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GR Research YouTube video controversy (Read 7854 times)
Steve Deckert
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GR Research YouTube video controversy
02/22/22 at 19:15:27
 

The calling out reviewers video from Danny at GR Research: https://youtu.be/8GVzN0_TCaM

Reviewer response videos:

https://youtu.be/zxlUYfpxNMY

https://youtu.be/Au5O81TqjUs


Recently, Danny of GR Research with his popular YouTube channel posted a video about Reviewers and Listening rooms which has caused quite a disturbance in the force.

In it he claimed that many reviewers weren’t either qualified or perhaps ready to hear his speakers and should consider visiting his listening room in Texas and get some schooling on how to listen.

This is where listening rooms come into the story because he states that it is non-engineered listening rooms that have prevented many reviewers from having any real credibility - at least in his eyes.

I’m sure many of your are familiar with Danny from GR Research and watched enough of his speaker videos to see where this is going to get a little sticky, and you wouldn’t be disappointed because indeed it has already.

Two popular YouTube reviewers have already published “response” videos with passionate opinions on the matter.

If you’ve been enjoying this drama as it unfolds, you have already seen the videos I am referring to.  If not, and you’re still reading this, go check them out on YouTube.

When I saw this video from Danny I was stunned because quite a bit of what he said I have secretly thought myself for decades!  Now don’t shoot me yet, I have more to go here…

Having built a few extraordinary listening rooms during that time, I have experienced what a engineered room actually does to the sound or put another way, what a non-engineered room actually does to the sound.  Either way, the effect is 4 to 5 times larger than 95% of all audiophiles realize.  Sure we’ve all heard about the room, and how some rooms are good and others are pretty bad, but proceed to ignore it because we’re not in a position to create an engineered listening space.

Fair enough, welcome to the real world where people have limited space and want to enhance it with music that sounds good.

Even those with less limitations on space who enjoy 5 and 6 figure speakers are similar.  The evidence is all the pictures of said speakers on the internet standing up against an untreated wall in a bright space with either marble floors or large glass windows.  These individuals who can clearly afford to construct an engineered listening space for their incredible audio gear don’t because they are the same as everyone else, just with more money.  They want the same thing, pretty speakers in their living space so they can enjoy sound while/where they live.  This is hifi, this has always been hifi.

So why don’t people realize how big the effect of the room is?  Because most have never heard it.  Even many brick and mortar dealers didn’t have engineered spaces that were working very well and now that they are disappearing — audiophiles are even less likely to hear an engineered space of any kind.  It’s not going to happen at the audio shows in the lobby or hotel rooms with the furniture removed.

So it really comes down to this… there are two types of audiophiles on the planet.  The ones who want to have attractive and good sounding audio gear in their home so they can have nice sound while they live in their home, and the ones who have heard what happens in an engineered space and have become permanently wrecked by it.

So we have two types of audiophiles, clearly with the first being the overwhelming majority.

The ones who were permanently wrecked by it including many manufacturers, found out that the differences in clarity are so profound that it becomes super easy to hear differences in cables and everything else — differences that the room would normally mask or distort.  This resolution changes things.  It makes it easier to create a better sounding speaker or amplifier or cable because you're listening to it in 4K instead of HD or lower.  If you're a manufacturer who is trying to make audio gear that sounds better than most, this is the only way you can do it.

Let me give you a real world example.  Constructing an amplifier and trying to decide how much negative feedback to use, if any, is going to be based on what you hear change with and without it.  In an engineered listening space, what you would hear change is the depth of the sound stage.  With lots of feedback it may be only a couple feet behind the speakers while without feedback it may be 30 feet or more behind the speakers leaving lots of room for the recording to spread out.  Let’s suppose we put a feedback switch on the amplifier and let everyone marvel at how it magically makes the sound stage explode back in space and then take it into someone’s home and set the speakers 2 feet away from a wall.  In the home, flipping the feedback switch will have so little effect on the sound that many won’t understand what it actually does!

Yes, all the extra effort to make amplifiers and speakers that blow your mind in an engineered listening space is somewhat wasted when the products you manufacture are used in the home.  You feel like the product is being handicapped because you know it is.  You know that most of your customers will likely never hear what the product is capable of and you desperately want to share what you’ve experienced with those who buy your products.

