@moonwatcher Between Erin and Danny I think we have two truly useful and VERY accurate sources of analysis for this field of study. I love and follow both channels regularly.
A brief review of GR Research Bully
I was looking for speakers that would allow me to enjoy classic rock at reasonable volume. NOT at a venue volume. I don’t like loud music at all. Thus something that allows me to have full spectrum sound without having to crank in up. First I tried ProAc 38R, which were nice, but lacked bass at low volumes. Accuphase amp has loudness and tone controls, but they did not quite worked to my satisfaction.
So I ordered a pair of GR Research Bully, assembled. GR typically sells kits, but I am not into finishing cabinets so rather prefer it professionally done. It took about 12 weeks from the order to delivery. I did not buy matching stands and instead ordered custom metal made for me.
I am very satisfied. The bass section is powered - the amp is Rhythmik. It is, effectively, a subwoofer and is very adjustable - crossover frequency 40-120Hz, phase 0-180 and even includes parametric equalizer. This allowed me to adjust amount of bass to the volume level I prefer.
The speakers come with printed measurement chart (in GR Research room). I also performed a number of measurements in my room with UMIK-1 and REW for Windows. I could make frequency response pretty close to linear, but prefer a bump below 100 Hz to compensate for lower listening volumes. Waterfall is also very clean, no ringing.
Associated gear: Denafrips Terminator with DDC, Rega P6 + SoundSmith MC, Pass XP-12, Accuphase E650. The room is 30x16x8 with some acoustic panels and ASC Tube traps.
- ...
- 39 posts total
Post removed |
To the OP, @mikhailark how difficult was it to dial in the 12" servo subs in these? What is your opinion on the imaging? I know many say these old school big box speakers don't do as well as the popular skinny towers of today, but I have some old school ADS speakers in my bedroom that image spooky well. |
@moonwatcher - if you're at all interested in flat (accurate) frequency response and driver time alignment those JBL are a non-starter. I really do like how the new Klipsches and the JBL Classic look but (to these ears) they sound quite primitive next to a Vandersteen, Rockport (admittedly stupidly expensive) or even the Andrew Jones Mofi products, all of which have near-flat response 200hz - 16khz. Danny at GR seems very dedicated to flat on-axis response, accurate phase and smooth off-axis response, I really need to try one of his designs before I stop collecting gear. |
@moonwatcher - since you can dial sub part, you can add enough bass for YOUR level of listening, compensating for the typical loudness curve loss and room issues. I only wish they would have remote with different presets :-) so I could flip between levels for different recordings or my mood of the day... Dialing in took a while. I first dialed to my general taste using favorite recordings, then measured using REW software and UMIK-1 mic. Moved speakers around quite a bit and found that they like to be quite close into corners. I didn't need parametric EQ although there is a room mode dip so I may try and compensate later. Now, imaging is surprisingly wide. I don't have to be in a sweet spot - as compared to, say, ProAc 38R that I also own. I think $5-6K Bullies sound like many $20K+ speakers. I am pretty happy with value for money. Wish they would use higher end finish and have remote for the sub. |
- 39 posts total