Floorstanding loudspeakers — GoldenEar Triton Seven

The Triton Seven from GoldenEar carries the Triton series tower concept into a more compact cabinet at a lower price, and it is the first Triton floorstander made without a built-in powered subwoofer. Instead of an amplified bass section it combines long-throw drivers with the company's bass-loading technologies, using passive planar radiators on the cabinet sides. GoldenEar intends it for two-channel systems and equally for multi-channel music and home theatre installations.

Key specs that matter

Five drivers make up the complement - one High-Velocity Folded Ribbon AMT tweeter, two 5.25-inch high-definition cast-basket mid and bass drivers, and two 8-inch planar sub-bass radiators that together offer 211.24 cm2 of radiating surface. GoldenEar rates efficiency at 89 dB for 2.83 V at 1 m. Frequency response is listed as 40 Hz to 25 kHz, with the lower limit given as the -6 dB point on axis from anechoic bass measurement. The tower is 14.6 cm wide at the front and 18.3 cm at the rear, 27.9 cm deep and 101 cm tall with the base fitted and without spikes, while the base itself measures 26.5 x 36.9 cm and takes four threaded rubber feet, with four optional spikes and locking nuts also supplied. The speaker weighs 15 kg, and the shipping weight is 19 kg.

Engineering and use context

The two mid and bass drivers are specifically designed for very long throw and are set in a D'Appolito array, one above and one below the ribbon tweeter, with a complex Linkwitz-Riley crossover blending them. The front baffle is kept narrow, and GoldenEar describes the cabinet shape as acoustically purposeful, with the same benefits as the cabinet of the Triton Five. The two planar radiators are mounted on opposite side walls, inertially balanced and driven by the back wave of the active drivers. The ribbon tweeter is the same unit GoldenEar fits to the other Triton towers, and the maker names it as the source of high-resolution reproduction for both music and film soundtracks.

Pairing

GoldenEar lists a nominal impedance of 4 ohm and recommends amplifiers delivering 10 to 300 W per channel. The owner's manual notes that the Tritons can reach loud levels with moderate amplifier power and can also accept the output of very powerful amplifiers. With no powered subwoofer inside, the whole speaker is driven by the external amplifier.

Alternatives

The GoldenEar Triton Five is presented as a bigger version of the Seven, with two 6-inch long-throw midrange and bass drivers and four side-mounted planar radiators.