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

128x128hilde45

@johnah5 

Regarding your bible comment, why would you not toss the entire thing out if you find some parts are not believable/true?…If some aren't true then how do you know any are true?  

No, because not all claims are dependent on the truth of other claims. 

I have a mechanic who believes the Covid virus has microchips in it planted there by Bill Gates. He is paranoid, ill informed about politics, and allows his perception of facts to be twisted by ideology. In this subject matter, he's not credible.

He also thinks that the rotors on my brakes are worn out because he's seen it a thousand times before and has physical evidence it's happening with my car, now. His job depends on good diagnoses, he has training in the relevant area, and he has evidence.

I have no problem accepting the second claim regardless of the first.
 

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. 

Maybe you can point out which products he bashed without listening to them.  I have read or watched many of his reviews and I have not seen that.  I also like Erin's Audio Corner and New Record Day for his binaural recordings and direct comparisons.

One might argue that a speaker that performs well objectively (measurements) will likely sound good but the opposite cannot be said, i.e. that a speaker that measures poorly will sound good.

@holmz

"I can appreciate that people do not like AM’s message," Thanks for understanding holmz

"or maybe his message delivery"… Thanks again

 

@barjohn

"One might argue that a speaker that performs well objectively (measurements) will likely sound good" Correct, One might

"Maybe you can point out which products he bashed without listening to them." One comes to mind... MuseTec MH-DA005

I looked at his review on the MuseTec and frankly like many DACs the distortion would be below the hearing level for 99% of listeners, even at its worst.  The jitter is more likely to be something that more people would be able to hear but the fundamental point was that the performance was poor relative to other DACs costing less.