Someone asked me if I considered the CH Precision P10. I did, but I didn’t see the value, to be honest. Dual mono is very important at this price point, and makes a big difference to the sound quality (according to a recent P10 review). To get dual mono in a P10 you have to spend about 50% more than the Nagra cost (~$135K). I didn’t see the value in spending that much more, and practically I don’t have room for 4 chassis. I also don’t need all the myriad # of settings, as I will only ever have 1-2 cartridges.
The litany of settings on offer is interesting, but I am not really a tweaker (as much as I designed my own speakers!); but these days I just like to sit and listen and relax. With the P10 I would be switching Neumann on/off [it’s a useless feature, BTW], current/voltage gain, Feedback global vs local… and I would want to experiment with each of these on every album. In addition to Load and VTA, of course.
Finally, CH is a young company. What happens if they cease operations and the P10, which is effectively a PC as much as it is an analog amp, needs repair?
Would still be interesting to hear a direct comparison of the two, assuming all the variables can be controlled.