Room size:
Approximately 650 sq. feet, although I was forced to listen in a nearfield setting. The reason is I am having some repair work done in this room and all of the furniture, including my system, are pushed to one side of the room. Nonetheless, the volume of the room has not changed.
Equipment:
B&K Separates consisting of an AVP 3090 and AV 5000 amp. 105 watts per channel into 5 channels. This was driving both the top MTM units and my subwoofers at the time of listening. Not the best setup, but my subwoofer amplifier had developed an annoying buzz, perhaps from old capacitors, who knows. Anyhow the subs work best on at least 200 watts from an amp with a high damping factor.
I also have a Pioneer Elite DV 37 with Modwright Truth mods.
All of this runs through a 5kv Topaz isolation transformer wired for common mode noise rejection(balanced power).
You have seen pictures of my speakers in the first post of this thread. They are made by GR Research, and consist of two PHL 16 ohm 6.5" drivers mated to a Revelator tweeter in an MTM configuration. The MTM sits atop the subwoofer cabinet that houses an 11" passive Focal bass driver. Bybees are soldered to each individual driver throughout the system.
Power cords:
The preamp is powered by my Power Conditioner cord
The DVD is powered via a cord of my design with ERS, since I already have Bybees soldered inside on the AC mains.
The amplifier is powered via another custom power cord in development, and I am not at liberty to divulge its design right now.
Interconnects:
The Interconnects were my Bybee inline Focus between the preamp and amp, and the Surface Max between the DVD and preamp.
Speaker Cables:
Modern Audio Designs custom multi conductor, flat silver plated copper for both the MTM and the Subwoofer.
Music:
George Duke "After Hours"
Dave Mattews "Live At Luther College"
U2 "All that You Can't Leave Behind"
Jack Johnson "Brushfire Fairytales"
Incubus "Morning View"
Anuna "Celtic Heartbeat"
Nora Jones "Come away with me"
Hooking them up.
I set the Criterions on top of my Subwoofer cabinets, which placed them at ear level when sitting on my sofa. I initially had them facing straight forward like my MTMs, but being a ribbon driver, they needed to be towed in a bit for my listening position. The good thing about ribbons is the narrow dispersion prevents for the most part those early reflections that can smear the sound. This is true to form for these, especially in a nearfield listening situation. This becomes less of an issue at greater distances from the speaker.
I also left my subwoofers on, as this speaker is meant to be used with a subwoofer. However I did have to adjust for the lower sensitivity of the Criterions.
My initial impression of these was that they possessed a quick midbass with a very laid back midrange and treble. It reminded me of the Silverline SR-17s I had in my system at one time. This voicing was a bit of an adjustment for me to make, as it was the exact opposite of what I am used to. My MTMs are what I would call forward in the mids and highs, very similar to the Ref 1s. They really project out into the room.
I let the Criterions play for about an hour while I walked in and out of the listening room, and my ears adjusted to the more laid back presentation of the Criterions just fine. Now I was ready to sit down and do some serious listening.
It was evening and all was quiet in the house. My first selection was from George Duke's "After Hours". A bit of a smooth jazz sound but excellent for testing every aspect of a system with the exception of vocals. The acoustic bass was fast and articulate as it should be, the highs were very smooth, and had that ribbon extended sparkle that you just can't get from domes. The mids were there too, but instead of being projected way out into the room, they were slightly in front of the speakers, off to the sides, and behind the speakers. Another thing I noticed, and this was most obviously due to the ribbon's narrower dispersion characteristics, was when an event or instrument was meant to be heard out of one channel, it didn't sonically "bleed over" like it can with a dome tweeter. I guess you can call it greater stereo separation. Its something you probably wouldn't even notice until you heard it produced by a ribbon driver.
This was all done at a quiet listening level. It was nice, but the mids were a bit too laid back at this level for me. So I turned it up to a more moderate listening level. The criterions really opened up nicely at this point. It was simply a very smooth sounding speaker. More detailed than at lower levels. I really liked the smoothness of the ribbon. Some drivers equate smooth to rolled off highs. These retained their high frequency extension yet sounded sooo smooth. It was a very seductive sound. Yet the mid -highs (2-4khz) were just a wee bit too recessed for me. That led to my next experiment, The Bybee Purifier on the postive terminal of each speaker.
WOW! The Bybees REALLY opened these puppies up. It brought the midrange and high frequency detail a quantum leap (I couldn't resist the pun) forward! When I told Danny this, he was shocked, he had done the same thing to the Crits in his studio (Waay better gear than mine) and it had little to no effect on the Crits. It just goes to show you that systems and environments (LA vs. rural Texas) can really effect the performance of the Bybees. Anyhow I much preferred the Crits with Bybees in, as did Mad Dog (more on that later).
I kept the Bybee'd Crits in my system for a few more days, and really liked the sound. I then switched back to my MTMs, and gave a listen. The MTMs are a bigger, more efficient speaker. They filled the room a bit better. But I had to re-adjust my ears to the forward presentation, it was almost too much at first. I also had to listen a little harder for the highs that came so easy to the Crits. They were there, but not as obvious. Just as the mid-highs were there on the Crits, just not as obvious.
The bottom line:
As you can see, my system is far from state of the art. I would highly encourage you to audition the Criterions in your own system. In fact, Danny does too, hence the demo program. I liked the way the Crits made every recording no matter how awful sound decent. I found myself pulling out CDs that would normally drive me out of the room after ten minutes, and listening to them all the way through. Picking out little details and subtleties that I hadn't noticed before. After listening to the Crits, I would really like to know how the Diliceos would sound in my system. I think the extra midbass driver would more than likely provide that more forward sound I am looking for.
Soundstage, imaging and detail were all there. The detail in spades. The mid-highs needed a bit of volume to really open up. Not much volume, probably just above conversation level. Bybees went a long way towards improving this characteristic, especially when in my system. Mad Dog will vouch for that. The high frequency extension was very smooth, while retaining a realistic sparkle. The Crits are definitely to be used with a high quality sub, and definitely for someone who sits and listens. They are also for someone prefers a laid back sonic presentation, or perhaps has a very reflective listening room (hardwood floors, etc.).
Mad Dogs session:
To be fair, the listening situation was far from optimal for Mad Dog as I had a fan going in the listening room, and my wife making some noise over in the kitchen (we have a somewhat open floor plan in our house). That and the brief duration of the listening session may have understandibly contributed to his opinion. He immediately commented on the "lack of highs" the Crits seemed to be offering. He was very impressed with what the Bybees did for the Crits, although it still did not make him love, or even like the Crits. His opinion was (I am paraphrasing here) "for the price, I think one could do better".
This is not a speaker that bowls you over immediately. It is more of a seduction. In my opinion, it takes time to really discern the characteristics of this speaker. I strongly encourage anyone looking at speakers in this price range to audition the Criterions in their own home on their own system. Heck if you can do that with any speaker you are considering, by all means do it!
I really respect both Mad Dog and Danny. Both are honest, of good reputation, and have excellent "ears". In defense of Danny, I feel Mad Dog needs to spend more time with the Crits in a better listening environment. I am certain he will not love the Criterions over his speakers, but I think he would appreciate their characteristics a little better. In defense of Mad Dog, not everyone is going to like everything GR Reseach offers. Mad Dog's opinion is not a statement about the competence of the designer, that is not even in question. It is a statement about his preference for a certain type of "sound", and how closely the Criterions came to fitting his preference for that "sound".
