I’ve heard the Impacts and they are amazing. Im undecided if they are the sound I’m gunning for but it’s possible. Haven’t heard any GE speakers but would love to.
Its fun reading “engineers” knock speakers they’ve never heard. It truly is the “oh yeah well my dad is bigger than your dad” stuff I did when I was like 5.
I auditioned the GE’s in two different Hifi emporiums. In the first one they only had the References. After hearing them, I decided to stick with the speakers I own. I couldn’t believe how poor the the presentation was. Just on a hunch, I went to the second store which happened to have all three speakers I was interested in. By a slim margin the Triton 1’s sounded best. Good enough for me to ask them if I could audition the demos at home. I took them home the same day. Holy Crap! They sounded fantastic. No comparison to how they sounded at either store. I don’t know how these guys stay in business if not for the home theater crowd. At one time, both establishments were really remarkable. I agree with no2headphones that two people (or five) may not hear alike or listen to the same type of music or have the same equipment. But, objectively, none of the negative traits described come close to what I hear. The speakers in my setting are truly stunning.
That may be interesting but it's not remarkable. I'm not trying to insult anyone's gear or choices. We all know that sound reproduction and listening and personal preferences are highly subjective things. A large part of that is the room characteristics, the upstream equipment, the source material, etc., etc. I just happen to be in the position of having both of these products on hand and wanted to provide the most comprehensive impression to the inquirer. If five of us were in the room at the same time, listening to the same things and went off to write our own reviews, no doubt you'd have five different opinions. If we all sat at a table to discuss and went back and forth to the listening room, we could probably agree on a few general statements about each product. There are certain characteristics in particular that we personally regard in different ways according to our tastes, where and how we use the products and so on. I had the Triton 1s long before the DIs came along and had the DIs never come along, I was thoroughly and completely happy with the Tritons. Put these same products in someone else's listening space and the impression of them could certainly be different. Certainly, the most important impression when listening to different speakers we intend to purchase is our own.
i agree with you. I have never had muddy bass or bright/shrill highs on either my Triton Ones which are driven by a Mac 200wpc integrated. I also am using. Mac tube pre with a Mac 150wpc power amp on my Triton References and the music is wonderful. I don’t do home theater either. The stores where the people had a terrible audition tells me the speakers were just plopped in a spot and hooked up. That was the case with the Triton Ones when I auditioned them. I almost didn’t buy them but they were playing mp3 on them so I took a chance. I am very glad I did.
I had mildly muddy bass with the Tritons when I had them but I was running with a tube amp. The internal amplification seemed to accentuate the tubes. Much better firmer bass when switched to high current ss amp with tube pre.
I’d like to present a different perspective regarding the Triton 1’s. I don’t have a home theater. Perhaps because I listen mainly to classical music, I find none of the flaws you mention. The speaker, in my room, from top to bottom is exceedingly smooth with an exceptional mid range. It certainly has a full and rich sound. The imaging with symphony orchestra and other venues is remarkably precise with everything in the proper perspective. I certainly have never heard muddy bass. When the bass is present, you hear it well, and it’s exceptionally clean. Maybe electronics is the variable. I have a Conrad Johnson tube amplifier which evidently matches the speakers very well.
Interesting that we have such a different opinion.
