Looking for suitable amp for Triangle Borea Br08

[Nodd]

First of all, i’m a complete newbie with audio so please bear with me.

After a long period of research i decided to buy the Triangle Borea Br08 floorstanders. I had active speakers before this to avoid the amp search (audio pro a36). But the sound of the audio pro’s was comparable to my Harman Kardon Go+Play 2 bluetooth speaker so i returned them.

The thing is, i have no idea which amps work with these Triangle speakers and which don’t...

I don’t want to potentially buy an amp that has features that i don’t need, and which drives the price up.

I’ll give some info (not sure if this is of any help lol):

-i won’t be listening at VERY loud levels ever.
-Mostly at average/normal to loud.
-room is about 25-27m2
-i have a 4k tv (philips oled 803/12) with a xbox series x as the only device connected to the tv.
-i will use Tidal and Spotify for music mostly.
-speaker usage is 70/30 music/movies.
-Won't use a sub

I have found the following amps myself and was wondering if these are good for the speakers:

Yamaha WXA50
Audiolab 6000
Denon PME-600NE
Rega io

Can any of these power the speakers at all? That’s the most important thing i guess

budget is max €1000 but preferably around €500 or less if possible.

if anyone could help me i’d be very thankful.

Sorry for the bad English

 

[TLS Guy]

First of all, i’m a complete newbie with audio so please bear with me.

After a long period of research i decided to buy the Triangle Borea Br08 floorstanders. I had active speakers before this to avoid the amp search (audio pro a36). But the sound of the audio pro’s was comparable to my Harman Kardon Go+Play 2 bluetooth speaker so i returned them.

The thing is, i have no idea which amps work with these Triangle speakers and which don’t...

I don’t want to potentially buy an amp that has features that i don’t need, and which drives the price up.

I’ll give some info (not sure if this is of any help lol):

-i won’t be listening at VERY loud levels ever.
-Mostly at average/normal to loud.
-room is about 25-27m2
-i have a 4k tv (philips oled 803/12) with a xbox series x as the only device connected to the tv.
-i will use Tidal and Spotify for music mostly.
-speaker usage is 70/30 music/movies.
-Won't use a sub

I have found the following amps myself and was wondering if these are good for the speakers:

Yamaha WXA50
Audiolab 6000
Denon PME-600NE
Rega io

Can any of these power the speakers at all? That’s the most important thing i guess

budget is max €1000 but preferably around €500 or less if possible.

if anyone could help me i’d be very thankful.

Sorry for the bad English

I would just make sure you have a 4 ohm rated amp. It is 3 ohms from 100 Hz to 200Hz where there is a lot of power. It is four ohms to from 200 Hz to 800 Hz.

So I would consider this a 4 ohm speaker.

It is pretty sensitive, so anything over 100 watts per channel should be fine.

These are the only measurements I could find. The tweeter seems a bit fierce, and reviewers have commented on that. For some reason the French like to voice their speakers that way.

 

[lovinthehd]

Looking at their website for specs, Borea say they are nominal 8 ohms speakers that dip as low as 3 ohms and have a sensitivity of 92dB. How far from the speakers will you sit? Average or loud or very loud can mean different things to different people, though, so hard to know what that translates to in dB of sound pressure level but if the sensitivity level is accurate they're fairly sensitive and won't need a particularly powerful amp to get fairly loud....but still depends how you define that.

I'd look for an amp rated for 4 ohms, so you can cross the Rega out as it doesn't have a 4 ohm rating; of the rest the Yamaha is the most powerful, as its rated a bit over 100 wpc into 4 ohm. Other ways to go would be to look for a combination dac/pre-amp & power amp, would probably provide for more power than lower priced integrated amps. Don't have any in mind for you, as haven't looked at something like that for myself.

 

[Nodd]

When i sit, i'll sit about 2 to 2.5 meters away from the speakers but most of the time i'll listen to music while doing work in the house. So i won't necessarily sit right in front of them most of times unless watching a movie or something.

We live in an old house with neighbours on nearly all sides so we won't be giving any loud parties or annoy the neighbours too much. So with loud i mean fairly loud when you're close to the speaker, but not loud from outside the house. If that makes sense . With my audio pro a36 we 99% of the times listened to music at about 25-50% volume. Loud enough but nothing crazy. Not sure how many db that is.

So i guess the Yamaha WXA50 would do just fine right? Anyone know if the sound will be decent for that price? We already went from €700 max budget for the speakers to max €1100 (price of the borea's). So if for a low price we can get a decent amp it would feel better. We can go higher in budget if it really makes a big difference.

Someone reccomended this amp:

Denon pma 800ne

Which one would you buy, the denon or yamaha wxa50?

If anyone has some more advice and/or ideas then please do tell.

Thanks so far, greatly appreciated!

