GT Audio Works Hybrid Planar Speakers Listening Se

Greg Takesh of GT Audio Works build some very nice Hybrid Planar and are very competitively priced. Developed over many years, he provides some strong bass and strong mids with highs.

In trying to set a date and time, Greg was very accommodating and did all the heavy lifting to bring speakers to my place. Each weighs approximately
70 pounds or so. The built in plate amp power an 8 inch driver. There are 3 Planar panels and 1 ribbon panel which is long and spans the height of the 3 mid panels. Two 8 inch passive drivers add to the power sub which crossover around 70-80 Hz.

The 2 planar brought over were the lab models so were not pretty however it work very well and had the latest in it. Hauling them down to the basement was Greg's job which he took on very willingly. Prepared for the move, he had the right boards, hand truck and 2 planar which fit nicely into his midsized car.

We set this up in a room 15 by 20 by 8 approximately. The ceiling had sound absorbing tiles, the walls normal sheet rock and 2 windows on the long side of the room. For the Source we had computer music running of a NAS, decoded by Jriver on windows 7, buffering 4 seconds in memory and sent over USB DoP
1.0 style DSD bitstreaming to a Meitner MA-1 DAC. This fed the Rowland Synergy I pre to the VERITAS Monoblocks. Interconnects were Merrill Audio Interconnects, terminated with Cardas XLR on all ends. The whole system ran balanced.

Power cords to the VERITAS, MA-1 and Synergy were Triode Wire Labs MA-10, custom made for the VERITAS Monoblocks.

The power subs used GT Audio supplied cables. The first play was tried with Silver Symphony 48 pure silver speaker cables. Between the room and the cables, we it was very bright and brittle with reflections coming from the room. 2" absorbers, 44" square were put on the back wall behind the GT Audio Speakers which were about 4 feet from the back wall and 3 feet from the side wall, playing into the length of the room. 2 more absorbers were put on the side walls. The silver Symphony 48 was replaced with Merrill Audio Cold Welded Speaker Cables. This calmed the room down. The music was now fully detailed and crystal clear, with full excitement coming through although still hot at the top. Greg started to tweak the response and massaged the bass, complaining it was a little weak. We moved the chair back, realigned the speakers to chair.

We ran through Sara Brightman, Sara K, Japanese Drums, Rachmaninoff, Aaron Neville, Dave Brubeck, Marimba When, Patricia Barber, Steve Struss, Vivaldi from 2L and then some. What ever the GT Audio Planars were thrown, it play as though it was built for that. No issues. The Marimba music has a tendency to rattle the speakers if anything is loose and nothing rattled or buzzed.
It played as loud as you wanted to and hit the bass notes with vigor, keeping the excitement of the mids and highs.

For kicks, I suggest we change the powered bass to Triode Wire Labs MA-10 power cords. Wow, that tightened and lifted up the low end.

We started at 11am and I unfortunately had to leave for my daughters award ceremony so had to reluctantly ask Greg to leave at 6:30pm. A great listening session with wonderfully priced and sounding speakers. The VERITAS Monoblocks on the speakers were concise, clear, controlled and gave power to the speaker that had no trouble taking it. However the GT Audio Planars are best served with a Tube in the pre or the power.

The good news is that the speakers are very competitively prices, sound much better than the Magnepans and have bass that the Maggies cannot even imagine. On top of that Greg will make sure to tune your pair to your liking. The bad news is the good news - sell your Maggies and get yourself some GT Audio Planars with Triode Wire Labs MA-10 or 10+ cords. Make sure the boss has approved the trade, perhaps a dinner and flowers to seal the deal with the boss?