I have heard both these speakers. In fact,, I happen to have both in my dedicated theater/listening room right now. I know I'm very late to this party which seems to have devolved into pointless and meaningless insults about concepts the writers have no understanding of whatsoever. I'm not going to address any of those issues here and simply give you my impressions as an experienced listener to shed some light on the differences and benefits of each of these speakers. First, I long ago had experience with speakers with built in subs and I was very unhappy with them. It took a long time before I would consider looking at one of these again but the reviews and awards for GE's Triton series required a more serious look-see. I've had the Triton 1s for quite a while now and I like them, especially for home theater. The benefits; -they more than replace having separate subs which can be a space saver -very good full range sound -I liked that I didn't have to constantly adjust the sub output dependent on volume or source
Unfortunately, for my purposes, the list of shortcomings is notably longer; -due to the design of my theater room, the speakers had to be brought well into the room and away from the back wall to perform their best. -the low end is great for home theater but not as much for music. It lacks the punch and detail for pleasurable music listening and is muddier than one might hope for. -I found the high end very good but the midrange seems to have a void in it no matter the source components or material. In some songs and try some Eagles out on these for example, as soon as the vocals started it was like the speaker from a clock radio cut in. It's very noticeable especially when you're familiar with your music collection on lots of equipment over many years. I found there was an overall lack of fullness with big emphasis on the low and high ends. Overall, I would still call it very good. -It really doesn't matter in my particular space but not a particularly attractive speaker
The Tekton DI benefits -remarkable full range sound from deep down, fully and completely, coherently, through the high end -the low end is very impressive, accurate, quick and can't wipe the smile off my face satisfying -very forgiving respecting placement -works well with all kinds of gear -very easy to listen to at any volume, any genre. These speakers never seem to give up or breakup -excellent for music listening and would work well in most home theaters without a sub
The shortcomings -as with the Tritons, not a particularly attractive speaker but you can have them just about any way you want them so this can be overcome, at a cost. -the most serious audiophiles might hope for a more clinical presentation, if only for certain recordings -if you've got the space and equipment, you may want to add a sub for home theater for those subterranean frequencies you can only feel.
My conclusion - these are both exceptional speakers for the money but in my world, the Double Impact comes out well ahead. 90% of people are not going to need or miss a separate sub with these in their home theater and they're simply outstanding and "can't wipe the smile off my face" satisfying to listen to music through. They're very forgiving in placement which makes them easier to get to locations that look good and not just sound good. If your emphasis is far and away on home theater, you may find the Tritons more satisfying. If you like to cover both music and home theater with a single product or a dedicated music system, you'll certainly enjoy the DIs
Hopefully this is helpful to those considering these speakers. It's a good comparison as these are similar size, similar price, smart and effective engineering in both.
Wow. This reads like the script from a high school argument from the late 1960s about whether Ford V-8s are better than Chevy's.
Every well regarded speaker that's ever been made has its fans and its detractors. Name a speaker, any speaker, and it won't take you long to find people that think its terrible.
I've read nice things about the Tekton, but never heard them, so have no comment. I happen to have a set of Triton 7s and enjoy them immensely. I think they are a great buy for the money. But, I decided a long time ago that I did NOT want to be an "audiophile." I just happen to enjoy music and also have audio as a hobby. Pity that some need to get so petty about what makes others happy.
You’ve never heard a Golden Ear speaker with an air-motion transformer? They all use air-motion transformers.
That’s not what I meant to say. I meant that I’ve never heard GE use a good one. I’ve heard the Triton one and it was awful. The FR response explains what I heard. The severe and deliberate coloration in the top octave sounds like an ear drill to me. This is possibly a good match for those with matching hearing loss in that octave however. To me it was not only bright, but severely compressed.
As for those anomalies caused by the grill, no, my Mundorf AMT’s do no such thing.
Golden Ear, like others, sometimes favors having peaks and valleys to make them appear to stand out in detail in some areas, so no wonder they would pick an AMT with such issues.
While I appreciate a good AMT, I've never heard GE speakers use one. Also, having measured them several times, I have no idea what this artifact is you speak of, do you have a paper to point me to? Also, while the issue of comb filtering has been thrown out, there's a great deal of debate about measurement techniques in terms of actual listening location. If comb filtering occurs, it is incredibly easy to hear it. Move your head. Come filtering would cause rapid changes in frequency response. No one who has heard a tekton has complained about it. Therefore, the point seems like poor matching of theory to perception and measurement. Not good engineering at all.
There’s no reason to believe stuffing a heap of tweeters in a box is good engineering. Given the paucity of such products and the general lack of success for those that do exist, it would seem the virtue is lacking.
Throwing parts in a box is never good engineering. However good engineers can make great systems with multiple drivers. If you actually followed engineering research, or had experienced good line arrays you might feel differently.
Speakers come and go due to more than engineering, as you should know. Cost is definitely one of many issues, as is form factor. I find these simultaneous attacks on the general idea of line arrays from multiple accounts pretty curious, and universally ill informed.
