Golden Ear Triton One Speakers $$$

Also, are all the models great at their price point or is the Triton 1 the standout in the lineup?

05-16-15: Bcgator
Also, are all the models great at their price point or is the Triton 1 the standout in the lineup?

I have heard the Triton 2 when it was just being released at $2500/pair, the Aon 3 a year later, the Triton 7 (twice as a prospective buyer), and a GoldenEar center channel speaker plus sub.

They are all excellent values at their price points. My personal favorites are the Aons. Read between the lines of some professional reviews and the Aons are outstanding values. The Aon 3 can easily fill a mid-sized room (say 14x16) without a sub.

All the GoldenEars have that sweet, smooth folded ribbon tweeter. They also have cast basket midranges with phase plugs for wide dispersion and unusually wide bandwidth.

You know Johnnyb53, I think I've been guilty of the exact thing I mentioned in my first response, except with the Aons. I looked those up after reading your post, and put 2+2 together and remembered I have seen those in a shop. And at $499 each I remember thinking, "how good could they possibly be at that low of a price?" So the very thing I wondered about wealthier audiophiles doing with the Triton 1, I may have done myself with the Aons, disregarding them too quickly.

I spoke with Sandy Gross about the room size and placement before I bought the Triton Ones. I was worried the bass would overload the room, especially since one of the speakers is closer to the rear wall than the other. I was assured by Sandy that the level control on the speaker for the bass output would take care of any problems I might encounter. He was 100% correct. I didn't audition any of the other GE Speakers as I was only interested in their top of the line product. If I settled for less, it would have eaten my heart out wondering.

I have never, ever heard a pair of speakers that does all music well before these. Very highly recommended.

^^^ What Stereo5 said.

WIth active controls for the subwoofer portion of the Tritons 1, 2, and 3, you can adjust the bass down to whatever size room you have.

The Triton 7s are another story, however. It's an all-passive design, and on both of my shopping auditions, their bass overloaded the demonstration room. Although my own listening area is a lot larger, I didn't want to mess with trips back and forth from the store, and went with the Magneplanar 1.7s instead.

As for the Aons, Googling for the reviews will return a wealth of praise. You will find unqualified raves from Stereophile, TAS, Soundstagedirect, Tone Publications, WhatHiFi, HIFi+, etc. They consistenly say that the Aons sound much larger--and more expensive--than they are. There is also a lot of praise for their smoothness, seamless integration, dynamics, and imaging--all hallmarks of refined and more expensive speakers.