Bookshelf speaker suggestions; good efficiency with low-cut bass

Research, Listen, Research, Listen, & in the end it's the listen, eh?

That said I'm impressed with your research dlb 99 & although I don't don't get excited by or attach high value to most of the Glossy's reviews there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for the Titus EZ. Also, I usually am impressed by the Aussie Review stuff particularly their lab reports versus other better known Glossy's.

 

Australian HiFi are very good with respect to speaker objective tests.
A lot of their tests are freely available on their website: avhub.com.au/hi-fi

Worth a look even for international audiophiles.

 

I would just buy them then and let us know how you made out. It is not everyday that someone can narrow things down like that to a single choice without even listening to it! You could always put some socks in those rear ports and play around with positioning if you can localize the sub with that high crossover.

 

Another video segement:



Peter thought it had great bass, interesting. Most reviews suggest it has typical BBC mini-monitor type bass, 70Hz, then rolloff.

I suspect Triangle's with their slight project-forward horn-tweeter will be a superb match for warm tube amps, especially since they appear to be efficient.

The Titus EZ measure at 87.5dB.
The Dynaudio Evoke 10 measure at 82dB and the Harbeth P3ESR measure at 83dB.

The EZ is 4.5 t0 5dB more efficient.
Each 3dB increment requires double the power.
So an Audiolab 6000a at 50w (8ohms) into the Titus EZ would be the equivalent of 125 - 150w into the Evoke 10 or P3ESR for the same volume.

I suspect the EZ is not quite as nice sounding the the Evoke 10s and P3ESRs, but nor does it require as much drive.
If I was a tube guy I would definitely be looking at Triangle. The video above was 50w tube into the EZ.

 

Since you have a Martin Logan sub why not consider their fine Motion series? MartinLogan: Our Speakers

 

Too late, I just purchased the Triangle Titus EZ (in piano black). I have taken a leap of faith, purchased sound unheard I am pretty sure they will not suck.

I got a great online deal here in Australia, the EZs RRP is $1,699AUD ($1,160USD) but one retailer is selling them for $1,019AUD ($696USD). That's about a 40% discount. Maybe trying to clear stock? About $1k AUD for a well reviewed speaker seems a steal.

For comparison:

- Harbeth P3ESR retail at $3,600AUD
- Proac Tablette retail at $2,900AUD
- Spendor A1 retail at $2,500AUD
- Dynaudio Evoke 10 retail at $2,400AUD
- Kef LS50 retail at $2,000AUD

Note, I am not claiming the EZs are better than the above speakers, probably isn't, it's likely the most forward-sounding of the bunch. But it is the most efficient of the available BBC LS3/5a sized choices. Something I really want with my upcoming 50W Audiolab 6000a.

The EZs need a neutral or warm-sounding amp. Cool amps are a no-go, so Cambridge Audio would be out. The Audiolab is slightly on the warm side of neutral, and can be made even more warm via the inbuild digital filters (tuneable high-end rolloff).

 

I keep hearing about the RX1 and am about to pull the trigger on a pair of bookshelves. I can't find any to demo here in the U.S., but recently heard a pair of the B&W 606 speakers and they sounded great - do you think the RX1 is a dramatic improvement over these? I'm worried about buying off the internet without having heard them first.

 

Hope the EZs work out and you got a great deal on them. If they turn out to be too bright or you find the rear ports not working well so close to the wall here is another option (although they are not cheap!):

Perla Esclusiva – XAVIAN

 

You should be able to hear both locally. Just Google "B&W Los Angeles" and "Rega San Diego", etc. You probably have a couple of dealers in LA and at least one in SD. The 602 series sounds muddy by comparison to the RX series. Some might call that more full bodied, etc. You'll really need to hear them to get a better idea of what that means.
-Bill

 

^Thanks!!

 

I absolutely love my M10's. I had planned to go to something like a Spendor/Harbeth after these, but now I'm not so sure, these just sound so good, I'm afraid to try anything else.

