Erin reviews GR-Research NX-Bravo

[TonyJZX]

i think everyone here realises danny has gotten pretty successful by selling the sizzle and not the steak

he clearly has the physical facilities and I think he really actually knows "what the F is going on" and he can do better but then why would you when you can sell $260 upgrade kits on your own $1.5k speakers?

 

[DanielT]

Sometimes you read about the unique sound that planar drivers/tweeters have; crisp, "micro-detailed" (whatever that is), more high-frequency clarity and so on. BUT, could it actually be audible distortion, resonances that create that type of perceived sound I described? Just a thought.

 

[Todd68]

Sometimes you read about the unique sound that planar drivers/tweeters have; crisp, "micro-detailed" (whatever that is), more high-frequency clarity and so on. BUT, could it actually be audible distortion, resonances that create that type of perceived sound I described? Just a thought.

The design is low resonance very clean spectral decay. More distortions but better spectral decay vs a dome?, at least from what I understand.

 

[DanielT]

The design is low resonance very clean spectral decay. More distortions but better spectral decay vs a dome?, at least from what I understand.

I should have said distortion and or resonance instead.

But take distortion. That a bit sharp audible distortion could be interpreted, or experienced as crisp, "micro-detailed", more high-frequency clarity is not too far-fetched a thought, is it?

Yes I know that distortion = clarity is a contradiction in itself but I'm talking about how you interpret the sound, what you think you hear. Think clarity as something sharp, think distortion.

I don't really know if I'm just waffle now to be honest. See it more as musings on my part.

 

[dfuller]

There’s conflicting comments about the overall measurements, from crap to congratulations on a good design.

Some bits of it are good, some bits of it aren't. Its lack of any resonances is great. The distortion on the tweeter isn't.

 

[WillBrink]

i feel like $1.5k isnt too bad for what is a cottage industry product with 5 weeks lead time...

think of it as the Made in USA home made tariff

but as always $1.5k for bookshelfs is kinda... eh... and what are these? 6" cones? just get the damn DBR62s before the EU tariffs kick in???

also true to form Danny sells a $260 capacitor upgrade? i mean yeah... if there's rube money to take... take it... leave nothing behind

as far as looks go i think they are fine for generic bookshelfs

the mix of Torx and Phillips is kinda funny but I suppose its just what the cone provider... provides???

and yeah for $1,5k i wouldnt expect such ragged charts from someone competant


from danny... yeah that's about rite

I'm assuming an intentional "house sound" he prefers.

 

[amirm]

I'm assuming an intentional "house sound" he prefers.

He doesn't listen to his speaker mods. So I say he is going by measurements.

 

[RickS]

Am on the road and so less time to contribute here, but thought it was great that Danny supplied Erin with NX Bravos to review (even if a $2500 golden sample). Read the review comments and noticed that some GR fanboys were claiming redemption for Danny’s design skills. Guess if you cherrypick the measurements AND Erin’s comments, you might come to that errant conclusion. Of note, this is a $2500 speaker that lacks bass (only 50-60 Hz in-room) and has midrange directivity and distortion issues - hardly a major design accomplishment. The only exceptional metric is the burst decay, so give Danny some credit for a solid cabinet but the little woofer is not capable of much low bass so gets a disclaimer for being a “SPL limited” speaker.

Erin’s subjective review is rather lukewarm too. He says the speaker is good - not great or exceptional. Notably, Erin offers no indication for Danny’s proclamations of “next level” performance. Instead of any real discussion of soundstage, his review substitutes a short lecture of room treatment. As Danny has called out Amir’s listening room, wonder if this was some sort of arrangement to allow Erin to review the speakers? Certainly we know Danny has strictly controlled who gets GR review samples in the past.

Some are claiming the NX Bravo is a good DIY value at $699 but seem to miss that price has no cabinetry. If you add the flatpack, you get to around $1000 and are now easily in the range of nicely finished speakers with better measurements and performance (and a real warranty).

At $2500, the NX Bravo does not even merit consideration.

 

[dfuller]

@RickS I think the pre built starts at $1525, at which point it's already a pretty poor value. It doesn't get loud, it's not suited to nearfield use given its tweakiness with regard to toe in and its axial up tilt... I'm not sure how one could take this as a win.

 

[RickS]

@RickS I think the pre built starts at $1525, at which point it's already a pretty poor value. It doesn't get loud, it's not suited to nearfield use given its tweakiness with regard to toe in and its axial up tilt... I'm not sure how one could take this as a win.

