Chesky’s Next Generation Delivers New Loudspeaker

Posted on 18th December, 2024
Chesky’s Next Generation Delivers New Loudspeaker

David Chesky needs no introduction if you've been around high-fidelity audio in the last few decades. His label, Chesky Records, is a staple in most audiophiles' vinyl or CD collections.

But follow any sportsperson, musician, movie star, or, in this case, a renowned musician and record label head long enough, and quite often, you'll see their offspring emerge following in their footsteps.

Such is the case with Lucca Chesky, son of David, a fellow musician, who, at just 17 years old, is now a speaker designer. The story goes that Lucca came home from a summer research project at Princeton University's Applied Acoustics Lab, studying under Professor Edward Choueiri. You may not have heard of Choueiri, but he's the lead in developing BACCH DSP, an advanced stereo 3D imaging and binaural audio processing tool also rising in popularity.

Chesky Jr. soon hatched a plan using his newfound knowledge of anti-resonant materials. With the encouragement of his father, Lucca employed 3D printing to manufacture the speaker cabinet prototype. It's been said online (but not confirmed) that famed speaker designer Sandy Gross (co-founder of Polk, Definitive Technology, and Goldenear Technology) also provided some input on driver selection and crossover components.

His first creation, now known as the LC1 Bookshelf Monitor, is a compact design that the newly-formed company says "features a unique breakthrough cabinet construction that ensures pure sound output without any interference". The cabinet comes in at under one cubic foot in volume, said to be "extraordinarly inert and dead", and is equipped with top-of-the-line components, including Silver Solder, Solen Film Capacitors and high-end audiophile internal wiring, all connected with silver solder for the clearest signal path. 

Two 8-inch fluid-coupled subwoofers, tuned as you would a transmission line, dramatically augment and improve the quality of the bass response, extending it deeper than any typical speaker of its size can reach. These support a 6.5-inch bass/midrange driver with a polypropylene cone and, finally, a wide-dispersion 1-inch dome tweeter surrounded by tessellation diffraction control technology.

The Frequency Response is quoted as 50Hz—20kHz, with 83 dB sensitivity at 2.83V/1m. Each cabinet measures 10x8x10" (25.4x20.32x25.4cm) DWH. Weighing 18lbs or just over 8 kg, each LC1 is hand-assembled in the USA and has a one-year warranty. 

Under the company name Chesky Audio (as opposed to David's Chesky Labs or Chesky Records), the LC1 Bookshelf Monitor is available to order directly from the manufacturer for US$498 individually - Free shipping in the continental United States. Metallic Red or Metallic Bronze Color Editions are also available for US$625 each.

Though it seems the word is out, as the website states, "Due to the outstanding success of the LC1, please allow for around 4-6 weeks minimum of lead time before you receive your order".

Early reviews are favourable, and we look forward to seeing what comes of the highly regarded Chesky name as the company continues its journey.

For more information visit Chesky Audio

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Marc Rushton's avatar
Marc Rushton

StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.

Posted in: Hi-Fi

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