GR-Research XLS Encore Speakers & Speaker Cables Arrived ! AND The PLAN is... 

Links for your reference (Non-affiliate) GR-Research XLS Encore: gr-research.com/product/x-ls-encore/ GR-Research DIY speaker cables: gr-research.com/product/24-strand-diy-audiophile-speaker-cable/ Aliexpress Speaker cables: www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001933248840.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.0.0.21ef1802i6K7JE Related videos: Danny at GR-Research made a video and it Is Elitist and Delusional: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zxlUYfpxNMY.html

Peerless / Vifa / Scanspeak have been making great performing and cost effective speakers drivers for a long time. The 1st set that I built 51 years ago used a 5" Peerless mid-woofer and a Audax dome tweeter and had not one of my kids decided that the domes should be flat I would probably still be using them. My 75 year old ears that spent 15 months on an M60 main battle tank are not that discerning and anything above 12,000 hz is fiction to me. The quality (not good or bad) of sound that I prefer comes from soft dome tweeters and paper woofers. I can't wait for the review.

I have recently gotten into designing and building my own speakers and I like learning as much as I can on the subject. What I don’t care about is “drama”, so I really appreciate you taking a professional approach to this review. For people like me, a speaker I get to build myself is actually a good thing, not a bad thing. I get for others that it is definitely a bad thing to have to build the speaker, but I like to be able to make things my own (picking my own paint color or wood finish).

A direct comparison for a kit of this expense is the CSS Criton TD-1.

I had built GR-Research NX-Studio with all the Crossover upgrades (I upgraded the Mills to Path Audio Resistors). After 300hrs of running...these are Opening up really nicely. The tube connecters I had trashed as they had corrosion inside of female end. I used WBT Binding Posts and to be frank...$60 Tube Connecters look and are built like $10. Enjoy your review and keep it going!!!

Thanks for the video Jay. I look forward to the blind A/B testing and the measurements. I like the test plan and look forward to your honest opinion. It's nice to see someone willing to put their personal feelings aside and let the speaker and the numbers/traces fall where they may. I must admit I own a pair of XLS Encores mainly because I like the way they sound and I like building myself when I can. I am interested in the comparison between the CSS Audio 1TDX crossover to Danny's. I know Danny's Encore is a DIY point-to-point lay it out yourself crossover. Not necessarily the easiest task for the non-technical guys. Haven't seen the CSS but I am curious. Glad you are feeling better. Keep the videos coming and I'll keep watching.

I have been building audio gear as a hobby for quite some time, I have built the XLS Encores and like you I found the drive construction to be underwhelming especially the woofer. Regardless of that they do fit my ear as well. They are very clear and the detail is very good. I think what makes them is the tweeter. It is very crisp and clear but not fatiguing. I would really like to see better quality drivers but hey they sound good and they do the job so that's all that matters. Look forward to your next vid on these.!!

Jay, this investigative approach is fantastic. This is a great direction to go in. I look forward the findings. Keep up the good work!

A lot of electrical cable made in China is aluminium based with copper plating. Of course, on must remember that high frequency is conducted on the surface of a conductor and if the Chinese cable only have a few microns of copper plate over the conductor then obviously the character will be a lot different to a solid copper cable. Chinese wire is also mostly hard drawn, which is different than an annealed copper or a single crystalline cable. So yes you are correct in saying a cable is not the same if its construction and material used is not the same, at higher frequencies this does come into play.

Woofer weight is a myth. Some manufactures ADD weight to their woofers (especially rampant in car audio). In reality, if the woofer is well designed and the materials are well chosen, the weight is not often relevant, not like people assume. Big magnets are like big car engines: something already went wrong when you need excess power. Make your car (or speaker) lighter, and you can get around the track faster (accelerate faster).

I think the simpler reason that Danny doesn't measure below 200Hz is pragmatic: in order to eliminate room reflections the measurement software takes maximum 5ms "slices" of sound, which means that anything lower that that frequency can't be measured as you're not even capturing a full wave. As far as I know anyway.

About the speaker cables: It's either the connectors or the core. GR uses a thick rope as a core to stretch the cable and make individual wires cross at a larger angle. Lefthand rule: less interference. Put a rope core in the Aliexpress cable, change the connectors over and find out.

