GR Research LGK 2.0 Kit Speaker Review (video)

[see_no_evil]

I was mainly interested in this video to see how the recording of the speaker came accross - when it was discussed in the review thread for this speaker I wasn't really a proponent for recording the sound of speakers for playback by others. I listened to the short music clip (I could have done without Amir's croak halfway through as it was distracting from the listening & introduces some psychological bias), however I did hear some warbling in the voice towards the end and it wasn't as obvious as I expected it to sound. I don't have much experience detecting distortion as I've I only ever tested myself in formal tests twice, but I can detect distortion it seems (https://www.klippel.de/listeningtest/?page=test&testrunId=663101&step=17&answer=1 ) - whether or not a "recording of a speaker" reduced my ability to hear distortion is possible versus actually listening to the speaker itself.....and maybe also because I'm not familiar with that piece of music and there was no perfect vs distorted version of the track to listen to in an A/B situation.......either way I expected this speakers measured distortion to be more audible in that clip. I of course wouldn't buy this speaker, and my views haven't changed on this speaker being a rip-off, but I'm still not sold on the worthiness of "recording the sound of a speaker" for playback by others.

(I was listening to the clip on HD560s headphones)

Recording the sound of a speaker is not what Amir normally does as far as I can tell, but in this instance distortion was so obvious you can easily pick it up through all the layers of loss (his room/min/encoding hardware, YouTube lossy compression, your playback hardware). There's measurements and there's demonstration, and both have their use. Empirical method is still a scientific method after all.

 

[mhardy6647]

actually one thing is easy to bust his damage control... ok, Amirm is the Axx hxxx who know nothing about listening to a speaker, so... why he's now proposing to get that magical stupid cheap 5" woofer now? hey it's just so Amirm's fault

AmirM is the Axx hxxx
sounds like the title of a Dr. Seuss book that his publisher, thankfully, declined.

 

[Somafunk]

The distortion is very audible to my ears/system and whilst I’m not interested in listening to speakers played over YouTube this was an outlier video that highlights obvious issues with the driver.

 

[uwotm8]

Reminds me of either the Daleks'

LOL YES!
EXTERMINATE! - exactly what these speakers deserve

 

[abdo123]

Danny's comments about @amirm measuring too high and expecting too much are completely bonkers.

If the speaker is gasping for life at 80dB at 1 meter (10%THD) and crackling at anything higher then it's unusable.

 

[Michel Forbes]

If a speaker falls apart with this, I dread to think about how it would handle some classic synthpop.

Superb production, fine blend between synth an real string instruments.

 

[JSmith]

disastrous test results of a tiny, pissant 4" driver

Even worse mate it's only a 3" driver too... worth $1K+ this is not. Of course the capacitor "upgrade" is also extra.


JSmith

 

[Caliban]

What giants would they kill, are there any comparisons made ? Are there even worse speakers ?
And I mean - if you can hear over Youtube how bad they sound, then it must be really bad.

 

[sojun80]

I think the biggest take away for me was the graphs and how they can be used to be dishonest.

GR has been manipulating these graphs to make things look how he wants them to look. I cringe to even go and look at them on the upgrade kits.

It might be easy to find where a speaker lacks when you tinker with the numbers....and the upgrade kit can fix all of this - but maybe it's ALL snakeoil?!

Ugh.

My impressions was that GRresearch actually did improve the crossovers but also put some fluff parts (tube connectors etc) to pad the profits. I also figured the speaker kits he sold were top notch high value stuff. All of that is in question now.

 

[tomtoo]

People are getting hung up over the disastrous test results of a tiny, pissant 4" driver, stuffed into an overly large ported enclosure? Seriously??

This is not HiFi. Not even close. It's hilarious actually. Hilarious that old mate Danny thinks it's fantastic and equally hilarious that members think it should do something it clearly cannot.

