Price Paid:  $1500.00 from Shop

Summary:
OVERVIEW:
Frequency Response: +/- 3dB 30Hz-30KHz
Sensitivity: 89dB
Nominal Impedance: 6?
Power Handling: 150 W (rms)
Dimensions (HWD): 925 x 200 x 300 mm
Weight: 22Kg

TREBLE:
The treble of the GR20s is lightening fast and reproduces transients superbly. The wealth of detail they supply is most impressive and makes a cogent argument for metal dome tweeters.
Stereo imaging is solid and they do an admiral job of reproducing the acoustic environment of the recording but ultimately the treble suffers from ‘point of source’ in that one was aware of beaming.
Removing the wire grills is an absolute must, but the dust covers can be used to subtly attenuate the signal.
Of greater concern is the fact that the treble can be sometimes be splashy and sibilant and has a nasty habit of revealing the quality of recordings – not always a good thing – and as far as any MP3 sourced music is concerned, utterly unforgiving.
I personally like the treble of the GR20s and I think the quality is appropriate for a £1500 speaker.
Bottom line: The treble will appeal to detail freaks and those accustomed to working with studio monitors; those who like a warmer, less sharp sound may find them unnecessarily keen.

MID:
This is clearly the focus of the GR20s. The mid range, in particular the upper mid, is most impressive. Metal drivers repay the listener with pin sharp precision and an alacritous response time. The clarity with which voices are replayed and positioned shows the engineering skill that has been employed on these drivers.
One of the finest tests for a loudspeaker is the reproduction of the human voice, and in particular choral music. The GR20s do an admirable job of unravelling the complex mix of human voices and only really become a little unstuck at the lower mid range register. Piano is conveyed realistically and possess a certain lucidity that only comes with metal drive units.
Bottom line: The mid range is enchanting but just you wait till you add valves to the mix!

BASS:
The bass of GR20s is very average for a speaker of this price point. Let me qualify this remark. At £1500 one begins to expect a certain quality and whilst the GR20s make the grade, it’s not by a comfortable margin.

The GR20s is a dual chamber reflex design that utilise two ports, each tuned to 30Hz, and unpredictably there is a slight hump in the frequency response here. This is no bad thing as most UK rooms will have a mode resonance of around 40Hz, so they load the room nicely. However, the front firing port does exhibit minor port noise but in fairness, despite the volume does not chuff (the sound produced by too much air trying to move through too smaller aperture).

You must keep these speakers under control! Inferior electronics will result in a flabby, uncontrolled bass devoid of rhythmic timing; they need a stern hand and current to really perform well. I tested mine with a number of amplifiers ranging in price from £100 to £1500. Obviously pricier amplifiers performed better, but those amplifiers that provide better damping and can produce decent currents reward the listeners with bass that is fast and tight, and ultimately times well with the mid and treble.
The GR20s utilise two drivers, one exclusively for bass and the other working from the upper mid down to the bass, and I personally found the bass reproduction superior to the GR60. It’s not as deep or loud but it is more natural and ultimately easier to control. The GR60s are a tricky load and need first class amplification and are frankly a little uncouth at £2200 (sorry chaps). If you’re listening in a smaller room I would recommend foam bungs on the front ports to lessen the bass and also suppress the port noise. Do not bung the rear ports, the mid really suffers as a result, better to experiment with placement.
Bottom line: The bass is exactly what you would expect at this price point, but considering the staggering speed of the mid and treble drivers may seem a little lacking. Big rooms will need a Subwoofer for that first octave. Those who favour natural, even bass will prefer a transmission line design rather than a reflex, but you knew that.

The finish:
The finish is acceptable at £1500. Perhaps this would have been impressive twenty years ago but it’s pretty much par for the course these days. I would surmise the finish as typical. My biggest criticism is that the binding posts are so close together making it difficult to install custom cables; it really is unforgivable at this price.
Bottom line: The GR20s are to speakers what Volvos are to cars: boxy but safe.

Systems:
Whatever your audio predilections, you can’t drive these speakers with a typical valve amplifier. But valves are what this speaker needs to even out its minor imbalances. Valves give a minor raise in bass, a slight curtailment in treble and really let that mid-range shine through. I would advocate a valve pre-amp or CD player with a valve stage. If you have bright sounding ancillaries then the GR20s are going to seem oppressive and overwhelming, but match the electronics to the speakers’ particular audio signature and they really stand out from the crowd at this price point.
Bottom line: System matching is a must. Well duh!

