Golden Ear
Golden Ear Triton Reference Loudspeaker
When we first became interested in GoldenEar Technology as a brand for our store, there had already been a "buzz" about the brand as representing terrific value. I spoke to Sandy Gross (GoldenEar's founder) a couple of years ago while we were both attending the Munich HiFi Show. I've known Sandy since late 1976 when he visited my store in downtown Normal (IL). I'll never forget Sandy getting two large boxes from the trunk of his car, and carrying them in so we'd have to give them a listen. The speakers were the Polk 10's, and Sandy, co-founder of Polk Audio, was at the beginning of his career as a successful "speaker guy". Needless-to-say, we became a Polk dealer, and sold hundreds of Polk loudspeakers over the next ten years. Therefore, it was no surprise that his latest venture, GoldenEar, has become so successful. We brought in GoldenEar earlier this year, and are glad we did. Virtually every model they make, is a great value, and competitive with much more expensive speakers.
The rumor that Sandy and his team were working on a true "industry reference" loudspeaker - one with extremely linear frequency response and dynamic range - became a reality this year in the form of the Triton Reference. Before our first pair arrived, I read Anthony Cordesman's review of the T-Ref in the September issue of "The Absolute Sound" magazine. Tony is a very thoughtful, reserved individual who is not known for waxing overly enthusiastically about products he reviews. On the contrary, he never goes crazy about a product. In other words, when AHC (as he's known in the HiEnd world) highly recommends something, it's worth checking out. To say that he likes the T-Ref is a gross understatement! Read his review for the whole story.
Selling for less than $10K, the "T-Ref" is truly the embodiment of Sandy's goal to produce a world reference loudspeaker system that sells for a fraction of the price of other products in its performance class. From the first recording we played, it was blatantly obvious that the Triton Reference is a product that is destined to be a classic! They've been on display now for almost a month, and they seem to get better each time we play them. There's an ease to their ability to play any scale of music with extremely low distortion, and the fact that you can listen from way outside the "sweet spot" makes them easy to enjoy from anywhere in a room - or even in another room.
Take a break when you're able, and come in for a listen. Bring some of your favorite music, sit down and prepare to be blown away - at any volume level. The GoldenEar Triton Reference is capable of doing it all - any type of music, played at any level.
Oh, and by the way, they are also beautiful..........
- Geoff Poor