Take a 4" driver for what it is. It's not a woofer. It's hardly a midrange. And a full range, it is not. Not even close.

If the kit was $49.95pr it would still be a total scam. Go buy a pair of 2nd hand real speakers or some BOTL 2 ways from a proper HiFistore- you'd be better off in every respect.

Yes in the good old times they made acceptable 3inch cone tweeters. Now some are happy with 3inch full range speakers.

Crazy world.

 

[Robbo99999]

You disagree because you can't hear and I and a bunch of other people do? How does that make the test invalid? The test is the test. It is specific piece of music with specific speaker. You detecting distortion in another situation/test has nothing to do with this. You need to focus on the vocals and modulation therein.


At the end the driver is literally cracking. And you only heard it there? That is way, way behind the level you should have detected it.

Lol, thanks. And your first sentence is putting words in my mouth & misportraying. Anyway, I'm pleased I've said my piece, so I'm not gonna rehash the points I made.

My points, that you chose to avoid, where simply:
- Channel imbalance are easy and obvious to hear.
- Most of the actual imbalance are due to physical considerations, either your room and speaker placement, a ill fitted pad or tip, etc and there are limits to what measurments will tell you.
- I'll add a 3rd one, we got plenty of great info here and measurments are important when evaluating a product, but you don't need a measurment rig to enjoy music the "right" way. There is nothing "wrong" in going for the balance pot if what your hear at that moment in this environment is out of balance, people have all kind of limitations to their listening environment, let people enjoy the music the way it sounds right for them. If you hear a problem, fix it, if you don't hear a problem, it's not a problem.

If you want to discuss it, PM me, it's off topic here. (not sure what points I'd add to the ones I already made to you, but I might be able to explain it a bit differently).

 

[DSJR]

My first computer speakers were cheap Labtec Spin 70's

Labtec LCS-1070 Spin 70 2-Piece Computer Speakers : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Labtec LCS-1070 Spin 70 2-Piece Computer Speakers at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

The tiny driver was smooth and clear enough in the mids and didn't squawk, there was enough top for cymbals and rim shots to sound convincing if levels were desktop levels and the same with the bass and I don't recall ever hearing noises from the built in stereo amp. NO WAY could it be called a higher fidelity sound, but at low volume they could diisappear surprisingly well from the music and I used them for many years as little desktop noise boxes with absolutely no issue. The price was thirty quid or less I seem to recall (so under £50 today?) and they had a perfectly adequate stereo amp inside one of them and with volume and treble control as well.

Lets face it, amongst the Edifier baby actives, JBL 305 and Q Acoustics stylish powered M20 boxes for around four hundred quid (and which a friend of mine is raving over as he's using them as main speakers set up on proper stands) and many many others from kali et al for a few hundred quid or dollars, why pay the same for a tiny overworked driver with a network to try to sort it out in a plain unfinished flat pack box-kit which apparently isn't radiused properly. No fun in that and how much is this kit going to fetch when you want to move it on. You can do better for half the price new, so its used value can't be more than a hundred or so.

 

[YSC]

My first computer speakers were cheap Labtec Spin 70's

Labtec LCS-1070 Spin 70 2-Piece Computer Speakers : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Labtec LCS-1070 Spin 70 2-Piece Computer Speakers at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

The tiny driver was smooth and clear enough in the mids and didn't squawk, there was enough top for cymbals and rim shots to sound convincing if levels were desktop levels and the same with the bass and I don't recall ever hearing noises from the built in stereo amp. NO WAY could it be called a higher fidelity sound, but at low volume they could diisappear surprisingly well from the music and I used them for many years as little desktop noise boxes with absolutely no issue. The price was thirty quid or less I seem to recall (so under £50 today?) and they had a perfectly adequate stereo amp inside one of them and with volume and treble control as well.