Line arrays are heavily researched, by professionals and many papers have been presented at the Audio Engineering Society. Whether any particular line array is any good, or whether you like them or not is a different issue.
But to call a line array poorly engineered because it is a line array, well then, show me your engineering credentials, because I call bs on you.
While I have not heard every GE speaker, the one pair I heard was among the very very worst speakers I had ever heard. I have no experience with Tektons at all.
There's no reason to believe stuffing a single driver in a box is any kind of engineering, but people still love the things.
My point is, speaker design is more about implementation than components. If you don't understand how Erik designs his speakers with his tweeter array, it is easy to dismiss them. Essentially, it is his take on a dual concentric driver.
I struggled to see the value in his design. I have now heard the DI SE and can say they are impressive speakers for the money. My expectations (bias?) were eliminated and I was left with simply good sound.
How many speakers have you successfully designed and brought to market? The DIs especially at their price point are absolutely a success. Do you see a thread with thousands of posts debating your prized Focals? Your ridiculous. I await your snarky little response.
Well, maybe I'm a little late to the conversation, but... I quite recently had the chance to purchase a used set of DIs with the upgrades, and between all the reviews and hub bub, and the killer price, and my sickness that has me swapping perfectly awesome gear to try new stuff, I jumped at it. And I must say; no regrets! I think that all good speakers have their ideal sweet spot -- paired with the right electronics, in the right room, with the right music. For me and my music, the Tektons blew me away.
My system is in a really large space -- a great room with vaulted (23') ceilings. So I need some juice and speakers that will throw sound, have a large sweet spot, but still allow for critical listening in the "perfect seat". I originally paired them with Red Dragon Leviathan monoblocks, and they performed admirably -- great detail and extension, and very nicely balanced, high-to-low. Then I paired them with a set of 845 monoblocks that push 50+ w/ch, and WOW, did they ever sing.
I've owned some pretty nice speakers in my day, including a couple "world beaters" like Vandersteen 3a Sigs, open baffle designs, Audio Physics Virgos, Thiel CS5i, Zu Audio -- to name a few.
The speakers that they were going to replace were a pair of PureAudioProject Trio15Voxativs -- fantastic speakers indeed. Here's how I'd sum it up. The open baffle architecture of the PAPs fills my large room with luscious sound, giving me the sensation of being mid-concert hall. The Tektons put me in the 5th row. More slam, easier to place instruments on the stage, better extension on both ends, and more detail (microdynamics?) without being etchy. Where the Tektons really shone (shined?) was on small ensemble jazz, and acoustic rock.
Now, I realize that a lot of my perception might well be attributed to The "shiney new toy" syndrome, so I dragged a few friends -- listening buddies -- over for a glass or two and a listen. It was unanimous; the Tektons were regarded by all as the best speakers we'd ever heard in my system. Chet Baker/Bill Evans, Joni Mitchell, Jason Mraz, Dave Brubeck, Stephen Stills, Jason Isbel, Father John Misty; all just brought my room to life through the Tektons like we'd never heard before. And for that matter, Zeppelin II sounded better than I ever remember hearing it also.
So, now I'm in a quandry. Looks like I'll be selling off some excess gear b/c I've found my listening Shangri La -- until the next urge hits me. But for now, I can whole-heartedly recommend the Tekton DIs. If they can sound this good in my shitty/non-ideal environment, then I'm dead-certain that they'll make a lot of people happy. My only hedge would be to recomment that you treat them like higher-end speakers, and pair them with the gear that one might intend for much more expensive speakers.
As a fan of the triton series and owner of both the fives and ones, I am very interested in hearing thoughts about the double impacts. From personal experience it's unwise to get trapped into a "my speaker is best mindset" so I love to try new things that come highly recommended by fellow audiogoners.
I'm particularly interested in the tweeter array, which I've hear resembles the dispersion of good old horn loaded speakers. Has anyone been able to compare the sound to horns? I'm a long time fan of horns but don't like the large size and aesthetics. The even higher sensitivity than the tritons is also appealing since I really like sound of 300B tubes. Has anyone tried the DI's with low powered SET amps?
