I am very blessed to have a home theater and still a smaller, stereo setup in the living room. The living room system is not
used much at all, we just put on some chamber music, or guitar/piano, folk, small classical type music while we eat in the
adjacent dining room.
We have T 7s set up there with a Triode 46 wpc KT88 integrated tube amp powering them and a Oppo 83SE as source.
I never try to overdo things on this system, but get some lovely music on and it sounds GREAT.
There is also a TV, but no sub.
Over the New Year holidays we kept 11 kids at our home, orphans that a missionary couple normally keep, but they needed a break
so we kept the kids and let them get away. Course they needed entertaining, and would NOT fit into our home theater.
So we put on movie after movie in the living room. Just playing the soundtrack through the t 7s alone. Remember, no sub, no center channel.
I sat and watched (and listened) to movie after movie with them, frankly my jaw dropping more and more!!! These little babies were
carrying the entire load, and WELL!!!! The sound was rich and full and powerful, LOUD when needed. Soft and sweet when it was there of course. I mean, I have a pair of these as my rear surrounds in the home theater! But here they are doing it all, and with a low powered tube amp driving them!!
Now, I love the Aons, BUT they need stands, which make them the same price as the T 7s in many cases and to me the 7s are just better! In fact, I have never heard a better pair of really INEXPENSIVE speakers in my life!!!! (I have owned the Spica TC50s back in the day, Apogee Stages, lots of bookshelf and small tower speakers and heard a LOT more, NONE can do what the T 7s can do, IMHO).
At $1400 per pair, they are not cheap, but for a present for your mom or dad, for a beginner in audiophile land, these speakers will amaze at how far they get you!!!
Just wanted to share that, I think these speakers deserve more talk.
Thanks for listening,
God Bless,
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I enjoyed reading your Triton 7 comments. When I replaced my Triton Sevens with Triton Ones as my primary Front speakers, I was not sure how best to use my Triton Sevens. I tried them as "second fronts" and "centers", sitting between the Ones, but I felt that this setup did not make best use of the Sevens. Ultimately, I moved them to the rear of my room and, initially, connected them as Rear Surrounds. Again, I felt that they were being under-utilized, especially since my primary interest is music.

I think I have found the best use for my Sevens. They are in the rear of the room, but connected to a separate AV Receiver and being used as "Rear Fronts" when playing music. They are not in use when watching movies. I have them phased so that, when facing them, Left and Right are correct. Being driven by a separate AV Receiver allows me to independently adjust the volume level for the Sevens. They really are good speakers and I am delighted to be able to use them to "fill my room" with sound, while maintaining the Ones as my primary fronts. I have the AV Receiver set to 2-channel analog direct. I also run my Onkyo Receiver in the Pure Direct mode when listening to music for the Triton Ones.

I have a pair of Advent speakers mounted near the ceiling as Upper Sides and a pair of SuperSat 3Cs mounted near the ceiling as Upper Rears. These speakers provide adequate surround sound when we watch videos.

I have a second TV and sound system in our upstairs Den, but we seldom use it, except for viewing football games when friends are over, or for playing background music. If we used this system extensively, I would move the Sevens upstairs. But, as it is, the Sevens would get little use if they were upstairs.

Happy Listening,

Art

Good stuff Art,
Thanks for that!
Can I ask, how big is your listening room? Seems that might be one reason to want to listen
to Poor Old Stereo in such a way, if the room was really large and the soundstage was not worth
preserving in a meaningful way.
POS is just for headphone listening in my system now, not very interesting to me otherwise.
All the best,
Wayne

Hi Wayne,

My room is about 18 x 24 and, in addition to my three sets of floor-standing speakers, the room is jam-packed with furniture. Even with the Altec-Lansings as Sides and the Triton Sevens as "Rear Fronts", I have a definite sound stage in front of PLP, provided by my Triton Ones. I am not aware of the presence of either the Altec-Lansing Sides or the Triton Seven Rears unless I turn them off. This situation is made possible because I drive the Altecs and the Sevens with separate AV Receivers for independent volume control. My Paradigm Sub is also in the rear of the room, located in the center between the Triton Sevens.

I enjoy listening in the "Pure Direct" analog mode because this mode provides the best situation for controlling the bass level as I feed the analog bass into my Triton Ones' LFE inputs. With the presence of stereo sound emanating from a total of 6 large speakers around the room, I have sound aplenty. When we watch videos, I use the 9.2 channel capability of my Onkyo AV Receiver by utilizing separate upper surround speakers. The Altecs and Sevens are not in use during surround-sound presentations.

I find everyone's comments to be very interesting as they describe their preferred listening modes and their setups. I think that music type listening preferences may play a significant role in determining listening mode preferences.

Happy Listening,

Art