Loudspeakers of the Year over $10,000
Loudspeakers of the Year over $10,000
The sky is the limit in our top speaker award, but we didn’t need to go too high to find this year’s winner, the truly remarkable Triton Reference. As is GoldenEar’s oeuvre, it’s partially active and partially passive... a so-called ‘hybrid’ design. Amplifiers (each rated at 1800W) are built in to power the multiple bass drivers in each cabinet, but you use an external stereo amplifier to drive the midrange drivers and the tweeters.
The configuration is complex enough that the ‘cutaway’ image here can be helpful! — the three front-mounted 6×10-inch sub-bass drivers are supplemented by four 10x9-inch side passive radiators that are driven by the rear energy from the active drivers. Midrange is delivered by two 153mm drivers that incorporate a low-mass voice coil and a newly-developed cone with a butyl rubber surround, flanking the High-Velocity Folded-Ribbon tweeter with its extra-large neodymium magnet.
One of the most obvious differences between the new Reference and previous Triton models is the hand-rubbed piano gloss-black lacquer finished one-piece monocoque cabinet in place of the black cloth covering used on previous models.
The result is a pair of truly ‘high-end’ loudspeakers which, although $17,995, are far, far more affordable than almost all their high-end competitors, and sound a whole lot better than many of them as well. GoldenEar’s famous claim of ‘making the high-end affordable’ is entirely realised in the Triton Reference.
More info: www.networkav.com.au
JUDGES’ COMMENT “Truly high-end speakers which nevertheless deliver on GoldenEar’s claim to ‘make the high-end affordable’.”