It would be my contention that ignoring the usefulness of GR or ASR would be folly. No one has all the answers especially when it comes to such a subjective subject. My fault with Danny is his unnecessary attacks on some very beloved speakers seemingly just for a sale. Information properly vetted and used is a good tool to have.
If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
Exhibit A for: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It
Object Lesson: If It Ain't Broke, Don't Say It's Broke and Damage the Good Reputation of A Well Regarded Company So You Can Make Money on Gullible Viewers
This is a critical review by Audio Science Review regarding a speaker crossover upgrade kit sold by GR Research for the Ascend Sierra-2EX V2 speakers. The video features a neutral A/B comparison and argues, with evidence, that the measurement methodology was flawed, that the performance was made worse, that false concerns about impedance are asserted, and overall there is no objective evidence of improvement and that the Ascend Sierra-2EX V2 is already a well-engineered speaker that does not require aftermarket modifications.
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All I can say is, I have personally helped upgrade 6 different pairs of speakers using GR Research's upgrade kits (I am a DIY'r and love to do this sort of thing). Everyone of the upgrades made an appreciable improvement. And despite the cost of them, were a great investment. Think about it this way; if someone spends $1000.00 on a pair of speakers, then another few hundred on an upgrade kit, the end results are much better than if the person spent $1300.00 on a pair of speakers in the first place. Those $1300 pair of speakers were still designed to meet a certain price point, and will still have crappy parts in them, so they will still be compromised. Back in the late 90's and early 00's, a friend and I used to have a cottage business upgrading speakers for people, mostly for fun, but we did pick up a few spare dollars. Although the advanced measuring methods available now, did not exist, we still were able to get noticeable improvements just by swapping parts with better parts, adding bracing to the cabinets, adding damping to the inside walls of the enclosures. |
About 1 year ago, GR “upgraded” my beloved Wilson Watt Puppy 8 speakers which I power with a pair of McIntosh MC275s in mono mode. These speakers are + - 3db across the frequency range, 22 hz to 22.5 kHz, 92 db sensitivity from the factory. We absolutely love the way they sound directly from Wilson. The GR solution was to make the tweeter play lower (longevity ?), take the low end out of the midrange speaker, and attach separate subwoofer plate amps to each woofer. GR claimed that it would sound 10 times better and it seems that he did not even hear it in that configuration. He also made derogatory comments about Wilson Engineering capabilities. I thought the whole thing was unfair to a legendary speaker, legendary company, legendary founder, and to the legendary reviewers who highly rated this speaker. For me, GR basically made a new set of 4 speakers. Transforming 2 full range tower speakers into 2 book self speakers or monitors and 2 subwoofers powered by additional amps. I think if he would just have said this and articulated why this was a more flexible configuration, it would have been more interesting. |
@hjdca I'm sure with those changes the speakers sound different. Does it sound 10 times better to you? I can't tell from your post if the "upgrade" was worth it to you. |
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