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Focal Chorus 826W 30th Anniversary Edition loudspeaker Measurements

Sidebar 3: Measurements

I measured the behavior in the farfield of the Focal Chorus 826W using DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone. For the nearfield responses I used an Earthworks QTC-40, whose ¼" capsule doesn't present as much of an acoustic obstacle, which can be an issue with port measurements. As Robert Deutsch preferred the Chorus 826W with its grille removed, that's how I measured it, though I left the wire mesh in front of the tweeter in place.

The Chorus 826W offers a higher-than-usual voltage sensitivity, my estimate coming in at 90.1dB(B)/2.83V…

Silverman's Beethoven Series Continues in San José

Robert Silverman, whose many recordings for Stereophile have made him a living legend among audiophiles, continues his series of performances of all of Beethoven's piano sonatas in San José, California, November 11 and 18. Held in San Jose's lovely and acoustically superior Le Petit Trianon Theatre, the concerts mark the halfway point in Silverman's eight-concert series. All proceeds go toward building, at Stanford Children's Hospital, an Elf Foundation Room of Magic: a private entertainment theater in which uplifting music and films can be shared with patients.

Produced by Michael Silver…

Axpona 2011: a Goldmine for Audiophiles

Axpona lives! The Audio Expo of North America, the consumer high-end audio show whose successful 2010 launch in Jacksonville, Florida, established it as the premier high-performance audio show on the East Coast, has moved to the far more accessible and convention-friendly Sheraton Atlanta, in Georgia. Scheduled for April 15–17, 2011, with a special four-hour trade preview on April 14, the show is cosponsored by Stereophile and Goldmine.

Goldmine, a magazine and website for music collectors, will produce the Goldmine Showcase for dealers and collectors of vinyl, digital audio, music…

Tony JO

By convenient circumstance, I recently caught Tony Jo White on a Sunday night at the Thunderbird Caf in Lawrenceville, a rapidly changing for the better part of Pittsburgh, Pa. In a small but sweet back room, White put on a low key show that shows both his voice and his ability to get in a groove and jam are still potent. His methods are easily understood, he comes out, looking vaguely like a long and lean version of Charlie Rich, when the Sliver Fox wore a similar kind of hat, and plays either spooky ballads or a bluesy, rumbling groove that runs for many verses and becomes a long jam…

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Puerto Rico was wonderful, as always. We stayed at a place called Bello Horizonte, a comfortable home away from home, hidden atop a palm-covered hill in the sandy town of Rincon, where every road leads to the ocean. (I highly recommend it. The house sleeps six in three bedrooms, has two bathrooms, a wide-open patio with two hammocks, a very fine grill, washer and dryer, and a pool that looks down the hill and onto the nearby beaches. Full disclosure: My aunt rents the house; so, yeah, I want you to go there and give my aunt your money.) Our days were spent by the pool or on the…

Monkeyhaus: Colorado Springs

Rob of Colorado Springs writes:

Stephen,
Thought I'd share some pics of my listening room. Very modest setup...but good synergy. Much of the credit goes to the overachieving Ascend Acoustic Sierra 1 speakers. Only had them a month...but love them.

Once a month I have a group of guys over for a listening session. Bunch of 40- and 50-something music lovers. Lots of fun.

Anyway...I enjoy your column; especially reading about your Monkeyhaus experiences. Must be a blast.

Thanks, Rob!

Rob is obviously having a great…

Saturday Night at the Monkeyhaus, Part I

On Saturday, November 6, John DeVore of DeVore Fidelity hosted a Monkeyhaus Listening Party at his Brooklyn Navy Yard factory. If not for the pictures, a selection of which I’ll post over the next three days, I might not remember the event at all&#151not because the party was forgettable, but because we had so much fun.

Maybe too much fun.

Everyone is asked (or maybe expected, by this point) to bring records to the Monkeyhaus. Here’s my stack, with a gift from Michael Lavorgna at the front: John Prine’s self-titled debut, featuring such heartbreaking and…

Saturday Night at the Monkeyhaus, Part II

The self-titled album by Guano Padano, released earlier this year by Important Records, is a joy. The band, an Italian three-piece (Alessandro Stefana, Zeno de Rossi, and Danilo Gallo), is joined by Alessandro Alessandroni (whistler, best known for his work in Ennio Morricone’s soundtracks), Gary Lucas (Captain Beefheart/Jeff Buckley guitarist), Chris Speed (clarinet player with Tim Berne, Uri Caine, and John Zorn), and Italian singer, Bobby Solo, who does a fine rendition of Hank Williams’ “Ramblin’ Man.” Awesome album; great sound, too.

DeVore Fidelity’s John…

Saturday Night at the Monkeyhaus, Part III

DeVore Fidelity Gibbons, in cherry and bamboo and rosewood cabinets, in all shapes and sizes and states of life. Some of these little sweethearts may never see the light of day, while others may wind up in the home of some happy music lover.

Box Furniture Co.’s Anthony Abbate designs and manufactures handsome single- and double-width equipment racks and amp stands, and has also been responsible for DeVore Fidelity’s elegant speaker cabinets.

Laughter.

Because sometimes booze is better than music.

Conversations cross the room.

…

Henry Threadgill, old and (perpetually) new

Henry Threadgill should be better known than he is. A topnotch musician on alto sax and flute, one of the more innovative composers in jazz, a veteran of the Chicago avant-garde and a revivalist of ragtime improvisational styles (the two are not so contradictory, as he was the first to demonstrate), Threadgill started out on small labels, briefly landed contracts at RCA Novus and Columbia during their brief flirtations with experimentalists (in the late ‘80s and mid ‘90s, respectively), then went back to the indies—all the while retaining, even advancing, his spirit of adventure and his…