Hi Jay Love your Chanel, I have used the Ali-express cables for a while and did a small video about them on my Chanel Something must be wrong with these Cables some possibilities to check 1) Mislabeled polarity 2) Not all the strands are soldered in the termination sometimes they are sloppy. I suggest cutting the banana plugs out and use the bare wire 3) A bad example of Ali-express cable check that each strand is about 0.75 mm in diameter (0.03 inch) the total of each 12 strands (not 24) bare copper should be 3.5mm. (0.14 inch) Each strand should be made of multiple thin strands not solid 4) Bad connection with the speakers not tight enough accidental polarity swap. 5) May be stuffing the cable with a rope ( like GR shows how to do it) , does make a difference I would try that at the end. Very Curious how it goes I would really hate to have to buy his Cables we must find the secret :)

Dude, you really should spend some time on the DIY forums, and read the books and magazines for DIY'ers, learn what's what. Ask Danny what rope to buy at your local home center and thread it thru your Ali Express cable, see if that makes them more sonically equal to the GR-R cable. It should. With a braided or twisted cable, the closer to 90º X intersections of the braid strands and the more air (space) between strands the better the sound will be, that is the reason for Danny threading rope thru the center of his cable. Re Tube Connecters. I feel Danny didn't tell you the whole story. it's not just that they are pure copper (pure Silver would be better), plenty of pure copper binding posts on the market, it is the lack of metal that makes them good. Minimal metal will be better than a huge chunk of machined copper binding posts. Think WBT Nextgen, and Eichmann binding post. Also, you're wasting your time with the jeweler, if Danny says they are pure copper believe him. If you want to nitpick send it to a metallurgist for grain structure and purity testing. Anyway, they say nothing good happens between 2am and 7am, and it's almost 4am now so that's all you're going to be getting out of me on this, I don't feel like proofreading and backing up statements with the science behind them at this hour, sorry. Peace.

If there is a massive difference between those cables, a measurement system will surely pick it up. I would love to see what's really going on here.

Just to let some of the commenters know that the speaker cable is a kit and will be less than half the price posted if you assemble yourself. The price posted includes professional assembly thus getting to that price.

Regarding the woofer driver frame material: it's composite because its 1) mechanically stiff 2) light and 3) non-resonant. Oh, and it doesn't ring, which is probably it's most important attribute. Personally, I don't understand the concern of _what_ something is made of; what matters is _how_ it functions. I'll just add that F1 cars are composite as well. Regarding the cables, one can't draw informed conclusions of a speaker cable simply from what it looks like, the quality of the materials, it's geometry (how it's wound) and the....dielectric (insulator) matter also, and, most importantly all these factors _interact,._ just as Time and Temperature often interact as factors in a chemical reaction. The Ali Express cables likely use PVC for the insulator, which has a notably negative impact on sound qualty, the best-sounding dielectric material is FEP (not Teflon). Again, what matters at the end of the day is how it *functions* (i.e., how it sounds). Regarding the tube connectors, not only is it important they are made of pure copper, but low mass as well. Danny's products are very well thought-out with respect both functionality, but also they're designed to _maximize_ interactions that contribute to functionality and sound quality and _minimize_ deleterious interactions that impact sound quality. The issues I see with almost ALL reviewers* is they approach product functionality from a very simplistic frame of reference: that is, single factors by themselves are responsible for functionality (in this case, audio quality), without giving any consideration to the fact that design factors, materials, and control variables often _interact._ I can tell you that as someone who spent 40 years working as a professional scientist and 10 years as a Design for Six Sigma Master Black Belt, this overly simplistic perspective/viewpoint of single factors, functioning independently by themselves, is almost *never* how the REAL WORLD *works.* (*-they also don't perform any statistically valid measurement systems analysis [MSA], either, in fact, they don't even know what MSA is, but that's a story for another day).

The connectors and the damping from the added core that Danny adds.....can make all the difference in the world. Remove the connectors from the Ali cables and twist all the bare wires together and cram them in the jacks on the amp and speaker......it will sound worlds better.....then put the same core into the middle of the cables and listen again. Not saying the wire is identical.....but if it is.....connectors and damping can make a ton of difference.....everything makes a difference.

