As the name suggests, these speakers are sized to fit on a shelf or to be mounted in a stand. I was so impressed with the BR03 that I had to check out . I have rears for surround sound. The latter should be a plus, ideally, because most electronics contain many recyclable materials. With most male voices, such as John Legend or James Taylor, the tweeter is barely in the mix because a filter capacitor inside the speaker limits the tweeter to frequencies above about 6 kHz (almost 2 kHz above the highest note on a piano). Triangle Borea BR03. For reference, the lowest note of a standard bass guitar or double bass is E1 at 41.2 Hz, so 40 Hz is deep enough for most rock and jazz recordings. These are the speakers to do it. The Fluance Ai61 had a recessed mid range, which in our tests took the body out of singers voices and made them sound a little like they had their hands cupped around their mouths. The B652 is a sealed-box design with no bass ports, so you can place the speakers against a wall without making the bass sound too boomy. Learn more about it in our blog post.) In the charts below, the flatter the trace is, the more natural the speakers sound. These could be for you. Its performance is bound to please practically any listener, and we like the sophisticated, minimalist design, which should suit almost any space. Check the Detailed Comparison of Triangle Borea BR02 vs Borea BR03 for more details. Sorry, this post was deleted by the person who originally posted it. Our panelists thought the Cambridge Audio SX-50 had a rather dull-sounding upper midrange, which made voices sound less clear. It has a phono input and a convenient front volume/input-selector knob, which the S1000MKII lacks. He regularly gigs on double bass (and occasionally ukulele) with Los Angelesarea jazz groups. A better comparison may be the Polk L200 vs the KEF R series bookshelf speaker (3-way design). We independently review everything we recommend. The lower it falls below the reference, the more subdued the sounds in that frequency range are. I was expecting a fuller sound from the ELAC DBR62 since it has the 6.5 woofer compared to the 5.25 woofer on the KEF Q150 but it just didnt work out that way, at least, not in a significant way to my ears. Your IP: These $549 Triangle Borea BR03 and $599 KEF Q150s are just the kind of speakers that I enjoy listening to and evaluating. While nothing was loose or falling apart, there was a very obvious seam on the Walnut vinyl wrap located on the bottom of the speaker. The Q Acoustics 3020i speakers sound and look fantastic, and they play music of all genres with great detail and clarity. The BR08 fairs a little better in this regard. Just going to step in here and say thank you for writing this up. The Triangle Borea BR03 has a frequency response of 46Hz - 22kHz with +/-3dB. they have been noted for a later date. The House of Marley Get Together Duo is a small set of powered speakers with Bluetooth and line inputs, and the right speaker has a rechargeable battery that lets it work on its own as a portable speaker. . The only bad audio system, is the one you don't enjoy to the fullest. Finally, for what it's worth, the Q150s are much smaller than the Triangles. Triangle Borea BR03BT-LOB All-in-One Bluetooth Speaker and Subwoofer (Pair) LIGHT OAK BLUE Canada Triangle Borea BR03BT-LOB All-in-One Bluetooth Speaker and Subwoofer (Pair) LIGHT OAK BLUE - Wireless Bluetooth Bookshelf Speaker - Borea Active BR03 BT The BR03 BT speakers create a powerful all-in-one Hi-Fi system with multiple features. I'm auditioning both the BR03s and Q150s right now through an Emotiva TA-100 for a desktop nearfield setup. Excellent Review Victor! Suggestions for amp/speaker upgrade: Marantz, Musical Fidelity, KEF, Dali - how does it all fit. Adorama has the BR02s for $269 which could and should sway the vote some. I don't have an amp to go with them yet and there don't seem to be any great deals, so I'll probably pick up a Yamaha A-S301/501 and get a sound card to use the optical input. Its a tonal balance that audiophiles tend to love because it makes music seem a little more exciting and captivating. If so, buy both. The speakers come with foam plugs for those ports if you do place them next to the wall, but that will reduce the bass output. Cool, figured it may have been a move up to a pricier speaker. Using speaker stands like the Sanus BF24B or Monoprice 39494 can also solve this problem. We focus on education, discussion, and sharing of entry