My email to GR Research in January

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THROWBACK

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My email to GR Research in January
« on: 26 Feb 2019, 11:34 pm »
Dear Danny,

I'm mad.

My hobby has been audio for over 60 years. I built Heathkits, Dynakits, and the Harmon Kardon Citations I, II, and II, and a number of speaker systems. And I was forever upgrading, tweaking and all-around just messing with my system to make sometimes only marginal improvements; sometimes even going backwards. But that was part of the fun. Some of my "improvements" were inspired by ideas I got from attending audio shows. Also, I have subscribed to nearly all of the audio magazines for nearly all of those 60+ years, starting with High Fidelity. I discovered Stereophile back in 1966 and Absolute Sound not too long after, and totally devoured them.

Today I still go to RMAF, but spend only a few seconds in most of the rooms. Stereophile and Absolute Sound come every month, but I barely glance at them now.

The problem is that my system sounds so good now that I no longer wish to mess with it and "messing with it" was a great part of the fun and satisfaction.  I was at a friend's house yesterday and he has an all-digital system with top-rated electronics and speakers connected by $3000 power cords and other exotic goodies, but I could hardly wait to get back to my own system to experience the "a-a-h" factor again. I have optimized my system around your wonderful GR speakers. The good news is that I am enjoying consistently superb sound; the bad news is I am no longer a rabid audio hobbyist. I have not, in fact, messed with it for something like three years now.

I did do four tweaks to my speaker system before I stopped messing with it, however.
1. I rewired the panels to give a higher-impedance load to my Atmasphere OTLs.
2. To my ears, the wire you sent resulted in a very noticeable "whang" effect. I swapped your wire for Marigo wire (fairly expensive!) and the whang went away.
3. I sent the bass amps to Jeremy Folsom for his mod and there was a very nice increase in articulation and punch.
4. I put in some Jupiter caps.

I'm still mad, but I'm getting over it.

Thank you and congratulations for putting together a speaker system that is as good as any I have ever heard, including some of the ridiculously-expensive behemoths that today's audio writers drool over. No thanks. I'll keep my wonderful GR's.





Rocket_Ronny

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #1 on: 26 Feb 2019, 11:46 pm »
I'd be mad too.

Well, actually not. I don't want to mess with audio anymore, just want great sound. The GR Super Vs deliver in spades.

Rocket Ronny

OzarkTom

Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #2 on: 27 Feb 2019, 12:11 am »
delete
« Last Edit: 27 Feb 2019, 03:16 am by OzarkTom »

Tyson

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #3 on: 27 Feb 2019, 12:39 am »
I've heard Throwback's system, it is very, very, very nice.  One of the best I've ever heard, especially if your standard is "realistic acoustic instruments in a large space".  They do large scale orchestral as well as I've ever heard (and I include my own Super 7s in that assessment). 

HAL

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #4 on: 27 Feb 2019, 02:46 am »
THROWBACK,

Love the write-up!   

Folsom

Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #5 on: 27 Feb 2019, 02:58 am »
I'd love to hear it.

Danny Richie

Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #6 on: 28 Feb 2019, 12:14 am »
Hey Chuck, I am really glad you are happy with the speakers.

I actually am really surprised that it is working so well for you. The way you re-wired the drivers all in series means the transfer functions of the crossovers are way off from the original design. The crossover will be letting the woofers play up much higher than normal and it will let the tweeters play down much lower than normal. So there is a ton of driver overlap.

It looks like you lost a tweeter on each side as well.

For those of you that don't know or have never met Chuck, he is one of the nicest guys I've met in the industry.  :thumb:

jn316

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #7 on: 28 Feb 2019, 08:23 pm »
I like Nipper!

KLH007

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #8 on: 28 Feb 2019, 09:54 pm »
Chuck, I may have to arrange a trip to the Springs to hear your system come September (early RMAF).

Rocket_Ronny

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #9 on: 1 Mar 2019, 01:11 am »
What speakers?

Rocket Ronny

mlundy57

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #10 on: 1 Mar 2019, 02:51 am »
What speakers?

Rocket Ronny

They look like LS-Xs

THROWBACK

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Re: My email to GR Research in January
« Reply #11 on: 1 Mar 2019, 03:58 am »
The speakers are open-baffle LS-9s. I had to wire them in series to match them up better with my Atma-Sphere MA-1 OTL amps. And yes, it did cost me the use of one of the tweeters. I worried about the crossover point too, Danny, but I get a nice smooth curve and they sound wonderful unto mine ears. I had a lot more difficulty matching the servo subs to the LS-9s, but there are enough controls on the Rythmik amps that I eventually got it. Took a lot of patience, though.

BTW, for you guys who have not met Danny, he's a heck of a lot nicer than I am.