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Goldenear Triton One.R - can it be driven with low power tube amp?

I’m currently driving my Goldenear Triton One.R speakers with substantial monoblock solid state amps. However the Triton One.Rs have internal 1.6 kilowatt amplifiers for the lowest frequencies. So my primary amps are only driving the midrange and tweeters. Seems like overkill. Was thinking of using lower power tube amps, maybe even tube SETs. Will this work?
Has anyone done this? Comments welcomed.
cakids
mocean
6 posts
 
I do not have a SET amp to try but I do have the SS Vista Audio Spark, 20w @8ohms. With the right speakers (Fostex for me) this can be a beautiful sounding amp. 
So I hooked it up to try out on my One.R’s in light of this low wattage discussion. Sounded nice up to about 65dB, 8ft away. After that the clipping was terrible and, obviously, the poor little fella got quite warm quickly. 
The impedance dips clearly too much for the little Spark to handle. 
That was a bit of fun but the Hegel H390 is my preference of 3 SS amps I have tried. Effortless sound at any level. 
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Hi mocean, 
You did the right thing by trying your 20 watt solid state amplifier driving the Tritons and the outcome wasn’t satisfactory. One can rightly conclude that the Vista Audio Spark amplifier wasn’t a good match. However cakids had a Much better outcome. One could conclude that the Manley Stingray is much better suited for this speaker than the Vista. Both scenarios confirm the importance of listening.
Charles
audiopacer
17 posts
 
I can tell you there is incredible synergy with a Luxman MQ-88uC and the Triton One.R's; Far more enjoyable than with Luxman L509x and a Rogue Cronus Magnum III;
The tweeters in the latest Tritons are super revealing and the triodes yields a match made in Valhalla.
Enjoy the Music!

stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,482 posts
 
For the record, I stated Sandy Gross uses an 8 watt SET amp driving his Triton References.  The Triton One R was not invented yet in 2017 when I talked to Sandy at RMAF. I have no idea how a SET would drive the Triton One R speaker. 
georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
Goldenear Triton One.R: Review LAB Tests: by KEITH HOWARD
We measured a minimum modulus of 2.9ohm and a minimum EPDR of 1.3ohm at 92Hz, with further dips to 1.6ohm at 219Hz and 2.0ohm at 584Hz.
So the One.R is a tough loudspeaker to drive, despite its powered bass section.

No way could a 8w SET drive these OneR’s properly, it will work and "maybe" sound passable, but not what you would call driven properly especially in the mid bass/upper bass and lower mids to anywhere near it’s best potential.

Cheers George
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