Golden Ear Triton7 spk: High-end or just mid -fi??

I seriously auditioned (twice, with my favorite music) Triton 7s and Magneplanar 1.7s (also twice). I bought the Maggies, which held together and sorted out more inner detail than the Tritons when tracking the opening movement of Mendelssohn's "Elijah," a full-bore orchestral/choral cantata with 8 vocal part harmonies. Also, in an audition room larger than your listening room, it was apparent to me that the Triton Sevens' bass was overloading the room. At that price range you may want to consider the Magneplanar MMG Super if you have the space to give them "breathing room."

I *do* like the general sound of GoldenEars, but they put out a lot of bass, and frankly, you may get exactly what you need from their standmount Aon 2s or Aon 3s. I heard the Aon 3s demoed in a room about the size of your future listening room, and the tonal balance was excellent. People kept looking for the subwoofer. The bass was quick and assertive, but didn't dominate the room.

Maggie 1.7s are more amp-friendly than you might think. I power mine with a 100wpc early '80s Perreaux PMF 1150B, which is rated 100wpc into 8 ohms, and probably makes close to 200 into the 1.7's 4-ohm load. The Sphinx isn't too far behind that at 100/155 into 8/4 ohms.

BUT, instead of occupying a 12.5x12.4 room, mine are in a 16x22 living room with 15' vaulted ceiling, and the back half of the room is open to the rest of the open architecture living space. Granted, I have a couple of *tiny* 8" subs, but they only fill in about 36-45 Hz and aren't turned up very far.

Anyway, 100wpc into 1.7s should be plenty for a 12.5x12.4 room.

Silverline Prelude Pluses should also be a good fit, and present one of the tiniest footprints.

Scott's experience matches my own when I was auditioning them. Even with the double-doors to the vendor's listening room room open, the bass of the Triton Sevens eventually overpowered the rest of the musical presentation, especially of orchestral numbers. And I know by now that when your speakers have noticeable strengths and weaknesses, over time you stop listening to the music it doesn't do so well. And I wanted speakers that would encourage me to delve into my largely unplayed classical collection.

So I got a pair of Magneplanar 1.7s. Fortunately they don't just sound good on classical; they are also superb for anything from solo acoustic guitar or voice on up. Great on classic rock; I got several of the new all-analog Beatles mono LPs and they are superb.

Here's another thought about maggies in a smaller room: the dipole pattern helps cancel deep bass and prevent it from dominating a small room. Until I got my maggies, I never imagined that dipoles would actually clean up the bass and pretty much eliminate the need for bass traps, but there you are.

Granted, the Maggies want about 30"-45" of space behind them, but they're largely self-canceling to the sides. The MMGs are pretty small and should be plenty for a 12.5" square room. If you need the space when you're not listening, they are light weight and easily moved up against the walls.

At $1199, the 3-piece Super MMG system should give you what you are looking for, and you will definitely be getting "high end sound." Best of all, you get that magic midrange with an easily manageable bass, no 100Hz bass hump, and no cabinet resonances to smear the sound.