The Golden Ear Trtion II....two
I wrote, “Finally, a speaker that does it all” on February 17, 2011, which I had thought, about covered it, on this impressive new speaker technology from Golden Ear. But now it seems, I must write another review, about this same speaker!?!
Please note, “*Important Note”, below, as this is an excerpt from Chris Martens Perfect Vision’s Review of the Triton Cinema Two 5-Channel Surround System, which of course, is fronted by the “Triton II’s”.
*Important note: while this may not be the first review you read of the
Triton Cinema Two system, we believe it may be one of the first to cover the
final production version of the system (just like the ones enthusiasts will
be able to buy). The fact is that early Golden Ear press samples of the Triton
Two’s (including the ones sent to The Perfect Vision) were identical to the
pilot production models first demonstrated at CEDIA 2010. The Perfect
Vision learned, however, that Golden Ear had made small but significant
improvements in the control circuit for the Triton Two subwoofer amplifier
— changes that have been incorporated in all production model Triton Two’s
shipped to Golden Ear dealers. Accordingly, TPV elected to delay its review
until its Triton Two review samples could be retrofitted with final production
version amplifier control boards, which proved to be a good decision. The
change essentially redefines the neutral tonal balance point for the user
adjustable subwoofer amp, giving the production Triton Two’s an even clearer,
better balanced sound than the CEDIA demo units exhibited (plus a more
usable real-world range of amplifier adjustments).
The good news is that I cannot agree more. With the new crossover boards I received and installed at the beginning of the week, the greatly smoother, and more refined top to bottom tonal balance was immediately apparent. I was able to dial in the subs to the room much more accurately, completely relieving the mid base and mid-range of slight, but definitely noticeable, colorations. Now, the balance between very low base, mid base, and midrange is utterly perfect! This allows the Triton’s to really show their true colors, colorlessly, if I can put it that way. It has been a long time, perhaps too long, since I have heard a speaker produce such a detailed, uncolored, open, and true to the original portrayal of the midrange and high treble spectrum. Not to mention, entire audible frequency response. It may be time once again, for me to replace my home speakers. Not that mine aren’t very good ones, as they were $3000.00/pair from another very well respected speaker manufacturer. But alas, I am really enjoying hearing things I simply have not been able to, for a very long time, having previously owned speakers that employed that very special “Heil Air Motion Transformer” to which Chris, and other reviewers, are referring to.
To illustrate my point, take the DCC gold recording of The Doors, with Ray Manzarek’s insane organ notes; which on the Triton II’s seams to not only come to life in erie 3D largeness, but which includes the rarely audible secondary glass tube resonance, from Ray’s tube organ. This is goose bumb material, clearly overlaying the whole sonic image, which on our set up, is about 20 feet deep and wide, and seemed to have front row / front stage like height. Yes, a HUGE sound stage normally reserved for much more expensive speakers! Then with the sickeningly sweet triple lead guitar on-slot from the (Doobie Bros) China-Grove, this ingenius perfected technology based on the Heil Tweeter, coupled with totally unique piston driven mid-base drivers, completely takes over playing this stuff like I have not heard since the 70’s, when I often enjoyed this legendary ensemble LIVE! It’s flippin’ incredable! I feel like I’m being transported back in time right to the experience.
I further must caution you however, as stated by Chris Martens, that the Golden Ears will spoil you! This is the very problem I’ve been having since we put them on our floor. As I am responsible for doing all of the equipment testing here at The Sweet Spot@ADKAV, I’ve found I cannot listen to the Golden Ears prior to testing other speakers! Because what happens is, exactly as Chris says, the other speakers then sound mechanical, strained, or otherwise flawed. It’s a very discerning issue indeed!
Please see Reviews http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/audio/2011/01/test-report-goldenear-technology-triton-two-tower-speakers
http://www.avguide.com/review/goldenear-tritoncinema-two-5-channel-surround-system-part-2-tpv-101
http://www.hometheater.com/content/goldenear-technology-tritoncinema-two
Oops, I see the links did not come through. I am on the road today at the end of our three day trip here to Montreal’s annual Salon Son & Image Hi-Fi show. When I get back to the shop I will add the above links so you can go directly to the reviews. Sorry for the invconvenience.