 

[Nodd]

Looking at their website for specs, Borea say they are nominal 8 ohms speakers that dip as low as 3 ohms and have a sensitivity of 92dB. How far from the speakers will you sit? Average or loud or very loud can mean different things to different people, though, so hard to know what that translates to in dB of sound pressure level but if the sensitivity level is accurate they're fairly sensitive and won't need a particularly powerful amp to get fairly loud....but still depends how you define that.

I'd look for an amp rated for 4 ohms, so you can cross the Rega out as it doesn't have a 4 ohm rating; of the rest the Yamaha is the most powerful, as its rated a bit over 100 wpc into 4 ohm. Other ways to go would be to look for a combination dac/pre-amp & power amp, would probably provide for more power than lower priced integrated amps. Don't have any in mind for you, as haven't looked at something like that for myself.

Oh and with that last option you gave, that would mean more cables/devices right? I'd rather have everyhing in 1 device if possible tbh.

 

[Eppie]

The speakers have a high sensitivity rating so 50W into 8 ohms (55 for the Yamaha) should be enough for casual listening. If you wanted to play it loud, you would need to double the power rating. The Denon is rated at 85W into 4 ohms, and while I don't see a 4 ohm spec for the Yamaha the amp is rated down to 4 ohms so either amp should drive those speakers ok.

Big difference in connectivity options though. The Denon has multiple optical and analogue (RCA) inputs so it supports more physical devices. With the Xbox connected to the TV you can use the optical out on the TV to connect to the amp. There is no network, wifi or bluetooth, so you would need an external device to stream your music to the Denon. Something like a Bluesound Node could act as a streaming source, which handles Spotify, Tidal and networked files (although there are cheaper options as well). The Denon has bass and treble controls up front if that is important to you.

The Yamaha has only one optical input and one analogue input but supports bluetooth and wifi. You can also use the optical in for the TV. It has support for Spotify Premium, but it does not mention Tidal on Crutchfield. Music files on a PC or other device can be streamed via Musicast and I believe Spotify would be handled through the Musicast app on a mobile phone.

It does mention that music can be streamed to the WXA50 via bluetooth, so if you have Tidal on your phone you could stream to the Yamaha via bluetooth but there may be quality issues converting high-res streams to bluetooth. I'm hoping that someone on the forums who uses Musicast can jump in and explain how Tidal could work with the Yamaha.
EDIT: I see Tidal listed on the Yamaha web site, so the WXA50 would give you an all in one solution. They give a 90W into 6 ohm rating (Crutchfield had listed 4 ohms) but if you don't plan to drive the amp hard and give it plenty of ventilation, it should handle the 4 ohm load ok.

 

[Nodd]

The speakers have a high sensitivity rating so 50W into 8 ohms (55 for the Yamaha) should be enough for casual listening. If you wanted to play it loud, you would need to double the power rating. The Denon is rated at 85W into 4 ohms, and while I don't see a 4 ohm spec for the Yamaha the amp is rated down to 4 ohms so either amp should drive those speakers ok.

Big difference in connectivity options though. The Denon has multiple optical and analogue (RCA) inputs so it supports more physical devices. With the Xbox connected to the TV you can use the optical out on the TV to connect to the amp. There is no network, wifi or bluetooth, so you would need an external device to stream your music to the Denon. Something like a Bluesound Node could act as a streaming source, which handles Spotify, Tidal and networked files (although there are cheaper options as well). The Denon has bass and treble controls up front if that is important to you.

The Yamaha has only one optical input and one analogue input but supports bluetooth and wifi. You can also use the optical in for the TV. It has support for Spotify Premium, but it does not mention Tidal on Crutchfield. Music files on a PC or other device can be streamed via Musicast and I believe Spotify would be handled through the Musicast app on a mobile phone.

It does mention that music can be streamed to the WXA50 via bluetooth, so if you have Tidal on your phone you could stream to the Yamaha via bluetooth but there may be quality issues converting high-res streams to bluetooth. I'm hoping that someone on the forums who uses Musicast can jump in and explain how Tidal could work with the Yamaha.
EDIT: I see Tidal listed on the Yamaha web site, so the WXA50 would give you an all in one solution. They give a 90W into 6 ohm rating (Crutchfield had listed 4 ohms) but if you don't plan to drive the amp hard and give it plenty of ventilation, it should handle the 4 ohm load ok.

Wow, this is very helpfull thanks alot for the effort! You sure have some knowledge in this area!

There is so much choice in amps... It's making my head spin.
I'm probably going to order two amps and keep the one that sounds best, if the shopowner is ok with that.

If anyone has more suggestions, please feel free. I'll make a definitive choice after this week and order monday-wednesday. Time for more research till then.

I've decided to increase budget to €1500. If the cheaper ones are good enough i'll stick to one of those though.

Maybe order the cheaper denon/yamaha and a higher end one to compare.

Thanks again.

 

[Eppie]

Wow, this is very helpfull thanks alot for the effort! You sure have some knowledge in this area!

There is so much choice in amps... It's making my head spin.
I'm probably going to order two amps and keep the one that sounds best, if the shopowner is ok with that.

