I'm sitting here tonight pretty much in awe...

Started by P.I., August 07, 2026, 09:51:53 PM

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P.I.

Danny Richie and I have been friends for many years.  We've talked about, colluded and conspired over many things over the years.  I was in Iowa Park at the beginning of the year and heard his new designs:  Allie and Maddie.  They are bipolar with a 3" driver running from ~ 220Hz up with an identical driver on the back providing an "open baffle" type of response.  The LF are handled by his M165 driver.  -3dB @ ~ 36Hz in room (dimensions help).

I've been doing this for a very long time. I've owned and built countless speakers since I was 14.  These speakers are so incredibly coherent, seamless and absolutely transparent.  Do they have shortcomings?  Sure.  15kHz and up are soft, but then so am I up there... I'm 78.  It is their ability to communicate that is astounding.  Vocals are "they are here".  The soundstage is a quarter hemisphere that begins at the front plane of the speakers and extends 15-20 feet deep.  Timbre, PRAT and localization is bonkers.

If you are ever in Albuquerque, look me up.
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Nick B

Partners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Erhard Elvis Mk II tube amp
Hattor Big preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Holo Cyan2 dac
Holo Red streamer
Spiritual Sound loom
TWL Digital American II p cords
Custom power cords
JPLAY, HQ Player, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

S Clark

Danny has always had a great ear.  Over the decades he has added the experience to understand what he's hearing.  Put those together and he's one of the very top speaker designers out there.  His top stuff is easily on par with big name, big price companies.  But I'm biased.  He's the reason I re-energized about stereo about 20 years ago when I took my physics classes up to his house back in the mid 2000's.  Danny is how I connected to Dave all those years ago.   :thumb:
Speaker-GR Research LS9-XStatik-AltecFlamenco
Amp-Moscode,Dodd,Folsom
Pre-Dodd
Turntable-Vyger,Victor,TechnicSP10MK2
Phonopre-Hagermann,Jolida,GSlee   
Cable-AudioSensibility Wywires TWL
Cartridge-Dynavector,Sumiko
Tonearm-PioneerP3,Jelco
Rythmic sub

P.I.

Quote from: S Clark on August 09, 2026, 10:36:18 AMDanny has always had a great ear.  Over the decades he has added the experience to understand what he's hearing.  Put those together and he's one of the very top speaker designers out there.  His top stuff is easily on par with big name, big price companies.  But I'm biased.  He's the reason I re-energized about stereo about 20 years ago when I took my physics classes up to his house back in the mid 2000's.  Danny is how I connected to Dave all those years ago.   :thumb:

I'm glad we did!
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

P.I.

I've been "doing" audio since 1964.  I built a speaker cabinet for our lead guitar player that was loaded with Norelco alnico twin cones.  My pay was a pair of those 12" drivers.  I built boxes with zero knowledge for them.  It was the Dawn of Stereo.  Next, I built Dynakit MkIII for PA use for our band and many others.  I built over 30 of them over about 5 years.

When I was a longhair rock and roller living in the band house, we had 4 Altec A7-500s stacked horn to horn driven by 4 MkIIIs.  This coupled with me being a drummer (affectionately referred to as "our concussionist") pretty much explains my low level tinnitus... exacerbated by firearms over the years.

Whatever.

I've learned over the years to listen to, through and into recordings knowing what and how things should sound.  Years in studios listening to "reference monitors" taught me a lot. Main monitors were UREI 811 with Altec 604E drivers with Don Long crossovers.  The standard studio meter bridge monitor in the 80' was and still is  in some studios, the Yamaha NS10.  It was the nastiest, widely sold speaker of the era. Purpously chosen.  If a mix would be OK on them, it would not be offensive in broadcast or at home. To me, harsh sounds harsh, dull sounds dull, detailed sounds detailed and smooth sounds smooth.  I don't hear textbook perfectly, but I understand what I'm hearing.

My Maddies simply disappear.  I'm not listening to my system, I'm hearing the recording.  It's not a "you are there", more a "they are here" presentation.  All of this on my break-in system that is doing the job until I finish my listening room remodel and flesh out my real system.

