GoldenEar Triton Reference series....

TroyD

I'm toying with the idea about buying a NEW set of speakers. Midlife crisis kind of thing....

I know what I like and what I don't and what I'm willing to spend and I've been doing quite a bit of reading and so forth.......looking for opinions on the GoldenEar Triton Reference speakers. I've heard the DefTech Mythos STS and was pretty impressed by them......

I'm considering a pair of L800's....I'm obviously familiar with Polk products and so forth so, I have no doubt that at what I'm willing to spend, they are a solid choice and no doubt I'd be happy with them. The only problem is, I've got SDA. Lots of it....and I'm not really looking for a debate on the merits of "new" SDA and "old" nor am I averse to having a pair of each.

That said, I'm looking for my listening habits and so forth, the Goldenear's seem to be a pretty appealing idea..specifically the Triton One.r's....and there are a couple of dealers in a reasonable distance where I can hear them (which is decidedly not the case with the L800's)

Thoughts??

mantis

All great choices my friend. I would like to add to your list a pair of Def Tech Mythos STL's. They are remarkable sounding speakers and are light years ahead of the STS model from the past. I currently have the ST as my main channel and they are so good I have never been able to upgrade to anything else around their price point or slightly higher except the STL.
I head yeah on the Mid Life Crisis thing man, I just turned 50 June 3rd.

Emlyn

One thing I'd be listening for in the Tritons is the integration between the powered subwoofer section built into them and the rest of the speaker for stereo listening. Could be a great home theater speaker but could fall short for pure two channel. Could also be the smaller speakers may sound better than the biggest ones. Ears on would be the best test. No golden ears required for that.

VR3

Heard golden ear on a few occasions, one time that sandy gross personally set up in Charlotte and I never have walked away with a good impression

Clipdat

Budget?

TroyD

I'm looking at the 6K range.....

Sid, I'm surprised by that....and by no means am I discounting your experience.....but you used to be a hardcore DefTech guy...and I liked the DefTech's that I heard (again, the Mythos STS was pretty damn impressive) and it seemed to me the Goldenears were a natural progression.....

Probably what has me most intrigued is the ribbon tweeter. Big fan of ribbon tweeters. As far as the powered sub integration. I have a long, well documented history of not being a fan...BUT, I gotta admit the Mythos did it seamlessly.

BDT

TroyD

mantis wrote: »

All great choices my friend. I would like to add to your list a pair of Def Tech Mythos STL's. They are remarkable sounding speakers and are light years ahead of the STS model from the past. I currently have the ST as my main channel and they are so good I have never been able to upgrade to anything else around their price point or slightly higher except the STL.
I head yeah on the Mid Life Crisis thing man, I just turned 50 June 3rd.

I hear you man....I turn 50 in two weeks, brother!!

VR3

I like the older def tech stuff, they are hard to beat in their niche, ht and gaming.

Golden ear at the price point just didn't do it for me, it did very little right

TroyD

Huh.....appreciate the input, Sid!

BTW, when you start doing mods again....I've got a bone stock pair of 2.3tl's, if there is a waiting list....

ZLTFUL

Rosso Fiorentino Elba 2s.

I have never had a memorable experience with any Golden Ear speakers. Not bad but not memorable.

marvda1

here's a $10k pr for $6k and free shipping.
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/cantventoref3.2dcblka/canton-vento-reference-3.2-8.5-3-way-speaker-black/1.html

Clipdat

The Golden Ears I heard at Axpona last year sounded like they would be perfect for someone who has age-related upper frequency hearing loss.

coolsax

And of course all ears vary :-) ,. I really enjoy my Triton 2+s and would heartily recommend the Triton series of speakers.. I really enjoy the tweeter and the dynamics of the speakers, and the volume control does allow you to dial in the amount of bass you prefer.

joecoulson

I too went into the Triton room at Axpona and walked right out. But most folks don’t like my Elacs either 🤷🏻‍♂️
Maybe it was the Primaluna gear (I think that was the same room)
But to be clear, huge Def Tech fan here. Just not the same relative IMO.

TroyD

Clipdat wrote: »

The Golden Ears I heard at Axpona last year sounded like they would be perfect for someone who has age-related upper frequency hearing loss.

Huh...

Now, ribbons, or specifically Air Motion Transformers, are different than other tweeters.....and as a guy who likes ribbons and electrostatic speakers, I dig that. My theory is that because they lack the sparkle associated with the resonant breakup frequency that we associate with dome tweeters....they sound dull to some. It took awhile for me to get used to when I went down the planar highway...

BDT

pitdogg2

No Troy they were very bright and very little low end. They had one of the bigger rooms downstairs not a "hotel room" like most others. I also didn't stay long, I tried to strike up a conversation with Sandy but he was in a grumpy mood. Can't help but think he as well was not happy about the sound.

erniejade

I do like a ribbon ( had carver amazing and legacy focus ) but I felt these were a bit too bright at Axpona. I am not sure if it was the equipment being used or what but, I thought they were bright. I would still be willing to listen to a set in a better environment and different equipment and give them another shot.

