GR Research LGK 2.0 Speaker Review (A Joke)

[respice finem]

Belief vs. knowledge, is the serious side of this test.
And, quelle surprise...

 

[CoryGillmore]

I would say it’s more along the lines of the speaker being able to behave within its passband. Its easy to tell a good speaker even if it doesn’t have much bass. It just sounds like it needs a sub since the response rolls off fairly early. This thing generates quite a lot of distortion across its response range.

I'm pretty sure Danny actually recommends a sub in the video where he reveals this speaker. He mentions I think no more than 20 watts on these speakers and high pass at 120hz if you want more volume from them without distortion. He's fully aware of the limitations of the 3" driver and I don't feel like he was being misleading to people in what they should expect from it.

 

[mightycicadalord]

Doesn't perform well, priced way too high. Failure of a product imo. Sure add a sub, that doesn't really fix the rest of the speakers problems. The price certainly doesn't reflect the diy nature of the speaker.
If you have to diy parts express has so many options for less or similar price that would eat these things. Even cnotes are better.

People are being to forgiving on these things, you can get kh80 for same price as kit plus finished cabinet.

 

[Ilkless]

I still firmly believe a good widebander is an underrated option, but only in the ultra-compact desktop class (where you are sitting near enough that vertical lobes are a plausible issue), and definitely not at $1,000. Think $400, max. And that's with something like a Scanspeak 10F/8414. Unless one is going with a sideloaded woofer ala Boenicke W5.

The fact is the LGKs, and their ilk like the Blumenstein Orcas have run away with the market. Many fetishise exotic approaches for the sake of being exotic, rather than the acoustic properties of the driver + driver configuration. And within the many are quite a few who specifically fetishise single driver speakers unthinkingly.

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

I'm pretty sure Danny actually recommends a sub in the video where he reveals this speaker. He mentions I think no more than 20 watts on these speakers and high pass at 120hz if you want more volume from them without distortion. He's fully aware of the limitations of the 3" driver and I don't feel like he was being misleading to people in what they should expect from it.

They perform like you would expect a small full-range 3" speaker to perform. That in itself is not really an issue, but he seems to be overselling them a bit given the premise of the name "Little Giant Killer".

 

[amirm]

I'm pretty sure Danny actually recommends a sub in the video where he reveals this speaker. He mentions I think no more than 20 watts on these speakers and high pass at 120hz if you want more volume from them without distortion. He's fully aware of the limitations of the 3" driver and I don't feel like he was being misleading to people in what they should expect from it.

There is no way, no how this thing plays clean 20 watts. You have to be totally deaf to distortion to get any level of sound out of it. A "giant killer" implies it has far less limitation than you think. What he has delivered is the opposite: it delivers more distortion than you think!

 

[Bruce Morgen]

Even more shrinkage of Mr. Richie's already minuscule credibility duly noted.

What sort of "giant" is this vastly overpriced thing supposed to kill?

 

[Ageve]

Wow, it looks like a lot of ”smearing” below 500 Hz. 5-100%? Did he use cheesy crossover parts?

 

[solderdude]

Did he use cheesy crossover parts?

There is no crossover filter.... just a passive EQ circuit.

 

[mar1o]

Driver could be used in between a tweeter and a big woofer, to make a nice three way speaker.

 

[aktiondan]

Is there any way you could test the infamous "tube connectors"? Now that you've got a pair, might we worth getting some data behind their performance. I believe in a good low-loss connector as much as the next guy, just not sure it makes that much of a difference, unless maybe you're comparing them to this...

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

Is there any way you could test the infamous "tube connectors"? Now that you've got a pair, might we worth getting some data behind their performance. I believe in a good low-loss connector as much as the next guy, just not sure it makes that much of a difference, unless maybe you're comparing them to this...


View attachment 211738

The connectors themselves wont impact performance unless you will be pumping lots of power through them. My hi-fi setup still uses one of my old DIY amps for the main speakers that has sentimental value. SQ is completely fine and output power is ~40W, but at the time it was just a fun project, and I used cheap ebay parts like those cheesy spring terminals you show and RCA connectors crimped onto a phenolic board. Really low quality, so the real concern, esp. with higher end audiophile cables, is simply ripping the connectors right out of the back of the amp. They are not robust by any stretch of the imagination so they need to be handled with care. But they should not degrade performance, only your sanity when they fall apart and simply don't work anymore. Fortunately the back plate of the amp is modular so I can rebuild it if I wish with better connectors. The place these can fail is with high power as they can melt from the resistance they pose at higher currents. On my amp, the measured output impedance at the connectors for the speakers (that are essentially the same as what you posted) is 0.05Ω @ 5W/1 kHz with 4Ω and 8Ω resistive loads, and this also includes the wiring and the output section of the ICs in the amp. But they are very cheap and nasty and required me to make cables that have banana jacks at one end for the speakers, and crimp terminals at the other for the amp.

 

[D!sco]

Is there any way you could test the infamous "tube connectors"? Now that you've got a pair, might we worth getting some data behind their performance. I believe in a good low-loss connector as much as the next guy, just not sure it makes that much of a difference, unless maybe you're comparing them to this...


View attachment 211738

Excuse me, what's wrong with my old klipsch PC speaker connectors? That's genuine hi-fi gear.

 

[D!sco]

This is precisely why the Olive Score needs some kind of distortion score adjustment.

 

[amirm]

Is there any way you could test the infamous "tube connectors"? Now that you've got a pair, might we worth getting some data behind their performance.

I plan to do that at some point. But this platform is terrible for that given the very high distortion of the speaker itself.

 

[FeddyLost]

Good substitute to speakers of a laptop even with Duelund higher end components.
There's no replacement for displacement.

And even in this league we have i.e. Tannoy Autograph Mini if KH80 is not classy enough.

Weird product with weird target audience, maybe even competent within physical limits, but still ... Why?

 

[amirm]

I think the why is clear: selling $300 worth of crossover parts for a $40 driver! All it needs to be believable is to claim it performs better than larger speakers.....

 

[Mnyb]

Good substitute to speakers of a laptop even with Duelund higher end components.
There's no replacement for displacement.

And even in this league we have i.e. Tannoy Autograph Mini if KH80 is not classy enough.

Weird product with weird target audience, maybe even competent within physical limits, but still ... Why?

yes just get the KH80 for your computer monitoring needs.

In the small monitor market the "guy in a garage" development paradigm does not compete anymore against teams of devs with state of the art kit and resources.

This is a very fierce niche , there are a lot of high quality small speakers ? why is the question ?

Another approach is needed .

 

[Cars-N-Cans]

I plan to do that at some point. But this platform is terrible for that given the very high distortion of the speaker itself.

I always have to wonder about the claims some companies make about certain connectors, exotic speaker wires etc. when out of sight on the inside of the cabinet, there will be things like generic hookup wire and crimp-on spade connectors to connect the drivers and the crossover board. Perfect imperfection, perfectly perfected. Still, its nice to have actual hard data just the same.

 

[Lopsided]

The break-up and dispersion of the driver look surprisingly good. More well behaved than some some horn >10khz.