I think they are undiscovered jewels of audio world! I truly do!!! really good price to performance ratio....BUT I was recently informed about hefty price increase coming.....
And what is the purpose of your post?? why you wasting your precious life by reading my observations?
Thank you for your review. I have a question. I have Martin Logan ESL 11A's and love the stage presence of their sound. I have stereo Rel S812 subs as well for 2 channel listening. However, as a musician, I am alwys looking for a better sound. AN owner of an AV store told me to research these speakers as they sell many to musicians. You mentioned a Luxman Amp and I just purschsed the Luxman 505uxii 1 week ago. Do you think this amp has enough power to push these speakers? Thanks for the review.
Thank you for your advice. I also recently talk to Triangle support guys. They pretty sure my amp is enough power as well as suggested me to used 8ohm tap. I had listened to same Cello drive by Hegel H360 at a hifi friend. In theory it should be better as per your ideal, but that set up don’t impressed me much, less musical. May be because i sticked to tube amp too long.
The most important aspect is for You to like it!!! I am glad you enjoy this awesome speaker! Take care.
Honestly, I do not have any experience with electrostatic loudspeakers so I would not want to misguide you. Perhaps create a thread in general discussion so that ML owners can chime in?
@SME12A do you have any opinion on Goldmund 390.2D, Mark Levinson 585, Boulder 865, Burmester 082 driving the Cello? Those are some offer available as 2nd around my place. Thank in advance!
I do not have any experience with any of these amp driving Cellos. I heard 585 driving Wilson's Sabrinas at my friends house couple times. The combo sounded very good.
Somehow I missed this thread until now! Great stuff from SME12A. I've always liked your reviews of speakers you've owned. Very detailed. I'm glad to hear you are so satisfied so far with the Triangle speakers. As someone who goes on pretty ridiculous speaker-auditioning binges when I upgrade/change speakers, I can emphasize. Though I have learned never to trust an audiophile saying 'This Is The One' during his honeymoon phase ;-) I'd love to hear those speakers. To be honest whenever I've seen the measurements and descriptions of Triangle speakers did not appeal to me - apparently very "forward" and inclining to brightness. But of course it would take hearing them to see if I liked them or not. Regarding your early comment of covering up the nice aesthetics of the speakers with grills. Here we certainly depart. I'm not a fan of seeing lots of speaker drivers, and especially flashy or highlighted "look at me" speaker drivers (e.g. white etc). I find it very distracting. It puts the technology front and center saying "Hey, all the sound is coming from over here, look at this tweeter, look at all these woofers producing the sound!" I prefer speakers that have been designed with the speaker grills in mind, both sonically and aesthetically (lots of speaker grills look thrown in as an after-thought, like "ah, nobody will put them on, but here you go anyway" and they sit protruding like a band-aid on the speaker). So for me, aesthetically, the Triangle speakers sans grill would be a no-sell. BUT with the grills on, from photos, I think they look VERY nice! Since there has been lots of discussion about the Devores in this thread I'll addd my blathering: Like others have mentioned your comments on the Devore speakers are appreciated, yet curious especially on the O series. I guess rooms really make that big a difference with the O series. (Which can be a slight on the design - that they are fussy). I've long been obsessed with live vs reproduced music, even going to the lengths of recording instruments we play in our home and family voices, and doing live vs reproduced comparisons when I'd get speakers in. (And often bringing those recordings along to demo speakers). I'm constantly closing my eyes in the presence of unamplified voices and instruments to note "what is the character of live sounds that differentiate this from what I hear through most audio systems?" I did a huge year or two long search for new speakers a couple years back - auditioning Magico, Raidho, Paradigm Persona, BMW, Focal, Monitor Audio, Proac, Spendor D series, JM Reynaud, Audio Note, Audio Physic, Harbeth (grabbed a pair of SuperHL5+ for a while too), Revel, Kudos...and others. I kept coming back to the Devore O series speakers as the ones that gave me the most consistent sense of "hearing live music." I've never heard drums, for instance, reproduced with that much "real drum" character from top to bottom. Now, this is like your own search, a personal journey. No speaker actually reproduces the sound of live. All are compromised, so it's a bit of a "blind men feeling the elephant" scenario where you are picking certain aspects of "live" that appeal to you personally. There are ways in which some of those other speakers may certainly get "sounds more right" to the ears of other people. But the Devores seemed to tick some of the most important boxes for me. I found most reviews of the Devore O series bang on to what I heard from those speakers - most talking about a very "rich, organic, meaty" sound with a sense of sound pressure and dynamic liveliness and flow. Exactly what I heard in auditioning them several times in two different rooms. (My brief experiences with some horn speakers tell me they get even closer to "live" in important ways, but I don't pursue them as they aren't a fit for my room). My hunch about why the Devore speakers strike some people differently goes along these lines: They are probably fussy to set up and fussy about rooms/placement. Lots of port noise, some cabinet vibration, lots of sound also coming at you from the wide baffle. So they can excite room nodes, or get suck outs, under sub-optimal conditions. The other thing is the general character - they are at once "lively" and "mellow." Lively insofar as the bass has this big, billowy round room pressure and warmth that gives the kick drums and bass "room feel" and also snappy and clear in the upper mids so snare drums have a nice, crisp (yet fat) "snap" to them, making drum-based music have nice flow and drive. Very good at "micro dynamics," the different emphasis placed on piano notes etc. I kept noticing dynamic contrasts that other speakers didn't bring out in music, that made it sound more like the energy of real musicians being translated. BUT they are also, under the conditions I heard, non-agressive and pretty smooth in the top end. So they had a character that was at once energetic, yet laid back and relaxed. I can therefore see that people can come to different conclusions based on which of those aspects stick out to them, and based on their likes/dislikes. One person could feel the dynamic ebb and flow and think "these sound alive!" and the other could be struck by the mellow, relaxed upper frequences and think "too laid back." Anyway, that's my hunch. (And ultimately I don't know if I would get along with the Devores if I owned them without a proper at home audition. Their colorations may fade in to the background, or may become more pronounced over time if I lived with them. I dunno. I ultimately chose to add Joseph Audio Perspectives to my speakers at home, which have been wonderful).
