I need the communities Blessings

[Sammy77]

Hello folks, just joined audio science. Ecstatic to be here ! Guys I need some serious advice from those who have been able to hear the new psaudio FR5 vs GR research NX-studio, which one sounds better ???????

 

[JSmith]

Hey, welcome to ASR.

The FR5's have been independently measured here;

Measurements for speaker PSAudio aspen FR5

www.spinorama.org

The GR Reasearch have not... personally I wouldn't buy anything from Danny. A discussion here;

S

'Opinions on GR Research NX-Studio'

Aug 23, 2024

Thoughts?

Thanks

• sneabs
• Replies: 73
• Forum: Speaker Reviews, Measurements and Discussion

JSmith

 

[Davey]

You don't need blessings. You just need to listen to both speakers.
Pick the one you like the best.

 

[voodooless]

In what world are GR research and PS audio the only viable options for a bookshelf speaker? These two companies are probably some of the most despised on ASR because they are known to spread lies and misinformation on a regular basis.

But looking at these things objectively:

The FR5's have been independently measured here;

Measurements for speaker PSAudio aspen FR5

www.spinorama.org

This is not good. Linearity is poor, and directivity isn’t great either, especially vertically.

As for the GR speaker, I would expect to not be much better, although at least the tweeter is much closer to the woofer on this one:

You can get a way better speaker for less money.

 

[Sammy77]

I’m all ears

 

[Sammy77]

What do you guys recommend under 3 grand

 

[Chromatischism]

I’m all ears

Looking at the graphs, that is pretty bad. And yes, we can tell roughly how they sound based on that.

Much better for less money:

Buchardt S400 Mark II
KEF R3 Meta
Ascend Sierra (look at their website, they have several under your budget)

Put the rest toward a good subwoofer.

There are others but I'm on my phone and headed off to bed so I just named the top 3 that come to mind.

 

[kemmler3D]

Just looking at bookshelf speakers, there are a lot of good options in that price range both active and passive. Neumann KH120 MKII is an excellent choice and gets you well within the budget.

Genelec 8030c is another easy rec although not as much of a no-brainer as it used to be. (I have these, quite happy)

Audio First Fidelia is well within the budget and really good.

Ascend Acoustics Sierra LX also great and well within the price range.

And of course if you can catch them when they are in stock, the Ascilab range is mostly within your budget also, and they are in many ways some of the best-measuring speakers ever seen.

Just a few off the top of my head, and only bookshelves. If you are open to floorstanders there are even more possibilities, doubly so if you are willing to look for secondhand stuff.

If you can give more detail about your must haves and dislikes, room, goals, etc we could give more specific recs.

Welcome to ASR!

e: Everything I mentioned has good objective performance according to the idea that the speaker should play the music without adding or subtracting anything. @Davey makes a good point though. At some point it's a matter of taste. The best way to decide is to hear speakers in person. I would recommend hearing some that are really "neutral" like these before spending the money, but that doesn't mean it's wrong to like something else.

 

[MarkS]

Depends a lot on what your needs are: room size, music only or movies also, type of music, typical volume level, sub or no, preference for wide or narrow dispersion, ...

For small standmounts: Ascilab, KEF, Revel, Ascend, Philharmonic all make excellent examples.

 

[voodooless]

Beyond what others already recommend:
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX
AsciLab A6B
Neumann KH 120 II (active)

 

[Chromatischism]

Beyond what others already recommend:
Ascend Acoustics Sierra-LX
AsciLab A6B
Neumann KH 120 II (active)

I was going to list the Ascilabs but they are very hard to get.

 

[voodooless]

I was going to list the Ascilabs but they are very hard to get.

Wasn’t some well known guy in the audio science community supposed to bring them to the US?

 

[kyuu]

Based on the thread title and the listed speaker options, I'm pretty confident this is a troll.

 

[Karmacoma]

What do you guys recommend under 3 grand

I'll second what everybody says, for 3k of course you can get state of the art loudspeakers (way better than those two). Ascilab's loudspeakers is an easy recommandation.
With that budget I personally opted for a pair of Neumann KH 150s, they are absolutely marvellous, amongst the best measuring speakers at that price, they got plenty of bass and massive SPL for that size, don't require an amp. The review, measurements and olive score are available on ASR and spinorama.org.

 

[kemmler3D]

Based on the thread title and the listed speaker options, I'm pretty confident this is a troll.

Troll or no, now anyone googling those speakers is likely to come across a thread with good alternatives and reasonable advice... so I don't see a need to change course on this one.

 

[Karmacoma]

Based on the thread title and the listed speaker options, I'm pretty confident this is a troll.

If he was really a good troll he would've mentioned the Tektons.

 

[kemmler3D]

If he was really a good troll he would've mentioned the Tektons.

Nah, a skilled troll maintains plausibility.

 

[kyuu]

If he was really a good troll he would've mentioned the Tektons.

Can't blow your whole wad in one go.

 

[JSmith]

Tektons

JSmith

 

[MarkS]

I was going to list the Ascilabs but they are very hard to get.

F6B is back in stock. C6B projected Nov or Dec. A6B, not sure.

Post in thread 'Ascilab C6B & F6B Launched – Ask Questions, Share Feedback'

Sep 14, 2025

@AsciLab, while you are here, could you please give a quick update on when can we expect the next batch of C6Bs to be done?

C6B will be in stock in November to December as current expectation.
F6B and F6BS will be in stock next Monday.

• AsciLab

•