A brief review of GR Research Bully

I think Danny provides a good service. He generally only "upgrades" speakers sent to him by customers who are unhappy with them in some way. He then evaluates them, and when he can (not always worth it or technically doable) offers a crossover upgrade or even in rare cases, a driver update, to make them sound "better". But GR Research’s bread and butter is DIY. He serves that market well.

He also partners with other speaker manufacturers to help them improve their models.

One thing that seems consistent is that at every price point from $300 to $8000, he finds that of course, "everything is built to a budget for mass manufacturing". They use cheap crossover parts, steel nuts and more in the signal path, and sometimes it looks like they didn’t even bother to do any real engineering on the speaker, i.e. out of phase all over the place between drivers, or a big hole in the response curve, etc.

So, in some cases possible better performance is left on the table. He offers people a way to get the most they can from whatever box he is sent. Sure, he has a bit of an ego, but he generally backs up what he says with before and after measurements.

At the end of the day not everyone has the room needed for something like his largest open baffle with huge servo subs. I bet they sound great in a room that could do them justice. I’m glad to see him look around at what is going on in the industry, (the popularity of vintage looking speakers from Wharfedale, JBL, KLH, and others) and offers his take on them in kit form. The Bully and Brute seem to hit a good spot. He has also recommended completed speakers from a few others.

He shows that consumers need to be more aware and become more knowledgeable before they fork over their hard-earned money.

If people want more speaker reviews with measurements and subjective comments, Erin’s Audio is also a good channel to watch.

@sns as we know it applies to all consumer goods...everything is built to a "price point". Manufacturers probably have very good data telling them about how many units they will sell at any price and how raising that price hurts sales. Figure there are "sweet spots" for price vs. sales numbers vs. profit margin for everything, including speakers. It is crazy in a way. Given the labor involved, it can't add more than maybe $100 to $200 or so to use better crossover components or air core inductors, especially since manufacturers could buy in bulk) yet if that raises the selling price above their "target" they won't do it.  We as consumers need to do our homework. No, not everyone is very technically minded understanding all the graphs and what they mean, not everyone is an engineer, many are liberal arts majors and such. But even so, it isn't a bad idea to learn some basics. Good luck with your speaker mods. 

To the OP, @mikhailark how difficult was it to dial in the 12" servo subs in these? What is your opinion on the imaging? I know many say these old school big box speakers don't do as well as the popular skinny towers of today, but I have some old school ADS speakers in my bedroom that image spooky well. 

Do they indeed play well at both lower and higher volumes?  Thanks. 

To @thom_oz, yes, Erin's Audio Corner and Danny at GR Research give us more than just subjective opinions (which can also be good), but it is good to know and have solid information before making a purchase.  I keep hoping someone will send Danny or Erin a JBL L100 MK II Classic and see how it performs and if the crossover is up to snuff. It was on my short list but after a bad review of the L82 MK II by a channel who paid for them out of her own pocket, I have reservations, until I see some actual data. 

To the OP, @mikhailark having a remote for changing the response "on the fly" for various music genres and volume levels would be icing on the cake.  You might want to mention that to GR Research. Maybe they would make it an option one day. Have fun and happy listening!