Bruno (Grimm LS1, Kii Three)

[Bruno]

It's the future, ain'it?


Hello,

Apologies for not writing in Goethe's language but I really must spare you my secondary school German which amounts to literally translated English delivered in a perfect German accent. I do understand it fluently though so there's no need to switch languages.

I got into active speakers when in 2006 a certain British professional monitor company started their move to using Hypex and I built them a simple, cheap DSP controller for an active 2-way. Until then I hadn't given active much thought on audiophile grounds (all that extra processing and/or the impracticality of having so many super quality DACs). But I had to debug my software so I tried it out on a random pair of DIY boxes without filters. Listening I realized that the potential quality improvement by getting rid of the passive filters outweighed any geeky considerations like pure signal paths etc. So I went to a shrink to have myself cured of audiophilia and other superstitions and the rest, as they say, is history*.

I have to admit that I have come across a few rare passive speakers that rival the clarity (but not quite the directness) of a good active one but on the whole there's no going back for me.

Since over those years almost every relevant Google search landed me on this forum I could just as well sign up and make myself visible when I lurk here. I won't be posting much because I think manufacturers trawling forums to defend their interests rather spoils the atmosphere. I certainly won't join discussions about other people's products**.

Best,

Bruno Putzeys (fyi the 's' is actually part of the name).

-----------

*Disclosure of commercial interests: Kii Audio GmbH, Mola-Mola, Hypex, Purifi.
**Including those using Hypex hardware, and also, forcibly, the Grimm LS1. Although I'm 100% responsible for the design (bar the rather clever idea of using the legs for diffraction control which is Eelco's) it is now, for all intents and purposes, someone else's product.

[uli.brueggemann]

Hallo Bruno,

ich mach mal den Begrüßungsclown und heisse Dich herzlich willkommen hier.
Es ist prima, dass Du hier mitmachen willst, es gibt hier genug Themen und Fragestellungen, wo ein fachlicher Rat und profundes Wissen benötigt werden bzw. hilfreich sind.

Ein Bild Deiner Musikanlage wäre nett (auch wenn zu vermuten ist, dass da eigene Produkte mit verwendet werden). Und: hörst Du nur digitale Quellen oder auch analoge, z.B. Plattenspieler?
Wie sieht Dein Hörraum aus, wleche akustischen Maßnahmen wurden durchgeführt?

Grüsse
Uli

[axxxxx]

Hey Bruno,

great to have you here.

I would have liked to audition your new loudspeakers at the HighEnd but unfortunately I've missed them all along. I've read that the first introduction to the general public was made at a recording studio in Munich.
Do you think there is a chance to get another chance at their place or are there any other dealers in or near Munich who have the speakers in stock already?

Cheers
Kai

[Bruno]

Hi Uli,

Good to hear from you! We met at the AES (with Bob K).

Good idea. I'll make a pic of my listening room tonight. I have taken no acoustic measures because I currently live next to a noisy street and hope to move in the near future. So I didn't feel like investing in acoustics. But since this has been going on for a while it sparked my interest in controlling directivity. Effectively I can now enjoy a really nice, coherent bass where previously I either had no bass, one-note bass or a confused muddle. So perhaps the handicap of a bad room is a good way of concentrating one's attention

I'm strictly digital. I don't have a record collection except from some stuff from my childhood that I don't care too much for. So it'd be a bit silly first to invest in an expensive turntable and then in a vinyl collection, especially since I don't think it is sonically superior.

Hi Kai,

The first production lot is for September. The demo units in Munich were essentially production grade but still hand built (from production parts). Otherwise we'd have missed the High End date. But that is also why we only had a small do with invited distributors because we didn't want to cause a buzz before there was anything to sell.

Needless to say, the buzz happened anyway so now we're having to scramble a bit to double the initial production orders.

Cheers,

B.

[Raumantwort]

Hi Bruno,

a warm welcome from me too. Maybee you know about Germans famous EU-Commissioner Günther Öttinger, in his tradition i hope you will talk a bit out of your sewing Box.

greetings
Andreas

[Octagon]

Hi Bruno,

a very warm welcome

It will be great if you share your knowledge and experience with us. There are so many additional aspects you can add, I am sure we all benefit from the the exchange.

Have fun
Thomas

[Bruno]

Thanks everyone for the warm welcomes.

I'm not sure what you meant by sewing box but I have a sneaking suspicion my German might actually be better than Öttingers English.

[uli.brueggemann]

A direct translation of the German "aus dem Nähkästchen plaudern" is difficult.
You find English examples like "to tell tales out of school" or "to betray secrets" or "to give away internal details"

The forum members are simply hungry to learn more

Grüsse
Uli

[Raumantwort]

It's the innocent paraphrase, that we like to know ALL your secrets about building these magical Loudspeekers.

[cay-uwe]

Bruno,

very nice to have you also here and you should not worry being a developer. This forum is one with the most respectful communication along users, no matter what they are.

I also had similar experiences like you, moved from passive speakers to active, actually my speakers are available in both versions, but since last Friday I made an experience which I was looking and searching for over 30 years, and that probably will bring me back to passive speakers ...

[shakti]

Hallo Bruno,

very nice to welcome you to the "aktives-hoeren" Forum. Your expertise on Hypex, Grimm and Excellent DSP Programming will give this Forum one more competent voice to discuss current and future active speaker designs. Looking forward to your comments and new threads!

best regards
Juergen

[Hans-Martin]

Bruno, ein Hertzliches Willkommen auch von mir, ich freue mich jetzt schon über deine Beiträge.

ME Geithain Lautsprecher mit Bassniere sind hier im Forum gut vertreten, aber die Kii Three sieht doch viel schöner aus...

Grüße Hans-Martin

[NNEU]

Hello Bruno,

we've met at Kii Three launch event. One more welcome form my side as well.

This forum is one with the most respectful communication along users, no matter what they are.

I absolutely agree with Cay-Uwe on this one.

It is unbelievable how respectful and supportive all users of this forum are.

I have received much support from various users on my B&W N805 activation project, both "regular" users and "professional" users.

This forum truly is the place online where all competence in terms of active loudspeakers comes together.

We are all looking forward to reading your upcoming post


Best regards,

Noel

[Bruno]

Again thanks for all the welcomes.

As promised a few shots of my listening room.



Apart from the pileup of loudspeakers in the corners it doesn't exactly proclaim that an audiophile lives here. I expect to be scolded for actually putting a sofa between the speakers Then again, I think most of the fears concerning stuff in the stereo image is psychological. It's kind of hard to imagine a stage that's meters deep if there isn't visible room for it.



There's about 10cm between the speaker and the wall. The lows are shelved down 4dB at 40Hz to compensate. Which means I get 4dB more headroom compared to the demo at MSM. This is good because I like to play loud occasionally. Doubly so considering that one of my non-audiophile favourites is Skrillex (the ultimate geek music IMHO).

[music is my escape]

Hallo Bruno,

Auch von mir ein herzliches Willkommen.

Das hier:

...one of my non-audiophile favourites is Skrillex...

freut mich besonders zu hören; entgegen der breiten Kritikermasse halte ich den Typen schlichtweg für genial (besonders "live") und jedes Mal, wenn sich ein kleiner Zweifel an den Fähigkeiten meiner heimischen Anlage einschleicht, wird dieser spätestens bei den unglaublich federnden Sounds von "Fuck that" (auf der letztjährig erschienen LP "Recess") sprichwörtlich weggeblasen. Und die EP "Leaving" beweist, dass er sogar richtig gutklingend und mit echtem Bass produzieren kann!

Viele Grüße,
Thomas