 

They look fantastic....but likely around $3,500AUD (over three times the cost of the EZ). At the same time, this likely also sound better.

The Titus should not be bright per-se since it does not have a tilted up treble (if anything it tilts a bit down):


However, due to horn loading the projection of the sound may be forward, in front of the speaker instead of behind (maybe like BBC-style monitors do).

I suspect all horn speakers will be forward in tone.

 

Ive used a lot of the speakers mentioned in this thread. In my room the Titus EZ seemed to have a pretty huge bass bump, surprisingly, they produced more mid bass "boom" relative to Dynaudio emit 10 or rega rx1. The port output of the dyna and the triangle both being far more robust than the Rega. The Rega doesnt have much bass augmentaion via its port, it just kind of rolls off and stops. With the Titus EZ It was case of a common bookshelf trick, but one that wears thin. This new triangle seemed quite different than their earlier offerings, they weren't as clear and punchy in midrange than previous models or the emits for that matter, and the treble is actually shelved down quite a bit, where as earlier models were far brighter, I never thought I'd find the triangles overly smooth and boring but that was my overall impression. I just got the sense that they tried to make the new line appeal to everybody, but in the process lost some of the qualities that set them apart in the first place. Finally I thought the cabinet quality and finish was sub part for the price, also audible at times producing some midrange "honk".
I also felt that Rega to a lesser extent in changing or adapting to marketing demand lost some of the magic of the previous models. To me The rx came across as less lively and expressive than R 1 or the RS3. Still in the application you mention they would probably be more linear down into the mid bass than either the Triangle or dyna.

 

Bump time.

So I purchased the Triangle Titus EZ way back in December 2019. And they have been in storage since then, until a couple days ago.

COVID-19 and personal matters halted work on my new rig. But I finally got it all together recently.

As I noted elsewhere here in the forums, this is the new rig:

- Triangle Titus EZ in piano black (looks lovely)
- Solidsteel SS6 stand filled with Atacama Atabites (triangular stands for Triangle speakers)
- Rel T7i in matching piano black
- Audiolab 6000a AMP + DAC (only 50 watts, but matches well with efficient Triangles)
- Marantz NR1510 for home theatre only (using Audiolab pass-through for fronts in that mode)



Initially the Triangles were closed in and dark sounding. But after 20 or so hours they have really opened up and seem fairly neutral to my ears (but I am not a golden ears, so who knows what their response is in my room).

Interestingly Amir at AudioScienceReview recently reviewed the big brother Antal Ez floor standing speakers. Some resonance issues (probably related to far larger cabinet) and weak bass, but overall not too bad an estimated in-room response:


It is quite likely my Titus Ez are not too dissimilar from 200Hz and up since both speakers use the same mid woofer and tweeter.

In my setup I use a REL T7/i via high-level from the Audiolab 6000a. Very easy to integrate and it makes a huge difference on the sound. It does not extend that deep, but it provides nice punch in the 35-70Hz range that the Titus does not have.

Better late than never, but I am very happy with the rig.

 

Bump time again, inspired by this Small Room Audio review of the Triangle Comete 40th Anniversary Edition model:



Main points:

- Nicer airy treble
- Excellent midrange tonality
- Ok imaging, not a champion, but just ok
- Flat, weak bass (no bass bump or boost)
- But easily integrated with a REL subwoofer (via high-level input) because of no bass bump, T5i in the above review.

My Triangle Titus EZ very much falls in line with the above review and observations (being speaker cousins after all). Having lived with my system for a year now I am sure I got exactly the speaker I wanted in the very first post of this thread, a relatively high-efficiency speaker with cut-off bass for easy subwoofer integration.

My opinion, horned Triangles are excellent speakers if they are to be paired with REL subwoofers (via high-level sans high-pass filtering). Just for a joke I disabled my T7i subwoofer connection and my lord does the sound turn bad, like a PC speaker bad. A subwoofer is an absolute must with Triangles, the combination with a REL works very well as noted in the above YouTube review.