Many high-end loudspeakers are designed to sound as good as possible in the home and many are not trying to be perfect or have flat response because the engineers are painfully aware that the consumer will use the product in a largely untreated listening room.

Many high-end reviewers review product in the home in largely untreated spaces because it A) it’s what they have and B) it probably better represents what you will experience if you were to buy the product under review.  Some of the reviewers are adding more and more treatment so their review will be more accurate to how the gear actually sounds, and  at the same time less representative of what you will hear at home without treatment so there is no way to win.

This is in part what makes HIFI such a lottery when it comes to great sounding systems.  Because the average rooms in your home will have peaks and holes of 12dB or more, and the frequencies of those peaks and dips will change from room to room and even from a change in the sitting position in those rooms.  Making a speaker that was a bit lumpy in response flatter in response may actually ruin the customers sound because the lumpy response happened to fit the room where he had the speakers placed.  A bass peak in the speaker might for example offset a null in someones room while a dip that might occur at 5K in a speakers response could well offset a peak in the room at that frequency yielding a flatter overall response than before it was “fixed”.

Since you can’t separate a room from a loudspeaker, ( the two are in reality a singularity acoustically speaking ) it might not be a bad idea to measure the room before doing modifications to the speaker so that one response can be overlapped over the other.  This way the speakers response can be tailored in the right direction for the room it lives in.

Many audiophiles have no interest in an engineered listening space because they are not aware of what it can do to the sound.  But… if everyone did have one the only acceptable loudspeaker response would be dead flat.

Myself, I have had the engineered space and am still wrecked by it some 20 years later.  The room I presently have here at Decware is not to that level but is somewhere in-between and the differences are still clear in my mind so I can get a little of both worlds when I evaluate speakers and voice amplifiers in it.

And for the record, my idea of the perfect reviewer and the perfect audio show would be to review / show a product in both an engineered space and a regular room at the same time.  I know it’s a fantasy but I’m allowed.  I suspect that reviews would be hard to write since it would be like having two different speakers to review.  If it were an audio show I suspect many people who walk into the engineered space to hear a pair of speakers would be blown away and then when they walk into the regular room with the same gear, it would sound broken — they would become discouraged — many would just find a new hobby.

This entire topic has more to do with speakers than with amplifiers because as I said, a room and a loudspeaker are in truth a singularity.

Steve

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MikeinMontana
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #1 - 02/23/22 at 01:22:47
 
Excellent write up. I did watch all three vids and found I was on all sides at times, good points by all. I have never been in an 'engineered' sound room before, but I think considering the space and equipment we do have, I am almost at the possible peak in here, for this room. The peak being when our amp gets here. Smiley We both get great enjoyment and that's what it's about. We can tell a poor recording from a good one, (our ears/our room etc) so much difference there too. I can imagine the frustration knowing most sound/music rooms in the typical home are an after thought, way off from any sort of sound engineered room with good equipment, placement/treatment, source etc. Will it do your designs justice? I have no doubt we'll notice, even in our open living room. Obviously a quality product and so many very satisfied people. Stellar reviews as well. Folks notice big-time. Built in the USA/quality and reputation. Haven't listened to one, but that is why we ordered. The word is out. I just wish I had known long ago, before this much got out~ We'll just have to do the best with what we got. Wiggle em' around a bit. I think I have my wife convinced anyway......or maybe she's just been being nice all these years. Or.... maybe sympathetic is a better word?  ~Mike
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Brian
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #2 - 02/23/22 at 06:33:47
 
Quite an interesting topic.
It sounds like you would voice your equipment a bit differently if you were making it exclusively for listeners with dedicated rooms.

Brian
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Steve Deckert
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #3 - 02/23/22 at 16:17:18
 

Brian,

When it comes to Decware amplifiers, I design and build them all as though everyone had an engineered listening space with ideal speakers and a perfect source despite it being perhaps only 1% or 2%. This way the amplifiers can never become the limiting factor in the audio chain leaving lots of potential on the table for your discovery over time.

Speakers on the other hand are on a case-by-case basis.  About half are voiced and designed for the real world living room and the others for the hardcore listening space.