and mid level separate & multi component audio systems. The Klipsch R-41PM (which we did not test) is a smaller version of the R-51PM with the same features but a smaller woofer. Nice review Victor. The R-51PMs audio performance isnt quite as good as that of the Edifier S1000MKII, but the 5.25-inch woofer in this speaker does allow the system to produce a reasonable amount of bass. I hear that the Q150s are supposedly even better, despite their smaller profile. We concluded that Fluances Ai41 speakers sounded decent but could use a little more bass; their sound wasnt full enough for us. Triangle Borea BR03 are $9.02 more expensive than the average speakers ($289.98). This speaker will fit perfectly in rooms ranging from 15 to 30m2. Warm sounding speakers. Brent Butterworth is a senior staff writer covering audio and musical instruments at Wirecutter. The R-51PM has an unusually versatile set of connection options, including a phono input and an optical digital audio input. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. I'm looking to invest in my first set-up with the current sales. The 3020i also has a slightly bright tonal balance that may leave some listeners craving a fuller sound or yearning to add a subwoofer. In our tests with Holly Coles version of Train Song, the sound sparkled, filling the room with the jingle of percussion instruments and the subtle sounds of fingers scraping the strings of the double bass. I like the design of the Triangle Borea BR02 the best, but it seems that it along with the Dali are sold with higher premiums in the United States. I see that you have the Triangles for sale, have you moved on to another bookshelf speaker that you like better, or just going with your new 705s? Its a neat concept, but the speakers sound is rather thin and crude. These versatile, good-sounding speakers offer the widest variety of connection options, including a phono input for a record player. The ELAC DBR62 gives you a lot of sound and it is non fatiguing but it is not as laid back as the Polk LSiM while not being as forward as the KEF Q150. Before conducting listening tests, I broke in each speaker pair for 10 hours with music. Powered by Xenforo, Hosted by Nimbus Hosting, Original design Critical Media Ltd. I demoed the B&W's 607's when I bought my Rega Brio Amp pre lockdown. Triangle Borea BR03 are a popular option in the middle of the speakers price range. These switchers allowed me to match the levels of all the speakers within 0.5 decibel, using channel-level calibration tones recorded from a Dolby Digital receiver along with an NTi Minilyzer audio analyzer and a Mini SPL measurement microphone set for flat response (that is, no A- or C-weighting). Very cool Victor! The 3020i is also beautifully designed, with high-quality speaker-cable binding posts, nicely rounded corners that resist chipping, a magnetically attached grille, and four finish options. Thanks all for the suggestions. The only area that I thought was a little off was the midrange. They eliminate at least one component (the receiver/amplifier) and at least one cable. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. The Line/Phono switch sets the red and white RCA jacks to the right to work with a turntable output or a standard line audio source. We especially loved that the treble had a just-right character; it always had enough detail and sparkle to hold our attention but never veered into sounding bright, thin, or harsh. Except for the James Taylor tune, which was a 256 kbps MP3, I streamed all the tracks losslessly via the Qobuz streaming service so that I could be sure any flaws we heard werent due to a Bluetooth codec. I think either the Rega or the MF would be ok for the triangle.. for sure you would most certainly hear the difference between them and the Pioneer.. even on those ageing missions of yours!. But its more than twice as costlyand the performance improvements dont merit that big of a price increase. The 6.5-inch woofers in the SVS Ultra Bookshelf speakers produced excellent, room-filling bass in our tests, but our top pick and upgrade pick offer superior mid-range and treble performance. $299.98 (50% off) SHOP NOW. And so if you can't demo both, then pick based upon other factors. Its massive. All the reviews I can find all say that there is nothing bad to say about any of them at this price point which isn't very helpful. Frequency response measurements for the BR03 were excellent, with a variation of about 2.5 decibels through