Hi. I'm an audiophile (hate that word) and have been at this for about 30 years. For many years I just read about things, bought equipment, listened to music. Over the last couple of years I have become really good friends with a very accomplished electrical engineer(among other things) who has mentored me and introduced me to an entire world of "engineering thinking" applied to audio. I have always been interested in electronics (I'm a surgeon) and love to do things things with my hands. Long story short, after studying hundreds of hours of electronics at the University of YouTube (Uncle Doug, Blueglow Electronics, Mr Carlson's Lab to name a few really good sites) I have rebuilt (currently on my 4th pair) vintage tube amplifiers that sound better than anything I could have bought for 50K. Again, I have been lucky to have been mentored by the very best. My friend used to build guidance systems for Polaris missiles and is connected to some very knowledgeable audio engineers. So, I haven't designed these things, I am the beneficiary of some really kind and smart people. I do love to build them and have contributed a few upgrades - usually having to do with better components.
Anyway, that brings me to GR Research. In watching audio related videos I stumbled upon a site called New Record Day and this incredibly knowledgeable and thoughtful guy named Danny Richie. He obviously is passionate about building speakers and adheres to sound engineering principles. As I was going to purchase a pair of bookshelves for my workshop, I thought I'd buy a pair of RP-600M's I watched him upgrade but then decided to take the plunge and build a pair of XLS encores.
Analogous to the building/restoring of amplifiers in which you basically start with just a chassis and the OPT - everything else is new and state of the art) it involves a lot of drilling and hardware installation. In the world of DIY speakers, one has to be (as I have found out) fairly adept with wood-working. Enter Peter Rawlings. He is another gem of a guy - passionate about what he does. I feel like we're good friends after watching hour upon hour of his building and veneering videos.
That's my intro: an audiophile/electronics enthusiast that has gotten himself into building speakers. I am here so I can share my experience with building the XLS's from a newbie and woodworking outsider's standpoint and maybe share a perspective or two.
