Bookshelf Speaker "Shootout" (under $600)

Next up are the ELAC Debut Reference DBR62 speakers, which arrived the day after the LSiM703. I was pleased with the performance of the DBR82 but they didn’t stand out in any specific way to me beyond what the KEF speakers were already giving me. The soundstage on both speakers is excellent and the center image was locked in place on both speakers as well. I was expecting a fuller sound from the ELAC DBR62 since it has the 6.5” woofer compared to the 5.25” woofer on the KEF Q150 but it just didn’t work out that way, at least, not in a significant way to my ears. The ELAC DBR62 gives you a lot of sound and it is non fatiguing but it is not as laid back as the Polk LSiM while not being as “forward” as the KEF Q150. Forward may not be the right way to describe the Q150 speakers but I think, in comparison to the other two speakers so far, one could see it that way. The build quality on the DBR62 was the most disappointing of the group. While nothing was loose or falling apart, there was a very obvious seam on the Walnut vinyl wrap located on the bottom of the speaker. The vinyl wrap also seemed to be more “bubbly” to me in several spots and, for a speaker at this price point, I expect better. I liked the look of the black fascia with the Walnut cabinets but the bare metal grill over the tweeter really stood out to me and I felt it would have looked better had it been a flat black or a gloss black instead.

Next up, I had a brief encounter with the Focal Chorus 706 speakers that were supposed to be new but, when they arrived, they were clearly used previously. I tried them anyway and the sound was very distorted, especially in the midrange. This flaw could have been due to the previous owner and I would have liked to try another pair but I literally got the last ones available so I couldn’t exchange them. The cabinets were very well built; the piano gloss black is beautiful and the leather on the fascia, bottom, and top of the speaker is a different look but it’s kind of neat; they were very well put together and the knuckle rap test revealed a fairly inert cabinet.

Last up are the Triangle Borea BR03 speakers. These were the latest to arrive to the comparison due to their lack of availability (they were on backorder for a month between the time I placed the order and the time that they were delivered). Out of the box, I was less than impressed with these speakers. However, I decided to stick it out for a while and see if anything changed over the course of the next few weeks and, thankfully, my patience was rewarded. I was playing music on these every day for at least 5 hours a day for the next 2-weeks so that tallies up to a minimum of 70 hours but, I know for a fact, they had far more time on them than that. I don’t know when it happened but, at some point toward the end of the 2-weeks, the sound coming from these speakers changed and it changed for the better. To my ears, the sound is the most pleasing of the group. I’m hearing more the of details than the KEF from the 1” silk dome tweeter housed behind the EFS Phase Plug with a good, forward, midrange, and some pretty solid bass response from the 6.5” midbass/woofer. Like the Polk Legend L200, the midrange really stands out on the Borea BR03.

However, I had to experiment quite a bit with placement on these before they clicked for me. Not surprisingly, I found that the farther they are from the front wall, the better the soundstage while reducing the bass response., Because getting farther from the front wall will reduce the bass response, I do have a subwoofer in my 2-channel setup to shore up the low notes but I did evaluate all of the speakers on the list without the subwoofer first, to see what they were capable of on their own and then with the subwoofer to see if they would blend easily or if a lot of fine tuning and adjustment would be necessary.

The fit and finish on the Borea BR03 are superb. The Walnut vinyl wrap is very nice and everything seems to be very well put together. The magnetic speaker grills are my favorite of the group and the most transparent. The grills stand away from the cabinet due to the length of the magnets so there is a gap between the fascia and the grill(s). The gloss black back plate on the back of the cabinet looks nice in contrast to the Walnut finish and the biding posts are a shiny silver color with an appropriately colored ring imbedded to distinguish the proper polarity. There is a nice Triangle logo embedded in the top of the rubber material above the tweeter and the word T R I A N G L E is spelled out at the bottom of the fascia located between the front ports. All in all, I think it is an attractive speaker and, for me, that’s a plus. Good looks plus good sound sealed the deal and the Triangle Borea BR03 are replacing the KEF Q150 in my 2-channel setup. As I said earlier, this was not a slam-dunk but I do appreciate the differences between the speakers enough to decide to keep them. It is not easy for everyone to do a direct comparison like this and, if you were to do the same test in your room and on your gear, you may come to a different conclusion than I did, as this hobby is very subjective.

