Fascinated By GR Research Channel


Lately I've watched a number of the videos on GR Research's youtube channel and been very intrigued. If you aren't familiar with them, they design and sell some speakers, but most of their business is DIY speaker kits, and doing upgrades on customer's speakers. In the videos, they show how they measure the performance characteristics of speakers sent in and then explain the thought process and methodology of choosing improvements. 

If nothing else, anyone wanting to better understand the technical section of reviews (e.g. John Atkinson's in Stereophile), would likely learn something watching.

Another interesting aspect of these videos is the clear untangling of various manufacturers' choices in balancing cost for performance and the sonic impact of various compromises. 

Get your popcorn and check it out. 

I'm also curious to hear of your experiences with any of their kits or products and if your findings match their messaging. I've always understood that better parts quality will improve sonics, but this channel demonstrates exactly how with great clarity...fascinating! Cheers,

Spencer 

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I agree he doesn’t seem to push his products hard at all. It also would appear that if you are the first to send him a particular brand and model to play with, he will do the upgrades for free. This helps everyone in the long run.

All the best Danny.

What’s up with all these comments about how he doesn’t push his products or services? That’s the whole point of his videos!!!!! I’ve got a bridge to sell a few of you ;)

 

”look at all the faults I can find with this speaker and here is what I would do to make it better” is the point to every video he does. It makes people think he can make any speaker better.  And obviously if he can find faults in some of the great speaker designs then it MUST mean his speakers are flawless……..

The best point to take from all of this is that you don’t just throw more expensive parts at a design, like others have said, it might make it sound different but it was designed to sound a certain way. You can change this but it doesn’t always mean it’s better in the end.

I have built 2 kits from Danny and a crossover upgrade on another. He is a straight shooter and IMO does great work. The X-Statics are a fantastic speaker. Quality parts make good music, seems simple enough.

"I've watched a few on recommendation. Mostly rubbish for the ignorant."

ieales: coming out from under the bridge, eh?

 

There are reasons the GR Research rooms at RMAF were constantly receiving Best of show comments from reviewers like Steven Stone and others.  The man absolutely knows what he is doing.  He has done consulting work for Usher, Tyler Acoustics, Hawthorne, Emerald Physics, and the list goes on...  

 

His NX-series of speakers are stunners for the money.  The NXtreme line arrays with open baffle bass modules are the most dynamic, coherent and sonically invisible loudspeakers I have ever heard.

 

Rubbish is commenting without basis.

I know that the proprietor of Harbeth is very much ‘old school’ in that he doesn’t believe audiophile components provide any improvement over industrial grade, and that he personally uses well maintained 1970’s era transistor amplifiers because it’s very difficult to significantly improve on them. Not real big on speaker cables either - very much a ‘wire is wire’ man..

I think you can see that philosophy clearly reflected in the speaker dissection.