NX-Studio Kit (Pair)
$970.00 – $1,370.00
Finally! A reference grade studio monitor from GR-Research. Featuring the Neo 3 tweeter in an open baffle configuration, the NX-Studio will offer life like imaging and precision like you have never experienced before. Featuring our M165NQ in a sealed box, the NX-Studio can be placed near a wall without many of the issues other designs suffer from.
This kit includes 2 sheets of NoRez
Specifications
Efficiency: 87dB
Impedance: 8Ohm
Frequency: 70Hz-20KHz
Cabinet Size: 18″H x 8.5″W x 15.5″D
We are now offering finished cabinets for this model, check them out here!
Interested in flatpacks for the NX-Studio? The price of the flat packs is $400/pair + shipping, and can be ordered by emailing Jay at [email protected].
Note: Hardwood & MDF Baffle options are NOT compatible with this flatpack. Select “none” if you plan to get the flatpack.
Finally! A reference grade studio monitor from GR-Research. Featuring the Neo 3 tweeter in an open baffle configuration, the NX-Studio will offer life like imaging and precision like you have never experienced before. Featuring our M165NQ in a sealed box, the NX-Studio can be placed near a wall without many of the issues other designs suffer from. This kit comes with everything you need with a very simple crossover design (2nd order on the tweeter and woofer). Remember, less parts in the path is a good thing and even better, the parts you get with this kit are some of the best out there. The only upgrade we offer on the NX-Studio is foil inductors for the woofer circuit. Everything offered in the kit is already top tier.
This kit includes 2 sheets of NoRez
Hardwood & MDF Baffle options are NOT compatible with the flatpack. Select "none" if you plan to get the flatpack.
Note: if the cabinet plans in the tabs goes missing let us know.
Additional information
| Weight | 20 lbs |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 13 × 10 × 10 in |
| Front Baffle Upgrade | None, MDF Baffle +$100, Maple +$225, Cherry +$225, Mahogany +$225, Oak +$250, Walnut +$250 |
| Inductor Upgrades | Stock Coils, Foil Inductors +$150 |
Cabinet Plans
4 reviews for NX-Studio Kit (Pair)
Frequency Response
Vertical Response
Impedance Response
Same response using a shorter time window.
Horizontal Response
Spectral Decay
Karsten Frederiksen (verified owner) –
I’ve had these speakers for a about a year now – and I’m very pleased.
It started out pretty bad, with some imperfect woofers and a faulty front baffle. None of the issues would probably have affected the sound, but for sure it was not satisfying.
BUT everything were sorted out. It’s only when something is going wrong, you really find out who you are dealing with. And every problem was dealt with in a very nice way. GR-Research is absolutely recommended!
I live in Europe, and because of the shipment I didn’t buy the flat pack. In the US the flat pack is a no-brainer. Nevertheless – if you can build a box in wood, you can probably make these as well – a little more complicated than a box, but not much. What you might lack in skills, you can compensate with sanding paper 😉
The crossover parts looks good! And, judging by the sound, it is indeed very good parts. The drivers them selves miss the top-class feeling experienced from the top line drivers of for example Scan-speak or Seas (at minimum double the price). But performance wise they sure seems to be very competent. I really like them. No nonsense, but GOOD!
All in all – max performance for the price tag .
What about the sound?
First of all, they need a bit of break-in. At first the tweeter was rather harsh! I don’t know if it was the caps or the tweeter, or both. Anyway, all harshness has disappeared. Likewise the mid-woofer needs break in. In the beginning it’s lacking presence in the lower frequencies
But don’t despair if you are disappointed in the first hours. A thin, harsh, sound – lacking “body” was what I first heard – but I guarantee you – it gets better! – a lot! After 8-10 hours you can start enjoy your new speakers, but I feel the speaker keps improving for at least 100 hours.
The tweeter is amazing. Super detailed, but not fatigueing. Bass is very detailed and fast. The overall tone is neutral now. Voices are incredibly nice, and acoustic instruments sound very detailed and ‘complete’. They do sound a bit like my Stax headphones – and that’s a great praise for any speaker!
