GoldenEar Technology - Triton Towers

[aud19]

I came across this company while perusing Home Theater Mag's reviews of their products. I think I might have to head down to the local dealer one of these days to give them a listen as they seem to be quite the bargain and exceptional sounding speakers! :T

They have powered subs (with passive radiators) and use unique "High-Velocity Folded Ribbon (HVFR)" tweeters that evidently lend them quite pleasant, airy highs to go along with the prodigious lows.

http://www.goldenear.com/products/triton-towers

(Sandy Gross of GoldenEar is also one of the founders of Polk Audio and founder (with engineering partner Don Givogue) of Definitive Technology. )

http://www.hometheater.com/content/goldenear-technology-tritoncinema-two

The GoldenEar TritonCinema Two system doesn’t sound good or even really good; it sounds phenomenally good. It’s difficult to build a great speaker, but if you throw enough money at it, you can get there eventually. The thing that makes the GoldenEar system such an astounding achievement is the fact that it sounds like a five-figure system and yet costs less than $3,500.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/goldenear-technology-tritoncinema-three-speaker-system

...the Triton Threes were not designed to compete with the Triton Twos. The real judgment is to see how they fare among other similarly priced loudspeakers. And when it comes to that, few other speakers can couple the intimacy reminiscent of an electrostatic speaker with the authority and heft of a traditional box speaker in such an organic and integral way. Without a doubt, the Triton Threes can thoroughly kick the butt of just about any other loudspeaker in their class on the playground or after school. In some ways, the Triton Threes are an even more impressive achievement than the Triton Twos because the lower the price, the harder it is to produce that kind of sonic excellence. The GoldenEar family can be quite proud of its latest progeny.

[Hdale85]

The Def Tech stuff was so/so depending on the model. Anything with a sub on it was way to hot on the bottom end and completely recessed on the midrange, the stuff that didn't have built in subs was quite good and balanced though. I'd be surprised if they really sounded like a five figure system, of course I have a hard time justifying the quality you get in a five figure system over something like a 5k dollar system.

[madmac]

The Def Tech stuff was so/so depending on the model. Anything with a sub on it was way to hot on the bottom end and completely recessed on the midrange, the stuff that didn't have built in subs was quite good and balanced though. I'd be surprised if they really sounded like a five figure system, of course I have a hard time justifying the quality you get in a five figure system over something like a 5k dollar system.

Hdale85.....You might be a tad misguided in regards to what powered towers can do for both HT and Music listening. 5 figure systems are another bird altogether!!. However, I've been to audio shows and I must admit that I am not missing too much in regards to sound from these 5 figure systems to be honest!!. :T

[Hdale85]

No I'm not misguided, my comments were on the Definitive Technology speakers and only of those. There are countless FR plots and reviews backing up my claims. The speakers Definitive made that had built in subs were completely unbalanced, extremely hot on the bottom and very recessed midrange. I have a friend that had a set and eventually traded them for some of the non powered sub versions and it was a huge difference in quality. The ones he has now sound very balanced and are great speakers.

[Lex]

Since we are not really talking Def Tech speakers here, only a Engineer that came from Def Tech, that would be a difficult jump (by assumption) to make that these are like Def Tech. Def Tech were pretty darn good, maybe yes weaker in mids. I had powered woofer speakers once, long time ago, they were made by Infinity. These had soft dome tweeters I think. They had rattling grills as I recall, a bit disappionting.

Ribbon tweeters are nice. I had a set once in some infinity that pre-dated the powered speakers I owned by them. Wish I had kept those speakers, they were pretty good.

I say give these a listen, then decide, yeah...

[aud19]

Well he also was a Polk founder Dougie (which are still pretty well regarded from what I know) and the reviewer seems to think they sound pretty fabulous...so...

Here's what they measured FYI. Maybe have a look at those and as Doug mentioned have a listen to them if ya get the chance


This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the Triton Two L/R (purple trace), SuperSat 50C center channel (green trace), and SuperSat 3 surround (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grilles at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes.