Good point. I went with $2500 as am thinking Danny threw his full budget at this review sample.

Wonder if we will get a teardown? In another thread, GR warehousing was questioned. Not sure I mentioned at the time, but the Encore kit woofers had some pretty significant oxidization. Thought they were just older inventory but may have been poor storage.

 

[Todd68]

So I guess Erin was being polite for not calling out poor value. I would prefer a reviewer who’s completely honest over one afraid to hurt the designers feelings. Is there any like that? It’s not helping potential customers if you won’t call it like it is.

I was waiting for him to comment if there was something about the speaker sound presentation that he liked making it worth the money regardless of the shortcomings. If he didn’t then it’s not an honest review.

 

[sceptical1]

What possible reason would I have to consider this as a purchase vs the BMR monitor?
Or if taking the reproduction of sound with a modicum of respect go for Kef R11, or those Ascilabs or the new Bryston T series or even a Revel 105 and a sub. A flat FR is confusing the issue, he is still on a crime spree and still an outlier.

 

[Putter]

So I guess Erin was being polite for not calling out poor value. I would prefer a reviewer who’s completely honest over one afraid to hurt the designers feelings. Is there any like that? It’s not helping potential customers if you won’t call it like it is.

I was waiting for him to comment if there was something about the speaker sound presentation that he liked making it worth the money regardless of the shortcomings. If he didn’t then it’s not an honest review.

I have no problem with his not being critical given that he has already been burned, AS LONG as he gives us the data that we can interpret..

 

[kyuu]

So I guess Erin was being polite for not calling out poor value.

Yes, there's no question that Erin is much more "polite" nowadays. He is obviously trying quite hard to make his channel be less of a side thing and more his main thing. Part of that requires him to not burn bridges with people like Danny as that could become an issue with getting products to review and growing his audience. This isn't meant as a slight against him, btw. I get it. Luckily we are still getting the data to see for ourselves.

We are kind of spoiled around here having Amir who, for the most part, has nothing preventing him from calling things as he sees them.

 

[Purité Audio]

Yup you cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds you.
And yes that is why ASR is the only totally impartial source around.
Keith

 

[dfuller]

Yup you cannot afford to bite the hand that feeds you.
Keith

He's a little more gun-shy about it since the whole tekton lawsuit threat.

 

[Doublej]

Sometimes not saying anything is saying a lot.

 

[RickS]

Genuinely I was kind of in awe when I saw that. Unless Danny sent him a defective unit, but I don't consider that particularly likely - more likely I think whatever planar tweeter is used here is just not very good.

Edit:

It's the tweeter. Someone on DIYAudio measured it. The same behavior shows up. Oddly, the other tweeters measured are similar designs (based on the B-G Neo3 planar driver) and have much lower distortion.


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And wouldn't you know it, I was right.

In any case, Erin’s speaker was a golden sample. So if Danny sent a unit with a distorting tweeter, it is on him.

If you take the original design distortion profile, combine an off-brand build, Danny’s mods and push the cross lower, not too surprising that it is distorting much higher than the original design. GR fanboys are already lining up the usual round of excuses.

 

[mrehorst]

$2500? Ouch!

You always have to consider what else you can get for that kind of money. I bought a pair of as-new B&W 703 S3s for $2900 and the seller threw in a pair of Synergistic Research cables that I sold on ebay (I didn't bother to try them) for $260, bringing the cost of the B&Ws down to $2640. There are many such deals around if you look and have some patience.

If and when the time comes to sell them, I'm certain I can get more for the B&Ws than the GR Research speakers.

I don't understand why people prefer to buy small speakers and put them on stands when you usually get better low frequency performance from floor standing speakers that ultimately take up the same floor space.

 

[HalSF]

Performance is fine. Unlike Erin, I really don’t much like the look of them though. Speakers have to double as furniture in my home and the tweeter is horrible looking. Also not a big fan of exposed screws on the mid bass. I realize it’s subjective but can’t imagine many will disagree.

Subjective indeed, but my philistine mind is always puzzled when a generic box speaker with a wood grain exterior and round black drivers mounted on the front elicits vehement aesthetic objections. My own equally generic-looking MoFi SourcePoint 8 speakers were also widely slagged as “ugly” for reasons that happily remain completely inexplicable to me.