I have heard quite a few systems built around GIP drivers, although I have not heard their complete systems. A local dealer uses GIP drivers in premium custom systems. He has a fairly extensive collection of genuine Western Electric drivers, but, he has been selling them off because the GIP drivers are at least aas good as the original WE drivers and it is far easier to match new drivers than to match really old drivers. A couple of weekends ago, I listened to one of his better systems that employs an 18" fieldcoil driver (a 9461, I believe). This driver has a lighter cone than the 4181 reproduction, so it sounds a little bit lighter in upper bass weight (I like it) than the classic 4181. The midrange driver was a genuine WE driver, a 713b (my personal favorite for midrange compression driver), and the tweeter is a GIP 597 replica. This is a really nice sounding, albeit expensive, system.
This dealer has put together some very extreme systems utilizing GIP drivers, such as one that employs twin 4181 woofers per channel, a reproduction of a WE 15 horn, GIP 555 compression driver and a fieldcoil tweeter that is GIP's improvement on the WE 597 tweeter (it costs $58,000 for a pair of tweeters, without the fieldcoil power supply). I heard this giant system in the room in which it was being built, but not in an ideal listening setup, but still, it was evident that it would be spectacular.
My dealer likes the 12" fullrange GIP 4165 driver used that way, but, my own preference was that driver with a decent tweeter. I heard it both with and without a tweeter in an otherwise identical setup and the tweeter seems to smooth out the response quite a bit. As a fullrange driver with a tweeter on top, this combination sounded quite complete, although I think I would still prefer an old Jensen/ERPI M10 fieldcoil driver with a good tweeter.
In short, I think that GIP drivers are terrific. They sound good, they are evenly matched and competitive with original WE drivers, unlike the knock offs coming from China.
This dealer has put together some very extreme systems utilizing GIP drivers, such as one that employs twin 4181 woofers per channel, a reproduction of a WE 15 horn, GIP 555 compression driver and a fieldcoil tweeter that is GIP's improvement on the WE 597 tweeter (it costs $58,000 for a pair of tweeters, without the fieldcoil power supply). I heard this giant system in the room in which it was being built, but not in an ideal listening setup, but still, it was evident that it would be spectacular.
My dealer likes the 12" fullrange GIP 4165 driver used that way, but, my own preference was that driver with a decent tweeter. I heard it both with and without a tweeter in an otherwise identical setup and the tweeter seems to smooth out the response quite a bit. As a fullrange driver with a tweeter on top, this combination sounded quite complete, although I think I would still prefer an old Jensen/ERPI M10 fieldcoil driver with a good tweeter.
In short, I think that GIP drivers are terrific. They sound good, they are evenly matched and competitive with original WE drivers, unlike the knock offs coming from China.