by Ernie Fisher
The Focal line from France has long been on my short list of favourite loudspeakers. I became well acquainted with their designs back in the late 1990s when I reviewed the model Mezzo Utopia in the print Version of The Inner Ear. While I was evaluating the Mezzo, it became clear to me that the company had a highly developed understanding of loudspeaker design and implemented innovative technology in all of their series. The Chorus series is JMLab Focal’s mid-price series below the famous Utopia line. The model under review is the top model of seven in the series, which also offers home theatre enclosures.

I had played the Chorus speakers for about one week, before I settled down to assess their performance with the various amps and my first impression was that there was a marked element of tonal balance, whereby the entire audible frequency scale came across homogeneously pleasing. This attribute remained unchanged with all amplifiers. << Read More >>

by Ernie Fisher
When one hears good audio it’s usually because someone has assembled a synergistic audio system. When one hears great audio, it’s not only because of a wining system combination, but also because of the components’ capacity to recover and provide the listener with ample harmonics — the building block relating to component frequencies of a complex oscillation or wave. In essence, it is music’s overtones accompanying a fundamental tone, and it is my believe that we can never have enough harmonics to capture an intricate musical arrangement and the character or quality of musical sound or voice as distinct from its pitch and intensity — timbre.

I suppose, that Class D amplification has reached maturity with the Genesis Reference Power Amplifier the proof of this accomplishment. It brings together technology and musicality and eliminates the myth that Class D amplifiers are only good for bass.<< Read More >>

by Ernie Fisher
The Audio Physics line is from Germany where precision engineering is a way of life. But while there is a lot of engineering in this design, and though important and of interest to the manufacturer and some audiophiles, I am of the opinion that engineering alone does not guarantee good sound. Therefore, this review is going to focus on the loudspeakers’ performance and sonic accomplishments when they are used in an audio system to reproduce music. However, the loudspeakers have numerous indicators that point at design proficiency and quality, likely based on Audio Physics’ 25-some years of experience. I have heard APs at trade shows, but have never auditioned them under controlled conditions, so I can’t comment on the company’s history and/or its past achievements. I do know that they enjoyed good press with the Tempo 25 — the 25th anniversary edition — often compared with the lower priced Tempo model, both belonging to the company’s high-end series. AP actually produces 22 models divided into four categories/series of loudspeakers and includes home theatre components. << Read More >>

by Ernie Fisher
The subject of resonance and the resulting vibrations is one of my pet audio issues in which I have been interested ever since the introduction of the Mod Squad Tip Toes that came onto the market in the mid eighties. This is a brief essay about my experience of resonance control and a revisit and follow-up of the original ravioli-shaped pads review I published about three years ago.

Black Raviolis are the brainchild of Scotland-based Derek Ethell who’s earlier American distributor introduced me to these little pasta-shaped pillows that do not look like anything resembling an audio accessory but, when applied, greatly impact the listening experience. << Read More >>