I built my GR-Research cables. First point it was a fun project. 2 They sound great. End game for speaker cable for me.

Still pretty happy with the CopperColour you recommended a little ways back. My money will be on the CSS over the GR but interested to see the blind test. Thanks Jay!

If you ever want to hear the rest of Danny's lineup, you are welcome to stop by if you are ever in New-Brunswick. I have upgraded X-statiks, X-Voce center, AVR surrounds, sealed sub for HT and a pair of fully upgraded NX-Oticas with a pair of triple OB subs.

Ok when are we going to see a comparison to the CSS Criton 1TD-X? You've given very high praise to the Criton in the past. I bought the Criton kit based on your review and a few others. I have not built them yet but am looking forward to it.

There shouldn't be much of a difference between measuring with MLS software or measuring in an anechoic chamber. MLS removes the reflections, the size of the room determines the time window and therefore the lowest possible frequency one can measure without reflections. The frequency lies somewhere between 200 - 350hz (depending on room size), which is low enough for designing proper cross-over circuits. Most stuff below 200hz can be simulated quiet well since the cabinet's "shape" doesn't interfere that much with these low frequencies. I use this method for all of my designs. I know there's some negativity around GR Research and I know Danny can be pretty direct in his communication but I must say that I agree with a lot of what he has to say. Btw. I have experience with designing loudspeaker for about 35 years, I've build stuff for home audio, studio monitors and instrument / PA loudspeakers.

The approach you are taking on this review is nice. It’s good to see you are giving Danny Ritchie and GR Research a fair shot. They have been around for a long time, and they are very knowledgeable on everything that can impact the signal path and sound. I look forward to your review of their speaker and cable comparison against Blue Jeans, which I currently use.

Amir from Audio Science Review should measure Danny’s cables without them plugged in and tell us why they sound better than AliExpress cables.

Look at those beautiful solid steel speakers stands in the back, they’re so beautiful but expensive.

Jay, as far as the tube connectors go it’s not just about the copper. Danny is making a point about removing mass from the connections especially if that mass is brass or worse, magnetic material.

As a long time customer and fan of Danny’s work I can concede one thing regarding the X-LS and all of Danny’s Encore line. They are excellent performers to a point. Are there better speakers out there? Absolutely! But for under $2K they are still really damn good! Even within the Encore line there are options to consider. For a little more mid bass and better power handling, consider a pair of X-CS. For a taste of open baffle sound the X-Statiks will deliver serious room-filling sound. Those alone made me a believer that Danny knows what he’s doing! If you want more resolution and better overall performance then you will likely need to spend more money. Danny’s NX line uses superior drivers for even more resolution. Don’t forget, if you can build and finish the cabinets yourself you can save hundreds of dollars.

I really appreciate the way you handled the "Danny situation."

Great video Jay. But beware of one important fact: the Miflex KPCU caps which Danny used in this crossover, do need a extreme long burnin time to really shine. I've also used the same caps in the crossover of my Kef Reference, and they are great! But let them run for at least 600 hours... A very good Friend of mine also bought the same XL-S Encore speakers with the upgraded crossover. After a extensive burnin time, they are fantastic. Very open and with great layering of the soundstage. I hope you enjoy them too, Kind regards, Nico den Haak.

Another Great video Jay! Great response to Danny's video which I did not appreciate. It was elitist and unnecessary. And I don't appreciate smugness in an audio review either. We certainly don't all agree but we all are in it to share, learn and improve our sound. Love the Ali-express bit too. I find their cables are interesting because them imitate name-brand manufacturers but don't quite get the subtleties. Because they are inexpensive and varied, they are also useful to study sound signatures of cables (even power cables) especially when throwing authentic name brand cables in the mix.

Ok, I watched the whole thing twice. Good job Jay. Overall a fair initial first impression. I am glad you are able to put aside personal issues and just stick to the sound! I have enjoyed your reviews, especially of the Doge gear! Cheers and happy Canada Day from Northern California. 😁

When your camera guy described the difference in sound, the increase in bass and presence, it sounded exactly like someone describing an out of phase speaker connection. Might want to make sure the cable ends are labeled correctly, they might be getting hooked up backwards.