most of the audio range and an even balance of bass to mid range to treble. High-end powered speaker systems can offer technical advantagessuch as separate amplifiers and digital signal processing for each speaker driver to precisely tune the soundbut in the price ranges were covering here, neither type of speaker can claim a clear sonic advantage. Our most recent round of testing, completed in January 2022, included nine new passive models and two new powered models. See What to look forward to for details. Press J to jump to the feed. The addition of USB and optical digital audio inputs, a subwoofer output to connect a powered subwoofer, and a nice remote control give the system excellent versatility. Getting your music from the cloud has never been easier. Hip-hop, R&B, and modern pop recordings often extend to lower frequencies, so if youre a fan of those genres (and you wont use a subwoofer), pay special attention to our CTA-2010 results at 31.5 Hz. The Micca COVO-S is a cute little concentric (tweeter-inside-woofer) speaker set. B&W's generally need a fair amount of space to breathe or they become boomy being rear ported. I used two different switchers to move between systems: an Audio by Van Alstine AVA ABX (with two Outlaw Audio Model 2200 amplifiers) for the passive speakers and a switcher I built myself to test the active speakers. $599.99. Good thinking! I am a fan of the Wharfedale 12.1's. In response to the question about the Triangle BR03, I have reviewed them. A magnetically attached grille is included to protect the speaker drivers. I have to say I am a little upset that you got so many responses to your question on my post when I got nothing on mine. highend666. The Triangle has similar levels of resolution but roughed up frequency response, which is overall less coherent and a "sparkly". The only bad audio system, is the one you don't enjoy to the fullest. Each speakers cabinet is finished in a vinyl wrap that looks far better than the faux wood grain you usually see at this price. I asked him to pick out the speakers playing but he couldn't, they created such a good sound stage. We originally didnt recommend the Polk Audio TSi100 set because we thought its price was too high for the performance it offered, but the price has fallen by about 30% since then. I can't demo them in store now obviously, so looking . Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. Following are our impressions of some of the other speakers weve tested for this guide. Question - Entry to hifi: Dali, Triangle or KEF? | AVForums The Triangle Borea BR02 sounded much like the BR03 but had less bass and sounded a little brighter and more trebly. 2023 Wirecutter, Inc., A New York Times Company. Use this Slickdeals link to access the $279 sale prices for the BR02 at Adorama as it has links to the different finish options, https://slickdeals.net/f/14642636-triangle-borea-br02-bookshelf-speakers-279-or-brc1-center-speaker-199-free-s-h. If you want a smaller speaker than the B6.2, and if you listen to lighter music or prefer to use a subwoofer, this set is a good choice. The Triangle Borea BR03 pair is a great buy for serious music lovers who want the enveloping, captivating sound of real audiophile-grade speakers but dont want to spend thousands of dollars or sacrifice a lot of floor space on tower speakers. These speakers were not very picky on placement and they did not require much power to get good sound levels. The Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 and 12.2 got similar reactions from our panelists. and most of the amps that have been recommended are stereo, good amps non the less, but not really what I'm looking for. Most lower priced triangle speaker are bright like some Dali and B&W can be, so careful system matching is important Once had a pair of Triangle LN01, they where to bright for my taste, bass okay but sounded like a slightly uneven frequency response Okay, demo for sure before you buy. They also all have aptX HD Bluetooth. At just 11.875 inches high, 6.5 inches deep, and 7 inches wide, each B652 speaker is compact enough to fit on most bookshelves, and because each speaker weighs only 4.7 pounds, most shelves can support them both easily. I use the older Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D THX PCIE Sound Card SB1350. insider9 Their dull black vinyl covering and plain design wont suit high-style living spaces (unless you want to add an ironic touch), but theyll probably sound better than all but