Technology and Miscellaneous Changes - New Website

[GDHAL]

For folks on this site who do not know, I was/am the first **customer** (not dealer) on planet Earth to take delivery of the GoldenEar Triton Reference speaker(s).

I'm providing some "private" info at this time to my phriends, here on this site. 

First, GoldenEar has an upgraded website, rolled out last night. https://goldenear.com/

There are some known "bugs" that are being worked on. The forum shall return too.

T66+ Sits between the 2+ and 1R. New technology from Audioquest regarding crossovers and wiring shall eventually (months - years?) make it's way into the entire line.

This is aLL I'm at liberty to disclose at the moment.

Best.

Hal

[S Clark]

Does anyone else here have these speakers? 
When looking for independent reviews, there seem to be some issues with brightness. 

[Nick B]

For folks on this site who do not know, I was/am the first **customer** (not dealer) on planet Earth to take delivery of the GoldenEar Triton Reference speaker(s).

I'm providing some "private" info at this time to my phriends, here on this site. 

First, GoldenEar has an upgraded website, rolled out last night. https://goldenear.com/

There are some known "bugs" that are being worked on. The forum shall return too.

T66+ Sits between the 2+ and 1R. New technology from Audioquest regarding crossovers and wiring shall eventually (months - years?) make it's way into the entire line.

This is aLL I'm at liberty to disclose at the moment.

Best.

Hal

Thanks for that. It’s been quite a while since I’ve looked at the GE products. You’ve had these how long? How many hours do you have on them?

[GDHAL]

Does anyone else here have these speakers? 
When looking for independent reviews, there seem to be some issues with brightness.

Hi Scott.

Well , I wouldn't know if anybody else here on this forum has "these speakers" and in fact I wouldn't know which model speaker you're referring to.

If you're referring to the newest model t66, nobody has them yet.

If you're referring to other GoldenEar model speakers, the higher end triton towers in particular, I can tell you that for any one review you find that has to do with anything negative, (brightness, or something else) they'll be many more reviews that have everything positive to say/write.

Speaking/writing from my personal experience, having owned both the Triton One for a number of years, and now the Triton Reference for what will soon be 6 years, that in no way whatsoever are they bright. In fact, and in my opinion, they are, as the Grateful Dead (Bob Weir in particular) would say " exactly perfect". If anything, perhaps (and the thought had crossed my mind) they could stand for a super tweeter!

In my lifetime I must have heard, and seen, between personal involvement with people (audio club members and non audiophiles) as well as one dealer showroom in particular (audio breakthroughs right here in Manhasset Long Island they've been in business more than 30 years) and perhaps as little as four or five audio shows, that the GoldenEar Triton Reference just cannot be bested for anywhere near the amount of money that they sell for. Again , I'll reiterate that is just my opinion. But, I happen to know that's the opinion of many, many , other folks who own them as well. 

Yes , a treated room goes a long way and I happen to be fortunate to have that too. I invite anybody , at virtually anytime,  to come to my place for a demo. I'm in zip 11520.

It's my belief you would be blown away. It could be literally as my system can attain well over 100 DB and you'll be holding your ears. Or it could be figuratively, as in the quality of the sound that you hear. And that would be especially true if we're talking about the Grateful Dead.

No other system that I've heard can reproduce a live recording of the Grateful Dead, both audio and video mind you, as accurately as mine can.

Again, I'll reiterate that this is strictly my opinion.

Can the rest of the GoldenEar line compete, and with other types of music. Absolutely. And this becomes even more apparent once you consider the price to value ratio. Add to that the outstanding, let me repeat that word, outstanding, customer support one receives. As in, even after your warranty expires, you can still get free of charge parts and labor service, depending on the issue and circumstances.

Happy listening.

Best.

Hal

[GDHAL]

Thanks for that. It’s been quite a while since I’ve looked at the GE products. You’ve had these how long? How many hours do you have on them?

You're welcome, Nick. 

I had the Triton One for a few years, then traded up to the Triton Reference, Was the first customer (in no way am I affiliated with any audio dealership or GoldenEar) in the U.S (and in fact global) to take delivery on the pair. My review is here:
http://halr.x10.mx/TritonReference.htm

Today, the TRefs MSRP has increased 40% since the time I purchased them! I just can't imagine why 

For me to part with them, despite their being 6 years old, I would want/need >$15K just to think about it.

Best.

Hal

[GDHAL]

And yes, I've had a few communications with Sandy Gross. I never met him though.

The guy is a genius when it comes to speakers. You wouldn't believe the nuances that went into the design of the TRefs (a lot of which is already in the public domain but some of which is not).

Here is something that he told me which is not in the public domain. .. but now it is...

In order for GoldenEar to have developed a product superior to the Triton Reference, the cost to the consumer would be approximately $80,000 per pair. The cost differential, from the now MSRP of $12,500, would be in two areas.

One ... The cabinet would be aluminum instead of MDF.

Two... The Tweeter would be a plasma tweeter instead of AMT/HVFR.

I've written more than I should...

Best

Hal

[S Clark]

I was unfamiliar with Golden Ear, so I looked up what was quickly available.  I'm sure they fit your needs, especially if you've had several versions. 
As far as listening to the Grateful Dead at 100db.... I'll pass (or even at 85 db- never cared for them). Even though I like my symphonies at loud volume, 100db (except for peaks) isn't something I'd do to my ears.   My usual fare is jazz at moderate levels, or classical a bit louder. 
My line source speakers handle both equally well.   I've only heard a couple of speakers I think are their equal.  Perhaps your Golden Ears might be another.  Although the one's I really want to hear are HAL's line arrays. 

