If you dare stack the two units one atop the other (I had no choice in my modest-sized music room), each stack proclaims might and—given the front panel's minimalist Swiss styling—refinement.
On the levels of sound and music…
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A mono pair of CH Precision M10s ($210,000/pair as reviewed) declares its presence in capital letters. Each channel consists of two large units, each almost 2' high, linked by a total of four umbilical cords. While the "lighter" amplifier unit weighs almost 117lb, the toroidal transformer–based power supply unit tops out at nearly 172lb. That's a lot of metal.
Sidebar 4: Measurements
In common with CH Precision's M1.1 amplifier, the M10 includes the facility to adjust feedback on the fly via the company's intuitive app. In the M1.1, feedback could be adjusted to the nearest 10%; in the M10, the adjustment has 1% increments. Of course, the "0% feedback" setting does not really mean "zero compensation" as there's always sufficient local feedback to manage the bandwidth, gain and stability of the M10's input and output stages.
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: dCS Varèse five-piece music system, Rossini CD/SACD transport; EMM Labs DV2i DAC, Innuos Nazaré Music Server and PhoenixNET network switch; Small Green Computer Sonore opticalModule Deluxe (2); Broadcom/Avago AFBR-5718PZ 1GB SX-SFP, Gen 5 Fiber Optic modules (2); Nordost QSource linear power supply (2); Sonore Audiophile Linear Power Supply; Synology 5-bay 1019+ NAS with Ferrum Hypsos linear/switching hybrid power supply; ASUS AX6000 and RT-AX88U Pro mesh routers and Netgear Nighthawk modem; Apple 2023 iPad Pro and 2025 MacBook Air.
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Just like last year, I saved retailer Audiophile Experts' room for last. I stopped by their room at the 5pm closing hour on Sunday, as the crowd headed home and exhibitors started dismantling their setups. That's because Stacy and Mathieu, proprietors of Audiophile Experts, like to cap off my harried show reporting with a soulful, uninterrupted musical performance, usually from an analog-fronted rig.
This year's source was a B77 MkIII reel-to-reel machine by Revox, for which Audiophile Experts is the exclusive Canadian dealer. The system also included an Accuphase C-3900S…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Solid state, class-AB, dual-channel, configurable, modular power amplifier. Inputs: two balanced XLR, two single-ended RCA, two single-ended BNC, USB port, Ethernet port (as configured for review). Outputs: two XLR balanced outputs (pass through for daisy-chaining), two pairs of speaker binding posts per channel. Power output, Stereo Mode: 2 × 300W into 8 ohms (24.8dBW), 22 × 550W into 4 ohms (24.4dBW), 2 × 900W into 2 ohms (23.5dBW); Mono Mode: 1 × 600W into 4 ohms (24.8dBW), 1 × 1000W into 2 ohms (24.0dBW), 1 × 1600W into 1 ohm (23.0dBW); Bridged…
When the Wigmore Hall Live label was launched in 2005, the great mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson had only a few months to live: She died of breast cancer in July 2006, age 52. The hunt for lost recordings to memorialize her artistry led directly to her November 30, 1998, Wigmore Hall recital, broadcast that day as part of BBC Radio 3's Noonday Concert series and preserved in the BBC archives. That recital was released on the Wigmore Hall Live label on January 1, 2007, six months after Hunt Lieberson's passing.
How is it that an archival broadcast recording became a widely…
Lord knows I try to keep an open mind, but those good-measuring delta-sigma chip DACs rub me the wrong way. Their processing complexity vexes my mind, and there's never been a reconstruction or upsampling filter that I've been a fan of. Nevertheless, I believe that every audio component must be judged by how it sounds and feels in use.
With digital converters as with other products, I don't need to know their price or technology before I listen. It might be better not to know. But usually I do know. This review is unusual in that when I first started listening with the HiFi Rose RD160 DAC…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
I used my Audio Precision SYS2722 system to examine the HiFi Rose RD160's behavior on the test bench. I used AES3 and optical S/PDIF data for the testing as well as USB data sourced from my MacBook Pro. The RD160 offers a choice of six reconstruction filters, three oversampling modes and three without oversampling; a choice of several fixed output levels or a variable output; and both balanced and single-ended outputs. I performed a complete set of tests using the balanced outputs with the variable output level option, the oversampling bypassed, and the default "…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Delta-sigma DAC with optional upsampling, utilizing the AKM AK4191 DSP chip and AKM AK4499EXEQ DAC chip with three transformers, separate power supplies for digital circuits, L and R output stages, and volume control. Aluminum/rust-proof steel chassis with side-mounted heatsinks and "hidden" AMOLED display. AK4191EQ delta-sigma modulator receives digital audio, handles filters, noise shaping, and oversampling. AK4499EXEQ chip handles D/A conversion. OCXO clock. MUSES 8920A JFET input dual operational amplifier for I/V conversion. Technologies…
In the above video interview on our YouTube channel, Ken Micallef speaks with Essentia Technology co-founder Leoni Alexander-Tomas, and later with Jonathan Nye and John Rowland of Michell, about the British company's turntables they were repping at the show.
As Montreal Audiofest 2026 was winding down, I didn't have enough time to survey the three Essentia Technology systems in the Montreal M2 room. Luckily, I had a chance to speak with Essentia Technology co-founder Leoni Alexander-Tomas, and later with Jonathan Nye and John Rowland of Michell, all of whom gave me the…