I'm listening to Sting - Fields of Gold and the stage is wall to wall, stupid deep and absolutely coherent.

Coherency is the soul of PRAT.

You really need to make a trip to hear Music.
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

P.I.

Quote from: Nick B on August 08, 2026, 10:32:49 PMPartners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Kinda missed this for some reason, my bad.  I've been as busy as my old bod will allow.

I've had them for two weeks.  I ran them 24/7 for the first week.  I think they are finally 99% "there".  They continue to open up..

Today a couple of my buddies came over to hear a pair of TWL speaker cables I just finished breaking in.  We listened to my tried and true old Mogami cables I use for break in tasks, etc.  Star quad I've used for years.

It's always fun to see the uninitiated have that "holy shit" moment.  One of them (another Dave - there's 5 of us in my orbit) listened for about 20 seconds and turned and said... his quote: " How the hell do people not hear these kind of differences?"

We all laughed and spent the next 4 hours listening to my break in system.  Nothing special, just a Marantz CD6004 player feeding my Khozmo preamp with a Sparkos Pro dual op amp into a Schitt Aegir amp.  It's my set it and forget it, let it break in stuff  go to.

I'm putting a system together while I do the finish work on the room (I'll send you a pic of the Maddies sitting in place with the room mostly done) I still can't (won't) figure out how to post pics here.  Please post it if you wish.

I have lots of work to do.  That's not a complaint!
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Nick B

I got the p
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 06:23:15 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 08, 2026, 10:32:49 PMPartners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Kinda missed this for some reason, my bad.  I've been as busy as my old bod will allow.

I've had them for two weeks.  I ran them 24/7 for the first week.  I think they are finally 99% "there".  They continue to open up..

Today a couple of my buddies came over to hear a pair of TWL speaker cables I just finished breaking in.  We listened to my tried and true old Mogami cables I use for break in tasks, etc.  Star quad I've used for years.

It's always fun to see the uninitiated have that "holy shit" moment.  One of them (another Dave - there's 5 of us in my orbit) listened for about 20 seconds and turned and said... his quote: " How the hell do people not hear these kind of differences?"

We all laughed and spent the next 4 hours listening to my break in system.  Nothing special, just a Marantz CD6004 player feeding my Khozmo preamp with a Sparkos Pro dual op amp into a Schitt Aegir amp.  It's my set it and forget it, let it break in stuff  go to.

I'm putting a system together while I do the finish work on the room (I'll send you a pic of the Maddies sitting in place with the room mostly done) I still can't (won't) figure out how to post pics here.  Please post it if you wish.

I have lots of work to do.  That's not a complaint!

I got the photo and your room and the speakers look great. It is hard to imagine a speaker can throw such a huge sound stage and with such depth. If that is a kit, it is beautifully put together. If not a kit, does Danny or a third-party offer it in a finished version? I would think your arthritis might prevent you from doing that kind of work. I will see if I can post it here. Apple uses Photo compression software called HEIC. I may need to try and change that to a jpeg or other format.

I will have Pete's cable within 7 to 10 days. I'll be curious as to the difference because it is unshielded and hopefully will give me more detail and timbre. I'm still thinking about getting a silver ethernet cable as well.
Erhard Elvis Mk II tube amp
Hattor Big preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Holo Cyan2 dac
Holo Red streamer
Spiritual Sound loom
TWL Digital American II p cords
Custom power cords
JPLAY, HQ Player, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

P.I.

Quote from: Nick B on August 11, 2026, 07:11:11 PMI got the p
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 06:23:15 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 08, 2026, 10:32:49 PMPartners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Kinda missed this for some reason, my bad.  I've been as busy as my old bod will allow.

I've had them for two weeks.  I ran them 24/7 for the first week.  I think they are finally 99% "there".  They continue to open up..

Today a couple of my buddies came over to hear a pair of TWL speaker cables I just finished breaking in.  We listened to my tried and true old Mogami cables I use for break in tasks, etc.  Star quad I've used for years.

It's always fun to see the uninitiated have that "holy shit" moment.  One of them (another Dave - there's 5 of us in my orbit) listened for about 20 seconds and turned and said... his quote: " How the hell do people not hear these kind of differences?"