As far as the tritons go, I have found them very forgiving with regards to placement to rear or side walls. The most important thing I have found is getting as close to a right triangle as possible, with the tweeters pointing just behind my ears. Interesting that a lot of people above preferred them with SS. I tried a couple SS that weren't by any means spectacular and preferred tubes. Push pull amps gave more pleasing and realistic colors to the sound, but with muted dynamics and slower energy. Then I tried the line magnetic lm-518ia 845 SET and it really seemed to bring the best of both worlds. Of course what I really mean is it fit my personal preferences and, to me, made the tritons the most lifelike.
That being said I would still like to try the tektons, and if they are indeed as similar in strengths as it sounds from others comments, it would make them an even better bargain.
Never heard of di but i have an tekton enzo xl for the price i paid this speaker is a champion when it comes to details and clarity the trumpet sounds like real trumpet not like toy you can almost hear if the snare drum is metal or wood or thick drum head or thin head. I can write more but u got the point.
I've never heard the Tekton DIs so I have no opinion on them. Would be interested to hear a pair some day.
Like Darkstar1, I'm very sensitive to brightness - particularly on massed strings. A hard, bright treble will send me screaming from the room. (Previous speakers over the years include various Maggies, Alons and Nolas with mostly Cary and Herron electronics.)
The spouse and I auditioned a boatload of speakers over the past few months and heard several Golden Ear Triton models powered by a variety of ss and tube amps.
The one thing *none* of the Tritons were was "bright". I would characterize the GE house sound as smooth and non-fatiguing, just slightly sweet in the mids and with open, extended treble and ample bass. The latter is adjustable depending on associated gear and room acoustics as well as personal preference. The Tritons are also remarkably coherent top to bottom. (I, a singer and former organist, and the spousal unit, a retired symphony musician, are quite the sticklers on this.) I thought the sound staging and imaging quite fine as well: as a bonus for us, since we often listen together, the sweet spot is fairly wide and room placement is not difficult. As you go up the Triton line, you get more of everything - neutrality, transparency, deeper bass, greater impact etc etc. But to my ears the speakers all bear a strong family resemblance - I heard no brightness in any of them. I look forward with interest to hearing the new GE Reference speaker when it hits dealers.
The GE line wasn't originally on our radar. (I'm skeptical of speakers du jour.) Along with reviews, what steered us towards them was our fondness for ribbon tweeters and the recommendation of a former symphony colleague who now owns a high end AV studio. After listening for ourselves, we like the GEs so much, and feel they offer so much value for the $$$, we plan to buy the 2+ or 3+ when our ship comes in this August. They tick all the right boxes for us. We plan to drive them with a ss integrated, not tubes, but I know people who are very happy with their Triton Ones and Twos mated with tube or hybrid integrateds from Rogue, Prima Luna, Vincent and Line Magnetic.
I have to say I think the GE sensitivity is deceiving. I found they were waay better with a high current ss amp. They sounded good with tubes but lost lots of impact. The class D amps that power the woofers take on the characteristics of the amp to match the mids and highs which makes sense. The DIs despite their 4 ohm rating do much better with tubes IMO. Maybe a flatter impedance curve? Not sure. At the end of the day I found the best combo with both speakers is a tube pre with ss amp.
I don't have a dog in the fight. I have heard Trition 1s with a modest quad integrated amp and pretty nice Ayre separates. Not even close to bright or shy bass. In fact I thought it had a very smooth top end and amazing bass.
I am very sensitive to hot or bright treble. I use Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grands if that tells you anything.
Never heard the Double Impacts if they are at the same level or better than the Trition's I would say they are a pretty amazing speaker.
Here might be a different outlook between these 2 speakers.
Disclaimer, I'm a very happy satisfied DI owner that passed buying a nice set of magico Q'3 at 22k,they were a demo pair that my wife and I spent about 3hrs listening too at a out of state dealer.Now we all know that magico speakers are world class speakers but in the end I'm not going to spend that kind of money for a set speakers that are only 3 to 5% better in the presentation of sonics that I desire and they would have been at the top of my budget just for speakers.
