CH C1 Mono with X-1 power supplies and T1 clock

[Elliot G.]

I recently purchased this digital system and used it at the RMAF. I own a C1 stereo that I was using before as my digital to analog unit before. My two friends own Select 2 by MSB and the dCS Vivaldi stack which I have listened to many times albeit not in my own system but in excellent circumstances.
I expected the C1 Mono to be better than the stereo however I just was not prepared for the jump. My friends and I have discussed many times how original thinking about the quality of Redbook CD's was wrong and that the culprit in the sound was always the hardware not the recordings. That is not to say they all sound amazing but many sound a lot better thane we thought. In those passages where there was complex musical signals and we heard the sound like a box of cereal being shaken, all compressed , confused and crunchy sounding there is now clarity and space. This system is truly world class and it should be since it costs a lot. My initial impressions are this is something I have not experienced before and I hope over the next weeks and months i am able to truly get my head around what it is capable of. For right now I am just listening and loving it!

 

[LL21]

Congrats! Agree on Redbook...though I admit i am far from experienced with TT, Tape, Hi-Res.

 

[Elliot G.]

I have plenty of High Res stuff as well but my point is the Redbook recordings are much better than we thought back in the day. Just because something is high res or special by some re recording does not make it sound great. I find a lot of them just plain awful. I use this because its easy to find my music and to find new music. I have nothing against LP's or Tape just not what I want to do with my time

 

[Elliot G.]

After a few weeks with the C1 Mono, T1 clock and X-1 power supplies my system continues to make me want to listen more and more and more!
I have two friends that have top of the line gear , Vivaldi Stack and MSB Select 2, and their systems are wonderful however what the CH C1 mono can do is truly a step beyond. I have been able to really dive deeply into my music collection and I am finding that all of it is just purer.
I am not saying that it all is perfect or sounds like the best recordings I own rather that there is significantly less distortion/glare/digital artifacts then I hear with other products.
I know this is a very expensive set up, trust me I just paid for it, but he others are as well and to my ears this is clearly better. I think the mark of a great product is its ability to let you into the music. To let you relax and become involved. Its not changing the sound or adding its just allowing the sound to play without the crap that I believed was in the recordings and the more I listen to top of the line digital products I find that it was the hardware that failed miserably.
This is a gift to myself. I want to listen all the time. I am transported to my happy place and in today's world this is truly PRICELESS.