Visiting Grimm Audio in Eindhoven!
 

There was a small upgrade for our streamer, the Grimm MU1, and we knew that Grimm Audio had moved to their new premises in Veldhoven, near Eindhoven, just 2 months ago.
Wouldn't that be the ideal moment to pay them a visit?!
I wrote to Eelco Grimm, with Guido Tent, the owner of Grimm Audio (Guido has also his own company Tentlabs).
He warmly invited us to come over.
A couple of days ago, we drove up there, a 2 hour trip.
My wife armed with her Fuji camera, me just with an iPhone and all my senses.
I knew we were in for a treat, because Eelco is one of those audio pioneers who's not just following the trodden paths, he creates new ones.

I wrote about the MU1 in earlier threads.
It's the best source we've had in our system, and with its future proof innards, it'll certainly stay there for the years to come.

This is Eelco and me at the entrance with their mascot, the cable dress (once made for a show).

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Grimm has a pro line, and a consumer hifi line of products.
Their speakers serve both types of customers.
I posted a couple of years ago about a terrific demo with a 5.0 set of LS1be speakers, and some time later about the XFI audio show where they were in the top 3 of systems with the MU1 and a stereo pair.

We didn't see a lot of speakers as the production run had just finished.

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Grimm is a boutique audio manufacturer.
Don't expect huge machines with robots and so.
No, their devices are hand made.
Furthermore, they use parts from local suppliers rather than having them shipped from overseas.
There were as many if not more desks for their engineers as for their assemblers.

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Here they measure jitter.
Eelco, Guido and their engineers are very serious about this issue.

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They even made their own jitter analyser! Because they weren't satisfied with what exists on the market.

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Okay, let's have a look how the MU1 is born here!

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Eelco told us that the case work is expensive. They wanted to go for a cheaper solution, but decided then that a better looking case was more fitting for a premium product like the MU1.

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Another table:

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The CC2, very popular in studios.

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Here's Justin.
The right hand of Eelco, electric engineer.
He accompanied us while Eelco received some guests from Germany. They are interested to breathe more life into the import into Germany.

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Justin explained us a lot.
He was truly.. awesome! :D

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I'm afraid a lot of the explanation was a bit lost on me, as I'm more familiar with how a human body functions than how you build or test an audio device.

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The building is now a bit too big but as Grimm has seen quite an important growth the last years, they're ready to serve the new markets. The Netherlands and Belgium have done remarkably well, but Asia is now also discovering Grimm, as do the US, and the rest of Europe.

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Material from an anechoic chamber that was broken down elsewhere has been saved from the dump.
Grimm Audio will build their own chamber now.

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When you know the price of one of those foam thingies (150€ easily), a lot of money has been saved here!

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Cool…love those visits…thx for sharing Bart

All devices are tested for a couple of weeks before they leave.

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My wife Meta liked the pink lights. https://www.audioaficionado.org/images/icons/icon12.gif

This is the place where the testing will happen, once the foam will be installed.

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They found there were some small reflections so they taped cardboard around the microphone neck to smooth them out.

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At Grimm, they know their crafts and technical skills!


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Each and every sound is picked up.

A laser printer:

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This will be the listening room:

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They are currently testing other amplifier modules, but we were asked not to post pictures yet.
This is the current one:

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We listened for a while.
On other occasions, I've heard the LS1bes sound better than they did here.
The room isn't treated yet, except for a carpet and a curtain behind the listening chair.
I also think they can be positioned a little better.
But this room is still a work in process, and the process has just begun.


The MU1 seen from above.

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Yep, got carried away and took A LOT of pictures
All these lights are very photogenic... made me think of christmas :D

The 'guts' of the speaker.

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The bottom plates;

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The UC1.

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The padouk is really nice.

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Room for tradition!
After all, the Eindhoven region has been a very creative part of the world regarding audio and video (Philips!).

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Don't ask me what all these apparatuses do! :D

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A team working on new developments.

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This is where Justin works.

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They are rolling out a new industrial motherboard for the MU1, instead of the Intel.

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The new motherboard.

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Okay, our MU1 gets its new clock buffer!
It's the little white thingie on the left in the middle.

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You can see there is room left in the device.

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A nice update from last month is that the MU1 is now remote controllable.

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That is for the next product: the MU2 probably. It will have a high grade DAC. Made by Grimm, so no off the shelf chips.

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Grimm has a terrific line of cables.
Highly rated, and not too expensive.

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Meta always sees things a little differently.

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The industrial design of the building.

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Wires and cables!

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After 2 months, some little plants growing bravely!

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Guido, too bad we just missed you.
Eelco, you can be proud of your work!
You guys provide people with one of the best hifi sources in the world, and the speakers are fabulous.
Audio engineers use Grimm products all over the world.

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Justin and Eelco, thank you for your hospitality!
And thanks for the little upgrade.
Our MU1 might sound even a little better after our visit...

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Wonderful report, thank you Bart and Meta. How nice to be so close to such an excellent manufacturer.

Great report Bart and Meta, thanks for sharing.

:tresbon: :thankyouspin:

Very nice to read your report Bert. Thank you for sharing!

Dear friends, thanks for the comments.
I love this hobby, and I love to share!

Those are great pics, Bart, made even better by your thoughtful captions. Thank you!

Excellent pictures and report, Bart. Insightful as always.

Bart & Meta… nicely done, thanks for sharing. :)

Thank you gents!

@ Ivan: we aim to please!

Thanks for sharing, wow is good to see al the work and effort to create one of the best players around.

Thanks.

You're welcome Martin!

Great thread Bart. So nice to see such dedication to the craft.

Now, you know I can't resist this: But Grimm needs to add a product and call it the "Reaper."

:bolt:

Haha Freddie, I'll give them your suggestion! :D