D'Agostino M400's?
 

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
2,503
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Dear Elliot,
i listen music since 1980,except from 1988 to 1990 with ML ml6B and N20,till end 2015 with tube
and from 1990 with top triode tube like ANJ M10 and Gakuon,Ongaku,Yamamura,Audio tekne top,Kondo,so i cannot listen transistor amp
I tried Gryphon Mephisto,Pass xs 300,Esoteric Grandioso,Rowland 925,Krell Evo one,
all very good amp but after you listen triode tube amp,cannot listen this

When my friend,as soon CH arrive in his shop, borrow CH to me i was shocked,more clean and natural,for me,than triode tube,with same magical mid and voice,but with high very open and sweet,bass perfect and power and dynamic infinite.
And CH are also very clear,you can develop the system buying some when you can,doing L1 and P1 mono when you can and then add X1
Are very clever also.
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
1,425
1,820
Manila, Philippines
I loved reading about your experience with the CH M1's. It's really the first time I have read a reliable report comparing them to the D'Agostinos. I've only heard the M1's once, in Gian's system, and they certainly left a great impression. So, in the realm of fantasy land, I'd love to know if anyone has compared them to that other beast, the DartZeel 458's, and of course the new upgraded D'Agostino M400's?

I've heard them in the same room but not the same system. I think I even have a pic in-between twin towers Herve and Florian. Alas the big Darts were sadly handicapped by the show room not being able to carry the load of the planned Dart/Walker/Genesis system. They had to substitute the Genesis speakers with what they could have on hand quickly which was not a Genesis. Suffice it to say the speaker was a far cry from the Marten Coltrane 3s on the other side of the room. The speakers were brand new too and stone cold out of the box. Gary is a real trooper though. He still smiled throughout the weekend.
 

gian60

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2016
2,503
1,943
343
we tried A1 stereo at home of my friend with Wilson Alexandria,you Marty visited Marco.
He has Viva Aurora mono,a very good tube amp and has no problem with Alexandria and sound is very good,but after listening A1 stereo was shocked,much better than Viva Aurora in everything
So he is selling Viva and is buying A1 mono,now has one

IMG_1477.JPG
 

Leif S

Industry Expert
Feb 13, 2015
770
166
180
California
www.vonschweikert.com
I've heard them in the same room but not the same system. I think I even have a pic in-between twin towers Herve and Florian. Alas the big Darts were sadly handicapped by the show room not being able to carry the load of the planned Dart/Walker/Genesis system. They had to substitute the Genesis speakers with what they could have on hand quickly which was not a Genesis. Suffice it to say the speaker was a far cry from the Marten Coltrane 3s on the other side of the room. The speakers were brand new too and stone cold out of the box. Gary is a real trooper though. He still smiled throughout the weekend.

Are you going to have some hours on those amps before we get there?:p
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
12,308
1,425
1,820
Manila, Philippines
Yep :)
 

rsorren1

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
365
133
348
Dallas area
First I know that maybe my opinion on this products will sound a bit jaded since I have decided to become a CH Dealer and they have allowed that to happen. I want to be above board and honest..
Last evening after a delay of around 10 days,, Priaptor was ill, I finally got the opportunity to hear Howie's system with all the Gobel cables and it all nicely burned in. He has been running it since we installed the balanced cable and the two power cords on the M-1.
We talked before the session ans decided that we were just going to listen to a few albums and not do anything but listen which is in my mind why you own all this stuff. Howie has a huge selection of music on his server and always seems to find some cool things to listen to so it is his home and he played DJ. I want to say that many of my previous thoughts about audio have been erased and changed for ever.
I was and still am a fan of the Nola speakers. I was a dealer for them and worked for a short time as the National Sales Manager. They were and are designed with tubes and as far as I know Carl still listens to and shows then with tube gear. My longtime preference has also always been tubes and I have never heard a SS amp that made me want to change. We have tried in this system a few high end SS contenders over the last two months here at the Priaptor cafe. We did a listen to the latest Dag S-250 which was a very good sounding amplifier and certainly beautiful to look at. It was almost there for me but at the end I would not have changed it out for the GS-150 that was there to start with. We then tried a new amp, that is still a prototype so I will not mention the brand or the name since it is not fair until it is actually a product, that I had listened to at another friend who also has a great ear and a wonderful system, and again it did some things really well and on many pieces of music was quite excellent but at the end again was not it for me. So we get back to last night!
I don't know how to express how enjoyable it was to get totally lost in the music sitting in someones home. The M-1 is just a beast. The amp totally gets out of the way and just plays. Soft, loud , complex or simple it just plays without getting in the way. It is like you have unlimited power and headroom. No matter how complex the music is or how delicate it just plays. The combination of the amp and the cables has produced a perfect black background to the music to just appear and float in the listening space. One of the albums we played is one of my favorite albums of all time. I love it period and have turned many of my friends on to the artist and this particular album. I have always enjoyed it and thought it was a good recording but never could go all the way to say more until last night
If you don't know Anders Osborne you might want to check him out. The album is called " Coming Down" and its easy to get, not an audiophile record, has real songs and real music. He was born in Sweden and grew up in New Orleans. He is a blues/rock artist and a guitar playing singer songwriter. His music comes from his life and and his heart. If I had to give some basis of comparison or perhaps influences he is like Van Morrison meets Dr. John with a dash of Leon Russel.
Ok we listened to the whole album and it blew me away!!!! Songs like " Oh Katrina" " Miss you when I am gone" "My Old Heart"are incredible but "when I am back on my feet" this New Orleans bluesy , funky, soul piece comes on it was like I have never heard before and the M-1 just let it rip. Anders bears his soul in his songs and wears his heart on his sleeve. It was just incredible and I wanted to get up and applaud. He as there with us PERIOD.

I have read many nice comments about the M-1 and a few that were obviously misguided ( probably those that cant carry it or afford it) in my humble opinion if you are looking for a system center piece you should go check this bad boy out. Its not what I expected and for that I am happy and grateful since it has totally changed my mind about what a SS amp can do. BRAVO CH

Thank you again Priaptor and dinner was great!!

Wonderful update. I was wondering how it was going. I’m going to look for Anders Osborne on Tidal tonight. Enjoy!
 

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