I felt at this point since I’m using the piece with synergistic success in two separate chains that I’d post some history on it. I initially bought it from SoundPure pro audio to insert in the tape loop of my Bryston B135 SST2 integrated amp with onboard dac. That was about 2013. About 3 years after Mike Deming at Charter Oak started producing it. Mike was well know for using highest quality parts and hand crafted attention in making his mics compressors and equalizers and his equipment has always sounded highly musical with excellent resolution and staging. I felt immediately I had struck gold having that EQ of his in my tape loop on my hi fi amp. The sound has always been magical. Even on the best recordings I preferred looping it in with the click of a button. Talk about a true bypass. Clicking out the tape loop you have the true straight source line in. The sound though with loop in has always been preferable. Even as I advanced recently my headphone chain rapidly and my listening skills advancing as well.
So, after years of enjoying this magic sauce in my big rig, I made a friend here on head fi when I purchased the Fostex TH900 and a Mojo2 and started chatting about them on Fostex forum. A really good guy many of you know named Geoff. We have remained close as “odd fellows” because I like to EQ a lot, mainly tone shaping, but Geoff doesn’t do much. Yet we share stories. We share listening observations. I read his excellent reviews, we totally respect each other’s differences in our respective approaches to developing our hi fi chains. It was because of my friendship with Geoff that I built out a much better desktop headphone chain than my Th900 and Mojo2. I now have Matrix Audio X Sabre 3 serving analog high end balanced source material to my Headamp GSX Mini balanced amp and out to my Hifiman HE1000SE, otherwise known affectionately as HEKse. While the sound quality was super, I still felt compelled to try the professional balanced analog mastering EQ by Charter Oak in my chain. Fell in love with it there too. Bought another one used in top notch condition from a studio engineer on Reverb and now I own 2.
Simply put, this piece has uniquely amazing musicality for pro gear and amazing synergy therefore with the robust full throated beautiful mids found in high fi gear. It’s worth noting that I’ve had the pleasure of comparing it in my big rig to multiple analog EQ pieces renowned in mastering circles as well as the Schiit Loki Max. It beat the Avalon AD2055 as well as the Millennia NSEQ4 by a noticeable margin in the more musical and less analytical department. Margins close here though, as all pieces well known in studios across the globe. It TROUNCED the Loki Max. Schiit Loki Max and Lokius are the only “hi fi analog” EQ devices made specifically for audiophiles and home playback systems that I’m aware of. If any of you are acquainted with these EQ’s, I will simply tell you that you have no idea how good tone shaping analog EQ can sound in a high Fi configuration until you’ve heard the Charter Oak. The Schiit products, I’m sorry to say, just aren’t in the same ballpark. The Charter Oak handily beats my my Auralic Aries DSP parametric. Same with Roon’s. Just no contest.
There is one unfortunate caveat though. Mike Deming no longer makes them and hasn’t for at least a few years. A California company has taken over the name and production of the last several years’ units. Mike Deming stays in occasional touch with me and has verified that these units don’t sound as good as his production era ones. So if you look for one online used, check to see if the beautiful gloss faceplate finish has disappeared as well as the numbers on the left and right master gain dials. If so, don’t purchase! Check serial number and bounce it off me. I’ve attached two pics. It’s a beautiful piece. This thread is simply my paying homage to a uniquely synergistic and transformative piece that never quits thrilling me for a decade now. I felt I owed it to Mike and Charter Oak to write about it here, as it’s meant so much to me in my hi fi endeavors. Oh, and Cardas Clear Sky XLR cables highly recommended in connecting your CO to your hi fi amp.
Thanks for letting me share!
sorry so long. Gear in here.
