GR sub review (1 Viewer)

[Ted_Polzin]

Ok this is my first review so please bear with me.

I have now built a few of my speakers. My center is a Adire LCC, my mains are some home designed and will probably be replaced if Adire comes out with a 3-way design. My sub was my first DIY project. a 315L sonotube based tempest. Needless to say I built it before I met my wife, and if she was to stay my wife I needed something smaller / non tube based.

Truth be told I was never really happy with my Tempest. Sure it played loud and low but , quite possible my amps fault an old HK65 using two channels to drive a voice coil each, I could always locate it during a loud scene. Not to mention the size.

So I decided to build a complete sub, I wanted it to be smaller than a 20" cub and have a built in amp. My original budget was around $500 CDN. The size all but ruled out most 15" drivers and my budget ruled out the rest.

This brought me to the GR sub. Boy I like this sub. I have not really pushed it yet but so far there is no reason to think it can not be pushed hard. I built it into a 18.5" OD Cube with a Solen sub 250. I built it out of 3/4" Baltic Birch with the front face and back face being doubled up. I covered it with cherry veneer on all but the front face which is covered with Birds Eye maple. I inlayed all the corners with 3/4" stripes of cherry hard wood. Flushed with the veneer and rounded over. With it being reinforced in the back to account for the removed wood.

Man this thing is heavy, north of 100lbs for sure.

Now as I said it really pounds. It also integrates with my system better than I could possibly have imagined. Often I can not really tell when it leaves off and the mains begin other than I know my mains can not possibly be making that noise. I also can not locate it anywhere. It is very tight, fast and articulate. I mostly watch movies but my wife likes music and loves this thing as well. She also likes the look a lot!!

What did it end up costing, well around $800CDN for all. This includes all the veneer, wood and shoptime I had to rent to build it.

Thanks

Ted

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Sounds nice! Got any pics?

 

[Max F]

Sorry, whats a GR sub?

 

[Ted_Polzin]

GR Research , maker of many fine speakers and speaker kits, came out with a 12" sub / PR combo this summer. Quite reasonable as well

I am also quite supprised there has been so little talk about this sub. Seems to be quite the deal for just the driver / PR at $144USD for the pair. Sure preforms well

Ted

 

[JonWB]

Here's the link... looks like a great deal.

http://www.gr-research.com/sub.htm

 

[Jason Dalton]

That does seem like quite a deal, and I'm looking forward to seeing some pictures. It sounds like you put together a very nice sub.

Anyone know what the specs of the PR are? They don't seem to be listed on the site.

 

[Ted_Polzin]

Well I am very happy with it. It is much better than my Tempest was, at least from a SQ point of view. Although I'm sure the Tempest could get much louder. Oh well I just bought a new house and if this sub can't keep up I can always build a second or maybe even a IB. Man this hobby will kill me ... I'm never satisfied. Oh and pics will happen. I may post some from my camcorder ... low res but better than nothing. My digital camera packed it in .. time for a new one.

Ted

 

[Brian Corr]

I've done 2 of these subs and they are great. I had an M&K 5000 MKII and sold it after building the first GR sub.
The M&K could play at higher spl's than the single GR, but the GR just sounded so much better. (tested them side by side) So I sold the M&K and built a second GR.

 

[Ted_Polzin]

I agree, to me the SQ is so much more important than a few extra decibels, I mean if I really need them I can always build an extra sub.

Ted

 

[JimPeitersen]

Guys,
How is it close to max excursion? The general "rule" for PR's is to use one that is at least one "size" bigger than the active driver (with long excursion capability.) I didn't see the x-max on the PR at the GR site.
JP

 

[Allen Ross]

why did you veneer over baltic birth ply? if its cabinet grade its good enough to just stain and finish of. or you wanted to go cherry all around, but i would have saved the cash.

might be my next project :-D

 

[Ted_Polzin]

I wanted the strength of BB but I don't like the look of it ... becides I have a lot of veneer lying around and saving a few dollars was not what I wanted to do ... hence the Cherry on 5 sides and Birds eye maple on the face

Ted

 

[Rory Buszka]

That PR easily outdisplaces that woofer. The surround on the GR woofer is so big so that it can flex more easily and linearly along its range of motion. The Xmax of that woofer is much more ordinary, like 14mm or something. Still respectable though.

 

[Danny Richie]

Thanks for the kind words guys. I really appreciate it when our customers confirm that we reached our design objectives. Enjoy.

 

[Ted_Polzin]

You know the more I listen to this Sub the more I like it. I just finished Shaun of the dead. Man that movie has so much bass. I don't know if I did something wrong with my Tempest or something right with this one but my god it sounds good. Better every movie. I have not hit a upper limit yet as well. Not that I listen to movies that loud.



Hows that for a review

Ted

 

[cacu]

Now that you mentioned it, I notice the same thing with my sealed Tempest that I can locate it when it's playing. 2 of my friend came over to visit at different times, both says they can hear the sub playing from the corner. Maybe it's the placement thing?

 

[Benihana]

maybe the gr sub is easier to integrate than the tempest? I know it was hard to integrate my tempest, to where I didn't even use it for music at all, all my problems were fixed when my receiver integrated it for me, now its just wonderful, can't tell i have a sub at all because its not even in my room , its out in the hallway and it loox like a piece of furniture .