Matt – Did you happen to audition the Joseph Audio Pulsars? If so, what were your impressions? Cheers.
Once Joseph Audio got on my radar I auditioned the Pulsars first at my local dealer. They made sense since I was trying to downsize from much bigger Thiel 3.7 speakers, plus the Pulsars were within my (then) budget. I thought they were fantastic - they had that amazing purity of tone and clarity, huge soundstage, rich bass. I did note, at least during my couple of auditions, a bit of upper bass/lower mid warmth added. There were Perspectives sitting next to the Pulsars and the dealer asked if I wanted to hear them. I told him they were out of my budget but he set them up anyway. I was instantly hooked on the Perspectives. It was just "more" of the Pulsars, and seemingly a bit more linear from the mids down. (Though this could have been a room interaction thing - the Pulsars seemed to measure quite even in the Stereophile and Soundstage reviews). But anyway, though I went with the Perspectives (I had to save quite a while to up my budget), the Pulsars were absolutely amazing. They were so good it felt more like audiophile "greed" to want more and go for the Perspectives
This time I would like to share, not so positive experience with Cardas Clear Beyond power cord that I had a chance to try. Right at the beginning I would like to honestly mention that I really like Cardas – family driven company that makes all its products here in US. George, Brian, Collen, and Angela are all kind and humble human beings and are always knowledgeable and professional. Simply pleasure to deal with on every occasion. I guess I can present myself as Cardas “Fan Boy” – 99% of my system is wired with top of the line product from Oregon’s company. Honestly, I believe that each cable is part of the system and plays important role in electrical transmission of signal. No, I do not subscribe to the idea of comparing cables in quadruple blind test, constantly swapping them out, weakening connectors and wearing them off. I like quality product that is very well made, to high tolerances – I like substantial cables that gives me the impression of physical solidity and pride of ownership. Let us just say that I look at cables as “system’s jewelry”. The only one cable that is not from Cardas is the main power cord that goes from the wall to the Audience aR6-T4 power conditioner. This cable is 1.8M Audience SE-I ($800-ish value). To complete the Cardas “loom” I decided to finally upgrade this basic Audience cord to 2M Cardas Clear Beyond so that I am 100% “Cardas based”. I arranged for the demo of that cable through my good friend who owns high-end audio shop in upstate NY. Two weeks after my request, Brian from Cardas sends me beautifully made 2M beast that is simply gorgeous to look at and hold. Packaging is also first rate with many Cardas goodies included. I love the attention to details and customization of each order – hand written note from Angela finalizes the already amazing experience! Honestly, at that point I was already sold. I wanted to call my friend to make a payment and keep that cable. I was so excited that I quickly switched power cables from 1.8M Audience SE-I to 2M Cardas Clear Beyond. After powering up all equipment, I let it played at super low volume for 5 hours. Meanwhile, I texted my audio dealer expressing how nicer the Cardas Looks and feels over the cheap looking and unsubstantial Audience. Before even listening to the system with new cable, I paypaledmoney to the dealer with a thought of keeping the cable. Something went terribly wrong and somehow I sent the whole amount to Elusive Disk (I have them saved in my PayPalaccount as I buy records from them quite often). I had to call them and reverse the whole transaction. I was promised to get my money back from Elusive Disk to my PayPal account in 3 days… Well, I had 3 days to “listen” to the cable before I could make a payment. That evening I sat down ready for late night adventure, got some of my favorite records ready and started critical listening session. Bang – I felt this knockout punch on my chest comparable to Tyson at his prime. It was not a pain BUT rather severe and forceful disappointment! This new cable sounded utterly terrible! My Triangle Cellos lost their magic! There was no resolution – everything got recessed, muddy, dark, slow, and flat. Sound stage did not existed – I was attacked by chocolate monster slowly drowning me in hot fudge. I could not believe how bad the system sounded! I went to double and triple check all connections to make sure nothing got disconnected or loosen up in the rewiring process. I could not find any faults – all connections were tight and solid. I called my dealer and we chat a little about my issue. Unfortunately, he was as puzzled as I was. He promised to speak with Brian at Cardas to come up with solution. I had the cable in my system for a week - I put close to 168 hours. Absolutely nothing changed. I decided to do some investigation on my own – I called Audience and spoke with John McDonald. I wanted to be sure that the large “choke” on the Cardas power cord does