High End 2015 • Hot Product

Swiss high-end manufacturer CH Precision has finally added a standalone phono stage to their Borg-like range of identically cased electronics. The P1 doesn’t just look like the other units in the range, it also shares their high-tech design, fully balanced circuitry and multi-level menu-driven setup and control options. So far, all so very CH. But what is also very CH is the extra little wrinkles in the design that set the P1 apart from the crowd. In this case those revolve around the inputs themselves. There are three of them, all independently configurable and adjustable for gain. Two are current-driven MC inputs optimized for low-output MC cartridges, while the third is voltage-driven and switchable between MM and MC. The MC inputs use DSP circuitry and a supplied test disc to examine the profile of the incoming signal and then modify a fixed resistor to set the impedance for the flattest response. If you don’t like the result, you can tweak it manually, but it serves as an extremely useful benchmark.

The second really clever bit is the ability to add an optional module, allowing you to switch between the standard RIAA/extended RIAA EQ curves and those for EMI, Columbia, Decca and Teldec, so that those who want the facility can have it -- and those offended by the very idea don’t need to get upset. Best of all, despite a price of around €24,000 (CH sets prices in Swiss Francs, so it varies with currency rates), the extra board only adds another €1500. Mind you, if that’s not expensive enough for your high-end setup, you can always opt for the dual-chassis, dual-mono option.