Sidebar 3: Measurements I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the GoldenEar Triton One.R's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield responses. I removed the loudspeaker's front and side grilles for the nearfield...
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Not horrifying but for
$10K/pair(actually $7.5K, so I'll upgrade to "average")
I would call that mediocre. The ribbon tweeter is making a mess of the treble, especially off-axis. There are a lot of better options at that price point.
Sidebar 3: Measurements The GoldenEar Triton Two's B-weighted sensitivity on its tweeter axis was 91dB/2.83V/m, which both agrees with the specified figure and is significantly higher than the norm. The electrical impedance (fig.1) drops below 4 ohms in the midrange and above the audioband...
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Same story pretty much.
I have the original Triton Ones, bought in 2016 for $5,000 for the pair. When they came out, they had one of the flattest measurements up to 10k Hz that NRC had ever posted for a full-range speaker that was within reach of average consumers. The moderate action above 10k (above my hearing) has never been a noticeable issue for me, and there were larger trade-offs with all the speaker options at this price point, at least for my tastes. The Triton Ones stood out, and still do, for combining excellent bass dynamics and low-end range throughout the listening spectrum with detail, dynamics, and flat response. Being fairly efficient at 92 db is another plus, since they are easy to drive. There are more speaker options to choose from today that deliver decent bass and measure well throughout the listening spectrum, but these things still hold up. They will not, however, win any beauty contests.
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I get how the ribbon tweeter's vertical dispersion will not be to everyone's liking. The dispersion does not affect me, since I do all my critical listening seated within the optimal vertical axis, and I really like the sound.
For sure, though, thanks in part to the objectivist movement, there have been strong developments in this price range since 2016. (Allowing for inflation, I'd bump the price range up to $8K.) If I could afford to, I'd buy new speakers every 2-3 years, just to check them out. Very very happy with my Triton Ones, however.
One note -- on Tritons or any full-range speaker, a challenging thing is making sure you can find a placement that will suit both the bass management and your higher ranges while fitting reasonably into the listening room. Bass management is clearly easier when you are dealing with separate subwoofers that can be moved to ideal locations. So anyone looking at a full-range speaker will want to make sure they will be able to place them optimally. If you can't, there's no real point to going full range and you're probably better off with a satellite-sub arrangement.