the best one-piece wireless speakers. My space accentuates bass a little bit, which helps balance the rear ported KEFs that may otherwise be light on bass for some people's tastes. For movie and TV watching, a pair of good bookshelf speakers can deliver much better dynamics and vocal clarity than the speakers built into any TV, and many of our recommendations have a matching center speaker designed more specifically for dialogue reproduction. Just want to know which would sound better for a desktop setup. In the BR03, particularly in the black finish, this could also legitimately be seen to be a little dull. The soundstage on both speakers is excellent and the center image was locked in place on both speakers as well. For the CTA-2010 results, I averaged the output from 40 to 63 Hz to give you a quick idea of each speaker systems output. Combined with a minimum impedance of 4.1ohms, these specifications make the speaker quite easy to drive. Where I'm based (Belgium), the following deals seem best to me (but please let me know if you know of any others): Music stuff - Roksan Kandy KA1-MKIII, Dynaudio DM2/6, REL Strata III, 16.0mm 6181Y Double Insulated Cable (commonly electrical meter tails). A larger version, the Kanto YU6, won over two of our listeners, but the others werent impressed. The bass is a little bit more impactful than the KEFs, but not hugely so in my space. Triangle Borea BR02 vs. Dali Spektor 2 vs. KEF Q150 O seu design e componentes so inspirados nos desenvolvimentos tecnolgicos de mais de 40 anos da Triangle Hi-fi e beneficiam das inovaes acsticas desenvolvidas na aclamada srie Triangle Esprit Ez. It also looks nicer than most powered speakers do, although its styling is decidedly old-school. We used a wide variety of music for testing, including Tracy Chapmans Fast Car (found by audio testing experts at Harman International to be the all-around best overall choice for speaker listening tests), Lil Babys Woah, Ccile McLorin Salvants version of Wives and Lovers, and the live version of James Taylors Shower the People digitally dubbed from the Live at the Beacon Theatre DVD. Bookshelf speakers are, as their name suggests, compact units that are meant to be placed on a shelf or a mantle. We all hear different. The package includes a remote that controls volume, source selection, and play/pause/track-skip for Bluetooth devices. The under-$50 Dayton Audio B652 passive-speaker pair is the ideal complement to an inexpensive mini stereo amplifier or an old receiver youd like to put to good use. While they may be a tad too large (7.9 x 12.8 x 13 inches) to mount on your wall, theyre advertised as being perfect for bookshelves, and they put their larger cabinet size to use with increased internal volume for clearer sound. However, the Q150 is 3 inches shorter and 1 inch narrower than the BR03, and it often goes on sale for about half off the list price, in which case its a fantastic buy. The Klipsch R-51PM comes with a nice remote that includes subwoofer output-level controls, so you can fine-tune the bass level without having to make adjustments on the subwoofer itself (if you add one). Particularly for jazz and classical. The Q Acoustics 3020i set has enough bass for most music styles, but with just a 5-inch woofer, its no low-end powerhouse. I would try both at home, then see which speakers you prefer. We tested speakers with expert listeners, and we concealed the identities of the products to eliminate bias. For 299 they are a steal. Bookshelf speakers arent just for music, either. The higher the speaker line rises above the reference line, the more exaggerated those frequencies are. A proprietary 16-foot cable connects the two speakers. This subreddit is for the budget minded audiophile that wants to grow out of soundbars, boomboxes, mini systems, portable bluetooth, lifestyle speakers, and PC peripheral branded audio solutions. