CH Precision C10

It takes audacity for a company that already builds one of the finest DACs on the planet, which is already expensive, to set out to build one that's so much better that it warrants an extra digit in the model number and a much higher price tag. But then CH Precision has never lacked audacity.

- JIM AUSTIN

The Swiss company did exactly that not just with their DAC, but with almost their whole line. The newer, pricier 10 series currently includes an amplifier, preamplifier, a transport, an enhanced, redesigned power supply, and a new Master Clock, the T10. Like the 1-series components, the 10-series components are modular: You can get the base model, or you can upgrade to versions with channels separated (one chassis per channel), with the converter itself separated from all the other circuitry and with its own external power supply (the C10 Conductor), and so on.

I'm reviewing the basic, 10-series stereo D/A converter, which comprises a single-chassis two-channel DAC and an external power supply. This configuration costs $95,000 in its base stereo-DAC configuration, with a single input module (S/PDIF, AES3, TosLink, and CH-Link HD; the latter is CH Precision’s proprietary I2S implementation). The review sample added Ethernet ($6000) and USB ($3000) input modules, so as reviewed the C10 DAC costs $104,000.

The base configuration of the C1.2 DAC, which I reviewed for the February 2023 Stereophile,1 was in a single chassis with its own internal power supply, though I reviewed it with (and without) the external power-supply option. Today, the base-model C1.2 costs $36,000. The C10, then, reflects a very considerable cost increment over a component that was already expensive. Adding the gold or anthracite finish adds $5000 to the price.

Swiss (timing) precision

CH Precision’s DAC tech is based on assumptions about how people hear music. This was eloquently explained to me by the late Thierry Heeb, a DSP expert, lovely guy, and the “H” in “CH.” Heeb sadly passed away about a year ago.