[CajunMike]

They of course got fabulous reviews in Stereophile but there are not too many dealers out there.  Dealers in the Northeast, California and a bit in Canada but they have none in Louisiana or Texas...  Anyways, I look at their site and the cabinets look great...  Second largest manufacturer of speakers in france and they do not outsource anything.  Their drivers, crossovers and cabinets are all made in their house.  

My questions are..  They have two lines..  the Esprit that was given major kudos by Stereophile.. particularly the Celius and Antal.  

http://www.triangle-fr.com/uk/gamme-esprit.php

Then there is their Stratos line that is a step-up in price but you cant find any reviews about and they seem to get zero publicity.  From what I can see the Stratos line's floor standers are all wood while only the Celius in the Esprit line uses a wood box..

http://www.triangle-fr.com/uk/gamme-stratos.php

What I like about the Stratos line is that big center channel that is a three-way the Leo Major.  http://www.triangle-fr.com/uk/enceinte-stratos.php?modele=leo%20major.  I currently have the PSB Image series 9C with that MTM design and have fought lobbing big-time.  

I spoke with the West coast distributor yesterday and he recommended the Stratos Luna, but I'm wondering if it's just cause he knows the price point I was looking at.  So far I've demo'd the Von Schweikert VR4jrs, Dynaudio Contour 3.4 and Vienna Acoustics Grand Beethoven...... incidentally none of them have had me reaching to pull out my wallet...  

Anyways, please give me some feedback and any experiences you might have with Triangle whether you're an owner or have spent some time auditioning them.

Thanks

p.s.  link to stereophiles speaker recommendations for 2005  http://www.triangle-fr.com/kiosque/stereophile-janvier-2005.htm

and their full review on the top speakers in the Esprit line.  http://www.triangle-fr.com/kiosque/st-01-05.htm

[mcgsxr]

Firstly, welcome to AC!

I have heard the Triangle Celius, and the next one down, at a local shop to Toronto (Alternative Audio in Dundas, for those of you familiar with the area) and was impressed, but not enough.

At the time I owned some Totem Rokk, and found the Celius to be fast, tonally nice, but a little light in the lower registers for me.  The bass was there, but did not bloom as much as the Rokk, or the Model 1's that I was comparing them to.

Electronics were Rega (both cd and integrated) and it was a small room - maybe 9x11x8.  

Good luck in the hunt,

[EDS_]

I have an older (6y or so) Triangle ZephyrII pair in my second system. Further, my brother has a pair of Antals in his systems. I sold the Antals to bro. last year.

I purchased from AudioWaves in northern Calif. IIRC-the owner's name is Alan. Regardless, the owner is nice man with advice lacking the usual high end over speak.

General non-sound impressions:
1. The esprit line speakers look cool but their wood finish is synthetic.
2. The bi-wire terminals are cheapish and should be replaced-IMO.
3. The speakers are fairly light.
4. The included spikes are very sharply pointed.
5. The grills can be removed and replaced hundreds of times with no signs of damage.

Indirect sound issues:
1. These speakers are very easy to drive. I use a Cary SLI-80 set to triode (40Wpc) with good results. I've driven both the Antal and Zephyrs with crappy receivers yielding satisfying results.
2.  They can be set close to a back wall-but not too close to any side wall. YMMV.
3. Pinpoint set up is less important than with most others I've owned.
4. Triangles take FOREVER to break-in. When I first listened to my Zephyrs I thought crapola I've made a big mistake. No bass, no speed, congested mid-range, couldn't be worse. 200h later they sounded great. The Antals were only a tad quicker to break-in.

Direct sound issues:
1. Triangles sound FAST ort-of like electrostatics without all the negatives.
2. Human vocals are flatly outstanding.
3. Highs are clear. clean, crisp and authentic sounding.
4. Generally, the midrange is excellent only giving way at silly volumes.
5. The bass-it gets tougher here. The bass above about 50-55 Hz is tuneful and fast. The bass lacks a lot of the slam factor you might have noticed from the VR-4jrs and some others. The bass becomes thin at very high volumes. Bass below about 50 Hz is simply not there. You'll need a sub.
I sometimes run my Zephyrs through my Gallo subs suing the Gallo's x-over to send only signals above a certain level to the Triangles-this arrangement works very well. Much higher volumes are available this way.

This month’s HiFi+ features a strongly positive review of the Triangle Heliade.

I've not even seen much less heard any Triangles from the Stratos line.

Good luck.

[CajunMike]

Guys, thanks for the response..  I have read where some people say that Triangle lacks the bottom end bass thump... I do also have an SVS 20-39pc sub......   So far my setup has been used about 95% of the time on hometheater... I'm hoping that I'll get a speaker system that will have me wanting to sit down and enjoy listening to my music collection.  Right now my PSB Image series doesnt have me doing that... not bad speakers  but I'm wanting more.......  One guy said on another forum..."They had the speed and dynamics of my old ProAc Responce monitors
but with the missing bass....."  

