I was looking to acquire a tube amp to run the Titus with as a first foray into lower power tube amps, but the unexpected spectacular results currently with the Bel Canto c5i put that on the back burner again now for the foreseeable future. C5i is delivering the best sound ever with them and its small, versatile, easy to use and maintain and very good for the power bill to boot. I could not be happier. A tad more meat on the bones in the low end maybe but my much bigger main system gives me that when called for.
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I loved my Tituses when I had them. Sold them when I got my de Capos, but never forgot how clear and powerful they were.
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An update on my Triangle Titus setup.
These days in same room, on good quality Dynaudio stands, no sub, and running off newer Bel Canto c5i the sound is finally back at the very highest levels that I have heard with these in the past, perhaps best ever overall. Bass is rolled off of course as always with these tiny things but best ever with them now and surprisingly satisfying even in the fairly large and open family room/kitchen area.
I was considering adding a sub again here eventually but have never lost sight of larger Cometes either and those continue to have appeal especially after revisiting this thread. Thanks.
I also tried my Dynaudio Contours again in this setup and similar excellent results there but higher efficiency of Titus is a boon in this setup given c5i is only 60 very high quality watts per channel, about 1/3 of what I had there prior. |
I went from the Comete ES to the de Capos and felt it was a big jump with more clarity, definition, bass, richness
use a 4watt Decware
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Scroll up and read my impressions. |
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW THESE STAND UP TO THE STANDARD COMETE. THANKS. |
I don't see the Titus 202's for sale as often as some of their other models. I'm guessing people must be happy with them. Some recently posted Titus 202's were sold before I could get to them. All the best. |
Sandstone,
The Almarro is tonaly a perfect match with a Mullard ECC35 as my input tube, and a Black Treasure 181-V as my driver tube. With the Titus 202 speakers I had to swap the Mullard for a TungSol Black plate 6SL7 in the input stage to keep control of the harsh highs.
The Comete ES is a much better balanced speaker.
These speakers were designed for tube amps.
The anniversary edition is supposed to be even smoother and more extended at the top.
A lot of people that has heard the older Triangle don't realize that Triangle were making speakers for the older tube amps that were rolled off in the highs. That's why the older Triangles were a bit edgy and bright.
But it's not that way anymore. With the newer tube amps that are very well extended in the highs, Triangle has made a much better balanced speaker to accommodate.
Trelja,
Thank you for your kind words. |
Congratulations, Zmanastronomy!
I hope the new speakers provide you with a lot of happiness over the long term. |
ZMan,
Glad you scored on the 25th Anniversary Edition, and yours is an interesting comparison with the DeCappo's. How well does the Almarro work with the Comete's? Any extra tweaking?
Audiobore, This could be an opportunity!
Best, |
I bit the bullet and bought the last pair of new 25th anniversary comete's. I like the Comete so well, I thought I would treat myself with the Gloss burl walnut finnish and an improved cross-over.
They should be arriving Fri the 23rd.
I never buy new equipment,but I couldn't wait for a used pair to show up here on AG.
I had a friend graciously bring his Refernce 3A DeCappos I's over to hear in my system. The similarities between the two speakers was impressive. The DeCappo is flat to 42hz and the Comete is flat to 55hz. It was evident that the DeCappo's had more bass, but from 55hz up they were very close.
I would give the clarity and imging edge to the Comete's.
The DeCappo's were a little more forgiving. But considering a $1200 speaker compared to a $3000 speaker, It was close. Even my friend mentioned that he could easily live with the Comete's.
I'll keep it posted if I can hear a difference between the 25th edition and the Comete ES. |
Does anyone know where I can find a used pair of either of the aforementioned 202 or Comete EX speaker? (either than the Audiogon classifieds). peeps don't seem to be selling these used, as far as I can tell |
Zman, it's great to hear that it worked out for you. Hopefully, some of the insights you glean on setup and component matching will be showing up on posts to your systems thread?
I think in general Triangles sometimes require a bit more "care and feeding" than usual, but they can really perform when given the right circumstances. |
Well Sandstone, you're right! I was pleasantly surprised.
The comet has much more body to the music and still keeps the lively-ness. It isn't as brittle as the Titus either.
The Comete has much better tonal balance.
It also sounds like a much larger speaker.
It's just what I've been looking for. Perfect.
Thank you for all your help. |
Their not everyones cup of tea. |
I only heard Triangle speakers once...it was their top of the line skinny, real tall speaker. Again this is the only model I have ever heard, and was severely disappointed in them. I don't know if it was the setup (a dealer near Princeton, NJ), or what, but they were nothing I could ever live with, even if they were 1/10th of the cost. |
Well, Tues. I'll know if the Comete ES is going to out perform the 202's.
I have noted the 202's reviews are more pos. than the Comete. As long as they image as well and aren't any more aggressive, I think I'll be pleased.
I'll keep everyone posted. |
"Mapman, your speaker placement with the Titus has to be one of the greater examples of their versatility!"
That's a very polite way to put it!
That system is designed mainly for WAF, not optimal configuration, obviously. But it still sounds damn good! I am actually quite proud of how it both looks and sounds and the value that it represents.