Overall, I think that any one of these speakers could have stayed with me for the long term. At their respective price points, they are offering a ridiculously good value for the money from their respective manufacturers.

joecoulson wrote: »

Great stuff Victor!
Thank You for the very in depth review.

Thank you Joe! I appreciate it

mlistens03 wrote: »

Very cool Victor! Interesting comparison to the Q150s, maybe they're not quite the steal at $600 I thought they were when I owned them.

Though they are probably still a steal at the $300 occasional sale price!

Victor if you would like, I'm happy to add my comparison of my Q150s to my Martin Logan's. You may also prefer to keep it specific to what you've heard. just let me know!

I don’t know Micah, I thought that the KEF Q150 speakers did very well in this comparison; Especially when you take into account the sale price available from time to time.

By all means, feel free to add your thoughts on the KEF v Martin Logan experience/impressions to this thread or you can create your own. Either is good with me

indyhawg wrote: »

Nice review Victor.

Thanks Jeff

F1nut wrote: »

Nice review Victor. I'm curious, between the Triangle and L200, which would you keep?

I think that I’d like to hear them side by side (directly) before I could say for certain. I was initially looking for a fuller sound than the KEF speakers and I think that the Triangle speakers do that but they present it in a different way than the L200.

The dispersion of the high notes is really nice on the Triangle speakers, and the midrange was very similar to the L200 (one of the first things I noticed about the L200 and what developed over time with the Triangles). Bass response is better on the L200 but it’s not bad on the Triangles by any means. Because I use a sub in my 2-channel setup, it’s kind of a moot point. Both speakers did a great job of blending in with the sub. Aesthetically, I prefer the Triangles to the L200. At 1/3 the cost, if it were my money, I think I’d stick with the Triangles. I’m surprised to hear myself say this as I was very impressed by the L200 speakers. That said, I don’t have the $1799 price of admission for the Polk’s. If I did, I’d be auditioning a lot of speakers in that price range before committing to one set.

I’d be interested to hear a comparison between the Triangle Esprit Comète EZ and the Polk Legend L200 as they are more similarly priced to one another and feature the same size drivers.

verb wrote: »

Excellent review Vic! I hope to be able to articulate that well someday!

Thanks Dave

Clipdat wrote: »

Oh man, now you got me thinking about the Cometes again! I really loved those speakers and it was hard to send them back after reviewing them. Along with the way that the horn loaded tweeter reproduced the high frequencies, my favorite attribute was the way that lightweight untreated paper woofer reproduced the tone of instruments and voices! Everything was just so immediate, lively, and fast. Seriously impressive, especially for the price.

I would like to review Triangle's two bookshelf speakers above the Comete EZ in the future, the Signature Theta and the Magellan Duetto.

Those are some good looking Triangles!

ZLTFUL wrote: »

Nice review Victor. Planning on throwing the V601s into the mix once we get em down there?

Well, as I said, I really liked the sound of the L200 speakers and, as you stated in your review - the two are pretty much interchangeable, so, if the V-601’s can do that, I’ll enjoy them as I have an extra set of stands and an extra set of outputs on the CXA60!

CottageChz wrote: »

I see that you have the Triangles for sale, have you moved on to another bookshelf speaker that you like better, or just going with your new 705s?

The LSiM705 speakers have been gone for quite some time now, way before I purchased the Triangle Borea BR03 bookshelf speakers.

I purchased a pair of the Wharfedale Evo 4.2 stand mount loudspeakers. I decided to stay with them and move the Triangle speakers on. The Wharfedale are almost twice the price of the Triangle speakers