You need a subwoofer to cover the loweest frequencies – but I wouldent trade the bass detail and speed for a bit deeper bass which, from a 6½ inch mid-bass driver, very rarely matches the bass from a dedicated sub.
Soundstage is great, and perspective is ultra precise. The open baffle tweeter for sure is doing some magic – to details, soundstage and a general crisp and open sound. To have the full soundstage, you need to place the speakers 3-4 feet from rear wall – but even 1½ feet away from the rear wall, soundstage is pretty good (and as good as a lot of other speakers) but with a little more space, the NX-Studios are incredible
They are monitors! – but not to the degree where 70% of your music sound like crap – and they don’t have that “clinical” feeling some monitors have. But they are very good at pointing out subtle differences when you are experimenting with different cables og tubes. It’s a neutral, very very, detailed speaker. And if you feed them music – they do play music!
I use a 300B tube amp with 2 x 8 watt – and I can play as loud as I need to – it really works fine. But nevertheless I think 8 watts is about the lower limit.
The NX-Studios are great speakers. If you like neutral detailed crisp speakers – you won’t regret buying these ones. And the open baffle tweeter makes this speaker pretty unique in a very charming way – go for it! 🙂
Rafael –
Ill start with the cons first. I’d give it five stars but there are design choices made that make a bit difficult work with. Bear in mind that these are ment to play nearer to the front wall, less and 2-3 feet and used in the near field but since I listen to them pulled 8 feet into the room and am sitting 5 feet from then, I end up pushing them to their limits.
If you are going to use then as they are intended then you won’t have the issues I have.
First, they roll off, in my room at 50 due to room gain but since the speaks are in a sealed box and with single 6.5 woofer, bass output is limited and dynamics aren’t great. The upside is that the bass is very detailed and textured but does raise the issue of subwoofer pairings.
I used an inline high-pass filter, (details on how to make them can be found on this site) to reduce the demand on the woofer and increase power handling.
Depending on the amp you run on the nx studios, You will need a great sub to match the performance of the studios. I’ve tried rel t5 and rythmikf8 and f12, perfered the rythmiks, but the best match was Open baffle subwoofers. Fast and clean.
Now onto the pros,
Tweeter Detail is top notch, dosent match some hard domes I’ve head is it’s never fatigueing and down right smooth.
Detail is much the same for the woofer.
The open nature of the tweeter works well and can create a very deep and layered 3d soundstage and In this respect I have never heard anything better than it in this category from any bockshelf in any dealer or show, price no object.
Mids are very life like and smooth. The vocals are excellent and are often what brings me the most euphoria in this speaker.
I 💯 recommend this if you are doing to use it in it’s intended use case, nearer ro a wall and I the nearfied.
Out side of that, dealing with the bass issues might be a bit too challenging.
My main amp is the mola mola kaluga, a high power class d amp, put have run them is measly 3 watt 2a3 amp. So long as it’s I the near field or highpassed, they are easy to run.
Kelly (verified owner) –
The NX Studios were my second build, I used the flat pack from Jay. This build was fairly straightforward and I had no issues completing it. The studios sound incredible in my smallish listening room 18’x22’. Depending on your gear the NX Studios are very detailed, but not harsh or forward. They give you the ability to hear into the music, soundstage and imaging of the studios is impossible to describe, just outstanding. You will want to have subs with the studios, I built the Double Trouble OB subs and they work extremely well. The NX Studios pair well with all the gear I have tried with it, tube gear, solid state…. They really reveal the difference in gear, definitely a speaker to grow with and hear the differences in anything feeding them. I would highly recommend the studios for a small to medium size room without hesitation. Until I have a much larger room to set up they are my endgame speakers
Nick (verified owner) –
Best bookshelf speakers I’ve ever heard. It sounds like the band is in the room when playing music. Can’t ask for much more than that. Incredible speakers!