Now even though I bought a upgraded pair of DI's I have upgraded mine much more and I really like mine.I haven't heard any of the GE's at all and personally I would'nt even consider them because I'm not a fan of powered speakers in any respect.Now I belong to a local audio club and maybe somebody will buy a pair and then I would give them a fair listen,I'm a open minded kind of guy,but I really don't care for reviews to much I would rather hear something myself.
I realize that some of the info about the DI's is kinda vague in general and I would like give some more info about for those folks that are interested.
I have taken some measurements of my DI's just to answer some of the questions that I wandered about them, The six outer tweeters are crossed at 480hz to 10k and the middle tweeter plays 10k to 30k.The 2 midranges are crossed at 250hz to 5 to 6k and the 2 woofers are low passed by a simple 2nd order crossover at 250hz.
With all this being said here is a explanation that may provide a better understanding.
Even though these are tweeter transducers the six of them that form the circle, based on what frequencies they handle, radiate acoustically as if they were one six inch mid-range driver. The transducer in the middle is being used as a tweeter and handles the high end frequencies up to 30Khz. So, acoustically you have a six inch mid-range driver with a coaxial mounted tweeter which means it functions as a single point source. Now, by Eric figuring out how to make this work you get all the advantages of a coaxial driver, however the mid-range array weighs close to nothing leading to blazing speed/dynamics/micro-details compared to a regular six inch driver, regardless of what materials it is made out of it cannot be as light in weight. Yet, you still get not only remarkable transit response, but great control because each driver is small and well behaved. The closet you could come to this regarding weight/control would be a ribbon or AMT which cannot be used coaxial design as a single point source. Brilliant on his part!
The more I listen to the DI's regarding mid-range and high frequencies they easily rival any panel design/ribbon/AMT I have had in my system and surpass them in low end extension/dynamics and overall macro-dynamics.
Now I have been in this hobby of ours for more than 30yrs and I have owned and heard several speakers of all kinds and the DI's beat almost all of them for the sonic presentation that I want.
I'm not wishing to fuel any kind of pissing match I just want to give my opinion and back it up with actual measurements and other details.
I truly believe that either speakers would be very good It just depends on personal preference.
I had the Triton 2's a few years ago. I thought they were pretty good sounding. I replaced them with much more expensive Monitor Audio speakers. I just ordered the Tekton DI's so we'll see how they do.
Without my even trying to get into any king of "pissing contest" or having to "defend" anything here, please allow me to provide feedback to your latest post within this thread.
I too note the Tekton DI thread on the forum, and I can gather by all the positive comments that they are likely a good sounding speaking and perhaps more importantly a great overall value. And as for professional reviews, I have yet to see any professional review that doesn't have a lot of positive things to say about whatever it is he/she is reviewing.
As for Golden Ear, I'm willing to bet that for every satisfied Tekton DI owners, there are at least twice as many satisfied Golden Ear Triton One owners. While as you state it looks like the DIs replaced some $20k loudspeakers that the reviewers had - and I take you mean "bested" - I've seen reviews comparing the T1s to $50K loudspeakers and besting them. In fact, I personally have auditioned the Alta Statement Towers with an MSRP of $200K and prefer the sound of the T1.
Golden Ear has more accolades than perhaps any other speaker manufacturer.
I heard Teajay's DI today with the MicroZOTL as a preamp and a Triode Lab 2A3 amplifier and it really is amazing. The speakers are an incredible bargain but they are huge! I cannot comment abut their technology but they are excellent. What makes them so tempting besides price is how efficient they are allowing the use of single ended triodes. The 2A3 amp made the system sublime. I have old Beveridge Electrostats so that should give you some reference of what I like. The system sounded very open and transparent. The timbres were just gorgeous! This is all IMHO. I really don't know the Goldenear Triton series except for shows. I thought they were also dry impressive. I don't think anyone could go wrong with either speaker. Just because one may have a preference of one speaker over the other takes nothing away from the speaker not chosen.
@gdhal/@stereo5 , Your experiences are your own and hence I respect that. But I am looking at the Tekton Double Impact thread that is growing and also read the professional review @Hometheaterreview.com. Looks like the DIs replaced some $20k loudspeakers that the reviewers had. I am thinking that maybe the DIs are a complete different ball game than the Tektons that you auditioned?
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