not interfere with aR6-T4’s electronics. John said to simply abandon Cardas power cords - they tend to have that sound signature – super syrupy and recessed. He was not a big fan of using chokes on any cables, BUT especially power cords – they tend to flatten the sound and slowing the dynamic contrasts. Well, I did not expect Audience to praise competition’s product so I took John’s remarks with a grain of salt. I called Brian at Cardas and told him what Audience said. He was puzzled and disappointed. I was given instructions to return cable directly to Cardas for dissection. Brian wanted to take the cable apart to see if possibly, something internally gave up. Meanwhile, he insisted for me to try the Cardas Clear Beyond XL ($3k flagship power cord from Cardas) to see if the issue persists. I packed Cardas Clear Beyond and sent it back to Oregon. When I plugged the Audience back to the conditioner, magic of my system came back! It is worth to mention that the situation happened 2 months ago and I did not hear back from Cardas as to what went wrong. I also did not receive promised Clear Beyond XL to try….is it possible that this is how those cables sound??? Maybe John at Audience was right? Let me tell you this – I am not the cables masturbator but I am getting suspicious that all these Cardas cables that I own, substantially degrading the sound of my system. Is it possible that my system can be more musical and resolving? What would happen if I switch from Cardas to Audience? All questions that I have never paid much attention to, start to come up…. I will keep you updated if Cardas sends me Clear Beyond XL to try or I will simply get ignored. In my head – another disappointment in Audio world…BUT I have NEVER expected that from Cardas…
I suspect you're reading too much into this and also missing a key point of synergy one would assume that the best cable for an Audience power conditioner would be an Audience power cable and so it was. And if you think your system sounds fantastic now then no your current loom of Cardas cables are not holding your system back. It's also possible that 168 hours was just not enough break in time for the Cardas PC.
While some break in is needed, based on experience - I do not believe in a major change in sound characteristics due to prolonged use. I have been in Audio world good 35 years and never heard a component that would benefit from 600 hours break in….also, I learned not to assume anything!
Given that you put aprox 168 hours of use on that power cable I agree that it wouldn't burn in anymore and change for the better or at all. I agree with Mr. McDonald that using chokes on power cables might make sense on paper but it could have effects that are unintended. I would be surprised however if your Cardas interconnects or Spkr Cables are having that type of similar issue as I think you would have already sniffed that out.
A very interesting anecdote. I have far less experience with cables than most audiophiles, but have my own, loosely connected tale. I have been using Audience AU24e (2nd gen., not the SE) speaker cables for more than a few years, and have never had any strong desire to try any others. They have worked very well for me with a variety of components, and I never found them to be lacking in anything, including bass, which is a bit surprising given their very small diameter. About a year ago I decided on a whim to purchase a pair of used Purist Audio Design Aqueous 20th Anniversary cables, based on various reviews and feedback. Like you, I was fully expecting an upgrade, and yet they were nowhere near as clear or fast as the Audience. Very disappointing, and surprising. In the wake of that experience, I'm almost tempted to upgrade the Audience cables to one of their newer versions!
Yes - audio reality is full of similar stories. Honestly, I am not even sure I expected any upgrade hahahaha. I would have bought that Clear Beyond anyway if only that cable sounded same as Audience! The idea was to be fully 100% Cardas across. The absolute disaster and disappointment make me question other Cardas cables that I already have - 12 cables total…
Update: I have just received Clear Beyond XL and Clear Reflection from Cardas today. I will be testing these two cables over next week or so and will report my findings.
Art (SME12A), I've just discovered your Triangle Magellan Cello review thread...wow, what a journey toward Audio Nirvana! I was taken back by all of the wonderful speaker systems you tried and tested, amazing. I believe, as you so often stated, your individual listening environment and system synergy dictates live reproduction success (by 50%+)! Although I've already found my audio nirvana, I wouldn't be surprised if all of the speaker systems you tested (and even your Cellos) could be a better fit for my small dedicated and intimate music room (see my profile-info page for details)! Thank you for all of your dedication, persistence and sharing of findings in achieving a worth while musical end goal for yourself...Great Thread!! Ted [FWIW, assume you still have the Cellos...your info page states the super 9's!?!]
