And while I'm asking, has anyone modified Sony ss-cs5 speakers with a GR Research kit?

I haven’t. I’ve looked at some of his stuff, not this one specifically. My impression is that most of his stuff is good. I wouldn’t be surprised if his kit really does make this speaker perform well. Unfortunately, many speaker OEMs spend more on looks than sound becasue subconsciously, that’s what many people who buy consumer grade speakers make their decisions on.

So if you take a speaker box, premade that you can buy on craigslist for $60, put components in it that are better than the originals, partly because technology marches on and partly beccause you are spending more than the oem did, you can make a nice speaker. GR does the research for you to see what components sound good together. That is the theory. I haven’t tried much of his stuff but I did build speaker cables somewhat based on his design, I modified it quite a bit, and they are superb.

I think he does a good job helping the modder/bulider like myself, but his prices are not cheap. He has to make a living and it looks like his volume isn’t very high.

Jerry

Yes but Gr doesn’t replace the drivers. Have you seen these speakers? I have designed and built speakers, I even rebuilt a pair of Sonys. They were smallish with reasonable cabinets and that was about it.  I had on hand about 99% of everything I needed and the cabinets were just the right size for this project. I gutted them of everything; the cheap drivers, x-overs and started from scratch by cutting new openings for the new drivers, bracing the cabinets front to back and constraining the sides together, then dampening the interior with heavy material, plus porting the cabinet. Even the grilles were removed and I made better looking/functioning grilles. Plus the spring speaker connectors and that whole crappy cup replaced, finally a new x-over with polyprop caps, air core inductors, good quality resistors and a black semi gloss paintjob. It weighs 3-4 times as much and basically a whole new speaker. My point of all of this is that $500.00 worth of x-over parts on something with drivers that look less robust than than my Sony’s (Fun?) project originally had. Also it seems like for six or seven hundred bucks you can by some nice used speakers. I guess what I have been getting atis that it was an odd choice of a speaker to choose to rebuild. What next, Radio Shack Minimus 7’s or Zenith allegros?

In my opinion, spending about $500 on a $100 speaker to improve it is just too cost-prohibitive.  I’d much rather buy a set of used $500-$600 speakers that when I need to sell them, I can get my money back.  When you try to sell a set of those highly-modified Sony’s, what is someone willing to pay?  $200, maybe, if you’re lucky?  $150 realistically?  No thanks. 

I own a pair of Wilson Audio Duette... and just ordered the upgrade for the Sony SS-CS5 from Danny at GR Research.

Why did I order the upgrade, when I already own Wilson Audio Duette?...🧐

The thought processes I’ve read about the cost equation for the upgrade are interesting - and likely moot / based on conjecture. "I can get XYZ for the cost of the upgrade". Well, how do you know whether that is better? If you examine the measurements on the GR Research site, including and in particular, the decay plot... these are extremely fast drivers with minimal ringing.

Many people make the mistake of thinking a certain price range is going to buy a certain level of performance relative to another product. It seems to me, this hobby is the wrong one to be barking up that tree!

Below are measurements of the Duette with the upgraded Sony overlayed... the Sony is in Red. If the Duette were in Red, would people not be saying "Oh, but of course, the cubic dollars spent will deliver that kind of performance, etc." The measurements are... "uncomfortable".  The Duette measurements are from the review done on Soundstage Audio. Folks should read the review. 

It is what it is... and I expect it to be a revelation. Again, there’s a reason why I ordered the upgrade... even already owning the Duette. A key factor is that I already own dual subwoofers - SVS SB16-Ultra. Without subs, this would not be a comparison. With subs... we’ll see how it shakes out and I am very much looking forward to it!