[GDHAL]

I don't listen to GD or anything else really at 100 DB either.

There is a CD having to do with supersonic jets and sounds produced by them. I have the CD and in that instance it's appropriate to go loud.

Symphonies and classical I don't particularly care for, but jazz at moderate levels , absolutely!

Back to the GoldenEars and Triton Reference in particular, I've concluded, as have many other audiophiles, that two subwoofers are needed in a music system to obtain the proper "body" of the sound. To that end, if one goes with floor standards and wants "big box sound" like I do , and then buys two separate subwoofers, you'll quickly find that your large space isn't as large as you thought it was. The GoldenEars have the subwoofer integrated into the box, so the whole thing is one unit. On top of that, they use a DSP processor to integrate the sub seamlessly and flawlessly.

For those who have tried their hand using separate subwoofer they can certainly tell you how difficult it is to integrate properly. It's doable yes, but it's very difficult not to mention (again) the additional footprint you have in the way of additional space that's needed to accommodate what's now essentially four separate boxes instead of two.

Another thing is the width of the speaker. In speaking with Sandy Gross, he tells me it's carefully chosen. The drivers are of a race track shape, which gives it the width of a human face. He told me, and I wholeheartedly agree, that the voicing is most realistic when the size of the speaker width is essentially the size of a human face.

I found by listening to many dipole speakers such as magnapans and other kinds of planner speakers (those that are basically 2 ft wide by 6 ft high ultra thin panels) that the voice is simply too " large" to sound realistic.

Best.

Hal

[Nick B]

Thanks for that. It’s been quite a while since I’ve looked at the GE products. You’ve had these how long? How many hours do you have on them?

You're welcome, Nick. 

I had the Triton One for a few years, then traded up to the Triton Reference, Was the first customer (in no way am I affiliated with any audio dealership or GoldenEar) in the U.S (and in fact global) to take delivery on the pair. My review is here:
http://halr.x10.mx/TritonReference.htm

Today, the TRefs MSRP has increased 40% since the time I purchased them! I just can't imagine why 

For me to part with them, despite their being 6 years old, I would want/need >$15K just to think about it.

Best.

Hal

Hal,

I read your detailed review on the TReference. Very enjoyable. I’ve heard of Sandy Gross. Sure would be fun to listen to some of these speakers that guys rave about. I’ve not been exposed to line arrays, OB, etc etc in my home. Maybe the most interesting were the Shahinian Diapasons. Right now I’m listening to two JMR speakers, currently the Abscisse with the smaller AST/AMT tweeter. What a nice sounding tweeter. As to your Gaia’s, I’ve read very good things about them, but don’t want to spend the 💰. Speaking of 💰, and lots of it, I just auditioned the entire loom of the Hapa Audio silver cables. Very, very good…silver done right. But not affordable for me. A great hobby for me, but sure on the pricey side sometimes 😳

[GDHAL]

Hi Nick.

I imagine those JMR Abscisse speakers of yours sound great 

I've never heard of them! I did just Google it and did some cursory reading about it and so on. It's a quality speaker for sure.

It's amazing thing about this hobby there's literally hundreds of different manufacturers for each piece of gear in the audio chain. This is one reason why I imagine that no two people have the same system. 

And yes, this hobby can get pricey in hurry. At one point I was using a silver plated copper cable. I realize that's not the same thing as pure silver. I like them and I can't even recall why I took them out of the system and replaced them with the speaker cable I'm using now. I still have them so I can always reinsert it.

Yeah the GAIAs weren't exactly cheap. In my case I sort of had no choice. I found that spiking the speakers actually caused a resonance problem. I needed better decoupling, so I achieved that with the GAIA footers.

Best.

Hal

[Nick B]

Hi Nick.

I imagine those JMR Abscisse speakers of yours sound great 

I've never heard of them! I did just Google it and did some cursory reading about it and so on. It's a quality speaker for sure.

It's amazing thing about this hobby there's literally hundreds of different manufacturers for each piece of gear in the audio chain. This is one reason why I imagine that no two people have the same system. 

And yes, this hobby can get pricey in hurry. At one point I was using a silver plated copper cable. I realize that's not the same thing as pure silver. I like them and I can't even recall why I took them out of the system and replaced them with the speaker cable I'm using now. I still have them so I can always reinsert it.

Yeah the GAIAs weren't exactly cheap. In my case I sort of had no choice. I found that spiking the speakers actually caused a resonance problem. I needed better decoupling, so I achieved that with the GAIA footers.

Best.

Hal

Hal,

That JMR speaker was a recommendation by a member here who’s been in this hobby for many years AND has auditioned more equipment that I ever will. He also recommended my Supratek Chardonnay pre and iFi Zen streamer. All very good products. With his recommendations…. and my ears…. I’ve really made a lot of progress within a couple of years after chasing my tail and emptying my wallet for over 30 years. With the help of Dave’s UberBUSS taming the beast of AC grunge and contamination, I’m really able to evaluate how good …or bad… some of this equipment is. It’s still quite a learning process as I continue to hear new and amazing levels of sound reproduction. But it’s especially fun because of the progress I’ve been making 🤩

Nick