Ground Zero Germany Visit

Mike ‘Guru’ Organ and Da Guv’Nor Colin Organ flew off to Europe recently to go and visit the Ground Zero Factory and meet with the top honchos there. After Connects2 sponsored thejoose’s Project Big Black and then Ground Zero themsleves added to the glory by chipping in to help PBB get all the way to Italy to compete in the world finals of BassRacing – they came back with a global second place and were possibly part of the reason that Car Audio Direct has picked up UK distribution of Ground Zero now that Connects2 have refocussed on their core business of making interfaces.
Here’s is Mike’s account of a gruelling day trip and what they saw and learned – it was put on the forum but richly deserved the first proper use of the ‘promote to article’ button the TA web system offers. But of course, as editor, I did have a little intro added here and looked over the words…
“Well that was a long but rather cool day out the office, got back late last night, so a bit bleary eyed today.
Ground Zero are based in a beautiful Bavarian countryside area of Germany, just outside Munich. In fact I think the only thing making noise within a five mile radius comes from behind their closed doors.
Our first taste of Ground Zero came in the form of their product room, an Aladins cave of all the latest goodies with plenty to get up close and personal with…..
Table of new goodies

Plenty of speakers to play with!

We chatted with the owner Karl Lautner and Michael Feld from product development about their comprehensive 250+ line range. These guys are very passionate and knowledgeable about the European market and its requirements both in SQ and SPL circles.
Colin chats with Karl and Michael, the new Plutonium ten incher looms in the foreground…..

Colin gets distracted by some SPL goodness..

The thing that struck me was these guys’ devotion to their product and its performance. Unlike many other “brands” they certainly dont just badge stuff. They listen to every product in a test room, in a car and then they torture test. They really know their stuff and most of the staff have been installers, competitors or long term car audio nuts. Many products take tow to three years to come to market as they refine, listen and change stuff before they are happy to release to the end users.
Many UK users with know Ground Zero from the SPL scene and ground pounding subwoofers, however many will not be aware that these guys also produce EMMA SQ winning high end gear. The European press have compared the GZ reference amplifier series alongside Audison Thesis and the hand made speakers with the very best from Focal and Micro Precision etc.

They have a listening room that allows them to compare, test and revise all of their amplifiers and speakers from £50-£1,500. Conected to the room is a workshop with scopes and various tools to strip and revise crossovers, so they can make quick changes during a listening session. The guys here would make any TA user proud with the level of enthusiasm and geekiness for detail

Every speaker they range, pre-mounted and ready for an A/B comparison!

We had a listen to the product development guy’s BMW, a system built “for fun” as he describes it. With a full blown Plutonium front end, it had dynamics and volume in spades.

But the striking thing was the highly controlled but still very heavy sub. I was struggling to guess the driver….sealed fifteen?…..very well sorted ported twelve inch?….hmmm.
He grinned and opened the boot…

Blimey 6 x 6in – that was a serious suprise, those things DROP!!!!!
We finished as only we could…..a beer and dinner in a Bavrian Beer Garden before rushing back for the last flight back to Blighty.
A bloody great day, good tunes and genuinely nice guys.
Thumbs up Ground Zero, we look forward to playing with more of your toys soon
Mike
Well, this was essentially A business trip but I have made it clear I wanna go WITH next time! ED