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Chesky Audio LC1 Bookshelf Monitor Review

A business strategy frequently employed by seasoned organizations when developing a new product is to design and produce what is known as a Minimum Viable Product. After hearing the Chesky Audio LC1s, it became abundantly clear Founder and CEO, Lucca Chesky, made the prudent decision to dispense with circumspect practices of seasoned organizations and forged a path solidly in the direction of viability, all while leaving minimum in the rearview mirror, when designing his first commercially available loudspeaker.

Stay tuned while I share what I heard when listening to the small-in-size, big-in-sound , Chesky Audio LC1s.

Overview

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Okay – coming in at 10 inches high, 8 inches wide, and 10 inches deep, this little standmount has some surprising heft at 18 pounds. The unexpected mass is attributed to its single-piece, 3-D printed, multi-layer high-mass non-resonant cabinet; here, seen in black for just under $1,000 per pair, but available in red or brown  for about $250 more per pair.

The complement of drivers consists of a 1” wide-dispersion dome tweeter, a 6.5” mid/bass driver with a stiff yet lightweight polypropylene cone, and dual inertially balanced 8” passive radiators.

Exploiting the benefits of 3-D printing, Chesky employs tessellation diffraction control technology on the front baffle surrounding the tweeter. This ensures any diffraction the font baffle may encounter is diffused in a way to ensure the sounds arrival to the listening position is outside the window of the Haas Effect. This helps the speaker remain aurally invisible.

The industrial design of the LC1 is a bit ‘form follows function’  and therefore presents with a slight utilitarian appeal. That said, the finish is not lacking in quality and the binding posts on the back of the speakers felt quite robust.

And for a first go of it, my preference would be for a speaker designer to highlight the speaker’s function, leaving form for future iterations.

Highlighting function is precisely what Lucca did when designing this speaker. Bouncing his ideas off veterans in the industry, not cutting any corners regarding internal wiring and crossover circuits, and studying for a summer under the tutelage of Dr. Edgar Choueiri, head of Princeton University’s 3D Audio & Applied Acoustics Lab.

The culmination of which is the Chesky Audio LC1.

Sound Quality

Okay, so how do the LC1s sound? Well, let me put it this way, if you’re one who maintains allegiance to your favorite bands and musicians regardless of how poorly they’re recorded, you’re likely to be disappointed here.

I posit Chesky’s premise for the LC1 was to design a speaker that recreated recordings as faithfully as possible. Therefore, the sound from sub-par recordings was underwhelming and sometimes harsh – that is, the LC1 doesn’t go out of its way to make bad recordings  sound good.

However, if an engineer knocked it out of the park, the LC1s were right there with it, rounding the bases – ushering in a grand slam. Every minute detail was delivered to the listener’s  ears including the delicate sonic signature of the environment around the performers – even if that space was sometimes artificial (as in studio recordings).

I’ve heard tell of techniques used by engineers to artificially create space in the studio, but I’ve  rarely heard a distinct difference in the sonic signature of these varying techniques as they’re typically quite subtle and low in level.

The LC1s presented the music so transparently that I could hear engineers’ varying ability to pull of the ‘illusion of space’ and in most cases it wasn’t subtle. If this was done poorly, the tool used to create spaciousness did remain ambiguous; it just sounded artificial.

As an audiophile who loves the pursuit of finding great music that’s well recorded, with the LC1s in my listening room I found myself going down several rabbit holes of musical discovery. Typically, this wasn’t by discovering a new artist or genre, but by finding a record label that  took care during the recording process to provide the listener with a beautiful and faithful recreation of the music.

And when this was done, well… it was quite an experience on the LC1s. Such a small speaker having the ability to recreate a soundspace you could lose yourself in left for a really enjoyable experience.

Take for instance the Cosmic American Derelicts Album The Twain Shall Meet. Recorded by Soundkeeper Recordings in a 19th century barn in Northwest Connecticut using a simple 2 mic setup.

The LC1s render the music in a lifelike manner; performers are resolutely positioned on stage without each sounding isolated and vocals were crisp and well balanced with the instrumentation.

Another track featuring fantastic instrumentation is Lainey Wilson’s 2023 single, Wildflowers and Wild Horses. However, this time the mix was a little on the hot side (as with most pop music) and that’s precisely how the LC1s presented it.

I know from listening to the Cosmic American Derelicts album that the LC1s have no trouble putting out through the middle of the double bass  range before rolling off, yet here the bass was down at least  5dB – causing the track to sound a bit etiolated .

In addition to a spacious presentation, the LC1s meticulously rendered dynamics in an engaging and realistic manner.

The presentation of these dynamics was most notable when listening to the opening track from Latvian Radio Big Band’s Album, Big Band Minimalism. In the past when I’ve heard this track, trombone soloist Magnus Wiklund sounded as coming more from within the rest of the band. On the LC1s, I heard Wiklund out in front of the band for his solo – a more plausible rendition. It was subtle but distinct.

The frequency response the LC1s presented a remarkably transparent view of the music. Board flat from 50Hz to 20kHz; although there’s a pretty steep roll-off below 50Hz – I’d expect nothing less from a speaker this size.

The flat response to 20kHz can come across as a bit intense to some listeners. Although I often find that this is most fatiguing on equipment that lacks an ability to present the lower octaves on an even playing field and, therefore, I didn’t find myself getting tired of listening to the LC1s. Likely, because they’re flat, not elevated or fluctuating in the midrange and treble.

Conclusion

With their ability to aurally disappear with good recordings  and remarkably render spaciousness, track after track the LC1s morphed my listening room into something new, allowing me to experience the music in a more lifelike way time and time again.

If you’re new to high-end audio or if you’re more of an  analytical listener, look no further for a speaker that’s willing to give you the music – unadulterated. The quantity of quality music that I discovered while the LC1s were in my listening room reinvigorated me and got me excited to listen to music once again.

Well done, Lucca! If this is your first stop on the speaker design train, I can’t wait to see where the next stop on  the line is.

Thanks for being here and listening to my review of the Chesky Audio LC1 Bookshelf Monitor.

And don’t forget to make listening fun, again!

Tags: BOOKSHELF LOUDSPEAKER STANDMOUNT VIDEO REVIEW

Jason Methfessel

By Jason Methfessel

I've gotten my toes wet in Hi-Fi Audio while working in the backend on databases and website development for Nextscreen, LLC - Publisher of The Absolute Sound. Only recently have I begun my journey to the foreground to help the editorial staff produce content for our digital offering, which include theabsolutesound.com, YouTube, Substack, and our twice weekly newsletter. My primary focus will be to review lower-cost, entry-level equipment for our subscribers. In my free time in enjoy riding my bicycle and have recently picked up downhill skiing.

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