Steve

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EdwardT
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #4 - 02/23/22 at 17:05:00
 
I’ve been in dozens of high end engineered spaces, recording studios and their control rooms, mastering suites (with the most exotic bespoke playback systems), radio control rooms and announcers booths and a few anechoic chambers and they all sounded different. One time the band I worked for recorded tracks in five studios and you could hear it on the finished product. It doesn’t seem to me that there's a single gold standard you can hang your hat on.
Those spaces were designed as a combination of room and attendant speaker response and usually to an engineer's ear and calculator which is often modified by budget considerations. Usually the amps were just super low distortion high current zero maintenance items, like Bryston, or Crown. And a good many of those places used Yamaha NS-10s for mixdown saving the Westlakes or Tannoys for critical playback or just loud listening, although self powered Genelecs and their kin have made big inroads on the mixing desk. Once a fair mix was achieved it was then pumped through Auratones or a boom box or played in the artists car for approval. I’m pretty sure no one here is trying to replicate that.
What I’m saying is that it’s all in the ear of the beholder. For me, I like Steve's approach to amps and Danny's crossover voicing. That lead me to divorce with Rachael, a longish wait for Torii and it will be worth it in my largely untreated, normal living room where I know how it sounds.

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JBzen
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #5 - 02/24/22 at 15:05:18
 
It's all a scheme, a different approach, different choice of words that no one can win and say "mine is the best and only way".

Danny wants reviewers to come to his listening room to win them over.

Steve wants you to own his amp then sell it when a new and amazing amp is created/updated.

I like Steve's approach and marketing scheme best.

Don't worry, I'll be OK...will not roll another one Tongue

John



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Burgermeester
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #6 - 02/24/22 at 22:43:05
 
I do think most reviewers are worth listening to -- even the ones with weird rooms. I would not rely on one review but after listening to several, you start to see patterns that predict what you'll probably hear in your random room.

Implicit in all this, I guess, is the haunting fear of being impressed by a speaker that cost you big bucks and then being told it's badly flawed (in the room you have). Most most people that's pretty jarring.

If you encounter a specialist who tells you your expensive system + room is giving you pretty distorted sound, many people's gut reaction is to furiously call BS on the specialist (who makes and sells speakers, so he must have a hidden agenda right?) and start raving about "artisanal" crossover design vs. boring flat-response design. (If the same specialist tells you the crossover parts in your $1000/pair speakers cost $10, your mood will not be improved.)

For example, I'm struck by how many reviewers rave about the RP-600Ms -- from a company I do think builds speakers to sound a certain way, rather than trying to be accurate -- and then I find a site that only does speaker measurements in an anechoic chamber, and awards that same speaker the site's first ever "Stay Away" award for being the "worst-measuring speaker we have ever tested."
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MikeinMontana
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #7 - 02/24/22 at 23:54:03
 
"I do think most reviewers are worth listening to -- even the ones with weird rooms. I would not rely on one review but after listening to several, you start to see patterns that predict what you'll probably hear in your random room."

& "This way the amplifiers can never become the limiting factor in the audio chain leaving lots of potential on the table for your discovery over time."
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Brian
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #8 - 02/25/22 at 06:47:44
 
I thank you, Steve for the clarification.

Brian
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johnnycopy
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #9 - 02/25/22 at 15:06:12
 
I do agree with what Danny is saying.

I am going to take this in a slightly different direction, towards the people, like Danny, that have made themselves accessible to their customers directly through their online distribution channels (websites/forums). To some degree this can insulate them from reviewers who simply want manufacturers to buy ads or provide free review equipment.

Danny and Jeff glowaki started gr research.

Worked with Jeff a number of times as he moved on to later start Sonic Craft, buying parts.  I almost bought his “KSU 3 upgrade” (kitchen sink upgrade!!) for my newform research 45 inch ribbon based hybrid speakers many years ago.

both Danny and Jeff care about good sound, but also about value, much like Steve, Randy, Ed schilling, Bruce rozenbilt, Grover Huffman, and others I have met online, and by telephone, along my audio journey.

None of the guys mentioned initially got famous from magazine reviews. They built exceptional stuff at fair prices, and word got around. They sold direct to customer, and created forums where customers could share their experience and directly communicate with the designers and builders of their product.  In this way they shortened feedback loops, created excitement as new ideas emerged, and built a much tighter relationship with their customers.

Steve, as well as designing and building great products, immerses us deeper into the development process with his gift of words, visually with top quality pictures, and often with audio recordings.  His eloquent story telling abilities share the tales of his discoveries in ways that captivate his audience.