Celebrate freedom! 🍁 Love your brothers and sisters. Nothing is impossible when we work together.

Aliexpress cables is cheap brass connector and lead solder that's why, i changed mine to tellurium and silver solder, difference immediately boosted everything. IACS conductivity is never wrong in audio.

The way a speaker looks matters. I understand too that appearance can have some subjectivity. These speakers are so cheaply designed though from an astheatic perspective. The design (astheatic design) is part of the quality and skill of speaker design. Even if it is over priced by many manufacturers, at least they understand the importance of that aspect of the product. It may make no technical difference on the sound but it can make a difference on how the speaker makes you feel. And in turn, how you feel about the sound. This may not be true for everyone but I think it is for many.

So glad to see you give your honest opinion (not that I didn't expect you to - but very commendable). I really like both your channels and I don't like seeing Mommy and Daddy fight. Much respect!

You'll do the industry & RU-vid audio channels a great service if you indeed complete the tests & comparisons you mention in this video. So eager to see & hear the findings. Great video!

You’re one of the few reviewers that I, me, personally myself have heard that like the Paradigms. 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

I would love to hear your thoughts of these compared to CSS audio’s products.

I want to know how that speaker stacks up against the triangle Berea bro 3 ? Those cables are not worth $500 sorry. That speaker from gr research cost how much and it has a $40 woofer in it really. I'm real curious because those triangle Berea bro 3 sound really good.

I think it's about finding drivers that are predictable and perform in a way that is controllable and complementary to each other so that the crossover point is smooth and natural. Many times excessively overdesigned drivers use exotic cone materials like ceramic or magnesium, or other metals that may be stiff and pistonic, BUT ring like bells! Crossovers can only do so much to control such bad behavior, and it just adds complexity and additional expense to the overall design to control the "high tech" overbuilt drivers that may look better, weigh more, but also cost more too. These are not "cost no object" speakers...they are engineered to perform way above their price point when compared to other speakers. I hope Jay reviews them with that in mind.

I would assume that the Ali express are not 100% copper and thus a different resistance level. Do an ohm test Jay if you get a chance. What you described sounds like the difference of using a thinner gauge cable versus a quality 100% copper and thicker gauge wire. It will especially change the bass and Soundstage.

Hi Jay, yes Danny could have worded his video with a bit less intensity , but I get what he was saying in regards to a good room to let one hear a speaker to it’s fullest . My old loft in Montreal was a great sounding room and a mid hi system sounded better than hi end in a small bad room. System was, Vandersteen 5, vtl 150 power amp, Aesthetix preamp and more. Thanks for sharing you listening experience.

You should start out the review video talking like Danny: "Hey, Everrrbody!"

Danny may chime in as well but in regard to the composite material that the woofer frames are made from, that is by design. Danny likes that they are non-resonant and they are also surprisingly strong. He had a picture of one of his drag cars driving over one at some point I believe and they didn’t break. Looking forward to watching more as you continue to listen to them, especially the blind A/B tests.

I still roll my eyes when someone says "you should measure the cable" like they're going to be able to measure the improved separation and depth between instruments and larger more 3D soundstage. Do cables matter? Not to the guy with a $350 dollar receiver, entry level speakers and a closed mind! But some people just want to be right, they have no real interest in trying things and improving their system. Thank you for the honest review Jay, keep the great videos coming!

Nice vid. I really favor the A to B blind comparisons. It may seem harsh but ultimately we all want to know what's best and who we can depend on for quality products. I don't listen to music in a chamber so I don't care about that. I'm more interested in how they sound in your day to day listening room.

I bought the materials from gr-research & built the cables. It cost about $200 US. It included choice of connectors, insulating cord & even solder & shrink tubing. Spent about 2 hrs assembling. Do they need to break in? Yes. Do they make a noticeable difference /improvement in my system? Yes. Snake oil? No.

Let's see if you can consistently differentiate between the two cables in a blind A/B test. That is the only test that can be truly taken as credible and significant.

I have 15' blue jeans cables which I swapped out for 7' cables (another reputable man.) and the thing I noticed was a bit less extension/emphasis in the treble. Not big but I noticed and I live with it. Didn't note any difference in lows-mids.

