GoldenEar Triton Five Towers and SuperSub XXL Preview

Some manufacturers like to use a higher number to indicate a better (or at least newer) product. OS models almost always go up. Horsepower or lithium battery voltage does as well. Heck, receiver manufacturers are famous for adding numbers to previous models to indicated both newness and an increase in features.

GoldenEar doesn't subscribe to this nomenclature.

The Triton One towers are their top-of-the-line offering and include more drivers than you could shake a stick at. They even include DSP-controlled, integrated subwoofers. Their lowest cost offering, the Triton Seven towers, have a traditional D'Appolito array with two side-firing (on opposing sides) passive radiators for additional bass. The Triton Fives, are a step up from the Sevens and include a number of advancements.

The driver configuration at the top hasn't changed, continuing to sport a D'Appolito array (one tweeter sandwiched between two midranges vertically). The driver sizes, however, have. The midranges on the Fives have increased from 5.25" to 6". As with all GoldenEar Triton speakers, the tweeter is their famous High Velocity Folded Ribbon Tweeter. The Triton Sevens has dual 8" side-firing passive radiators (on opposing walls) while the newer Fives sport four side-firing passive radiators. The fives are also a bit larger at 8.125” wide by 12.375 ” deep by 44.25” tall (base: 11” wide by 16.5” deep) versus the Seven's 39.75" tall by 7.25" wide by 5.75" deep (base: 10.5" wide by 14.5" deep). Efficiency with the Fives has improved from the 89dB on the Sevens to 90dB and the frequency response now dips all the way 26Hz (from 29Hz).  Of course, with the increased performance comes a price increase. The Triton Seven towers ran $699 each and the new Five towers are $999 each.

Surely they could get one more driver in there somewhere

Along with the new speakers, GoldenEar has announced a new subwoofer, the SuperSub XXL - a sub that they call Dual-Plane Inertially-Balanced design. "Inertially-Balanced" in GoldenEar-speaker refers to drivers that are on opposing walls. By having them fire in-phase, the idea is that the inertia is canceled out.

The SuperSub XXL takes this idea to the (il)logical conclusion. It has two 12" long-throw high-output bass drivers and two 12.75" by 14.5" passive radiators. The drivers fire to the sides and the passive radiators fire top and bottom. Despite the name, GoldenEar designed the SuperSub XXL to be barely larger than the drivers. At 18 ⅞” wide by 15 ¾” high by 15 ¼” deep, the SuperSub XXL is large by brick and mortar standards but is quite diminutive compared to internet-direct offerings.

With such a small box, GoldenEar had to include a massive amp. With 1600 watts and the same 56 bit DSP initially designed for the flagship Triton One towers, the XXL has plenty of power. The enclosure of the XXL is constructed of very thick, "high density medite," which is finished in high-gloss piano black lacquer. High-density medite seems to be a bit of a contradiction as "medite" is a type of MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard). Does this mean that it is actually HDF or just really thick MDF? Either way, they've braced the heck out of the SuperSub XXL to eliminate the possibility of resonances or the flexing of cabinet panels due to the tremendous internal pressure.

The SuperSub XXL has a number of features including DSP controlled frequency response, soft clipping, DC offset control, output-stage saturation control, discrete multi-band limiting, and phase-perfect equalization. In the end, the only thing other than a flat frequency response that we really want to know about a sub is how low it hits. In the case of the SuperSub XXL, it is rated down to a nearly unbelievable 10Hz. Though no SPL output spec is given so take the 10Hz rating with a grain of salt as it's highly questionable if its even audible. It takes a VERY large box and driver(s) to play meaningful output below 20Hz. However, at $2000, if the performance claims above 20Hz are accurate, the price seems fairly reasonable considering the size of the sub and the amount of technology shoved inside the box.

Conclusion

The new GoldenEar Triton Five towers take the successful Triton Seven towers and upgrades everything but the tweeter. Promising more bass (down to 26Hz) and greater dynamic range, the Triton Fives should make a worthy contender into the crowded $2K a pair price range. Putting more drivers than seems reasonable in a small box with a massive 1600-watt amp, the SuperSub XXL promises output down to 10Hz. At $2000, this fairly diminutive sub, is sure to be coveted by many.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.