We all laughed and spent the next 4 hours listening to my break in system.  Nothing special, just a Marantz CD6004 player feeding my Khozmo preamp with a Sparkos Pro dual op amp into a Schitt Aegir amp.  It's my set it and forget it, let it break in stuff  go to.

I'm putting a system together while I do the finish work on the room (I'll send you a pic of the Maddies sitting in place with the room mostly done) I still can't (won't) figure out how to post pics here.  Please post it if you wish.

I have lots of work to do.  That's not a complaint!

I got the photo and your room and the speakers look great. It is hard to imagine a speaker can throw such a huge sound stage and with such depth. If that is a kit, it is beautifully put together. If not a kit, does Danny or a third-party offer it in a finished version? I would think your arthritis might prevent you from doing that kind of work. I will see if I can post it here. Apple uses Photo compression software called HEIC. I may need to try and change that to a jpeg or other format.

I will have Pete's cable within 7 to 10 days. I'll be curious as to the difference because it is unshielded and hopefully will give me more detail and timbre. I'm still thinking about getting a silver ethernet cable as well.

It is only available as a finished speaker.  There is a stand mount version with a smaller bass/mid called the Allie.  The speaker finish is flawless.  They weigh about 70 pounds apiece and arrived double boxed, strapped to a pallet.  One of the comments today was the LF extension without a sub.

Here is a link to his finished speakers:

https://gr-research.com/completed-speakers/

Yes, the TWL Ethernet cable is very open sounding...
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Nick B

#8
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 07:38:02 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 11, 2026, 07:11:11 PMI got the p
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 06:23:15 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 08, 2026, 10:32:49 PMPartners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Kinda missed this for some reason, my bad.  I've been as busy as my old bod will allow.

I've had them for two weeks.  I ran them 24/7 for the first week.  I think they are finally 99% "there".  They continue to open up..

Today a couple of my buddies came over to hear a pair of TWL speaker cables I just finished breaking in.  We listened to my tried and true old Mogami cables I use for break in tasks, etc.  Star quad I've used for years.

It's always fun to see the uninitiated have that "holy shit" moment.  One of them (another Dave - there's 5 of us in my orbit) listened for about 20 seconds and turned and said... his quote: " How the hell do people not hear these kind of differences?"

We all laughed and spent the next 4 hours listening to my break in system.  Nothing special, just a Marantz CD6004 player feeding my Khozmo preamp with a Sparkos Pro dual op amp into a Schitt Aegir amp.  It's my set it and forget it, let it break in stuff  go to.

I'm putting a system together while I do the finish work on the room (I'll send you a pic of the Maddies sitting in place with the room mostly done) I still can't (won't) figure out how to post pics here.  Please post it if you wish.

I have lots of work to do.  That's not a complaint!

I got the photo and your room and the speakers look great. It is hard to imagine a speaker can throw such a huge sound stage and with such depth. If that is a kit, it is beautifully put together. If not a kit, does Danny or a third-party offer it in a finished version? I would think your arthritis might prevent you from doing that kind of work. I will see if I can post it here. Apple uses Photo compression software called HEIC. I may need to try and change that to a jpeg or other format.

I will have Pete's cable within 7 to 10 days. I'll be curious as to the difference because it is unshielded and hopefully will give me more detail and timbre. I'm still thinking about getting a silver ethernet cable as well.

It is only available as a finished speaker.  There is a stand mount version with a smaller bass/mid called the Allie.  The speaker finish is flawless.  They weigh about 70 pounds apiece and arrived double boxed, strapped to a pallet.  One of the comments today was the LF extension without a sub.

Here is a link to his finished speakers:

https://gr-research.com/completed-speakers/

Yes, the TWL Ethernet cable is very open sounding...

It's great that Danny is offering some finished products. I don't have the skill set to attempt a kit and especially one with quality drivers and that would require a very nice finish.