Copper is only second to silver as one of the best conductors, but not if it is allowed to oxidize. If those tube connectors aren't gold plated, then soon they will be less conductive than gold. Gold isn't the best conductor, but it doesn't oxidize. Many people are susceptible to the "pretty" high priced snake oil cables, because they don't understand how their electronics work. Even if snake oil cables measured much better (they don't), there would always be a bottle neck in front and behind the speaker cables. Between the plain old unshielded copper wire in the amp and speakers can easily equal the length of 6' cables or more. I have seen several feet of plain 18 gauge wire in high end speaker. Even in the biggest amps 14 gauge is used to run to the speaker terminals. Oxygen free copper cable is a little bit more expensive than regular copper cable and it is important to use this cable for interconnects, because copper will rise in impedance if it exposed to air, which cases it to corrode. However, there is nothing magical that can be put in a cable to make it worth several hundreds of dollars. Thousands of dollars is an absolute rip off. The most important place to use better conductors (like silver) is from the very low level output like a DAC to the pre amp. This is where a tiny difference will make a huge difference, because that signal will go through several amplification stages. If the signal is a bit sweeter and cleaner goin into the pre amp then it will be amplified to sound the same. All amplification is done by the time it reaches the speaker terminals and the signal is powerful. How can a 6' speaker cable sound totally different when it might have 0.001 ohm less impedance, but the signal will pass through a typical 6-8 ohm resistor in the crossover? Adding such a low resistance (like 0.001 ohm) to a crossover wouldn't change the sound and I doubt it could even be measured on the most sensitive equipment. The differences between repetitive tests on the same analyzer will vary much more than that. Expensive power cords are a joke, because AC current flows back and forth to the power station 60 times/second. Even if a snake oil cord had some real magic inside (they don't), their would be a several mile long bottle neck before the cord. Not to mention that the first thing any units power supply does is chop up that AC and turn it to DC and then filter (shunt to ground) all AC (ripple, noise, anything with a frequency. Engineers know that it is snake oil, because they know how electronics work and they can easily and accurately measure noise. Many of the snake oil gimmick cables (like adding a 72 volt battery connected at one end) will even create more noise on the cable, because it acts like an antenna. There is reason it's called a "circuit". Absolute nothing happens if both ends of a cable aren't connected. Except maybe act like an antenna and pollute the signal wire with unwanted noise. The placebo effect is real. Audiophiles would save a lot of money if they got a friend to hook up their new cables (or not hook them up the first time and pretend that they did) for them and switch back and forth a few times to see if there is a real noticeable difference. Obviously a rock bottom cable will be too cheap to incorporate the proper shielding, OFC and maybe a few other things needed to pass the signal properly, but none of these things are exceptionally expensive, thus don't warrant the ridiculous prices.

GR Research is making a minimum of $700 per pair of these speakers. The markup is insane.

Interesting! Thanks, Jay. I don't think there is any doubt that the speaker cables are the exact same. It does state on the Ali website that they are in fact Teflon dielectric and uses OCC copper - same as Danny's. I think the difference you are hearing is (1) the cotton rope Danny uses results in more consistent conductor separation and spacing which does affect sound quality (2) the connectors - where Danny's are lower mass copper and lower mass (less metal) sounds better AND (3) Danny likely fully broke those in before sending to you, possibly on a cable cooker, which is undoubtedly going to sound better than a fresh pair of cables. If Ali is not lying in their description they are in fact OCC copper (that's high quality copper - better than OFC) and it uses Teflon dielectric jacketing.

A-B ing needs to be instantaneous, any delay and the psychological effects kick in hard.

Did both cables have the same amount of hours on them? Two cables of the same type can sound very different if only one has been burnt in.

I own the XLS Encore with all the upgrades as well, and I really recommend spending plenty of time breaking them in. The bass really loosens up, and the imaging becomes better. I'm terrible at estimating how long it took before I stopped noticing differences, but I think maybe after a month of solid playing. I'm very interested to hear your review.

I like this video. Jay is going to be a genuine detective. Look forward to seeing if the Blue Jeans are as good as GR-Research cables.

