This summer the German online magazine Fairaudio published a long review of the LS1be with SB1 subs. Journalist Ralph Werner goes into great detail about the LS1 design and his listening pleasures with it. We love to offer you some longer excerpts, translated to English from the original German.
“The 2 x 26 liters of the subs can’t be the world I still think, turn up the volume and tap on the “bad tracks” playlist to explore the level limits right away… ui! What limits? James Blake, The Prodigy (Yeah!) and Burnt Friedman perform in front of me at insane volume, complete with all the nasty bass loops and low hits.
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And even at these unhealthily loud levels, the LS1be+SB1 goes along with it easily and effortlessly, as if it were nothing. She approaches the game from the tight-lean side, in the bass and in general. But still: I would not have believed it capable of these dynamic and level reserves, as it is more of a medium format than a giant box.
Almost more surprising is the other extreme I experience after turning down the volume significantly to recover from the previous ruckus and take a few notes. Soap&Skin is running alongside, “The Sun” from the Austrian’s debut album. I know, there are deep basses on it, ditto with “DDMMYYYY” – but you don’t hear that at these whisper levels anyway. Well, with the Grimm LS1be+SB1 you do: absolutely astonishing, I have never experienced any other loudspeaker that is so transparent at such low levels right down to the bottom.
It makes the bass range so clean and comprehensible without the need for a ‘loudness’ button. Is that due to this acceleration sensor, this “DMF” technology of the subwoofers? It may or may not, but this quality is something very rare, and those of you who often (need to or want to) listen quietly will particularly appreciate it. Being able to fully enjoy piano music or the double bass player of a jazz trio at midnight level is really not possible with all loudspeakers.
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Of course it “bites” when playing the duoW album Entrendre. The “Duo for Violin & Cello, Op. 7” by the Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály was captured closely and undisguised, so it has to be like that. And here you can see why the Grimm is so expensive: resolution, resolution, resolution. Because she can, she doesn’t have to duck, the “hardness” in the sound is real, not artificial.
“The LS1be+SB1 can really blow your mind”
Ralph Werner, Fairaudio
Wonderful, this woody texture of the cello, fascinating how meticulously the “creaky” start of a freshly played violin string can be unraveled. The sound is so complete that the illusion that the two string players are standing in the room materializes with ease.
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With the Grimm you never get the impression that the acoustic event in front of you has something to do with the speakers in the room. The center image is top-notch, and said sense of presence doesn’t weaken, doesn’t fade, at the edges of the virtual space. The Grimm deserves a compliment for not “locking up” the music, but instead bringing it freely and vividly into the room.”