This graph shows the quasi-anechoic (employing close-miking of all woofers) frequency response of the Triton Three L/R (purple trace), SuperSat 50C center channel (green trace), and SuperSat 3 surround (red trace). All passive loudspeakers were measured with grilles at a distance of 1 meter with a 2.83-volt input and scaled for display purposes.

I for one am looking forward to finding some time to go have a listen :T

[Hdale85]

Well this isn't JUST an engineer from Definitive, he was the sole person that started Definitive. Design principles still appear to be the same, but I wasn't saying anything negative really about Golden Ear, but more that I'm skeptical as it's not the first time I've heard this type of hype over Sandy Gross's speakers. I'd be interested to hear them though. I'm not saying that a tower speaker with a powered sub can't be good, I believe it can although it has a lot of difficult issues to work out to make it work right. Maybe Sandy got it right this time, I was just saying from his previous designs he could do a decent speaker but I never liked his power stuff much as the midrange was nearly non existent. I'm trying to find the FR I had seen previously on the BP7001's I believe it was. So I'm not saying he didn't get it right this time, just that previous attempts seemed to have some strange design goals or something? These designs are very similar, he's thrown a lot of new "technical" terms that most companies like to make up about their products, he has developed some new drivers although some of the elements of their design seem a bit strange to me as well but I imagine they were mostly designed that way to get a bigger piston surface while maintaining a slim cabinet.

[Hdale85]

Oh I'd love to hear them, always up to hear a new speaker like I said I wasn't saying anything negative about these speakers in particular just that they are similar to his older designs and what was wrong with those.

Although looking at that FR you see there is a rather big dip in the midrange and a rise on the top end. Almost -4dB down at 5khz, while nearly 4+ dB up at 20khz and the bottom end. That's easily enough to hear a significant difference. I imagine some of that could be room effects but just pointing out.

[cuda65]

I just listened to these a week or so ago. I liked the sound very much. In fact I just purchased the on wall Supersat 50's and the Supersat 50C. I will be pairing it with their sub and waiting on their new in ceiling speakers for the rears. This is for a basement I am finishing right now. I will not have things up and running for a while but as soon as I do I will let you know how it all worked out.

[Hdale85]

Be very interested to hear that Doug. They look interesting and they certainly used some different approaches. I may have to try and find a place to check them out with my friend here shortly.

[aud19]

Can't wait to hear you impressions Doug!

And could we get some more Doug/Dougie's in this thread please? :lol:

[Hdale85]

Haha! Not sure how many more there are on the forum.....

[cuda65]

I can't wait to get the basement done and the system set up. From the demos I heard at two differnet shops I think it should sound great. Lots of work to do and not a lot of time to work on it so I have to be patient. Will keep you updated.

[Lex]

Even I was getting confused...

[cuda65]

Jason:

Should be hooking these up this weekend with a Marantz sr7005. I will let you know how it all turns out and sounds. Still waiting on the in ceilings for the back. They are suppose to be released in 30 - 60 days.

[aud19]

Looking forward to your review :T

[Hdale85]

As am I

[cuda65]

Did not get as much time to listen to the speakers as I had hoped. But what little time I have had with them I am very pleased. They should only get better as I get more time with them and complete the set up in the room and on the receiver. I will keep you posted.

[aud19]

In standby

[Hdale85]

Any update?

[cuda65]

Still no update. The in ceiling speakers have ben delayed again! I like the front three speakers a lot. I can't wait to get everything in and set up completely. I am being told end of July now for the speakers. Looking forward to it. Will keep you posted.

[cuda65]

Just got the in ceiling speakers. They were delayed for months. Everything is installed just need to run the set up and dial things in. Will keep you updated. Long time coming.

[aud19]

No doubt! Look forward to hearing your thoughts