If you only read his posts and threads, you might think he is sharing to market his products,  but when you talk to him, his humble genuine honesty and curiosity shine through.  I talked to Ed before buying the Lii Audio silver 10 reference speakers last year and though he sold his own speakers, he genuinely raved about the Lii Audios and what they could do (and yes Steve, the Zrock2 was the cherry ontop of the entire  new system I assembled last year). I also talked to Randy before buying the Lii Audios and a couple others whose ears and honesty I trusted.

Obviously Steve’s business was helped by recent glowing industry reviews, but he had already built such a strong online community through his forums and decfest that his business was able to thrive regardless of reviewers.  In the online world,  Each of us are reviewers.  As an example I would trust Lon’s review more than I would trust a YouTube review from someone I have no historic reference to his audio tastes, his sound room, his or ability to hear nuances of audio.

Bottom line, I do marvel at the energy, ingenuity, and drive that Steve has, and view him as one of the absolute most successful businessmen of the fine audio designers/builders I have had the pleasure to know.

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Dr3wman
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #10 - 02/25/22 at 16:31:05
 
Does anybody here have experience using GR speakers with Decware gear?
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EdwardT
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #11 - 02/25/22 at 17:55:06
 
I do. I first built X-LS Encores and tried them with our SE34I.4 and the combination sounded great. I just needed to produce more sound pressure in my room so I moved to more efficient units, but, the sonic quality just wasn’t there. The volume thing is more a fault of mine due to a career in arena concert production than the equipment, I’m certain the level of that combo was totally sufficient for Mrs. T. I went back to GR and built the floorstanding Encore and then ordered a Torii Jr to power them and I’m not looking back. There's just something great about Danny's combination of elements that makes this speaker work for me.
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DirtDawg
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #12 - 02/26/22 at 02:17:56
 
Only broused the website at this point, but I am interested to
learn more about the Open Baffle Servo Subwoofers.

I'm assuming I could drive the signal to the servos with my tube amp signal some way.
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johnnycopy
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controvers
Reply #13 - 02/26/22 at 05:32:38
 
SmileyDirtdawg, I run two 370 watt rythmik amps as shown in servo ads on gr research website.

Each of my rythmiks drives two 15 inch bass open baffle drivers (total 4 15 inch open baffle drivers)

The amps have both a high level input and a low level input so you can either run from your pre output to the rythmik low input or from your tube amp output to the rythmik high inputs.

I have tube mono block Frankenstein mk3 amps from coincident technologies, and run wires from their outputs to the rythmiks high inputs.

The rythmik crossovers allow full adjustment of volume, frequency response, phase, steepness of filter, etc.  mine are non servo but are also called 370’s.  

This bass system was two thirds of the set of hawthorne audio Signature Trio’s I purchased many years ago.

The OB bass drivers off of those trios happens to blend really well with my Lii audio references cabinet speakers I bought last year, but since I bought the zrock2 late in 2021, I haven’t rehooked up  the bass drivers back up.  I should try them.

Anyways hope that helps!

John

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DirtDawg
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #14 - 02/26/22 at 14:17:07
 
Thanks, John. That's exactly what I was hoping to hear!

Back when Servo Bass first came out threre was a pro-audio  Servo system that worked (a little) at low level and altered the way your rack of amps drove the line of drivers. So this little rack mounted piece, set between House output from EQs and stuff, controlling five amps and twenty drivers, supposedly helped a little. I did keep drivers from blowing as often in extreme uses.
I think better ones are still available now days.

They were OK, but nothing like what a buddy did from Dayton gear parts for his home theater system.  It really made a difference in "leftover" low frequencies entering the room. It made his subwoofers SILENT, until it was time to shake things. No more rumbling down low with voice or low-mids.

Hopefully, the chip shortgage will be over soon and companies can get back to business.

Thanks!
Smiley
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yostjacob
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #15 - 03/10/22 at 18:55:26
 
I think most audiophile gear is a consumption cycle, driven by specs-manship, supposed brand prestige, and technobabble like all other male dominated enthusiast communities.

So for the discerning consumer, the big idea is where do I get off.

Is danny and the guys at PS Audio probably correct that given their long term trained ear, hyper engineered spaces, and well replayed music they may be able to pick out subtle differences at a rate slightly better than random?  Probably.

