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Interesting ASR review of small GR Research speaker kit

I bounce between various kinds of analysis — more subjective listening reports, more quantitative measurement analyses and, my favorite, those that combine both strategies to tell a useful story about audio products.

Amir of ASR has just done a very powerful takedown of a fairly inexpensive kit being sold by Danny at GR Research. Not only does he prove his point about the speakers, he also makes (to my mind) a very convincing case that Danny put his finger on the scale in how he reported his own measurements. 

I'm not in any camp — Danny's or Amir's or anyone else's. What I appreciate is thoroughness and meticulousness in exposition. Danny does that in his own videos. (Again -- to me. I'm really still learning and cannot easily spot gaps in argument in this subject matter.)

I know people with some of GR's best kits — and I've heard one of them. They sounded incredible. I've watched a bunch of Danny's videos where he criticizes other companies; I've come away thinking, "Wow, he really revealed some of the grift embedded in that product." 

But here, the tables are turned, it seems, on Danny. I hope he responds, both to defend his reputation and methods, but also because it will set in relief where some of the distance may be between these two dominant online figures' methods in assessing what makes for a good speaker.

https://youtu.be/IikqAg38FPs

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Showing 2 responses by jaytor

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
742 posts
 

I haven't heard the LGK 2 (or the previous LGK) but I have built a few of GR-Research's models (NX-Otica, NX-Studio, Servo OB subs) and they are among the best speakers I've owned and easily the best value. 
 

I lost all respect for Amir when I read a few reviews where he bashed well respected products (some of which I really like) without even listening to them and praised products which I (and many others) think sound pretty mediocre. At this point, I am not willing to give Amir or his site any additional credibility by visiting his the site or watching his videos. 

jaytor's avatar
jaytor
742 posts
 

GR-Research works with third parties to create flat packs for their speaker kits. These still need to be glued and clamped and finished in some way, but this can be done with minimal tools. It took me 2-3 weeks spending an hour or so most evenings to build my pair of NX-Oticas and Triple Threat subs. This combination sounds better to me than any system I've owned.

There are also some third party builders that will build the cabinets for you with very high quality professional finish if you don't want to do any woodworking. That's what I did for my pair of GR-Research NX-Studios for my bedroom system. 

Another brand of kits I've heard/read good things about is CSS Audio, particularly their subs. They don't offer anything as high end as GR, but for moderately priced speakers, they look really nice. 

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