Danny isn't delusional or anything else, he's a TEXAN, and they call it like it is and don't Nancy around. Its how America used to be, where we could say what we meant, and didn't think everyone would run off with their feelings hurt; we used to 'get it' more, now we're all hurt. Even comedians quit because of it, we're all so offended. Danny is old-school, expecting people to handle some straight up talk. Its a culture difference more than anything between 1970 and 1995.

Paradigm Founders bookshelves are just absolutely stunning. Indeed they are truly a very special speaker. I’ve got founders paired with an Anthem MRX 740 and it is a match made in heaven. Just rewires my entire HT with Kimber 8PR which I admittedly wasn’t sure I was going to hear a difference. I was very wrong and the founders sound completely different with the Kimber Kable and I didn’t think they could sound any better. Can’t wait for your review of them!

how do the GR cables and the ali cables measure as far as resistance/capacitance/inductance? something seems fishy about the aliexpress. i'd love to see a number that can be correlated with the cable and why it might sound different.

Jay - you go to great pains to demonstrate your impartiality - to your credit.You're right to suggest that a manufacturer's material claims should be validated. Disclaimer: I am in no way suggesting or implying GR is guilty of any misrepresentation, it's just a pertinent topic. My younger brother (the audiophile in the family) bought a set of high-end speaker cables for his Vandersteen's from a high-end audio dealer in California that made their own cables. Claim was that the wire had a high silver content and was cryogenically treated. They called it 'Supernal' wire. He sent me (the skeptical engineer) a small sample of the wire portion. It looked like stainless steel to me. I put a magnet to it... and you guessed it! Magnetic! Buyer beware. For anyone who says 'stainless is not magnetic', that is true for autsenitic stainless, but ferritic stainless is magnetic. I don't know what the speaker wire was made of, but it had to have iron in it to be magnetic.

Depends on which one was tried first. This is how they sold a CD "demagnetizer" (First listen to a "magnetized" CD, then apply some snake oil, and listen to it again). People don't remember small sound details after few seconds. Only an overall impression remains. An A/B test would be much precise. PS I've built few pairs of cables with using 11 euros/meter China 24-core braided cable. They sounded great. I compared them to a 4mm2 twisted pair of a German wires, and a sound dynamics was remarkable. So, I don't agree with you opinion (as an indie audiophiles first circle member). This is why GRR is in my "not recommend" list, and so your channel is going to share the same =)

Its because the conductivity, better conducive better sound, better contact better sound there is no snake oil maiden the bananplug is responsible, in my case the banaplug was bad..

The guy at GR designs great crossovers

I ordered some 8TC-based interconnects from Ali-express for comparison recently cuz for $30-$35 why not? They sounded like crap. Just annoyingly bright, even after putting some time on them. Come to find out, after further inspection, over half of the strands were just shoved into the RCA end. Not connected to anything, nor properly insulated to prevent shorting out against the barrel. They look nice for the price, but definitely not worth killing the equipment.

If the difference between the cables is that dramatic, then surely this will show up in measurements?

Jay? Did you burn in the Aliexpress speaker cables before you did any serious comparative listening? I noticed you didn't say. But, some of use would like to know if the cables were burned in first (in my experience about a week's worth of playing before any serious listening).

So you said a tube connection and a banana plug are different in size, in your video, how did you plug the GR cables into a paradigm speaker then?

made canare cables, cost $70 CDN all in. added more clarity. was fun and cheap

You should try splicing a GR Research tube connector on the Ali Express cable and see if that improves it.

I would like Danny to design an open baffle large dual 10" speaker kit like Sapphire M3's for under 1000" :)

You missed the point about the tube connectors. it is not that they are copper or that you need to test and see if they are pure copper (to trip Danny up or something) . They could be cryogenically hardened catsh*t. The "pure copper" that he's referring to is the connection that is made. Tube connectors allow the bare copper wiring of the crossover to directly contact the bare copper speaker cables for a signal or electron transfer that doesn't go through any ferrous materials or any other materials for that matter. A French kiss, if you will.

Good on you Jay for appproacing this review with such an open mind! Respect.

Haven't heard Danny's cable but they are teflon jacketed, costly & a big advantage.

