GR Research Speaker Upgrade Review (Sierra-2EX V2) [Video]

[amirm]

As some of you requested, here is a video review of the GR Research "upgrade" of Ascend Sierra-2EX V2 speaker:

 

[Beave]

The shirt!!

 

[amirm]

Hehe.

 

[JSmith]

The shirt!!

Hey at least it was clean...

Hehe

Love your work mate.


JSmith

 

[daniboun]

Thanks Amir )
I can't find any pictures of the crossover modified by GR Research to get an idea of how it compares to the stock one ?

 

[Fidji]

As some of you requested, here is a video review of the GR Research "upgrade" of Ascend Sierra-2EX V2 speaker:

I think you should have used Danny’s favorite description “Cheeezeeeee”, when referring to his speakers,
Ascendo with Cheesy Mod from Cheesy Research.

Back to modding - there are people that really do it properly - they take bad audophile speakers with good quality drivers and try to salvage them. E.g. B&W 802D

B&W 802 measurement

All measurements were done with microphone distance 1m, and height 4cm below tweeter. No smoothing was applied. To remove room impact from measurements, impulse window ~4ms was applied. Absolute SPL was not calibrated.

pkaudio.webnode.cz

this is how you should do this stuff, I really like the guy.

Before:

After:

 

[Rick63]

Thanks Amir )
I can't find any pictures of the crossover modified by GR Research to get an idea of how it compares to the stock one ?

I posted some pics in the non-video review. It doesn't look pretty but that's because that's what Dave had to do to fit it in the cabinet.

 

[JSmith]

I can't find any pictures of the crossover modified by GR Research to get an idea of how it compares to the stock one ?

I posted some pics in the non-video review

GR Research Speaker Upgrade Review (Sierra-2EX V2)

Bashing Danny Richie about this "downgrade mod" is well deserved. But I have seen measurements of several other GR modifications and they are much better than the original (I haven't seen them all), so I am at loss why this hatred? I am not discussing how cost-effective are his modifications - I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

 

[diddley]

If Danny was wise he would shut up now. love your t shirt and your endless effort, for a better audio world!

 

[Ropeburn]

Ahhh you listened to popular request. That was fun to do, right, do I see and hear you constantly holding back all too cheeky remarks there?

Another good service to the hobby, thanks for that. And get better mate!

 

[DSJR]

Those blasted silly caps used - Do these people really believe they make the 'sound' better over a standard poly cap - or even the rectangular 'orange drop film caps' (I think they're called) that many makers still use?

 

[Power Pop 23]

At about the 30:55 mark....

Amir sums up of the pros and cons of this loudspeaker modification.

'Everything that is done is a con in here'

On hearing this from Amir, my mind could not help but apply the equivalent of 'bolding' to some of his words.

Thank you for devoting the time to recording this video.

 

[Endibol]

As some of you requested, here is a video review of the GR Research "upgrade" of Ascend Sierra-2EX V2 speaker:

@amirm Once more a great video explaining the important aspects clearly. Thanks Amir!

 

[SoySalsaPicante]

 

[Ropeburn]

View attachment 529773

 

[daniboun]

GR Research Speaker Upgrade Review (Sierra-2EX V2)

Bashing Danny Richie about this "downgrade mod" is well deserved. But I have seen measurements of several other GR modifications and they are much better than the original (I haven't seen them all), so I am at loss why this hatred? I am not discussing how cost-effective are his modifications - I...

www.audiosciencereview.com

JSmith

Thanks got it )

That's a hefty price to pay, $510 for a downgrade lol...

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

'Everything that is done is a con in here'

I must say that was done very well, including the "I OBVIOUSLY meant pro and con" from the context right after.

Good review, good video which I actually watched. Which is rare when text is available.

While there is pride in altering things (even if we don't build) the downside is confirmation bias is going to be very very strong after doing so. Someone paying that money and putting in that time is very likely going to hear better sound. Which I suppose is better than finding out you wasted money and time to make thing worse.

Best is knowing not to even start, which is certainly something that comes from this type of review. Or should.

 

[Multicore]

Excellent video, Amir. At first I thoguht, ug, its so long, 40 minutes. But it's worth the time as you put a lot of interesting, educational but always relevant information in there. Well done!

Here's a comment I put on the YT video and briefly mentioned in a comment on your original review post.

The bandwidth theorem does not derive from the Heisenberg uncertainty principle of quantum physics. There are very interesting correspondences between the bandwidth theorem and the uncertainty principle but afaik they are quite distinct.

When I was a 2nd year student at Edinburgh I was doing a joint degree in physics and electronics I became completely fascinated by the relation between the two. The bandwidth theorem keeps showing up in physics and in a variety of engineering problems including optical systems. I ended up doing my final year dissertation on correspondences in Fourier analysis in optical and electrical systems. I went less far with the quantum physics side of things as I found it so spooky, because I wasn't very good with the Schrödinger wave equation, and also because the quantum world is so distant. The bandwidth theorem, otoh, was right there to help understand real world problems like why some hobby designs from childhood needed fixing, like that time when the home-made Z80 computer couldn't load data from the cassette because the cable had too much capacitance. And then I ended up doing about 25 years as a systems engineer in data communications.

On the aesthetic side, same moment as a 2nd year student at Edinburgh, the bandwidth theorem got me speculating about information rate in the music and the limits to complexity in composition. Turns out I don't think that's limited by audio channel bandwidth. Or is it ... ?

 

[Multicore]

I think you should have used Danny’s favorite description “Cheeezeeeee”, when referring to his speakers,
Ascendo with Cheesy Mod from Cheesy Research.

Back to modding - there are people that really do it properly - they take bad audophile speakers with good quality drivers and try to salvage them. E.g. B&W 802D

B&W 802 measurement

All measurements were done with microphone distance 1m, and height 4cm below tweeter. No smoothing was applied. To remove room impact from measurements, impulse window ~4ms was applied. Absolute SPL was not calibrated.

pkaudio.webnode.cz

this is how you should do this stuff, I really like the guy.

Before:

View attachment 529744

After:
View attachment 529745

Great example excellently presented. Thanks.

 

[AaronJ]

Naturally, Danny has deleted dozens of comments on his videos from the past 24 hours.