Triangle Celius 202

Category: Speakers

I have had the Celius 202s for 2 years now. I bought them used.

As I use a 30w tube amp I wanted to find a speaker that was efficient. My total list of equipment and a picture of the room can be found here. (Note- I like open space behind my speakers. It helps me visualize the image. As I am standing in the open spot in the photo it is hard to see. It is about 9ft from me to the rear of the speakers)

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?vopin&1153413861&view

I will start off by saying I like these speakers very much. All things taken in to account – including price – I find them to be the one of the best speakers I have heard. My musical tastes run the gamut. As for listening preference I like clarity, the “jump factor” and flat bass response. (I like a full range speaker but do not like excessive bass). I spend a lot of time on set up using many methods including a real time analyzer I run from my PC. As my room shape apparently helps quite a bit in minimizing nodes – positive and negative – I am able to use minimal and very narrow and selective tuning with my DSP. My system is flat from 35 Hz up (with a small 3db 30 Hz boost from the DSP). After tuning several rooms I have come to the conclusion that most people buy speakers too big for the room. As such I would suppose that most listeners would think the bass in my room is a bit weak. In reality it is pretty close to flat barring the low tones from an organ or electronic music. My belief is that no frequency range should jump out at you. (Having said that I have read that some believe the Celius is tipped up in the treble. It may be slightly. I run a tube amp which may make it a good match. Or it may simply be that I enjoy the slight tip up as my hearing may have degraded over time in this area? This may explain why I think these speakers are clearer than most?) Lastly I like good imaging and the ability to “see” it. This is why I treat all the first order reflection points, including the ceiling and behind my head, and listen in as somewhat near field position with 9ft or more behind the speakers (This is where I stumbled upon something about the Triangles that works very well for me. They have front ports. This allows for near field listening without a bass loss. Every rear ported speaker I have used forces me to move toward the rear wall – closing in on that space)

My room is 12X19X8 with a flat roofed barn type ceiling. The speakers are about 8ft apart – a little over 2ft from the treated side walls and about 9ft from me. (Again there is 9ft behind them)

Have you ever heard a speaker that immediately grabs you? Head turners? For me they have been few and far between. The Soundlabs, the mbls, ProAc Response 3 (in a very well treated room), the AV123 mini Strata (which I would love to hear in my room some day) and the Triangles have done it for me. There are 2 CDs I usually use to figure this out. Susie Suh’s debut and Road to Hell from Chris Rea (I am sure the listeners at the show in Denver grew quite tired of hearing these over the past couple of years). Of course I like them very much and as such am quite familiar with them. Each is recorded pretty well and is extremely useful in ascertaining clarity, the jump factor and excessive bass. The Triangles – at least in my room and set up have the qualities I am looking for at a reasonable cost. Frequency response, imaging, clarity, and soundstage – they are all there. In addition to the tip up I have also read that some believe their drivers don’t integrate fully. This is an area that I need educated on a bit. I am not sure if I can’t pick this up (unless it is gross in nature) and/or I don’t play source material enough to tell. As such I suppose it is possible but minute in nature. Sam Tellig and Stereophile rated these speakers as Class A in the Full-Range Restricted Low Frequencies category. I wonder if they really sounded that good in his system? I wonder if he knew the price when he heard them. Did he rate them Class A knowing that it would cause a stir? Did he do it just to cause a stir? (No speaker anywhere near that price had made a Class A rating in that category before that). Of course I haven’t heard all of the other Class A or even B speakers that were rated at the same time. (The newer version only rates Class B and that’s after Sam said it was improved. What happened there?) My guess is that this speaker is a solid Class B and Sam got a little overzealous (hence the “correction” with the newer model?) Regardless it’s quite the bargain and I would imagine not much comes close to it at or double the price.