I spoke with Apple and the best they could suggest is to use an iCloud link.Unfortunately the  iCloud link will expire in 30 days. Our Forum software requires a URL, so this is the best I can do. When I post photos of albums I'm listening to, I always go to Discogs and copy the photo with the accompanying URL from that location

Having said all that, the iCloud link will not post. I'm going to work on this some more as it is annoying that I can't post a simple photo from my Apple photo library....
Erhard Elvis Mk II tube amp
Hattor Big preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Holo Cyan2 dac
Holo Red streamer
Spiritual Sound loom
TWL Digital American II p cords
Custom power cords
JPLAY, HQ Player, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Nick B

Erhard Elvis Mk II tube amp
Hattor Big preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Holo Cyan2 dac
Holo Red streamer
Spiritual Sound loom
TWL Digital American II p cords
Custom power cords
JPLAY, HQ Player, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

P.I.

Quote from: Nick B on August 11, 2026, 08:07:56 PM
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 07:38:02 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 11, 2026, 07:11:11 PMI got the p
Quote from: P.I. on August 11, 2026, 06:23:15 PM
Quote from: Nick B on August 08, 2026, 10:32:49 PMPartners in crime.... It's great to have long lasting friendships. My oldest goes back to being a freshman in high school.

How long have you had these? It's tough to imagine that kind of depth. I respect Danny and learn from his utube videos. A few years ago, I was thinking about buying one of Danny's kits. But the cabinet assembly was the sticking point. I am not a woodworking guy and the assembled unit with labor and shipping would've been hefty. But one of these days I hope to listen to some of his speakers.

Is the room just about done?
Kinda missed this for some reason, my bad.  I've been as busy as my old bod will allow.

I've had them for two weeks.  I ran them 24/7 for the first week.  I think they are finally 99% "there".  They continue to open up..

Today a couple of my buddies came over to hear a pair of TWL speaker cables I just finished breaking in.  We listened to my tried and true old Mogami cables I use for break in tasks, etc.  Star quad I've used for years.

It's always fun to see the uninitiated have that "holy shit" moment.  One of them (another Dave - there's 5 of us in my orbit) listened for about 20 seconds and turned and said... his quote: " How the hell do people not hear these kind of differences?"

We all laughed and spent the next 4 hours listening to my break in system.  Nothing special, just a Marantz CD6004 player feeding my Khozmo preamp with a Sparkos Pro dual op amp into a Schitt Aegir amp.  It's my set it and forget it, let it break in stuff  go to.

I'm putting a system together while I do the finish work on the room (I'll send you a pic of the Maddies sitting in place with the room mostly done) I still can't (won't) figure out how to post pics here.  Please post it if you wish.

I have lots of work to do.  That's not a complaint!

I got the photo and your room and the speakers look great. It is hard to imagine a speaker can throw such a huge sound stage and with such depth. If that is a kit, it is beautifully put together. If not a kit, does Danny or a third-party offer it in a finished version? I would think your arthritis might prevent you from doing that kind of work. I will see if I can post it here. Apple uses Photo compression software called HEIC. I may need to try and change that to a jpeg or other format.

I will have Pete's cable within 7 to 10 days. I'll be curious as to the difference because it is unshielded and hopefully will give me more detail and timbre. I'm still thinking about getting a silver ethernet cable as well.

It is only available as a finished speaker.  There is a stand mount version with a smaller bass/mid called the Allie.  The speaker finish is flawless.  They weigh about 70 pounds apiece and arrived double boxed, strapped to a pallet.  One of the comments today was the LF extension without a sub.

Here is a link to his finished speakers:

https://gr-research.com/completed-speakers/

Yes, the TWL Ethernet cable is very open sounding...

It's great that Danny is offering some finished products. I don't have the skill set to attempt a kit and especially one with quality drivers and that would require a very nice finish.

I spoke with Apple and the best they could suggest is to use an iCloud link.Unfortunately the  iCloud link will expire in 30 days. Our Forum software requires a URL, so this is the best I can do. When I post photos of albums I'm listening to, I always go to Discogs and copy the photo with the accompanying URL from that location

Having said all that, the iCloud link will not post. I'm going to work on this some more as it is annoying that I can't post a simple photo from my Apple photo library....

Hard on purpose to make more $$$.

Let me see what I can do.  I don't have an online photo service.  Screw them.  They don't need my stuff...
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe