Upstairs downstairs
Unusual, if not unique – does this Canadian company’s idea of stacking two speakers for each channel pay sonic dividends?
Novel though it undoubtedly is, the idea of stacked speakers is nothing new. SME founder Alastair Robertson-Aikman was once famed for using double-decker Quad ELS57 electrostatics and the concept was even endorsed by the company which provided instructions to achieve the same thing, with the upper speaker mounted in a frame upside down above the lower. Even the late brand ambassador Ken Ishiwata was for a while demonstrating his Marantz electronics with stacked pairs of Mordaunt-Short Performance 6 speakers mounted in frames he’d spec’d and had custom made.
The same thinking informs the Grand Studio II floorstander from Ontario-based Gershman Acoustics, a company founded by designer Eli Gershman 30 years ago, that birthday recently being marked with the sculptural 30th Anniversary Grand Avant Garde speaker.
The ‘II’ in the model name indicates not a second-generation design, but that each channel uses two of the company’s Grand Studio speakers -each a relatively conventional sealed-box standmount, with the upper enclosure ‘flown’ upside-down above the lower in a frame made of stainless steel. This exo-skeleton creates a fine gap that prevents mechanical interference between the two cabinets while minimising, as far as possible, the distance between the two 25mm soft-dome tweeters.
The frame is not exactly pretty, but it is certainly striking. The company explains that the stand: “introduces a different material and resonance frequency compared with the HDF wood enclosure, contributing to a lower, tighter and more precise bass response”. It also claims this two-speaker configuration: “not only enhances the soundstage but also provides improved dispersion characteristics, ensuring a more
DETAILS
| Product | Gershman Acoustics Grand Studio II |
| Origin | Canada |
| Type | Stacked/parallel two-way loudspeaker |
| Weight | 74 kg each |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 405 x 1,203 x 410 mm |
| Features | – 2x 25mm soft-dome tweeters |
| – 2x 200mm long-throw alloy-coned mid/bass drivers | |
| Quoted Sensitivity | 88dB/1m/1W (6 ohm) |
| Distributor | Audio Pinnacle/Summerhouse Sounds |
| Website | Gershman Acoustics Summerhouse Sounds |
consistent listening experience throughout a room”. If this seems to fly in the face of received wisdom about speakers using twin tweeters, Gershman counters that this: “has been carefully addressed to avoid any interference or phase issues”.
Hooking up the speaker is relatively conventional, despite that ‘two enclosures per side’ configuration. The cables from your amplifier connect to the lower cabinet, from which supplied jumper cables run to the upper enclosure, thus wiring the two sections in parallel. And setup
The sound is deeply intimate, with fine timbres to the voices and harmonies
is similarly undemanding, beyond a requirement that the speakers should be at least 1.6 times as far from side walls as they are from the wall behind them. They can then be toed-in slightly towards the listening position, the exact degree decided by listening for what the company describes as the: “sweet spot where the music locks into place, creating a natural and incredible 3D soundstage”.
And there you have it: two 200mm, long-throw alloy-coned mid/bass drivers and a pair of 25mm soft-dome tweeters point at you from each set of high-gloss black speaker arrays -other finishes are available to order at a £ premium – clamped in the embrace of a matt steel frame.
There’s no denying the quality of the workmanship and finish here, the sealed-box speakers still being handbuilt in Canada. Even the crossover is assembled by hand with point-to-point wiring using custom oxygen-free copper cable.
And for all that left-field thinking, the electrical characteristics of the Grand Studio II suggest nothing out of the ordinary. The company claims 88dB sensitivity and 6ohm impedance and the recommended amp power is 70-500W – a requirement fully met by the Constellation Inspiration Mono power amps in our listening room. The rest of the setup is as familiar as it is tried and tested, with the Aurender W20SE (HFC 500) digital library acting as a USB transport for the dCS Vivaldi One APEX disc player/DAC/preamplifier.
Sound quality
Our enduring impression of this speaker’s sound, even after much fettling of position, is of a restrained treble and a slightly defocused stereo image. Anna Fedorova’s recording of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto certainly possesses suitable weight and sonority when required, just as the accompanying orchestra sounds warm and rich, with decent detail. However, there are times when the principal instrument tends to occupy the entire soundstage, its position never entirely consistent.
Similarly, Mick Jagger’s vocals on Angry – opening the latest Rolling Stones album Hackney Diamonds – comfortably fill the space between the two speakers, but while the track is certainly punchy it is also a little light in the deep-bass department.
The drums have good slam, but even allowing for the underlying sound quality of the album, which is deliberately more rough and ready than sophisticated, it still sounds slightly untidy. Nevertheless, the stripped-back take on Muddy Waters’ Rolling Stone Blues, closing the album, boasts reasonable definition – albeit again with what we can only call that ‘big mouth Mick’ effect.
Switching to the Dunedin Consort recording of Bach’s Orchestral Suites, the Grand Studio II offers a pretty good spread of sound, but once again it’s not exactly what you’d call the sharpest of focus. Instruments are clearly resolved but not precisely placed, while everything seems to happen between and behind the plane of the cabinet. For all that -and that oddly restrained treble -there are good instrumental timbres, even if the harpsichord continuo is somewhat lost.