I've had the Triangles stand mounted in a more proper configuration as well where they first demonstrated their world class (IMHO) imaging prowess and overall abilities at lower volumes. They convinced me that box designs could be a reasonable option to planars (I also owned Magnepans at the time). |
Mapman, your speaker placement with the Titus has to be one of the greater examples of their versatility! Glad to see they're also enjoyed by someone who's excelled in the "all out assault" mode. |
Interesting info. Thanks.
I've enjoyed my Titus XS now for many years and have often thought about trying other larger Triangle models.
Their versatility and cost effectiveness is tough to beat! |
Sandstone has sent me a great comparison between the speakers that are mentioned here.
It's so good, I thought it needed to be share with the community.
Greetings Zman,
I finally had a chance to compare these two speakers in more detail on Sunday. It had been a while and I didn't want to speculate without hearing them again on my most recent systems. We know the Titus is almost holistic in its imaging. My main concern was whether the Comete tweeters were accomplishing any of their upper end smoothness by rolling off high end extension and also whether the Cometes overall gave up anything in order to provide their much warmer, very coherent midrange and upper bass.
Wow, I just noticed that you scored what looks like a great deal on a pair of Cometes already, so I 'll spare you most of the particulars.
But I ran both speaker sets through two different systems, using some very good music and some godawful test tones. My smaller room is 10x10x 8.5 and not bad acoustically but is prob. a distant second to yours. My amplification is all SS, though the Ayre Ax-7E has some set-like properties, with the Ayre QB-9 as source and balanced, zero-feedback config. For second system, my small Jeff Rowland seems to team up well with direct balanced feeds from a Bel Canto Dac.
First test was constant volume tone sweeps to well above audible range. Results - on both of my setups, perceived ( not measured) loudness was surprisingly uniform all the way up to my audible hearing limit of about 17kHz.
Second test was imaging placement in 3-D space, with a white sound (treble) source. Well, Titus is hard to beat for this. But the J Rowland setup required lots of tweaking, and still there was noticeable sibilance/"brightness". Titus with Ayre is clean and just holistic, not sure why.
Dropping the Cometes in, I lost a bit of the pinpoint precision I was getting for the treble imaging sweeps. Not much, but some. Not sure why. Crossover is at 6kHz for Titus, but couldn't find this info for Comete. Speaker height was different as Cometes are 4 inches taller, and they have a more resonant cabinet. Speaker placement may have been key, as I keep the Cometes only about 33" from wall.
So the new tweeter hasn't given up anything significant on the high end that I can see. It's more phase aligned with the woofer and less sibilant overall.
Third, I ran some low frequency sweeps that bore out what we already know about the Titus, but had some surprises in store with the Comete. The Titus predictably dropped off a sonic cliff at about 55 dB with both of my setups. The Comete was fine at 45-50 dB, but it still sounded about half as loud at even 30 dB! Now I can't tell you whether these are just overtones, but with real music the bass response is a true hidden gem and is worth enhancing. I have a good subwoofer, but don't find the need to use it with these speakers. Even if you do use your sub, the lower crossover will let the Cometes do what they do best in upper bass and midrange.
With Comete, your holistic soundstage is still there in spades, but it's different. Imaging seems slightly less for higher pitches , but IMO is more than compensated by realism and placement of lower pitched instruments that is apparent as you play actual music. The transient response with great attack and decay is still there, and you never get the feeling that these speakers are ever trying to catch up. Vocals, piano, guitar and cello are just palpable and real.
Ok, on a much more subjective note, I think that you are in for a real treat. The Cometes are utterly coherent, musical, and a real joy to own. I think they are underappreciated and a steal at anything less than $625. They should work great with your room size. I can only dream of what they will sound like with your Almarra and that highly optimized room.
A short list of suggestions:
- Breakin is less than with 202s but still need 50+ hours even with used.
- Replace the stock flat metal plug connectors.
- You may be able to now return to another tube preference with less rolloff.
- Consider trying slightly closer wall placements if bass nodes for room work out. Soundstage didn't seem to suffer that much, and it may be worth it to balance out the upper bass.
Whew! This is so long, I think I'll just email. I hope some of this helps, and wish you the absolute best in your explorations. Apologies for the delay, but I'm longing for the time when life is less frenetic and we can all spend unlimited time on more important things, like Audio! Let me know if there are other issues that I can help pursue, and I'm looking forward to hearing of your results.
Best regards,
(Sandstone) |
Well, I just picked up a pair of Comete ES speakers here on AG. I'll report back about the sound difference between the Titus 202 and the Comete ES. |
Zman,
RE your qn on the tweeter, it's actually longer in shape but more recessed. As you may know, it's a redesign that comes largely from development for Magellan speakers. The new titanium dome is now more phase-aligned with the woofer. Most obvious effects are reduced sibilance and cleaner attack.
More later. |
I would also like to know if the new tweeter is more extended on the Comete ES ? |
Thank you Sandstone.
I'm looking forward to any input you can offer.
If the answer is yes to both questions, then I may persue the Comete ES. |
Hi Zman,
I happen to own both the Titus 202 and the Comete ES.
I've long admired your evolution of one of the better budget systems on AG and will be glad to give you any intercomparisons that I can.
I'll try to run some things and post more this weekend, but bottom line is, a resounding yes to both of your questions! |