Lets face it, amongst the Edifier baby actives, JBL 305 and Q Acoustics stylish powered M20 boxes for around four hundred quid (and which a friend of mine is raving over as he's using them as main speakers set up on proper stands) and many many others from kali et al for a few hundred quid or dollars, why pay the same for a tiny overworked driver with a network to try to sort it out in a plain unfinished flat pack box-kit which apparently isn't radiused properly. No fun in that and how much is this kit going to fetch when you want to move it on. You can do better for half the price new, so its used value can't be more than a hundred or so.

I still remember these kind of small bundle speakers when I was in highschool and anythin makes sound sounds nice, good ol days

 

[TOR]

What giants would they kill, are there any comparisons made ? Are there even worse speakers ?
And I mean - if you can hear over Youtube how bad they sound, then it must be really bad.

You, the buyer. The moment you find out you blow over $500 + your labour or $1000 on a piece of supposedly high end hi-fi equipment & it sound merely the same if not worse than a crackling AM radio. Insanity kicks-in and kills you.

 

[Doodski]

Danny's comments about @amirm measuring too high and expecting too much are completely bonkers.

If the speaker is gasping for life at 80dB at 1 meter (10%THD) and crackling at anything higher then it's unusable.

Danny is a snake and a BS'er.

 

[Caliban]

You, the buyer. The moment you find out you blow over $500 + your labour or $1000 on a piece of supposedly high end hi-fi equipment & it sound merely the same if not worse than a crackling AM radio. Insanity kicks-in and kills you.

True, I don´t buy speakers before I have had a chance to test them - at home.
I think speakers are the most "boring" piece of my setup to to replace, it´s more fun to
replace a dac or amplifier.
Don´t know why, could be all the new flashing lights that speakers don´t have.
With that said, speakers usually makes the biggest difference in sound.
I have a stupid way of looking at it, I know..

 

[Thomas_A]

I happen to have a pair of 3 inch driver speakers as front height, Ino A1. These are normally used as surrounds and should be 2-4 per side. The same driver is used in traditional very small speakers as well. The laws of physics is of course limiting but I would be interested to find out what performance you could get from such tiny drivers.

 

[uwotm8]

So this is his response...
Now you need a Sub of course, and you should only use it in this 'intended application'
I assume he hasn't ever mentioned that before.

The funnier part is that his "little" speakers seem to be the same size as my Dynaudio MC15 (BM5A Compact "home" version) which actually can go loud and punchy.
So I completely miss the whole point.
We also have - maybe the funniest of non-crap active speakers - Fostex PM 0.3 tested here which are 7" tall - packed with 3" LF and 3/4" HF drivers.
THAT is "little". Typical 5" studio monitor is not.

 

[Andysu]

I happen to have a pair of 3 inch driver speakers as front height, Ino A1. These are normally used as surrounds and should be 2-4 per side. The same driver is used in traditional very small speakers as well. The laws of physics is of course limiting but I would be interested to find out what performance you could get from such tiny drivers.

JBL HT1F THX approved needs small minor repairs with car body fliller and then doing some sanding-down and then black spray paint . has no front cloth grill , is 2nd one to one i had few years , if i can find 3rd one cheap i then maybe use them LCR THX experimental testing . the JBL HT1F has i think 5" duel bass drivers and duel tweeters all wired in series so if one wire lead disconnected all bass would be off or same with tweeters .

the JBL HT1F has rounded edge corners

 

[Doodski]

JBL HT1F THX approved needs small minor repairs with car body fliller and then doing some sanding-down and then black spray paint . has no front cloth grill , is 2nd one to one i had few years , if i can find 3rd one cheap i then maybe use them LCR THX experimental testing . the JBL HT1F has i think 5" duel bass drivers and duel tweeters all wired in series so if one wire lead disconnected all bass would be off or same with tweeters .

View attachment 213787

I retailed the JBL Ti series (The tweeters you have in that speaker are from the Ti Series.) and could not keep them in stock. We ordered in a huge order and they where all gone in short order. Great stuff.