I bought a pair of Triton Two’s a few months ago. I live in Orlando, FL and the nearest authorized dealer that had any in stock was in Tampa. After auditioning them at the dealer I purchased them and drove them home in my pickup truck (the’re shipped in large boxes). I assembled them and connected them and three minutes into the first song the woofer/sub-woofer built-in amplifier on the left speaker started to break up and make horriffic noise. It sounded like a capacitor or some electronic device was shorting-out. I immediatelty shut them off, checked my connections but the speaker kept on poping until I disconnected the power cord to the built-in amplifier. I returned the speakers for a refund because since there wasn’t an authorized dealer in Orlando I didn’t want a potential service headache. This may have just been a first production run abberation. Once Orlando gets an authorized dealer I will consider buying them again.
Regarding the sound of the Triton Two’s, the low end is amazing. A seperate sub woofer cannot recreate the seamless source/stage that these speakers create especially if your listening to music in stereo. The low end is clean, smooth, sub-sonic and rolls off very naturally, lacking boominess or distortion. In fact, it seems like an illussion that a speaker with such a small footprint and small cross section can produce such a low end, low end that would normally require a 15″ or 18″ driver and a huge boxy enclosure. The imaging of these speakers is also quite remarkable. Several times during the dealer demo I had to walk up to the center channel speaker to confirm it was off because I could swear that the sound source was inbetween the speakers. The mid-range or presence was good but I’ve heard better especially from dipoles or electrostactic speakers, but that is not a fair comparison. If you audition these speakers you will most likely come away with the realization that your current main stereo speakers are totally missing the boat when reproducing bass and that your sub-woofer is doing a poor job of compensating for your main speakers short-comings.
Tony,
Thanks for your well written comment, and performance appraisal. We did not experience the amplifier problem as you described, with any of our customers speakers, or our show room pair, however, Golden Ear did come out with a replacement to the original on-board sub amp as a running upgrade which they had simply mailed to us one day, claiming up to a certain serial number, not sure now what the number was, had a “defective amplifier”. We simply made the change to our show room pair which was working fine regardless, and noticed at that time, none of our customers units were prior to the serial number batch affected by the amp issue. You may notice I actually have an original Triton review, and a follow-up because of this change, as I quickly noticed what a dramatic improvement that the new amp had made. It was very easy to open the rear of the cabinet and make the swap, no soldering or advanced tool/techniques are needed. I still believe these speakers are an audiophile bargain, and you should perhaps consider buying another pair (past the running amp upgrade) as with most speakers modular designs these days, they can be repaired by the customer with a tech on the phone, and Golden Ear is a very responsive company. One of my customers (who also owns the Tritons) was so amazed by the sound after they broke in (midrange really opens up at this point) that he called the factory just to give them the positive feedback, and actually got “Sandy Gross” CEO/Chief design engineer on the phone to chat for some time. Few companies today are this dedicated to their customers. Regardless, I hope you find what you’re looking for, and continue to enjoy your listening hobby. Cheers!!!
Thanks for sharing! these days There is so much confusion surrounding this topic and there’s a lot of different advice about good practices. Thanks for helping to clear it up somewhat. Your opinions are appreciated.
Keep Rockin!
Best,
hmmm!
Anyone test the golden ears with a Mac mc302?
Yes! Actually, we almost always have the GoldenEar Triton II towers driven by our McIntosh MC302. It’s a GREAT combination.
In fact the top of the line Golden Ear towers will fool you, as I had tested them with as little amplification as our $450.00 Marantz 60wpc integrated (see previous blog), where the gave a large (and plenty loud) soundstage, yet when you drive them with the 302, OMG, adds gobs of lush detail and the music takes on a liquidity normally only experienced with MUCH more costly speaker/source rigs. Yes, as Jason says, we often enjoy the MAC/triton combo. It’s a serious system for a reasonable ding on the wallet. And if you happen to want to use them in a combo 5.1 system, the matching center is fantastic – one of the best of tested!