But the guys at audioholics are probably also right as well, that its probably mostly motivated thinking and just a trick of our psychology more than anything else, and that nearly everybody not danny or the guy at PS Audio, thousand dollar power cords and 15 thousand dollar power conditioners, probably don't make a perceptible difference.

I think the dutch youtuber Hans B is also probably right in that there is stuff in the human experience of music that audio measurements cannot measure.  If that stuff is self-delusion, well thats cool too.

I think you get to a certain level of quality and outside of the 4-5th standard deviation from mean ears, there is no real difference beyond psychological satisfaction.
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Dana
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #16 - 03/10/22 at 19:52:31
 
"nearly everybody not danny or the guy at PS Audio, thousand dollar power cords and 15 thousand dollar power conditioners, probably don't make a perceptible difference."

Or do they? The question is really do they make a $15K difference?  To my dismay power cords make a real difference to the sound.  I have no idea why  but the difference was startling.  The second the needle touched the groove even before the music started playing it was substantially better vs a standard power cable.  Did I pay the $10K it would take to upgrade my system?  No I did not.  

Danny @ GR makes a battery powered preamp that is cheaper than the power cable which makes no since to me but I could save money by purchasing just one cable and the preamp,

What a weird hobby????

Just a note I I didn't do either.
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The piano has been drinking,
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yostjacob
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #17 - 03/12/22 at 15:34:21
 
Yeah, I expect that there is something there there, which is why the decware propaganda on tube regulation was persuasive, and not prohibitive.
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Kamran
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #18 - 03/14/22 at 02:33:27
 
https://youtu.be/AaSpc7GOjxA

This was posted today and I thought it was a very well balanced and thoughtful follow-up to the Danny @ GR Research saga.
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Beerfab
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #19 - 03/17/22 at 17:25:33
 
EdwardT,
so why did you move on from your Rachel?
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DancingSea
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #20 - 03/24/22 at 03:29:22
 
I'm not clear what Danny's video seeks to accomplish.  The reviewers he complains about, nor the vast majority of his customers, are not going to suddenly seek to acquire fully engineered rooms.  And it paints a poor picture of GR research if Danny is saying his gear only sounds good in these relatively rare rooms.  And he upset various YouTube reviewers who will now be inspired to acquire GR Research gear and review it under duress - which can only hurt GR Research.

I'm all for exposing the unsavory elements of a quasi corrupt review industry, but I'm not clear how Danny's video did anything to further that cause.  

There are times when speaking one's unvarnished truth is poor overall strategy.  This seems to be one of those times.

Prior to this kerfuffle, I had never heard of GR Research.  While I appreciate Danny's candor, given that I do not have the level of sound room to which he refers, GR Research modifications now hold zero appeal to me.

This was all very poorly thought through by Danny.  And I'm surprised that Ron of New Record Day encouraged Danny to dive head first into this quicksand.....
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chapsjon
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #21 - 03/24/22 at 04:03:49
 
Excellent point on how Danny may have actually hurt his sales by setting the requirements to hear the differences so high. As you state, many can't manage a dedicated listening room much less take it to that level.

I had heard of him and wondered if there was any merit to his claims. Though there very well may be, I now know I will likely never have the right room to hear it. I'll stick with what I know I enjoy in my home.
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DancingSea
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #22 - 03/24/22 at 04:55:15
 
It's a bit like saying "I produce the finest gold in the world.  But in order to see the difference, you must have an expensive electron microscope".

Ok.  Where does that lead?  Most do not own such a microscope.

If Danny is taken at his word in regards to what is required to hear the GR Research difference, then he just wiped out 98% of his customer base.

His video seems to have addressed a tree without regard to the forest.
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yostjacob
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #23 - 03/24/22 at 12:36:57
 
I believe that most of his work is about improving crossovers in entry-level products for priorities beyond manufacturing expediency.

His line arrays are probably wildly inappropriate for most use cases beyond dedicated listening rooms.

This is an "enthusiast" industry.  People tune their sports cars for race conditions to sit in a traffic jam.  People put mudding tires on their jeep to goto the grocery store.  I have a 32x scope on a target rifle that I use on a 100y range.  None of this is strictly rational.

There are thousands of little local hot rod shops doing exactly what danny does except for cars (primarily to finance their habits).
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GroovySauce
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #24 - 03/24/22 at 14:21:18
 
My brother and I are both audiophiles. He has a terrible room. It’s narrow ~9ft. and has a low slanted ceiling from right to left. When he gets a new cable, fuse, component and etc. He struggles to hear how it changes the sound.

