Goldenear Triton Reference Series Tower Speaker Preview

[gene]

Speaker company Goldenear has made some big impacts in the audio world in the last three years with their line of Triton speakers. Their Triton One came out in 2014 with the goal of making a great speaker for the fiscally responsible. In fact, the company slogan “We make high end affordable” describes this speaker line to a T. Goldenear introduced their Triton Reference edition speaker at the CES 2017 last week. Read our preview and demo results of this fantastic new product from Goldenear and our little comparison to their Triton 1 to see what you’re getting when stepping up to their new flagship speaker system.

Read: Goldenear Triton Reference Series Tower Speaker Preview

 

[Cos]

As one of the few GE supporters on this Forum, when you have Sandy in house for your Youtube page, please ask him to point out the sonic differences between these new Reference Speakers vs The Triton one.

There is not doubt IMO that you get a lot for your money, but at 8500 there opens up a lot more options to compare against.

What I will point out is that GE has probably the best customer support in the business. I had a question on speakers and when I called in to talk to GE I actually got Sandy. He is also pretty active on the AVSForum when I had questions/issues in the past.

 

[slipperybidness]

As one of the few GE supporters on this Forum, when you have Sandy in house for your Youtube page, please ask him to point out the sonic differences between these new Reference Speakers vs The Triton one.

There is not doubt IMO that you get a lot for your money, but at 8500 there opens up a lot more options to compare against.

What I will point out is that GE has probably the best customer support in the business. I had a question on speakers and when I called in to talk to GE I actually got Sandy. He is also pretty active on the AVSForum when I had questions/issues in the past.

Agreed on the CS!

I had an amp go out in my T2, had been out of warranty for almost 1 year. Called the dealer, they had the amp in hand in about 1 week. Past the warranty, no charge for the amp or for the labor! 30 Minute repair.

Also, agreed, $8500.....seems to be getting well away from that value category.

 

[Irvrobinson]

There must be a larger market than I would guess for speakers in this price range. I was recently noticing that Revel's new F208be is in the same range ($9K per pair), and now Goldenear. Then there's the dizzy pricing of the new B&W 800 series. And these are mainstream brands, not some little ID business, or some specialty manufacturer. Seems odd. Of course, I was recently auditioning the new $25K/pair Martin Logans, and the dealer told me he has already sold four pairs.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

When I had DefTech speakers, their CS was the absolute best as well. Very important factor.

But $8.5K/pair MSRP is a bit difficult to welcome when the Triton One is $5K/pr MSRP.

I think the Triton Reference would be more acceptable if they were $6K/pr MSRP.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'd love to hear these speakers one day, but at $8k or $8.5k - they better had some really strong and compelling argument for someone not to choose Dennis's or Jim Salk's products (like SS8 - which I think are amazing)

 

[slipperybidness]

I'd love to hear these speakers one day, but at $8k or $8.5k - they better had some really strong and compelling argument for someone not to choose Dennis's or Jim Salk's products (like SS8 - which I think are amazing)

Agreed. I love my T2, and I think the price is reasonable.

The T1 is already pushing it on the cost (for me). The Reference......at those prices, I'll look elsewhere (Salk, PSB, Focal)

 

[audioworkshop]

These are certainly great performing speakers, nobody is going to question that, but really $8500 for Chinese speakers that are not anywhere near the build quality of comparable North American built products? We listened to a pair of Paradigm 95F with a matching sub for less and concluded it was not only a better speaker but the fit and finish were superb, downright gorgeous. OK everyone has their caveats it's like drinking wine or beer... but really $8500 ... sorry no cigar.

 

[shadyJ]

How do you know about the build quality? Did you look inside the cabinet? I guarantee you there are plenty of Chinese manufactured speakers that have better build quality than american made speakers. I wouldn't be so hasty to judge build quality from country of origin.

As for the Paradigm 95Fs...

Now let's compare that very erratic frequency response to the 'shoddy' Chinese made Golden Ear Triton 1:

Yeah, North American manufacturing sure showed the silly Chinese how to make a speaker there!

 

[Klipschhead302]

How do you know about the build quality? Did you look inside the cabinet? I guarantee you there are plenty of Chinese manufactured speakers that have better build quality than american made speakers. I wouldn't be so hasty to judge build quality from country of origin.

As for the Paradigm 95Fs...

Now let's compare that very erratic frequency response to the 'shoddy' Chinese made Golden Ear Triton 1:

Yeah, North American manufacturing sure showed the silly Chinese how to make a speaker there!

No, what it did was compare one Chinese company to one American one, you're lumping all into one just as he did, well, actually he didn't, he said comparable. Both countries are capable of making excellent products but one is much more well known for not making them because the people in that country will work for next to nothing in conditions that are deplorable.

