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

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I don’t care what Amir does, quite honestly, but I think most audiophiles owe it to themselves to build at least 1 kit in their lifetimes.

Besides GR, Meniscus, Madisound and Parts Express have a wide array of kits you can purchase which are ready for assembly. You’d learn a great deal just from doing this.  If you go into buying / making a kit go into it with the idea it is a learning exercise, not a purchasing exercise and you'll have a lot more fun.

If kits are never your thing but you want giant killers I can’t recommend Fritz enough for the price/value proposition.

I have been building speaker kits since I was in high school. I was kinda forced into this idea by getting burned really bad by a fly by night audio salesman. Since I was in woodshop already, I had everything that I needed for the task.

 By a wide margin I can say that kit building is as good as anything that I could afford otherwise. Yes, you take the chance that you won't be satisfied with the build soundwise. Just like paying good money buying a speaker. 

 GR Research offers a sub kit that I built last year, and it is one of those experiences/outcomes that I will never regret. I prefer to build my own enclosures for the sake of quality, but the parts supplied by GR Research were the best that I had seen in some time.

  I am not so naive to believe that things won't change with any company due to various reasons. I will be paying close attention to how things progress.

A tiny driver will never be good. No replacement for displacement. They might be ok in the extreme near field (1-2’ desk speakers). 

GR resource made a “rebuttal” video already. 
 

For me? Measurements matter but not everything important is measured. The speakers I have liked long term that have been less fussy have always measured well. Hard to argue with a kipple when used right. 

GR Research is a respected audiophile speaker manufacturer. They are devoted to the advancement of high end audio. Amir is not.