Past or current Green Mountain C-3 owners

Hi I owned a pair several years ago. Please this is only my opinion and you know what the saying is about opinions. I was not happy but the designer is deceased so he is not here to defend his speaker(seemed a nice guy). The adjustment thing I spent hours tweaking. The threads for the adjustment screws just go into the concrete and once you move the screws in that concrete mixture they are gone(had to put in plastic inserts). The speaker cones are basically non removable as they thread from the inside another poor design. Then the 50.00 Pioneer woofers with stamped baskets he had me putting plumbers putty on them to dampen the ringing. And do not look at the 20.00 xover and cheap wiring plus the pieces of insulation had fallen down inside the cabinet I had to reglue them into place.. I know these sold for 10 grand but please mdf and concrete were not that expensive 10 years ago. Just my take and they sounded o.k. I just got fed up with them and their looks. Best wishes and I never mentioned this before now. You may love them. I am just stating my experience and not here to deride them as most other speakers are built just as cheap and cost just as much. Just watch some of the GR Research videos to see the truth. 

Batman. Thanks for the input. I did do the HX crossover upgrade myself. Roy sent me the new crossover with very detailed instructions to install with a new Marigo wring harness.  Seemed to make a significant  improvement, so what speakers. I did the plumbers putty thing on the woofer as well.  So what speakers did you move to?

I've been a huge fan of Green Mountain audio speakers up until about two years ago and had various models including the Europas, Callistos, EOS HX and Continuum 1.5s.  I've heard the C2s (very similar/same as C3s) on many occasions as well but actually preferred the 1.5s as the bass was tighter but the C2/C3s much more efficient.  I thought the C2-C3 were excellent from 90 hzs on up but the bass a was a little loose below that in my listening sessions at my friends house with a few different amps.  It always felt like there was a bit of a hole or discontinuity in the upper bass range where the 12 inch woofer handed off to the five inch mid but that was just my impression.  I didn't hear the HX crossover upgrade.

I do agree the screws would stop inserting in the stone and I also had to apply putty to the underside of the baskets in the monitors to stop the ringing and it did work to prevent that but was odd that Roy did not add putty or correct that when assembling them.

Anyway what I admired about those speakers was the open immersive sound all The Green mountains projected and lack of boxiness so was a big fan for about 20 years.  They truly disappeared and were very revealing of any component changes.  You had to be careful in the amplification/DAC, etc. used as the sound could become a little harsh but when you had the right amp/DAC they were phenomena.  Still to this day the C-2s/C1.5s are one of my favorite speakers I've ever heard.

I've moved onto the Spatial audio X5's open baffle speakers and they are just better in pretty much every way.  The Spatials have that same open three dimensional midrange and excellent depth but the treble is even more satisfying and the biggest change is the bass to upper bass region where there is absolutely no contest.  Dynamics and bass instruments are much much better and clearer.  Obviously having no box gives that very open sound as well that even the Green Mountains cannot match.

This was the one speaker I heard that I finally said it is better than the Green Mountain Audios.  I still have a pair of the Callistos in my home theater setup.

Thanks Mrotino for the insights on Spatial Audio. Open Baffle have been on my mind as options like Spatial or GR Research DIY..  

Sure.  Again you have awesome speakers and the Spatials were the first speaker that I've heard in the past 20 years that resulted in my switching brands.  The only issue is it will probably be difficult to audition either of those brands prior to purchasing them but maybe where you live you can.  

I actually bought the Spatials without ever hearing them so took a chance.  I had heard another open baffle brand which convinced me to take a chance.  Sure they can be returned but shipping would be very expensive and difficult so my suggestion is to try and listen to either brand prior to buying either.

It has been so many years since I owned the G.M. C3 and several pair of speakers have passed thru my system. From Klipsch La Scalas, Cornwall 2s, Focal 1008BE and Focal Kanta 2s just to name some of them. I got rid of the G.M.s due to the Mickey Mouse stuff I alluded to in prior post and the looks. My hearing is failing and now I must use hearing aids. Last hearing test I lost 20db in the midrange in one year. I currently own Spendor Classic 2/3s and enjoy them I guess as much as any. I did own the Kanta2s for 3 years but wanted to start downsizing. I have an audio buddy who owned the larger Spatials with powered subwoofer. You might do a search for him (Ozzy) and get his opinion as he is a better judge of speakers. Good hunting and best of luck in your search. My conclusion after almost 50 years no such thing as a perfect speaker. Just some that you like listening to your music thru them.

@Batman1 I agree there is no perfect speaker. That is why most of us have a few different speakers to rotate thru. I have the modified Klipsch Chorus II..very fun speaker and Martin Logan Summits.