Tech Talk: Wattson Audio

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hi-fi+ Staff
Oct 05, 2025

Wattson Audio might be a relatively new name to many audiophiles, but the brand comes with a compelling backstory. The Swiss-based company has been associated with CH Precision and its team for over 20 years in a purely consultancy capacity, and there have been long-standing collaborative projects between the two.

Wattson Audio was a child of the COVID-19 pandemic and has recently become a wholly owned subsidiary of CH Precision, bringing the two teams together. Wattson Audio is more than just a subsidiary or diffusion brand, though. We spoke to Alexandre Lavanchy, Technical Director of Wattson Audio, about the brand, its innovations and how it differs from CH Precision.

1. Describe the Wattson ethos from an electronic and audio perspective

Wattson Audio’s philosophy is based on several pillars. From an electronic standpoint, we want to transpose the technologies and concepts of very high-end products to create devices that are more accessible, both financially and in terms of ease of use. Behind this aspect lies a great deal of work on the electronic circuits to select, rationalise and ultimately arrive at designs that contain the essentials to achieve the performance we are aiming for.

When it comes to listening results and audio criteria, our primary goal is natural and neutral sound reproduction. We’re not Swiss for nothing 😉 We draw on all our experience to ensure that the digital components of the streamers and the digital-to-analogue conversion circuits deliver sound that is free of the harshness or coldness sometimes associated with digital audio, while maintaining precision, speed and dynamics. We target an analogue feel, which carries emotion so that technology as such should not be dominant in the ears of the user.

We aim to create devices that perform a limited number of functions, but with minimal compromise, achieving a very high level of quality. User-friendliness, ease of use, and seamless integration into a contemporary living space, with both aesthetic appeal and discretion, are also very important aspects of our product philosophy.

2. What is the CH Precision connection, both before and after the more formal collaboration?

I was Florian’s first employee when he started an engineering consultancy and OEM company back in 2004. Florian decided to launch CH-Precision in 2009, and I took over the consultancy business which has later been renamed ‘EngineeRed’. We remained quite close, both geographically, as the two companies were only a few kilometers apart, and personally. We always kept in touch, discussing business management issues, technical topics, audio and personal matters. There have been some technical collaborations between the two companies, and EngineeRed provided the hardware module for CH-Precision network streaming interface. The mutual teams of the two companies have been in regular contact over the years.

The first Wattson Audio products were developed by EngineeRed, and the brand was launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following years were tumultuous and economically difficult, and a decision was made to shut down the consulting company in order to focus energy on the new brand, which was proving very promising. The acquisition by CH Precision, given the historical relationship, was quite logical and, above all, very consistent. We have thus brought the two friendly teams together under one roof.

I feel that things have fallen into place as they always should have. We are now one team, with various departments, two brands, and an excellent working atmosphere and spirit of collaboration.

3. What is your most significant technology in Wattson products, and why?

It all started with the network audio streaming interface. It is a proprietary solution that is quite unique on the market and required many years of development. It was quite an ambitious project given the size of our company. Over the years, it has been very well received by the brands that use this solution, as well as by the DIY community, with whom we have had many exchanges over the years. This technical solution set us apart from other brands, and we decided that it would be the cornerstone of our first product.

We have developed devices for a large number of brands, thereby acquiring knowledge in other technical fields, including analogue technology. While the streaming interface was the first building block, other blocks are being added to ultimately create a coherent product range. The amplifier we recently brought to market is proof of this.

4. How important is LEEDH? Some think it’s ‘just’ a digital volume control

LEEDH is indeed a digital volume attenuator, but a clever one. The way in which the numerical calculation is performed differs from conventional methods. The calculation error due to truncation inherent in the division of arbitrary numbers is reduced by this method.

5. What is the difference between Madison and Madison LE

The LE is a reworked and improved version of the standard Madison Streamer. The concept is the same, but the electronic circuits have been fine tuned and enhanced in many aspects. The measurements show a clear improvement in performances, and listening experience is significantly better.

From now on, we are discontinuing this distinctive designation. All Madison Streamers now contain the improved circuits, and the original circuit board is no longer being produced. The light grey or dark grey finishes are now only an aesthetic option.

6. Are there plans for a Wattson preamp, integrated amp, or even phono stage?

To tell the truth, there is no shortage of plans, and the road map is quite full. In terms of engineering, there is a lot of work to be done in the coming years. For each project, we like to approach the design process differently, trying to think outside the box and find a unique approach at Wattson Audio. It’s very stimulating, but it takes a lot of time. We will therefore move forward with the road map as efficiently as possible, with the priority being to bring technically mature products to market, devices that will perform well for many years to come.

We will likely unveil some new products at the Vienna trade show next year.

7. You exist at the cutting edge of streaming. Are there plans for greater DSP development, maybe room correction?

Acoustic correction through digital processing is a process that interests us and is particularly in line with Wattson Audio’s philosophy of integration into a normal, comfortable living room environment. It is therefore a topic of discussion within our company, but to be honest, this project has not yet got off the ground.

8. In a hierarchy of importance, where do the chipset, the implementation, and the firmware figure?

Of course, everything matters. But when it comes to the hardware and architecture of a streamer/DAC, I would say that the chipset is the least important factor. We see products promoting this or that DAC chip with exceptional performance, when in fact the implementation is not up to par. At Wattson Audio, we prefer to use key components that we know well, which perform the function we need without any mystery, in order to maintain complete control over signal processing.

On another note, the choice of processor will only have a very limited impact as long as it is powerful enough to perform the software tasks required of it. However, it is the firmware that will be important here, as it will determine the integrity of the audio data and the quality of the user experience.

9. Is streamer design art, science, mathematics, or electronics?

At the risk of shattering the poetic dream, the development of a streaming device essentially consists of applying electronic theory, which stems from science. Mathematics is a necessary tool for the design of electronic circuits and is present at the software level for audio data processing.

I like to believe that a form of art still exists, however, in the form of eccentricity brought about by the engineer who designs the electronics, in the form of sometimes irrational perfectionism, or simply in this infinite quest of a lifetime devoted to this vocation. In the end, the pragmatic and technical approach prevails.

10. How important is your clean slate approach to audio?

I’m not sure I can answer this question correctly, but I’ll do my best. We are exceptionally fortunate that the company’s strategy focuses primarily on the quality of work and product excellence rather than purely financial profits. This is the fundamental condition that allows us to carry out projects without rushing headlong into them. The basic philosophy is that there is no point in starting a project if we are not convinced that we are going to bring something new to the table. We must give ourselves the means and reconsider the fundamentals in order to achieve products that excel in their field. On the other hand, the team is made up entirely of highly experienced people, and there is strong collaboration between all departments. These interdisciplinary exchanges allow us to bring in fresh, cross-functional ideas or to see things from an unusual angle.

Editor’s note: It’s exciting to see new companies join the audio world, but it’s even better when they join with products that genuinely add useful content that provide a unique range of products for music lovers. It gets even better when that company has the techical smarts to back up its claims. That’s what’s happened here.

Wattson Audio may be a new name on the scene, but it has all of those boxes ticked… and it comes backed by one of the darlings of modern European high-end audio; CH Precision.

This CH Precision link could so easily have been a double-edged sword, with the company becoming little more than a diffusion brand for the parent. But that wasn’t in the cards for Wattson Audio; the company has its own identity and sound, even if that sound is ‘CH-adjacent’.

We think companies like Wattson Audio represent one of the many futures of good audio. They might not be mainstream ‘me-too’ products, but they are all the better for that!