My room is much better. Last time he was over he commented on how striking the sound changed when swapping a USB cable. We both clearly state we hear the same changes. There is no discussion about what changed and how. It’s obvious. One of us will say I heard XYZ the other will say that’s what I heard.

When I visit him and we swap things around, we both hear a change and we stuggle to come to a consensus of how it’s changing the sound. We will have a discussion about what we are hearing and still not have a clear idea.

We have the same DAC and preamp. He has a ZMA and I have a Torii. The rest of his system is also quality stuff.

If you wanted an accurate review of a product you are interested in, which room would you want the component to be reviewed in? The one that small subtle changes are easily heard and agreed on or the one that it’s hard to make distinctions. I’ll take the easy one every time.

This is what Danny’s video as addressing. If the reviewers have a bad room are you really getting an honest representation of what the gear sounds like?
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chapsjon
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #25 - 03/24/22 at 14:52:53
 
I get what you are saying. If a reviewer truly has a room so bad they can't accurately hear or describe differences in gear they review, that is problematic. It may even be intentionally dishonest, as they share thoughts based on things they can't hear in the room. I certainly do not think this describes the vast majority of reviewers, at least those that have been doing it for a while and have a following.

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic here, but I have to assume the known reviewers at least have typical, average listening spaces. If so, they may not be able too hear fine differences. What they can do is relate to the average viewer or consumer. They can (assuming they are honest) relate what a typical viewer might also hear.

Of course it's all source, gear, and room dependent. I get that, but I still think there's value in someone honestly describing differences in a typical listening space. if there is no value in that, then most of us should go back to our iPods. If I can't hear my system well enough in my LR to enjoy it, why I am wasting effort and money? I believe I can hear it and I do enjoy it, thus reviewers with average rooms can provide some insight to the average listener.
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JBzen
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #26 - 03/24/22 at 14:54:36
 
Quote:
When I visit him and we swap things around, we both hear a change and we stuggle to come to a consensus of how it’s changing the sound. We will have a discussion about what we are hearing and still not have a clear idea.


Guess it depends on what side of the slant you guys position yourself Wink

I find that in well treated rooms walking around when the music plays the sound varies very little.

John
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DancingSea
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #27 - 03/24/22 at 18:53:26
 
For me, I see much greater value with equipment being reviewed in a "normal" room.  Not terrible, but not all tricked out with diffusers and dampeners to a degree that only a man cave could allow.  As Steve mentioned, 98% of buyers have normal rooms, myself included.

If a particular piece of gear requires a dedicated, tricked out listening space as Danny prefers, then I'm not interested.  The same goes with reviewers, I much prefer those who use relatively normal listening spaces because that's far more relevant to me, and to the vast majority of the buying public.

Yesterday I watched a YouTube video of Thomas & Stereo's friend Loic.  Something like HiFi Cave.  His basement has two areas.  One is fully treated, the other is not.  And he evaluates equipment in both spaces, the best of both worlds.

If Danny were even a wee bit smarter, that's what he would suggest, dual spaces - and do so in a far more tactful and intelligent manner, more of a suggestion than a demand.  But to insist upon only fully tricked out listening spaces is neither smart PR or business.
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Re: GR Research YouTube video controversy
Reply #28 - 03/24/22 at 19:18:11
 
I'm with you there, listen in a nicely setup real world room and review it.

Actually, I really don't know how to evaluate "professional" reviews any longer. I don't like to watch videos of reviews or sound demonstrations. . . and unless I am very familiar with a reviewer's tastes and 'ears' I don't quite know how to interpret their sonic notes. And decades of Decware use has me both spoiled and rather uninterested in most other manufacturers of amplification and speakers, and I have spent enough money on my DAC to necessitate living with it for a long time so I am not perusing reviews of those. . . .

But I'm married to a wonderful woman who doesn't "get" the audiophile thing. Room treatments are out of the question. My biggest battle and win was to get insulated blinds to cover the large windows in the living-room--really helps, but not exactly the last word in room treatments. The fact that the blocked winter sunlight glare (lots of trees all around that filter light in non-winter) and keep the room warmer when it's coldest allowed me this victory. I won't be choosing another battle soon. So reviews in treated rooms don't really help me.
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