The cables use the same wires but the difference is the thicker core on the GR Research cables force the conductors to cross each other at 90 degrees. which minimizes their electrical interaction with each other.

Blind testing is great!! Do ABX testing and do the ali vs gr research cables too again, blind. ASR has lots of information on how to do it right including a video and also at least 10 times to have any real value. Good luck.

this is good stuff I'm anxious to see the results and the full on review

Hey Jay, I understand your impression about the woofers but you are wrong. Peerless has kind of a reputation for building the crappiest woofer baskets, they are terrible you are correct, but they also have a reputation for building absolutely great membranes and good spiders/surrounds. They look cheap but they sound awesome and it is very hard to find a driver as good for 5 times the price. If you want the same sound quality you can easily pay like 200-400$. So my tip is, be open to the sound, don't judge it by eye.

I can tell you that I ordered these cables for my system, x static from GR research. I built them, as well as the xstatic speakers from GR research, and I heard a tremendous difference in sound. Things got real, probably much bigger than going from 100$ DAC to a 3000$ DAC. It's not a biased opinion based on any affiliations, but a true observation. As far as I'm concerned it's the best upgrade anyone can do for any system regardless of the price of their sysytem.

A one-meter long wire with a cross section of one square millimeter has a resistance of 1.7 milliohms (.0017 Ohm) if it is made of copper, and 2.5 milliohms if it is aluminum. This is science and fact. Thus copper has a lower resistance compared to aluminum.

Hi Jay can you unscrew/remove the plug casing of the AliExpress banana to check if all 12 strands are in-use per plug?? It is pretty normal for the sweat shop labor to just strip/use less conductors and use heat shrink/etc. to hide it from outside. (This happens with a lot of multistrand twisted headphone cable from China.) Also I believe there is nothing being inserted into the AliExpress cable center as dielectric VS GR inserted 1/2" cotton rope into the cable. Please confirm too if you can. Thanks.

The tube connectors would make more sense if they were copper with gold plating. Copper goes green (corrosion) very easily especially when exposed.

Very nice video! Regarding cables, I don't know what they do to their cables, but the ones i got had massive interference, and the dialetic material was noticeably awfull. If I can make a sugestion, chop the cable ends, put inside a cotton rope like gr research does and use without terminals, because from my experience they are bloody awfull.

Compare the cables with basic 4mm copper ones.

Danny was right, you don't have the experience to be able to review these speakers.

the cable might still be the same kind, I think. Just the connectors that make the different in terms of sound. do you think?

I wonder if the GR cables were broken in and the Aliexpress were not. I heard takes 200 hours..

THERE THEY ARE !!!!!

That's interesting about the cables, sounds like a fun diy project.

would be great if you could review a higher end diy speaker such as troels gravesen kit.

Happy Canada day! GRs are ugly as sin, no resale value and not really budget friendly. Definitely not an interesting product for me.

Great job Jay, I love that you embrace the scientific method!

I didn't realize that the tube connecters on the cables work with the banana plugs on the speaker. That's kind of cool that they work with both

I like where you’re going with this. Meet a manufacturer where they are coming from, not to be combative but to be fair.

Testing cable sound or anything for that matter, back to back. If you're listening to entire tracks then switching items by unplugging and plugging in something else, you've already nullified the test. If you are not switching back and forth with a switcher and using clips of songs so you hear the same sounds within a song back to back, you're just forgetting and then telling yourself you remembered a sound that you don't. Idk, this whole thing is just silly. Nobody takes into account basic psychoacoustic factors. We humans have SHIT memories(especially auditory) but audiophiles seem to be unaware.

I believe what Danny has said about the tube connectors is that the way they are designed it is the closest thing to having a straight wire connection because the upstream and downstream wires are abutted end to end.

As of yesterday, I completed the transition from a long used, and well known highly reviewed company's interconnects , power cords and speakers with Ali-E Odin. All in, less than the MSRP of the speaker cables alone. No comparison, even with minimal break-in

Love GR Research!! You and Danny should do a show together, so you can pick up some of his years of experience.

Maybe i missed them but i cant find the NRC MEASURMENTS. I was really looking forward to independent measurements.