A dealer I spoke with said that if I'm going to be doing a lot of hometheater that he thought I would be happier with the Von Schweikert Vr4jrs. and the system 30 package minus their sub because I'm keeping my SVS.

Needless to say my head is spinning.  I plan to go give the Dynaudio Contour S3.4, SC center and SR surround a more thorough audition next week..... I just know that I like what I've read about Triangle and I certainly like the looks... the low profile surround speaker also is appealing because I have a terrible room...  no side walls and my sofa is pushed against the rear wall....    Von Schweikert says mount their dipole TS150 on my rear wall...   while the Triangle and Dynaudio rears are monopoles that the cabinets are only about 6 inches deep.

[CajunMike]

One more question.. been digging around the net and I found several posts on audiogon where they are essentially saying that the Triangle's would not work well with solid state amps....  I'm putting together a hometheater but I also want something that I can enjoy two-channel with...       Is this true? doesnt make sense to me because Triangle offers center channel speakers and rear surround speakers in both their esprit and stratus lines.

[KT]

Mike,

Funny thing about audio - there are some things that push your buttons and there are things that just don't.

What I mean by this is that sometimes you'll run across a component or system that will just do things really right in the ways you want them to. When you come across a system or component like this you'll enjoy and covet what it does for you. It will make you very, very happy. It'll connect you to your music and allow your shoulders to relax.

I used to work for a audio shop that sold the Triangle Celius, Antals, etc. This was not too long after Stereophile ranked the Celius as an A rated speaker (with limited LF). We got a lot of people coming in on the strength of this review to listen to the Celius. In the showroom a lot of folks were really wowed by the sound and bought them right away. Some other folk, whom I'll call seasoned listeners, heard the speakers and, while enjoying what they did, knew that it wasn't the speaker for them. Then there were other customers who clearly didn't have a large speaker listening reference base but were convinced that the Celius' were the best speaker they had heard, probably influenced by the article.

What did the staff think? Well, we had a handful of guys who had very different listening preferences and backgrounds. We all thought the Celius was a very good speaker, especially considering the price. It did many things exceptionally well and was musical to boot. But we all came to the consensus that the Triangles weren't a speaker that captured any one of our hearts. It was good - even very, very good, but it didn't push any of our button in that special way. The Triangles were perhaps too safe in the way they made music. Everybody really liked them a lot, but no one really loved them.

That's in contrast to something like Lowthers or horns - they push some people's button in a really right way, but they also rub a lot of folks the wrong way, too. Lots of love and lots of hate - lots of heart-felt emotion, which is what the Triangles lacked.

Having said that, I don't think anyone who bought the Triangles were unhappy or cheated. They are a really worthy speaker. I just don't think they have that special something that makes a component speak to the heart.

Just to be clear, this is the Esprit line. I haven't heard Triangle's Stratos speakers.

At the shop I also learned that the Stereophile class A components were not always the most enjoyable or musical pieces (at least to my ears and those of my colleagues). A lot of them, like the Triangles, were worthy, but didn't do it for us. Some other components not ranked by Stereophile, or ranked class B or even C, provided us with greater musical enjoyment.

If you're looking for a good speaker in that price range, my I offer a couple of humble recommendations? With the right associated component, the DeVore Fidelity speakers really are a rich, communicative, and musical speaker. At the time I worked there, we had the Gibbon 8s and 3's, but I believe John DeVore has introduced the Silverback speaker which got really good reviews at www.6moons.com. I haven't heard this latest offering myself, however.

The Epos speakers are surprisingly musical and communicative. We carried the M15s and the M12s. We had a guy cry while listening to music played over the M15s once. That just reconfirmed the feelings I had for them. I think Epos have a slighly upgraded line, and again I haven't heard the new ones.

And here's an amp recommendation. It happens that the Cairn 4808-A integrated amp, a great sounding French piece pushing 30 watts/channel, was a match made in heaven with the Epos speakers. This was the combo that the guy cried to. I would have bought this amp myself if I had the extra cash lying around. Alas, I think it has been discontinued.

So the best thing I can recommend to you is to do the reading and the research and then go and listen for yourself. There are so many nuances to music and the electro-mechanical reproduction of music that it's hard for a writer to put it into words. You won't know if something is right until your ears hear it and your body feels it.

Good luck on your speaker quest.

Best,
KT

[dave_c]

One more question.. been digging around the net and I found several posts on audiogon where they are essentially saying that the Triangle's would not work well with solid state amps....  I'm putting together a hometheater but I also want something that I can enjoy two-channel with...       Is this true? doesnt make sense to me because Triangle offers center channel speakers and rear surround speakers in both their esprit and stratus lines.

