Specs & Pricing

Chapter Electronics
Précis Integrated Amplifier
“Obsession” from Water Lily’s Bach, Kreisler,
Ysaÿe, the violin was so resonant that it
almost tasted of wood, and the highs were
wonderfully extended. During aggressively
bowed passages, notes were crisp with attack
and filled with the inner details of fingerboard
maneuvers. This is a characteristic that
serves rock fans and classical aficionados
equally well. For example, Slayer wouldn’t
be the first metal band to come to mind
in regard to sound quality, but its new CD
Christ Illusion [American] makes clear just
how much information and speed reside
in the mix, if the electronics are sensitive
and dynamic enough to reproduce them.
Listening to the intro to “Jihad,” with its
simple high-hat flare partnered with Dave
Lombardo’s punishing double-kick drum
and the churn of multiple guitar rhythms,
was at times no less hair-raising than the
orchestral climax of Shostakovich’s Eighth
Symphony.
The Précis over-emphasizes the upper
registers of wind instruments, certain voices,
and, during the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto
No.1 [Channel Classics], Pieter Wispelwey’s
cello. The amp seems to grow cooler as it
reaches up higher in pitch; hall sound also
firms up, as if damping has been removed.
Strings sound a bit more tightly wound, a
touch wiry on top, and slightly forward.
And though this makes for a very clean,
fast sound, some delicacy and resonance are
traded off.
One other area where I felt the Précis
might be improved is the mid-treble. The
Chapter doesn’t have the same command
over soundspace and dynamics in this
region as it does throughout the rest of the
frequency spectrum. On Bartók’s Concerto
for Orchestra [Telarc], for example, the
microdynamics and harmonics of complex
orchestral passages in the treble were
Specs & Pricing
JASON SCOTT DISTRIBUTING
8816 Patton Road
Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania 19038
(215) 836-9944
chapterelectronics.co.uk
Power: 130Wpc into 8 ohms (260Wpc into 4 ohms)
Frequency response: 0.5Hz–48kHz
Inputs: Four RCA, one XLR
Outputs: One RCA, One XLR
Dimensions: 16.5" x 4.5" x 14"
Weight: 35 lbs.
Price: $6500
communicated less specifically, as if the
flow of sound were being channeled from a
wide pipe into a much narrower one. Again,
with Reference Recordings’ Rutter Requiem,
the resolution of soundstage layers and of
individual voices in the chorus was a little less
precise.
In the Class D survey mentioned above,
Jonathan Valin characterized this anomaly
as “top-end compression,” and I think this
description is as accurate as any I’ve heard
about what appears to be a common issue
with switching amplifiers. It’s a sensation less
like the grainy artifacts of early transistor
designs and more like a scrim overlaying the
air of the performance—a tether holding
down the ceiling of both instruments and
venue. It was the only region where I felt the
otherwise-effortless Précis was laboring.
Note that the extent to which this oh-sosubtle
trait revealed itself was dependent on
cabling. In this instance, it was the TARA
Labs “Zero” interconnects that played
super-sleuth, uncovering the Précis’ sonic
fingerprint in the treble. With most other
cables it slipped past virtually unnoticed. On
a more philosophical note, it was a reminder
that when you hear the full potential of a
system the results may be mixed. In this case,
the Zero interconnects not only improved
the performance of Précis in every area, but
also pointed out where the Précis didn’t quite
fully rise to the occasion.
The Chapter Electronics Précis is the
genuine article. Only a few years ago, this
degree of power and finesse in a package
no larger than a preamp would have
been unimaginable, but today’s premium
integrated amps are setting standards that
even some separates struggle to match. This
includes the Précis—a component that joins
the exclusive company of some of the finest
integrated amplifiers I’ve heard. TAS
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
Sota Cosmos Series III turntable, SME V pick-up
arm, Shure V15VxMR cartridge; MBL 1531 and
Simaudio Moon Supernova CD players; TARA
Labs Omega, Nordost Baldur, and Kimber Kable
BiFocal XL cables; Wireworld Silver Electra &
Kimber Palladian power cords; Richard Gray line
conditioners; Sound Fusion Turntable stand
December 2006 The Absolute Sound 75