Rethinkin GR Research (1 Viewer)

[george king]

Fong,

I have no basis for comparison of pre and post Sonicap upgrades. Everyone said that it was well worth the money. Since these speakers will be with me for a LONG time, I figured it was worth. As to BH5, there is no comparison really to polyfill. BH5 is multilayerd, and some of the layers are dense. The sheet you can order from Danny must weigh 8-10 lbs.

Over and above Danny's wonderful crossover, I think the BH5 significantly contributes to the tightness of the bass. The upright bass on CDs and SACDs is tight and tuneful.

As to the question of buying them prebuilt and their value. I would say yes. IMHO these speakers sound better than the B&W 1NT monitor, the Paradigm Studio 20 and the Sonus Faber Concertino (the midranges are close in this case, but the GR speaker has better imaging and a wider deeper soundstage), and Kef RDM 2. All of these speakers are more expensive that a prebuilt A/V-1. However, you can simply spray paint the unfinished cabinets, and have them look pretty good. So all one really needs is some wide open spaces.

Hope this helps.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Fong,

We haven't done a direct a/b comparison yet, but we feel there's a difference. My personal pair of A/V-1+'s does not have the Sonicap upgrade but they still sound wonderful to me. If you're skeptical then simply don't get the caps. It's not like they're going to sound bad or anything like that. If the upgrade cost several hundred dollars, then I don't think it would be worth it, but I think it's only $68 for the A/V-1's. It's not an insignificant amount of money, but not so much that I'm uncomfortable recommending it.

BTW, there will be a review of the A/V-1's posted on the Secrets to Home Theater website sometime in the near future. From what Danny told me, the reviewer compared them to his $2K+ Dynaudio speakers and said the differences were miniscule.