TroyD

Huh.....again, this is all good input.

My bugaboo with the Triton's...without ever having heard them...is the sensitivity. I've always associated sensitivity with being harsh because it's so easy to drive them to ear-bleed levels.

What interests me about them is that in the reviews that I've read (and it would seem based on the good press is that either Sandy is paying a butt ton in advertising OR they are pretty good) that the sound is not dependent on volume ie, everything collapses at lower volumes. One of my few gripes with SDA, as a matter of fact. I don't listen to music loud and, for the most part, don't enjoy it. Finding a speaker that isn't dependent on volume AND is full range is difficult. The AR9 is the best I've ever had in that department. The Quads sounded great at lower levels (in fact demand it) but they aren't full range. The B&W's also play well at lower volumes but they have a sound I just don't love.

Now, I've found that full true range multi-way speakers are very room and placement dependent. SDA's are the exception to this in that they are pretty straight forward in getting the best sound.....and in a show type environment, I would imaging getting the best performance would be a dicey proposition.

VR3

I think you need to find some of the older flagship stuff.

Jm lab mezzo/alto utopia, Wilson witt/watt puppy, etc. Sold north of 10k, now can be had for around 4k or less.

I've been very happy with my Mezzo Utopias for a few years now.

xsmi

I’ve heard Golden Ear 3 times. As someone who LOVES B&W 802N, and newer, I found them bright and lacking in low end heft.

sgmsmg

I enjoy my Triton Reference speakers. Not really having much experience I can't offer an opinion on what they compare to. I do not find them bright or lacking low end. I probably don't have the ear most of you all do and most of my setup would be considered bright sounding Triton speakers, Bryston source components/amplification and Wrieworld cabling (Gold series uses silver conductors).

gyosa

if I had 6k for a pair of speakers , I'd buy another pair of Salks .....
I honestly like mine that much .....
I'd get some Veracity ST's ....and have a few dollars left over to boot ...
the RAAL tweeter is THAT good ....

bk

tophatjohnny

Take your time. There are some amazing speakers out there. I just scored and still pinching myself to make sure it wasn't a dream cuz they sure sound and look like a dream. Good luck in the search brother.

tonyb

Salk might be up your alley also.

joecoulson

to those of you who own Tritons, my apologies for not clarifying my post about their sound. For that Axpona show, there were MANY rooms that just didn't sound good. Including speakers and gear I LOVED in other setups. Something about their synergy there was similar with McIntosh, Sonus Faber, Focal, B&W and many others. While smaller rooms with MUCH less money in them sounded fantastic. Strange to be sure.

I too would be willing to try them again somewhere else. They sure do have all the right looking goodies inside.

Thorton

Something was off at the Axpona room. The system sounded terrible as others mentioned. Bright as hell. I am not pinpointing these to the speakers. I’ve heard 2 different GE Triton models (can’t remember which ones) other times at a hifi retailer close to me. They were not bright but the tonal balance didn’t sound exactly right. This could be the room…..etc., etc., etc., but I never left wowed. I’ve visited Salk (per other recommendations) at every Axpona show I’ve been to and said “I could live with these speakers as my last set”. I am a ribbon tweeter fan too. I’m not trying to knock Golden Ear, maybe they’re just very sensitive to electronics, placement and the room…they do seem to get great reviews.

izafar

HVFR tweeter used by Goldenear have very steep drop off in vertical plane and drop off in horizontal plan is also moderately high. To overcome this the tweeters are voiced a bit hot. I have Triton one that are 5db hot after 10Khz. In my listening room (20 by 30 feet’s) they do sound absolutely fine and not bright at all.

One of the things I do like about Triton ones is that they are very enjoyable at low listening volumes and really kick some deep bass when cranked up. They are senstive and needs to be paired with a pre amp with good gradual gain control.

VR3

Sandy gross has a very straight forward play book that he used at both Definitive and Golden Ear.

Design a good solid base of drivers, then use those drivers to build a solid baseline product, ie the Triton one. Then, once it is received to the public well, scale it down and up.

I say this because most of the time you can find the same drivers in top of the line products from Sandy as the bottom tier products.

This exact playbook was used at early Polk Audio, part of the reason you see almost all of the product lines use the same drivers.

He is very good at marketing and production and the products overall sound very good for what they are.

There is no question he pads the pricing of his products by limiting distribution and making them only available by high end retailers, same formula as Definitive.

hochpt21

Just to toss this in here. I’m happier with my Triton 2’s than any other speaker I’ve had in my limited journey. I’d really like to upgrade to the 1’s.

gudnoyez

The Golden Ears I heard at Apoxona a couple of years ago were horrific couldn't get out of the room fast enough. A good time in the Salk room best room along with Audio Thesis at that show, the Salks were amazing.

Clipdat

VR3 wrote: »

There is no question he pads the pricing of his products by limiting distribution and making them only available by high end retailers, same formula as Definitive.

Maybe this will change since GoldenEar is now a part of The Quest Group (Audioquest).