Review: CH Technologies X15 power cord Power cord


Category: Cables

CH Technologies is owned by Craig Hampel in Champaign, Illinois. I've known Craig for about four years. At the time, Craig was working for Geoff Poor in Geoff's audio shop. Geoff is a partner in BAT (Balanced Audio Technology).

I hadn't seen Craig for about a year when I sold my Wadia 581se CD Player to an Audiogoner also living in Champaign, Illinois. He told me that Craig had perfected his cable line and was now selling them. Dale's system sounded really good and Dale suggested that I try them. I was pretty busy and never got around to giving Craig a call.

Then about four months later, I sold my HRS SX rack to another Audiogoner in Champaign, Illinois. Tom has a Wadia 781i CD Player like I have, and he said that he was also using CH Technologies cables. He told me that I should call Craig and give them a try. This time I did.

Craig sent me two X15 power cords and one set of X10 interconnects and one set of X20 interconnects. They took me completely by surprise! After all of the power cords and interconnects I've had ranging from $1,500.00 to $5,000.00, none do what Craig's power cords and interconnects do in my system.

The CH Technologies power cords and interconnects are the closest cables I've ever heard that don't have a sound at all. I heard more of music than I've ever heard coming out of my system, and it flows in the most natural state I've ever heard. I hear more minute details because it's so quiet. Along with this, those details seem to make every instrument sound more authentic than I've ever heard it in my system.

If you're looking to get closer to your music than you ever have before, I'd strongly recommend sendng Craig an email. Here's the email address of CH Technologies: c.hampel@comcast.net


Chuck

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krell_man
Okay. Let's try this again.

We don't think anything other than the most conductive materials are "meaningful" in designing a perfectly transparent audio cable. Those metals are known. Playing around with "special" alloys doesn't appeal to us. In our research, we tested all sorts of different alloys. None of them returned results nearly as good as what science had already proven worked best long ago.

What alloys did you test and what were the results?

But in the meantime I came across JPS Labs and what they call "Alumiloy". This sounds like some sort of aluminum alloy. But it's only a trademarked name. Which means not an actual patented alloy. Though it seems they are trying to patent whatever it is. Not even sure if it is an alloy. They're kinda vague on that point. I wonder, would you demand of them to know exactly what the "ultra-pure metals and other elements" were in they're design? If they refused to tell you, would you move along? Just curious.

As I stated in my previous post, basic information is all I want. JPS has provided that, and you have not. Although you "doubt it," providing some semblance of a scientific description of your cabling would be helpful. Not doing so fails to differentiate you from the many essentially DIY cable outfits that use seductive prose and witchcraft to try and sell things....the very companies you disparage. The irony is stunning....

The primary occupation of just one of the scientists we worked with is NMR. (You can Google that if you like.) And he has seen huge potential in applying what we all learned from this project to his primary occupation.

Craig, I am a physician. I do not need to Google NMR. Furthermore, I know another manufacturer who makes cables and conditioners among other things who has done preliminary research with an associate looking at MRI image quality improvements through conditioning. Tell your "scientist" friend his idea is not a revelation....
Final thoughts:

Craig, although you seem to discount research or use of alternative conductors since "science" has already determined what is adequate, I find this area most interesting intellectually. JPS and Teo have both taken stabs at this with good results. I think their primary focus is noise reduction. Gary/Glory Anderson has some of the Teo stuff and the results are apparently stellar. Unfortunately, the prices are steep. Another interesting realm is wireless. I personally believe the future is there whether people like it or not. The days of exotic metallurgy are numbered.

An interesting experiment (in which no cable manufacturer would likely participate) would be to subject cabling to that Nordost software mentioned. Whose cabling would reduce "timing errors" the most?
"Basically, the lesson learned was that not only are you NOT going to please everybody. You're probably not even going to please most people. "

Can't understand people. Everyone should shell out thousands for wires to make their stereos finally sound good.
I certainly didn't intend to disparage any other companies. Poor choice of words on my part.
I was simply trying to convey the idea that WE don't see much use in any metals other than what is the most conductive, the least resistive. In our research we tested just about anything that conducts, including carbon, controlling for all other factors. What we found is that what has been tried is true. The best performance came from the most conductive materials.

Not doing so fails to differentiate you from the many essentially DIY cable outfits that use seductive prose and witchcraft to try and sell things....
Before we officially launched CH Acoustic we designed a power cable for Running Springs Audio. They call it the HZ Crown Jewel. Running Springs Audio is an off shoot of a larger company formerly known as RTI. RTI is the OEM behind a vast number of specialty capacitors in the high end. RTI's engineers are well known, trusted, and relied upon by many of the best known high end equipment companies for services beyond capacitors.
The fact that RTI came to us for the design of their best power cable is something that I'm pretty sure separates us from not only the "DIY" cable outfits, but many of the better known ones as well.
Craig,

I want to apologize to you and all Audiogoners who actually enjoy our hobby and have the desire to delve into it a little deeper.

I have had my system page hijacked three times by a small number of deceitful people trying to push some product that has nothing to do with my system. It makes me sick that, for the third time now, I've had to wipe out all of the posts from legitimate Audiogoners simply trying to discuss different things in order to erase the crap.

Now I find that my simple review has been hijacked by one of them. Unfortunately, I can't erase it here, so we're stuck with it. But I wonder how a well known manufacturer like Stealth, Wadia, MBL, Esoteric, EMM, Wilson, etc. would respond to someone doing this?

I believe that they'd just laugh, especially when the person asking the questions is beating their chest and proclaiming their intelligence. It leads me to believe that they've missed the mark on their chest a few too many times and connected with their head, and they may not be able to distinguish the difference between important and impotent any longer.

I don't think that Mapman understood what was behind the latest dialogue being exchanged when he made his post. I understand his frustration and response, and I hope that others outside this crappy little loop aren't turned off or offended as it appears Mapman was.

Craig, to be completely clear here with you, this hasn't anything to do with you or your cables. If I were using cables from brand XYZ, the result would be the same for them.

It's not you or a brand that they're focusing on, it's me that they're coming after. Because I have a decent reputation on Audiogon, they're trying to exploit that for their own benefit. The problem is that I'm not afraid to protest against the exploitation, and that apparently bothers them quite a bit.

They could simply create their own system pages, post actual pictures of what they have, and then promote whatever they want from there. It kind of makes me wonder why they don't.

I'm sorry that you got dragged into this, and I'm sorry that a lot of good people have been subjected to this mud bath just trying to learn more about our hobby.

Chuck