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Stereophile reviews the active Grimm LS1C

A day before I started a thread on active speakers Stereophile published a review on the fully active Grimm LS1C. Fully configured (upper and lower sections) you are looking at $30k for a pair or more depending on finish.

There’s a lot I like about the design here, except the price, of course:

  • It’s aesthetically pleasing and doesn’t look like a monolith. It’s thin (front to back) and open.
  • Wide baffle (I’d rather have a wide speaker than narrow)
  • Woofer positioned very close to the ground.
  • Excellent off-axis performance ( a rare thing in high end speakers ) both horizontally and vertically.
  • Excellent recommendations for listening position and speaker angle given the tweeter used

I’m not sure I care about having a "perfect" response curve. Personally my choices have always been to apply EQ sparingly. There are systems like Dirac for instance that can hammer a speaker into measured frequency domain perfection but it’s the time domain performance that I find interesting.

The subwoofer is a bit of a mystery though. They make a big deal of the tweeter and midwoofer but the driver used in the sub is not listed. Given the size and claimed low end extension I suspect they are relying on the DSP to compensate for a cabinet that would otherwise be too small.

Would be really interesting to hear who has heard them and who would think this speaker was for them.

erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by phusis

phusis's avatar
phusis
1,246 posts
 

I've heard the active Grimm speaker system (incl. the sub module) at a couple of occasions, and what has struck me with their sound fairly consistently is the coherency, tonal authenticity, balance, resolution and relative ease of presentation. There's an unforced "rightness" to the sound of the Grimm's that's difficult to articulate but nonetheless immediately appealing in its perceived quality, and a relief, really; they don't call undue attention to themselves, and instead "channels" the music in quite a natural way. 

I usually favor a higher efficiency segment of speakers (also actively configured), but in a no more than a moderately sized listening room the Grimm's are a treat. My sonic preference could be described as a "musical monitor" sound of sorts, and I'd say they comply with that sonic DNA - for whatever it's worth. 

phusis's avatar
phusis
1,246 posts
 

@erik_squires wrote:

Based on the driver sizes, this makes sense.  It’s great they can bring the bass down to below 20 Hz but physics are unforgiving.  They can’t possibly get to 20Hz with a tiny module in a large space. 

That’s just it, but they are a remarkably complete package within their confines. Maybe because they are so "well behaved" and capable at what they do down low - overall, really - it is appreciated to an even higher degree with regard to extension and fullness. A bit like eating high quality Belgian chocolate and how it doesn’t take the same quantity as would be needed with a lesser quality chocolate (or certainly with a less rich palette in taste), to be a full or satisfying experience.

Still, these speakers are quite well sized for most living rooms.  At $30K or more though, most with modest listening rooms will have a tough time affording them.

True, but one has to factor in the only thing really needed is a good streamer (like the MU1, which sadly isn’t cheap either..) to call it a day and start enjoying the music. Looking at a separates solution with passive speakers in the same quality ballpark would be hideously expensive by comparison, if it even achieves in select areas what the Grimm’s excel at. In any case it’s a LOT of money for sure, no doubt. 

The one feature they have I think almost all high end speakers should is excellent off-axis performance.  Like really excellent.  This speaks well to having great imaging AND a wide sweet spot, plus the wide baffle IMHO helps thius a great deal.  Besides the price there’s just a lot about this speaker’s design and features I like.  Of course I says htis without actually hearing them, so readers should take my musings as uninformed.

Seek them out, have a listen. Word of caution though: you may regret it.. ;) 

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