0. Correction: In our May Monitor Shootout, Keith Larson ws testing the speakers with the Smith & Larson Woofer Tester Pro, Speaker Tester and Woofer Tester 2 (not the Dayton Omni-Mic).

1. Recently I purchased a new refrigerator (GE GTH18EBC), replacing my 1953 Crosley Shelvador with Power Defrost which was showing no signs of dying. While it is a vast improvement in many ways, it is much noisier than the Crosley, a roar instead of a dull hum. I can hear it 30' away. Fortunately, when I moved in, I deliberately located the refrigerator in the laundry room which is a floor below my listening room, so it is not a problem. I measured its noise at 6" to be 52 dBA compared with 37 for the Crosley. The residual noise of the meter (Columbia Research Laboratories SPL-103) is 32 dBA.

One of the GE's features is "Deluxe Quiet Design", but no number is given. It is Energy Star rated. The Crosley consumed about 400 kwh a year, it looks like the new one will be similar, with the convenience of auntomatic defrosting (which is a major power consumer). The GE cost about $500. The Crosley was $2500 (ITD). No wonder it has lasted.

Now I have the freezer space to implement my cold storage archive for audio wave files on DVDR's - RH below 20% and temperature of 10 degrees F in a hermetically sealed chamber.

2. For our February meeting we convened at the First Baptist church in America in Providence, RI, hosted by Stereophile contributing editor John Marks. The event was a workshop in making recordings of a church organ. Joning us were members of the Connecticut Audio Society. There is a writeup by John Marks in Stereophile May 2012.  The link to the lecture, an MP3 on dropbox, is here: http://db.tt/R0mClxAi

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