If anyone has more suggestions, please feel free. I'll make a definitive choice after this week and order monday-wednesday. Time for more research till then.

I've decided to increase budget to €1500. If the cheaper ones are good enough i'll stick to one of those though.

Maybe order the cheaper denon/yamaha and a higher end one to compare.

Thanks again.

Remember to keep streaming options in mind when you talk to the shop owner. As mentioned, the Denon is a nice amp, but an amp only and requires the addition of a network streamer. The Yamaha will be all in one. Bluesound make nice streamers, but they also make the PowerNode which is a streamer and amplifier. Rated at 80W per channel into 8 ohms and it carries a 4 ohm rating as well, so that could be an option if available in your area.

 

[Nodd]

Remember to keep streaming options in mind when you talk to the shop owner. As mentioned, the Denon is a nice amp, but an amp only and requires the addition of a network streamer. The Yamaha will be all in one. Bluesound make nice streamers, but they also make the PowerNode which is a streamer and amplifier. Rated at 80W per channel into 8 ohms and it carries a 4 ohm rating as well, so that could be an option if available in your area.

Ah yes, ofcourse. Actually i'm gonna skip the Denon alltogether.

Someone mentioned the Powernode on another forum too.. that's an interesting option.

Do you think soundwise it matters a lot between that one and a yamaha WXA50? Or is it mostly features/watt/volume that you pay extra for?

Definately need an all-in-one amp though.

This network streamer, is a matter of connect speakers to wifi and amp to wifi and then play music via tidal/Spotify? Kind of like how you do it with bluetooth but then via wifi?

 

[Eppie]

Ah yes, ofcourse. Actually i'm gonna skip the Denon alltogether.

Someone mentioned the Powernode on another forum too.. that's an interesting option.

Do you think soundwise it matters a lot between that one and a yamaha WXA50? Or is it mostly features/watt/volume that you pay extra for?

Definately need an all-in-one amp though.

This network streamer, is a matter of connect speakers to wifi and amp to wifi and then play music via tidal/Spotify? Kind of like how you do it with bluetooth but then via wifi?

There is little variation in sound between amplifiers as most modern amps measure very flat. The difference would be in available tone controls, whether analogue controls like the Denon or something that has a programmable EQ. Tone controls can be nice if you like to tweak an album but for streaming most people don't constantly mess with tone settings.

A 3dB increase in volume takes double the power. The 80W in the Powernode is a bit more than the 50W in the Yamaha but not a huge difference. You mentioned that you don't plan to play very loud so most amps 50W and over should suffice. If all things are equal feature wise, the extra power does give more headroom for transients, but if you want a streamer + amp I would look more at features than power ratings, bearing in mind that the amp needs to be able to handle a 4 ohm load with those speakers.

The Speakers are hard-wired to the amp and the amp connects to the internet either via wifi or hard-wired to your home network. The streamer gets its music over the network and typically you use a phone app to control the streamer. Some devices like the Bluesound Node will connect to files you have saved on a computer and catalogue and play those as well. BlueOS is pretty good for that. Others allow you stream from your phone and play over the streamer via bluetooth, which can be handy if you have a lot of music files on your phone. Your dealer can hopefully help you with that or read over the manuals for the devices that you are considering.

 

[Detlev-Helmut]

Ich war im WWW. länger auf der Suche nach einer Antwort auf meine Frage, welcher Verstärker zu einem Triangle Borea BR08 passt; was andere dazu für eine Meinung haben.
Ich bin seit vielen Jahren ein Sammler guter Elektronik und habe mir kürzlich verschiedene Verstärker des BR08 im Detail angehört. Von den "alten" Verstärkern fand ich Harman/Kardon HK680, aber auch Kenwood KA 7090R ziemlich gut.
Von den modernen Verstärkern finde ich NAD C 356BEE (zu NAD C 568) tatsächlich der beste in Bezug auf den Klang. Was meiner Meinung nach nicht sehr gut zu einem BR08 passt, ist zum Beispiel eine Yamaha A-S 701.
Ich finde es nicht einfach, zwischen diesen beiden zu unterscheiden. Meiner Meinung nach ist A-S 701 "feiner" in der Höhenwiedergabe, aber es hat nicht die "Musikalität" eines C 356BEE.
Ich denke, seine "Musikalität" kommt von einer guten tonalen Dynamik. Es macht Spaß, kraftvolle Musik über ihn zu hören - lauter - (Santana; Serge Gainsbourg); tonal ist es jedoch eher "ungenau" (Dvorak).
Für "kraftvolle Musik" finde ich NAD C356BEE sehr gut geeignet; für alles andere, "feiner", aber nicht ganz so... - Was könnten Alternativen zu einem NAD C 356BEE sein? - Ich würde mich sehr über Ihre Kommentare freuen!
Musikalische Fidelity MS3Si, oder Atoll IN 100 Sig.? Allerdings kosten beide Verstärker so viel wie BR08 als Paar in New." Unmeasured", auf einem BR08, denke ich...
Grüße!
Detlev-Helmut