As I have consumed the content from this community over the past year and a half, I feel I should at least contribute a little to compensate for the knowledge you have all has shared. So provided below is my humble opinion of the experience I had listening to the legendary H-Frame OB Subs.
I had to the privileged to head up to the great white north over the labor day weekend and meet the legendary Jay and his good buddy Don.
First I want to thank Jay and Don for the hospitality. The food was off the charts good, the local wines were most tasty, and somehow we managed to stay out of the whiskey, which was probably a good thing.
I was lucky enough to hear both the NX-Treme Oticas and the NX-Oticas coupled with the servo-controlled OB H Frames. Since this is the H-Frame thread, I will stick to what I have to say about those beauties and maybe post some listening thoughts on the Oticas in their appropriate thread.
Let us start with a little history; I first came across these subs while looking for a way to augment the bass in my three-way speakers that seem to roll off way higher than I prefer. I had been evaluating the regular suspects (the ones you find in many of the hifi shops) and reading every review I could get my hands on. In one review of a hi-end show, the GR-Research OB subs were mentioned as a side note in the article where the author compared what he was hearing to Danny's H-Frames and how how has not heard such great bass since. Please note, that the H-Frames were not at the show, but he chose to use them as a reference point. That un-provoked positive review/comparison piqued my curiosity and sent me chasing a chance to hear this open baffle sound that is compared to the known best out there.
Fast forward 18 months and I finally got my chance to hear them.
I am so impressed with the H-Frames, they really produce incredible clean bass. The notes heard from the standup bass on Erykah Badu's Rim Shot, or any of the many Ray Brown recordings we played was just plain extraordinarily detailed and clean. It was like the notes were being plucked from the strings in front of me.
People have stated before that these subs just sound right, and I can only concur. The punch these subs provided (both the 3 stacks and the two stacks) was more than enough. When listening to the likes of Larry Carlton and Robben Ford jam away on a live recording the kick drum and bass guitar were providing that thump and blanket of vibratory bliss that just takes you deep into feeling the music like you are at the show. We even threw on some Kanye West and of course some of the heavy stuff like Rage Against the Machine, and Disturbed's Down with the Sickness just because you must when testing subs, and the H-Frames came through having no issues with the heavy hitters.
The statements people make about the bass not being boomy is spot on. I have heard some pf the major competitors out there with monster voice coils or even more monstrous price tags, and the servo subs in Jay's H-frames just sound cleaner to me. The big boys I did audition are excellent contenders, but the H-Frames are really incredible.
I feel like I am repeating what has been said before on the forums, but after finally having heard it myself, I can only validate all the positives that this kind of sub-woofer is known for.
So after careful consideration and intense negotiation with the wife, I opted to take Jay up on his offer for the Sloped Purple Triples he had already built. So, if anyone else was thinking about those... Too late! They are mine as I am taking delivery of them this month so do not even think about it!
I am finally in the elite OB Sub Owners Club.