Overall:
I think most listeners will be really pleased with the performance of the GR20s. They’re not the last word in high fidelity, and they are fairly system dependent but at £1500 they stand out from the competition with an unparalleled mid range and treble, and that bass isn’t so bad. The GR20s need a long run in; metal driver are nefarious for this. At £1500 I genuinely feel that only PMC can offer any competition at this price point and these are two very contrasting styles. I have no hesitation in recommending these speakers but be aware that if you audition them, odds are they won’t be properly run in and will sound pretty shill.

dchiu2000

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $1500.00 from audiogon

Summary:
I did quite a bit of research before buying this item. Demoed other brands like B&W, Martin Logan, JBL, Mission.. etc. I would say that this speaker is an entry level of high-end product and it can compete with B&W NAUTILUS 804 with much lower cost. Apart from the bass, it has an excellent performance on mid and high ranges. If you are a bass person, you should look at GR-60 or a separate piece of subwoofer. I am not saying it has no bass, actually I prefer little bass during normal use and turn on my subwoofer when needed (especially when seeing movies). This is still lowest $/performance I have seen in the market. So if you have limited budget, this is a speaker for you.

Strengths:
High and mid ranges. Fast response. Crispy clear sound. Cost.

Weaknesses:
bass is not very strong (but expected). Not stylish looking.

Similar Products Used:
Dali, B&W, Martin Logan, Wilson Watt/Puppy 5, Mission, JBL, Boss.

RJdio

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $2000.00 from Private Dealer

Summary:
This is a fantastic speaker. I demoed a load of speakers prior to this, obviously the biggest competition was from B&W. But this came out trumps. Excellent stero imaging, expansive soundstage, tight bass, clear highs, the list goes on. I've had this for about 7 months now, and waited this long to post a review. They take a good amount of time to break in. So make sure you demo one thats fully broken in. They have a british type of sound, and if this is not your cup of tea, feel free to play with cables. Im running this with Avi Int Amp, Rotel RCD991 cdp, TMC Gold biwire spkr cables. Am looking to try out the 60's sometime soon. But can't figure out why as Im really happy with these.

Strengths:
Imaging, soundstage, balance, detail. Build quality - its a peice of furnitiure.

Weaknesses:
Binding posts are slightly too close together.

Similar Products Used:
B&W,Klipsch,Totem, Magnat, JM Labs, etc.

Price Paid:  $2600.00

Summary:
I also compared the MA GR20's to the B&W's. I found that the sound was more open than the B&W's (803's and CDM9's). The B&W's were very dry and sounded as if there was a filter on them. Don't get me wrong. They did sound good, but not the sound I was looking for for this type of money. The MA's was just the ticket. These things are HOT. Everything was smooth with good bass to boot. I listen to a good variety of music, jazz, r&b, hip-hop, and use them with my HT. These speakers disappear into a room. I started with the synergistic research mark II cables and changed to the AQ CV6 and now they really shine. The only speakers that I am concidering upgrading to is the JM Lab

Strengths:
Smooth highs, mids & good bass. Easy to postion

Weaknesses:
They are very square and I did have a problem with the bass driver (blown) at first.

Similar Products Used:
B&W 603S

Price Paid:  $2600.00 from Evolution Audio vide

Summary:
I started off with doing a demo on a variety of speakers. Finally ended up with two Monitor Audio's and B&Ws. Especially because of the sound and the looks. The GR20's is far superior in sound quality. The highs are much smoother, the mids are more open and the bass is very tighter. The CDM 9NT is not worth the money. But if you can dish out another couple of grand then i would definitely recommend the Nautilus 803s. Out of all the speakers, my favorite is B&W 805 signature series, but they cost $4100 witht the stand. IF you budge it $3k the monitors are the best out there.

Strengths:
Deep rich bass, clear open mids and clean detail highs. You can hear a pin drop without any strain.

Weaknesses:
Wish it was not a square boxed speaker.

Similar Products Used:
B&W CDM-9NT, Nautilus 804, 803, Dynaaudio, Thiel, mirage, paradigm