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The grille uses magnets instead of plastic tabs and grommets, which gives the front of each speaker a clean look when you remove the grille. Everything on this list sounds great, so youll be happy whether youre a classical enthusiast, a metalhead or anything in between. Part of this clarity comes from the 3020is slightly bright tonal balance, which means the treble seems subtly emphasized. But I doubt there are more than a small handful of people on this sub who have actually heard both personally. But for most people and most music styles, a good pair of bookshelf speakers will deliver a satisfyingly complete sound. Copyright 2000-2023 M2N Limited E. & O.E. This subreddit is for the budget minded audiophile that wants to grow out of soundbars, boomboxes, mini systems, portable bluetooth, lifestyle speakers, and PC peripheral branded audio solutions. Read More. I imagine with the sockets, etc you are going to overhang by 6-7 cm). The Edifier S1000MKII is the best affordable powered speaker system weve heardas was its predecessor, the S1000DB, the former top pick in our now-retired guide to the best wireless powered bookshelf speakers. That makes the S1000MKII pair a good choice for hip-hop, pop, and R&B, which tend to have a lot of deep bass. Privacy Policy. TRIANGLE BOREA BRO 3 vs KEF Q150. Very good sound and couple of guys on here also speak well of them. $350 is alot less than $600. I have only listened to KEF's so far. Like the ELAC B5.2s, the KEF Q150s are sombre, serious-looking loudspeakers that prize functionality over fanciful aesthetics. This set produces a generally full and natural sound, though we think it could use a little more bassbut there is a subwoofer output, so adding a sub is easy. I've listened to both in my home, and I think it's going to come down to personal preference between these two, rather than one being definitively better than the other. The Monoprice Monolith Encore B6 might be a good choice for people who want big bass on a budget. Triangle Borea BR03Amazon product link: https://amzn.to/3onVXk4KEF Q150Amazon product link: https://amzn.to/3F8Zt7CIn case you didn't know, I'm a compact bookshelf/standmount speaker aficionado. The Q acoustic concept 20s and Elac debuts (can't seem to get the other speakers mentioned) seem to be about double the price of the other options I proposed so I'm not sure whether that's worth it in my market. Some metal parts of the speakers may be recyclable; the company does not have a recycling partner in the US, but in France it works with a recycler called Eco-System. The Triangle Borea BR03 is piquing my interest as well based on all of the glowing reviews but you can't find a pair to buy right now. Triangle Up-sizes The Sophistication. Subscribe. Big (7.09 x 9.21 x 13.43 inches), black and bold, the ELAC Debut B5.2s look indestructible in that 80s sort of way if thats your jam. Powered by Xenforo, Hosted by Nimbus Hosting, Original design Critical Media Ltd. Audiogon Discussion Forum It sounded similar to that model but had less bass. The Q Acoustics 3020i also had a fairly flat response, but with less deep bass. These Q Acoustics speakers offer excellent sound quality at a great price in a handsome, wood-panelled package. Triangle Borea BR03 Review (bookshelf speaker) Looking to mount your speakers on a stand? Otherwise, the S1000MKII set just does its job well without many noticeable sonic flaws, something that we cant say about most powered speakers in its price range. Finishes: Light oak, black, walnut, white List Price: $599 Canadian/pair, $449 US/pr. Very nice review!!! From the front, the B652 speakers are close in size to the 3020i set, but they have a more basic look, with a dull black vinyl covering. The looks are refined (four finish options are available), and the engineering is outstanding. The 3020i pair comes in a variety of finishes to match your decor. Digital assistants and smart speakers are all well and good, but sometimes you just want to output your audio the old-fashioned way: through quality speakers. In our measurements, the 3020i pair had roughly 8 to 9 decibels less bass output than what larger speakers like the Triangle Borea BR03 and ELAC Debut 2.0 B6.2 sets could produce, so fans of bass-heavy music might prefer one of those options. ELAC tweaked everything, from the enclosure size to the tweeter to the speaker drivers, and the result is a robust bookshelf speaker that reproduces balanced, if a little too mature, audio. SDA SRS 2.3TL's/SDA SRS 3.1TL's/SDA CRS+4.1TL's and some other stuff. I took delivery of a pair of the Borea BR03's in the Walnut finish on February 17, 2020 and I've been logging hours on them since that time while comparing them to some other bookshelf/stand-mount speakers in the same price range ($600 or less). Measured bass output of the total system was 105.4 dB from 40 to 63 Hz, just 0.9 decibel below the result from the Edified S1000MKII, but at 31.5 Hz the Klipsch sets output was 7 decibels lower, a difference youd notice when playing hip-hop and recent R&B recordings.