GT Audio Works Hybrid Planar Speakers Listening Se


Greg Takesh of GT Audio Works build some very nice Hybrid Planar and are very competitively priced. Developed over many years, he provides some strong bass and strong mids with highs.

In trying to set a date and time, Greg was very accommodating and did all the heavy lifting to bring speakers to my place. Each weighs approximately
70 pounds or so. The built in plate amp power an 8 inch driver. There are 3 Planar panels and 1 ribbon panel which is long and spans the height of the 3 mid panels. Two 8 inch passive drivers add to the power sub which crossover around 70-80 Hz.

The 2 planar brought over were the lab models so were not pretty however it work very well and had the latest in it. Hauling them down to the basement was Greg's job which he took on very willingly. Prepared for the move, he had the right boards, hand truck and 2 planar which fit nicely into his midsized car.

We set this up in a room 15 by 20 by 8 approximately. The ceiling had sound absorbing tiles, the walls normal sheet rock and 2 windows on the long side of the room. For the Source we had computer music running of a NAS, decoded by Jriver on windows 7, buffering 4 seconds in memory and sent over USB DoP
1.0 style DSD bitstreaming to a Meitner MA-1 DAC. This fed the Rowland Synergy I pre to the VERITAS Monoblocks. Interconnects were Merrill Audio Interconnects, terminated with Cardas XLR on all ends. The whole system ran balanced.

Power cords to the VERITAS, MA-1 and Synergy were Triode Wire Labs MA-10, custom made for the VERITAS Monoblocks.

The power subs used GT Audio supplied cables. The first play was tried with Silver Symphony 48 pure silver speaker cables. Between the room and the cables, we it was very bright and brittle with reflections coming from the room. 2" absorbers, 44" square were put on the back wall behind the GT Audio Speakers which were about 4 feet from the back wall and 3 feet from the side wall, playing into the length of the room. 2 more absorbers were put on the side walls. The silver Symphony 48 was replaced with Merrill Audio Cold Welded Speaker Cables. This calmed the room down. The music was now fully detailed and crystal clear, with full excitement coming through although still hot at the top. Greg started to tweak the response and massaged the bass, complaining it was a little weak. We moved the chair back, realigned the speakers to chair.

We ran through Sara Brightman, Sara K, Japanese Drums, Rachmaninoff, Aaron Neville, Dave Brubeck, Marimba When, Patricia Barber, Steve Struss, Vivaldi from 2L and then some. What ever the GT Audio Planars were thrown, it play as though it was built for that. No issues. The Marimba music has a tendency to rattle the speakers if anything is loose and nothing rattled or buzzed.
It played as loud as you wanted to and hit the bass notes with vigor, keeping the excitement of the mids and highs.

For kicks, I suggest we change the powered bass to Triode Wire Labs MA-10 power cords. Wow, that tightened and lifted up the low end.

We started at 11am and I unfortunately had to leave for my daughters award ceremony so had to reluctantly ask Greg to leave at 6:30pm. A great listening session with wonderfully priced and sounding speakers. The VERITAS Monoblocks on the speakers were concise, clear, controlled and gave power to the speaker that had no trouble taking it. However the GT Audio Planars are best served with a Tube in the pre or the power.

The good news is that the speakers are very competitively prices, sound much better than the Magnepans and have bass that the Maggies cannot even imagine. On top of that Greg will make sure to tune your pair to your liking. The bad news is the good news - sell your Maggies and get yourself some GT Audio Planars with Triode Wire Labs MA-10 or 10+ cords. Make sure the boss has approved the trade, perhaps a dinner and flowers to seal the deal with the boss?
ua100k
It's funny how many products are claimed to "sound better than Magnepans", but never actually do.
Does anyone know how much the new GT Audio ,GT3R, speakers per set are going for? I listened to them at the Capital Audiofest two weeks ago. I was given a flyer with the cost of the subwoofer array "Rythmic powered and controlled", that they had playing with them but nothing on the GTR3's. I know this is an older thread, but noticed Mr. Takesh posting above in 2013. I went to the GT website but no pricing. There was info on a small postcard at the show but not enough. Looking at them they seem to be advertised as "With no crossover" but I noticed one behind each cabinet on the floor for the GT3R's. The first song I heard sounded horrible. But it ended as I was leaving and the next song began and stopped me. The entire system was quite nice. But with the woofer array starting at $6000 for 1/6th of what was set up it's a bit pricey. "No price was given except the confusing flyer that said 'Starting at $5995! for the 2x 12" woofers! And at $5995!" 
  So in fact they (could) have meant a total of either six or twelve grand for the base set-up available. This "Kurfuffel", because of the way they worded the flyer. Which means either $18,000 OR $36,000 for the six per side set up that was playing at the show. Quite a purchase price for two, twelve inch transducers "Naked to the world", in a small open backed cabinet with exposed wiring.
     Funny way to do business. But I guess it's just a, "Let's keep them on their toe's!" attitude at that company eh??
     Does anyone actually own a pair of these? I would LOVE to hear from someone other than "Mr. Takesh" that does. No offense.
These are $4,500 a pair. They are still very nice for the price. There is supposed to be a $2,995/pair but I don't know when they will be out.

They play louder then 90db due to the planar design, at least that is what I heard. I have electrostatics and they also play louder with a lot of head room. Although 75 W/pc is not a lot of power....
Are these $2995 a pair? I may consider them if so. They look nice and think they may match up well with my 75 W/PC Exposure integrated since they are 90db. In your opinion, did they suffer from a one person sweet spot, or are they good across a fairly wide sweet spot? Important for me as I am using them in a LR situation for music & HT.
Merrill,
Thank you for having me over to your place and allowing me to spend the better part of the day with your wonderful music system.
I am always interested in hearing my speakers in as many varied settings as possible...I learn a lot each time.
The fact that we dialed in the sound to a good result in just a few hours speaks volumes as to the quality and neutrality of your Veritas mono blocks and associated equipment. Had we a few days I believe we could have taken it up another notch or two.
I was quite astounded at the level of volume that could be achieved and still play effortlessly and cleanly.
While they produce a very refined sound, they are also extremely dynamic, and transparent lending the appropriate slam and see through quality to music when called on to do so.
Your music collection is formidable and my jaw was agape more than once with many of the tracks you played.
Your amps present the music in a very vivid and dynamic, but smooth and clean presentation. I could hear deep into the recording.
They controlled my speakers to the finest degree.
I own tube and solid state gear and cant say the Veritas mono's sound like either...they just sound fantastic !
Sincerely,
Greg Takesh
GT Audio Works