The speakers appear to be much more at home with Andre Previn and His Pals on their improvisations on West Side Story. Admittedly there’s not much to go wrong, with Previn’s piano and Red Mitchell’s bass located on the left channel and the drums of Shelly Mann on the right. Similarly, the very different Art Of Noise live recording of Moments In Love, from the Noise In The City set at last delivers a central soundstage image from the simple mix. But, again, the oh-so-polite Tokyo audience seems rather more reticent than usual as there is not much live ambience to be experienced.
This same tendency towards dryness also affects Anna Lapwood’s lovely arrangement of Benjamin Britten’s Sea Interludes, played on the organ of Ely Cathedral on her debut solo album, Images. While there is certainly good tonality to the instrument and plenty of power for the room-shaking Storm interlude, the space of the cathedral sounds a touch diminished and there is noticeably less ambience than this recording usually delivers.
That last interlude gets very busy indeed, as does Stewart Copeland’s reworking of Sting, Summers and his old band’s Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic on his Police Deranged For Orchestra album. The restrained opening is handled particularly well, but when the vocals kick in things all get a little bit more confused than they really should, although in fairness Copeland’s kit, mixed hot, shines through as expected.
Having said all that, the speaker seems to work well with the Emily Barker/Amber Rubarth/Amy Speace collaboration Applewood Road with the three singers grouped together around a single microphone. The sound is intimate, with fine timbres to the voices and the delicious harmonies intact throughout.
The accompanying orchestra sounds warm and rich, with decent detail
Turning to another of the ‘torture tracks’ that we traditionally use in these tests to put a speaker through its paces – the Michael Stern/Kansas City Orchestra’s recording of Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra on Benjamin Britten’s Orchestra – while there are yet again fine instrumental timbres, the orchestra in the final fugue sounds more ‘of a piece’ than having the ‘point at an instrument’ clarity evident when heard via some other rival speaker designs.
Conclusion
The Grand Studio II certainly has appeal, though this is mainly with simpler recordings where it can demonstrate its extended bass and sweet midband and treble. However, soundstaging isn’t a strength here. It’s a little disappointing that this novel ‘stacked’ approach doesn’t offer a clear or consistent advantage over more conventional designs – but then if it were that simple, presumably everyone would be jumping on the bandwagon and doing it!
IN SIGHT
1 Speaker binding posts – the speakers are connected in parallel via external flying leads (not pictured)
2 200mm, long-throw alloy-coned mid/bass drivers
3 25mm soft-dome tweeters
4 Wraparound stainless steel frame incorporating spikes for added stability
STACK TO THE FUTURE
Speaker stacking is, at best, an art of compromise. If the two speakers are wired in parallel then the designer gains 3dB in sensitivity albeit also halving the load impedance and doubling the current required of the attached amplifier. So no free lunch here! Interestingly, Gershman quotes a difference of just 1dB between single and stacked Grand Studio speakers (87dB versus 88dB, respectively). Otherwise, the principal engineering obstacles are acoustical rather than electrical. Flipping one enclosure atop another creates an ‘MTTM’ rather than ‘MTM’ D’Appolito array because there are not one but two tweeters, the distance between their respective acoustic centres determining the frequencies at which nulls (cancellations) and lobes (reinforcements) will inevitably occur.
Measured precisely on-axis between the two 25mm tweeters, our forward response shows a broad depression centred around 1.9kHz and a notch at 7.6kHz – related to the wavelength and quarter wavelength, respectively, between the two tweeter centres. Listening above or below a precise vertical axis will typically exaggerate this comb filter effect and, importantly, create progressively bigger differences in direct and reflected sound, especially off the ceiling and floor.
A few brands have attempted positioning two close-mounted tweeters onto a common baffle, but fewer still have been successful. For example, Dynaudio’s previous generation of floorstanding Confidence speakers had dual tweeters in a limited ‘Bessel Array’, albeit integrated via an incredibly complex crossover to help form a sound beam that would reduce reflections from floors and ceilings. Dynaudio’s latest Confidence floorstanders now have a single tweeter dome within a waveguide between two midrange drivers.
HOW IT COMPARES
In truth, there’s nothing else quite like the ‘twin-box’ Grand Studio II available on the UK hi-fi scene, but if you are lucky enough to find £k burning a hole in your pocket for a major speaker upgrade, there are some stunning floorstanders vying for your attention. PS Audio’s FR20-the ‘mid-range’ tower in its three-strong aspen series -is one of the hottest prospects below £. Its super-transparent midrange and treble is allied to a powerful bass kick, thanks to its ABR-reinforced woofers. Otherwise there’s little to top KEF’s £ Reference 5 Meta, which sounds every bit as refined and measured as it looks stylish. This tall but svelte floorstander-available in various colourways – has the ability to deliver a massive, roomfilling sound when required, even in the very largest spaces.
OUR VERDICT
LIKE: Sweet midband and treble
DISLIKE: Iffy soundstaging
WE SAY: A fun novelty that does its best work with simple recordings
OVERALL
4/5