I had a pair of Titus 202's and liked them quite a bit.  I used a modded a NAD  C320 and a modded Panasonic XR-45 to power them.  They NAD was smooth, but kinda slow and boring with it.  The Panny had a much more transparent midrange but exposed the slight tilt in the treble that Triangles are known for.  Vinnie had a pair of Titus with crossover mods that reportedly sounded great with the Clari-T.  The crossover mods may help mellow out the treble a bit.

The Titus definitely have a fast, clean midrange but I believe they have measured a little bright.  If you keep that response in mind, you can work with SS gear as long as they aren't bright as well.

Monarchy, Electrocompaniet are 2 that I have personal experience with that I think would mate well with the Triangles.

[CajunMike]

what about five channel amps from Anthem, Bryston, ATI, Sherbourn, Arcam, etc.?

[dave_c]

Honestly, I don't have any experience with those amps and I don't know what you look for in sound so I can't really say.

From what I've read, those are all great companies with lots of loyal fans.

Are you set on the Triangles and are looking for something to mate them with or still open to other options?

[CajunMike]

Honestly, I don't have any experience with those amps and I don't know what you look for in sound so I can't really say.

From what I've read, those are all great companies with lots of loyal fans.

Are you set on the Triangles and are looking for something to mate them with or still open to other options?

This is my current worksheet...  note, I already have a SVS sub.. 20-39pc that I am keeping.  

Von Schweikert
mains: Vr4 jr.
center: LCR-15
surrounds: TS-150 surround

Dynaudio
Mains: Contour S3.4
center: Contour SC Center
rears: Contour SR

Triangle
Esprit line
Option 1
Celius es twin-woofer 3-way tower in real wood - $2699/pr
Noxa Major es center
Khos es 2-way surround speaker

Option 2
Antel es twin-woofer 3-way tower
Noxa Minor es center
Khos es 2-way surround speaker

Stratos line
Mains: Naia
-- or---
Mains: Luna
Center: Leo major
Surrounds: barea

Dali
Mains: Helicon 400
Center: C200
Rears: W200

[Vinnie R.]

IVinnie had a pair of Titus with crossover mods that reportedly sounded great with the Clari-T. The crossover mods may help mellow out the treble a bit.
..

Yeah, I modded a pair of Titus 202s and was very pleased with these speakers....one of my all-time favorite 2-way bookshelf speakers and a great value.  This is a review of them that I totally agree with:
http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/titus202_e.html

They are VERY FAST and image beautifully, but the Omega Super 3s are even faster and more natural sounding from top to bottom (single driver, no crossover), and I like the Omega build quality more as well  

[dave_c]

A couple new speakers based on the new Adire Audio drivers are coming out.  People have been liking what they've been hearing.

http://www.rawacoustics.com/

Check out the APEX and the Exodus Audio Series LCR for center or LCR duties.  The only thing is that the APEX and Exodus use different tweeter's.  You may want to as RAW if they can make a special center for the APEX.

Review of the Exodus series here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=19525

[jt1stcav]

I can relate to loudspeakers that bring out the music in ways no other loudspeakers can...it's happened to me more than once while listening to organ symphonies from both Widor and Franck, and Bach's "Come Sweetest Death" arranged for organ by the late Virgil Fox...played through my 300B SET amp and old '79 Klipsch Cornwall horn speakers!

No, I wasn't crying out in pain because of the harsh squawkers...my gigantic Cornwalls are truely revealing loudspeakers that sound awesome in the right room. Unfortunantly, my music room's been regulated to a tiny spare bedroom and the Cornwalls can't breath in there like they could in the previous large formal livingroom, so they're now put away in safe storage, waiting for the chance for my system to be relocated back to a large room where they can sing proudly once again.

Until then, I have to live with my tiny room. My brother is always experimenting with different loudspeakers and buys and sells all types. He had a pair of used '98 Triangle Zephyr towers that he wasn't using once he discovered how life-like bookshelf monitors sounded in his own music room, so I bought them from him at a very reduced rate! These old Zephyrs now reside in my room and sound absolutely fantastic through my 300B SET amp...very warm and full with perfect highs that don't pierce your eardrums! It was understood that they lack low bass fundementals and I hope to buy a decent SVS or Hsu subwoofer in the near future. But for now their bass output isn't as shabby as I thought it would be...experimenting with placement proves to be benefitial when they're placed just right!

Even though the Triangle Zephyrs are the only models I've ever heard, I've also heard them with my brother's various amps, both SS and tubed, and they're very capable of performing nicely as long as your power amps and sources are of high quality. I can only imagine the latest offerings from Triangle Electroacoustiques are even better than the entry-level (and discontinued) Zephyr models.

I'd check 'em out if I were you...