 

[shadyJ]

No, what it did was compare one Chinese company to one American one, you're lumping all into one just as he did, well, actually he didn't, he said comparable. Both countries are capable of making excellent products but one is much more well known for not making them because the people in that country will work for next to nothing in conditions that are deplorable.

That is not what he is saying. Your reading of his argument is mistaken.

 

[Klipschhead302]

That is not what he is saying. Your reading of his argument is mistaken.

I disagree but honestly I don't care about these speakers or the others enough to explain why. I do have issues with China which is a different subject so I'll move along.

 

[Irvrobinson]

There must be a larger market than I would guess for speakers in this price range. I was recently noticing that Revel's new F208be is in the same range ($9K per pair), and now Goldenear. Then there's the dizzy pricing of the new B&W 800 series. And these are mainstream brands, not some little ID business, or some specialty manufacturer. Seems odd. Of course, I was recently auditioning the new $25K/pair Martin Logans, and the dealer told me he has already sold four pairs.

Interesting that this thread popped back up. I was recently having a conversation with a friend over lunch that it seemed like there are more rich people around than the typical one-percenter designation would imply. We used our phones to Google some data, and for 2016 the average income of a top 5% earner was probably about $400,000/yr. Since the population of the US is about 322 million, and the average US family size seems to be about four people, so a very rough estimation would be that there are something like four million wage earners in the top 5% with average incomes of about $400K. That made us content that we weren't dreaming that there are a lot of relatively wealthy people around. Perhaps this also explains why the market for speakers in this price range (and above) isn't so surprising after all.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I assume G-E did some kind of consumer research/survey before launching $8,500 speakers.

There must be enough loyal G-E fans out there (OUTSIDE of Audioholics) to justify this speaker.

G-E has a lot of advertisements (like magazines) and raving reviews.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when I bought my DT system ($12,000 MSRP), the number one reason was because of all the glowing reviews on magazines and advertisements. It was BEFORE I became a member of Audioholics.

It seems like none of us here on AH are willing to pay $8K on these G-E speakers.

And if I had been an AH member a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I would have never been willing to spend that kind of money on those DT speakers.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Yeah, and just thinking about it, two top 10% people who are married come close to being an average top 5% household.

 

[PENG]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, when I bought my DT system ($12,000 MSRP), the number one reason was because of all the glowing reviews on magazines and advertisements. It was BEFORE I became a member of Audioholics.

I must confess I could not understand why someone like you with the backing of some serious electronics gear would own those DT speakers. I auditioned them once, couldn't stand their lack of transparency at all.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I must confess I could not understand why someone like you with the backing of some serious electronics gear would own those DT speakers. I auditioned them once, couldn't stand their lack of transparency at all.

I bought those DT's before I bought all those other gears.

And those DT's were bipolar, which meant if you didn't have them set up just right, they sounded terrible.

Have you ever read any of the magazine reviews of those DT speakers? They pretty much said that these speakers were the best value. One review said the DT BP7000SC sounded as good as $50,000 speakers.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Have you ever read any of the magazine reviews of those DT speakers? They pretty much said that these speakers were the best value. One review said the DT BP7000SC sounded as good as $50,000 speakers.

On the other hand, I read similar accolades about Salon2s for three years and ignored them completely, on the grounds that Harman did so much advertising that their top of the line product would always get a rave review. Then I heard them at a dealer. Sometimes (unfortunately only sometimes) reviews do tell the truth.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

On the other hand, I read similar accolades about Salon2s for three years and ignored them completely, on the grounds that Harman did so much advertising that their top of the line product would always get a rave review. Then I heard them at a dealer. Sometimes (unfortunately only sometimes) reviews do tell the truth.

Well, I don’t believe the reviewers were lying. I think they truly believed what they wrote. But it's a matter of preference. And everyone is entitled to a opinion. Sometimes we agree. Other times we don't. And there are so many other factors involved. For example, some speakers fit certain rooms and placements (acoustics) better. Every room and situation is different.

I never compared my DT BP7000SC speakers to Salon2, 802D2, Orion, RBH SX-T2/R side by side in the same room and level-matched. They were in different places and times. But I do recall enjoying the sound of my DT speakers a lot in my home setup. I also realized they could sound like garbage in a different room and setup.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[Cos]

8500 with about 25% off from a dealer is not that bad @6400. At that price I would consider them, but to be honest I am completely happy with my T1s.

Everyone is so quick to judge without actually listening to them. I will withhold judgement until then. I am going to AXPONA tomorrow and GE will be there with a lot of others, it's a great time to audition and make an educated decision

When I went with my T1s, I compared against RBH 8300sx/Revel 208s and to me they sounded best. Looking forward to tomorrow when I can demo a lot more brands

As for suggesting 6k price point, that would be way to close to the T1s and given the fact it is a complete redesign, doesn't make a lot of sense.