Grimm Audio LS1BE at Purité Audio

[Purité Audio]

Grimm’s LS1 BE, beryllium tweeters, motional control feedback subwoofers.


Keith

 

[Absolute]

Must be a dream to listen to. I thoroughly enjoyed the original LS1.

 

[Purité Audio]

They are a really good pair of loudspeakers, it is interesting to compare the Grimms with the Kiis and the Dutch&Dutch, and the Hedd Main Towers of course.
Keith

 

[Absolute]

Come one, Keith, show me some subjective comparisons that highlights the inherent strengths of the speakers

 

[Aaron Garrett]

I own the D & Ds and the Grimm LS1be speakers. In my opinions the Grimms are far superior (the D & Ds are great) as they should be since they are twice as expensive. They are more "natural" -- the dreaded word. And the bass is superior to most anything I have heard. The D & Ds though are adjustable to the room in a way that the Grimms are not.

 

[Purité Audio]

Some listeners do prefer the Grimms, they are super, aesthetics and as you say price often contribute to the final decision.
Keith

 

[morespinach]

How would these compare to Genelecs 8351B I wonder.

 

[Purité Audio]

After hearing the 8351Bs ( plus sub) this weekend I suspect they would be quite different.
Keith

 

[morespinach]

Different in what way. More precise? Better? More “natural”?

 

[Absolute]

Nice analysis that may shed some light;

 

[morespinach]

Thanks. Helpful. At Grimm’s price that frequency range simply doesn’t cut it for most people. Genelecs are a class of their own

 

[Aaron Garrett]

Thanks. Helpful. At Grimm’s price that frequency range simply doesn’t cut it for most people. Genelecs are a class of their own

The LS1BE is usually used as a three way with a subwoofer in the base -- what you see in the photo above. It is flat -- as far as I know -- to 20 HZ. It is expensive though. Some people prefer the D & D. I prefer the Grimm. It's good to listen for a while until you draw conclusions.

 

[Purité Audio]

Yes you must listen for yourself, after hearing the 8351B‘s this weekend I would only use those in the near field, which is their primary purpose.
Keith

 

[Absolute]

Thanks. Helpful. At Grimm’s price that frequency range simply doesn’t cut it for most people. Genelecs are a class of their own

Yes, tonality wise they are in a class of their own. But tonality isn't everything.
The biggest difference between the two would be the way the speakers sprays sound out in the room and likely the SPL they can provide before the distortion assumes primary role of audible concern.
The Grimm aims for constant directivity from about the lower mids and up while the Genelec is a gradually increasing DI speaker.

I like constant directivity designs as a concept and I really like speakers with distortion-free high dynamic range. The Grimm LS1 BE also has a tweeter that's likely far beyond any normal transducer due to the fast decay of stored energy inherent with super-light and super-stiff materials, so I'd not be surprised if someone told me there was a clarity and realism to the highs with Grimm that defies what simple frequency response can tell us.

Since speaker design is all about compromises you can't get things like perfect tonality, perfect off-axis, perfect distortion, perfect time-domain behavior and huge capacity at the same time. You have to pick and choose what you want.
For me the Grimm looks like a good and balanced mix of everything important in a normal home-environment while the Genelecs are super-focused for their intended use.

I don't see them as competitors and I'm quite convinced most people would lean towards the Grimms in a real-world living-room of a decent size, but I could be biased since the Grimms are hands-down on my top 5 list of best ever audio experiences - and that wasn't the BE version.

 

[Gabe]

Yes, tonality wise they are in a class of their own. But tonality isn't everything.
The biggest difference between the two would be the way the speakers sprays sound out in the room and likely the SPL they can provide before the distortion assumes primary role of audible concern.
The Grimm aims for constant directivity from about the lower mids and up while the Genelec is a gradually increasing DI speaker.

I like constant directivity designs as a concept and I really like speakers with distortion-free high dynamic range. The Grimm LS1 BE also has a tweeter that's likely far beyond any normal transducer due to the fast decay of stored energy inherent with super-light and super-stiff materials, so I'd not be surprised if someone told me there was a clarity and realism to the highs with Grimm that defies what simple frequency response can tell us.

Since speaker design is all about compromises you can't get things like perfect tonality, perfect off-axis, perfect distortion, perfect time-domain behavior and huge capacity at the same time. You have to pick and choose what you want.
For me the Grimm looks like a good and balanced mix of everything important in a normal home-environment while the Genelecs are super-focused for their intended use.

I don't see them as competitors and I'm quite convinced most people would lean towards the Grimms in a real-world living-room of a decent size, but I could be biased since the Grimms are hands-down on my top 5 list of best ever audio experiences - and that wasn't the BE version.

Out of curiosity, may I know what were the other top 5 of your best audio experiences. Interested to know as I also find the LS1be incredible. Thanks.