GoldenEar Triton Seven Tower Speakers Review

GoldenEar Triton Seven Introduction

The GoldenEar Triton Seven speakers are the least expensive tower they offer at about $700 each ($1,400 for a pair).  GoldenEar has gained a lot of buzz in audiophile circles for offering audio quality that rivals many much more expensive speakers.  Additionally, they produce truly flagship speakers like the large Triton One which features a large powered bass section.  Because we have a soft spot for the audiophile “gateway drugs”, we wanted to see what GoldenEar could offer folks on a tight budget, and how much of that Triton One tech might have trickled down to the Triton Seven.

 GoldenEar Triton Seven Tower Speakers Review

One thing that the Triton Seven have in common with the other GoldenEar models is the tweeter which is a folded ribbon tweeter that GoldenEar calls the HVFR or High Velocity Folded Ribbon.  This is the exact same tweeter featured in all of their tower models, all the way up to the flagship Triton One.  The tweeter is flanked on the top and bottom by a 5.25” cast basket woofer.  Cast baskets are usually a sign of great build quality as they are more rigid, and thus, can handle high dynamic drivers better than most stamped baskets.  There are no powered drivers in the Triton Seven, but on either side of the speaker enclosure is an 8” Planar Sub-Bass Radiator and no other ports, which make the tower a quasi-ported design.  The full driver compliment is rated by GoldenEar to reproduce a range from 29 Hz - 35 kHz (no tolerance given).

These drivers are hidden behind a sock of speaker cloth that wraps the entire enclosure and is gathers with a drawstring below the glossy black, plastic top cap and anchored at the bottom by a non-removable glossy black, wooden base emblazoned with the GoldenEar logo.  The base is threaded on the bottom for use with the included spikes or rubber feet.  The speaker cloth can be removed with some effort, but it’s not designed to be used that way.  The enclosure under the cloth is not finished in a way that is aesthetically perfect, so you’ll just want to leave the cloth on.

The Triton Seven Grill Cloth

Beauty in the Eye of the Beholder?

The appearance and aesthetics of the Triton 7 is a divisive conversation.  The shape of the speaker is a 40” tall, narrow column that is slightly wider at the back than the front with slightly curved edges.  The design is decidedly minimalist, which some folks like and others don’t.  Personally, I like the fact that they disappear into a dark room with few reflective surfaces, which makes them perfect for home theater.

Looking for second opinions, I showed them off to some visitors.  I was told they look like “skyscrapers”, which is a good thing if you have a modern decorating scheme, but a bad thing if your home is finished in something more traditional.  One thing is for sure, all GoldenEar speakers have an appearance that is uniquely their own and won’t be mistaken as anything other than GoldenEar Speakers.  From a functionality standpoint, the finish choices are polished, yet economical, no doubt allowing GoldenEar to deliver sound that punches above their price point by focusing investment in the sound-producing materials.

GoldenEar Triton 7 Listening and Conclusion

For listening, I drove the GoldenEar Triton Seven with my standard Onkyo TX-SR706 THX Select rated AVR, and the more modest, but fantastically versatile, RBH BT-100 which is a 2 x 25 watt Class D bluetooth amp.  I listened in smaller, closed rooms similar to a bedroom or office, and a larger, open family room.

The Triton Seven worked well in all these environments, but worked really well in the smaller room due to the tonal character I heard.  If I were asked to describe the sound of the Triton Seven in two words it would be “spacious” and “smooth”.  In both rooms, the Triton Seven cast a huge, spacious image.  This was especially apparent in the small room where narrow spacing, and close walls can make a system sound small and constrained.  That was not the case with the GoldenEar Triton Seven.  The stereo image extended far to either side of the speakers, and created a wall of sound that filled the front of the room and beyond.

That spacious sound was especially apparent on my go to track, My Brightest Diamond’s “Be Brave.”  Through the Triton Seven, the placement of woodwinds and strings trading riffs before the bridge unfold in a wide soundscape that sounded so much bigger than these slender speakers in a small room should.

 My Brightest Diamond - ALL THINGS WILL UNWIND: Be Brave

Of course, in that same track, the smooth sound of the Triton Seven all render the delicate bells with a natural decay, clear harmonics, and appropriate air, but without a hint of harshness, no doubt due in large part to the HVFR tweeter.  Ribbon tweeters are know for limiting high-frequency breakup above 10kHz, which can be common with dome tweeters.  As a result, all GoldenEar speakers feature a clear and clean high-frequency reproduction.

That natural sound reproduction extends to the low end of the frequency spectrum as well.  While the Triton Seven will lose in a low-end tug-o-war to the larger Tritons with powered bass sections, the fully passive Triton Seven feature a robust mid-bass reproduction before rolling at the lowest bass frequencies.  In Bjork’s “Hyberballad”, there’s a repeating bass line that is essentially three heavy synth bass notes.  Through the Triton Seven, these notes were all present and resonant, and while the track would have benefited from the addition of subwoofer like the GoldenEar ForceField series, I found the Triton Seven alone perfectly acceptable for bass-heavy styles of music, as long as you temper your expectations from these slender speakers.

 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Official Trailer – “We March Together”

The same held true for movies.  While the dialogue in the Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was clearly reproduced by the articulate mid woofers and accurate tweeter, and the snap of artillery fire in action scenes was dynamic yet non-fatiguing, the modestly sized towers were adequate, but not visceral in the low frequencies.  All of this is well within expectations given their size and price point.

Conclusion

The Triton Seven tower speakers represent a low barrier of entry to the highly praised GoldenEar sound.  They offer a remarkably spacious stereo reproduction, and smooth frequency response.  Their low-frequency reproduction is understated, but far from anemic, and the Triton Seven make for a terrific 2.0 system in smaller rooms.  While their looks may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s tough to argue with the performance for the price, assuming the landscape of the modest priced tower doesn’t change too much in the coming year.

Do you own any GoldenEar speakers?  If so, please share your experiences in our related forum thread below.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Build Quality
Appearance
Treble Extension
Treble Smoothness
Midrange Accuracy
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Imaging
Soundstage
Dynamic Range
Fit and Finish
Performance
Value