i thought this video was good. Good channel too.
That guys has a lot of words…
I thought the OP mentioned a small DIY speaker, but to me it looks a bit big.
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.
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"The design of those speakers is just dumb." What's dumb is taking a speaker designed to be used in a specific manner for a specific application and testing it completely inappropriately. @seikosha said the same above, and he is correct. It's like testing a single-ended tube amp putting out 3 watts with a low sensitivity loudspeaker. Gee, it sounds distorted, what a surprise. Duh. GR Research offers other models for non-desktop use, ones with larger drivers that play louder and lower. No one can break the rules of basic physics. A 12" woofer on a desk top?!. Yes, Danny Richie is a fan and proponent of open baffle loudspeakers, but they are not appropriate for desk top use. Is he not allowed to suspend that preference to make products for which open baffle is not appropriate? "They might be ok in the extreme near field (1-2' desk speakers)." I'll give @james633 the benefit of the doubt and assume he is unaware that THAT is the exact application for which the speaker being discussed was designed and offered. Yet Amir reviewed it as if it is a "normal" full range loudspeaker. Does he also test off road tires on the race track? |
I’ve realized the best way to get fantastic sounding speakers is to build them yourself - if you have the skills.. a mass produced product can not compete cost effectively in terms of cabinet design/build quality.
I build the meniscus Helios in similar fashion to Javad’s design, and they have blown me away. Just amazing. |
I am not quite sure how you get this from the video. From the 1 minute 20 second mark to about 3 minutes he explains exactly what others have said above. These speakers were designed for near field desk top type of listening and were never intended to be full range or to play loud. Both of which Amir did. Without coming out and directly saying it, Danny is saying that the speaker was tested improperly.
When you are wrong and deserve to be called out, you should be called out. He was wrong and deserved to be called out in this case. |
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