Hi!

I own the Triton Ones and I'm looking for a new amplification. I've posted a question on the Audiogon forum and got a reply warning me about the risks of running them with a balanced amplifier.
Here is the message:
"A potentially VERY IMPORTANT POINT that needs to be looked into before choosing the Pass or Hegel amps: Both of these amps have balanced outputs, meaning that their negative as well as positive output terminals have full amplitude signals on them. Therefore their negative output terminals must not be grounded. Since the Triton One has a built-in low frequency amplifier, and the only input terminals the speaker provides are a single speaker-level input and an LFE input, it is quite conceivable that the negative speaker-level input terminal is connected to the circuit ground of the speaker’s built-in amplifier, and from there to its AC safety ground either directly or via some impedance that is low at some or all frequencies. And the AC safety grounds of the speaker and the external power amplifier will of course be connected together through the AC wiring.

In that event connecting one of those amps to that speaker would cause the signals on the amp’s negative output terminals to be either directly shorted to ground, or connected via a low impedance within the speaker through the AC wiring and from there through some probably low impedance within the amp to the amp’s circuit ground. Which may either trigger a self-protective shutdown of the amp or result in damage.

The method that is commonly used for driving the speaker-level inputs of subwoofers with balanced amps, whereby the sub’s negative input terminal is connected to a chassis screw or a circuit ground terminal on the amp (the Pass amp in fact provides the latter) will not work in this case because the amp would then be unable to drive the passive section of the speaker properly.

What I would suggest is that you contact GoldenEar and ask them about driving the speaker with an amp having balanced outputs. And if they can tell you specifically how or if the negative input terminal of the speaker is isolated from the speaker’s AC safety ground, or if it is not isolated if they can tell you through what impedance those points are interconnected."

I've noticed that the Triton One's do not have a ground contact but, anyway, I would like to know what risks I may be running and if there are any recommendations regarding the amplification compatibility. Actually my Mark Levinson 383 failed (a couple of months ago) in a way that, so far, nobody managed to come up with an explanation (and may be totally unrelated with the speakers - btw, this happened when I ran it from an unbalanced source connected to the ML).

Thanks in advance,
Joao

PS: soundwise ... awesome speakers

Hi Joao, and welcome to the forum!!!!
Great speakers you have!!!!
I am sure the Moderator Dude can give you a much better and authoritative answer than I can,
but I have balanced amps and Triton 2s and NO PROBLEM AT ALL!!!!
I think the person who wrote that does not know what they are talking about.
BUT what do I know?
GEt uses Pass Labs amps with their demo speakers at shows, IF I remember correctly.
My thinking is that "balanced" topology is internal in the amps and has nothing to do with the outputs to the speakers
except that it is a little louder and better.
Anyway, please let us know what you decide, I am sure it will sound great.
God Bless,
Wayne

Joao,

Sorry to hear about your Mark Levinson. Pass or Hegel would both be great replacements! Moderator Dude would have to answer the technical aspects of this question but I thought I would respond with a few observations.

First, I have fully balanced and differential monoblock amps (Emotiva XPA-1L) hooked up to my T1s and have had no issues. When auditioning the T1s, a local dealer had his T1s hooked up to a Hegel and it sounded amazing. Lastly, GET does almost all of their trade shows with Pass amps. I find it hard to believe there would be any issues with the Pass amps if that's what they use at such important events.

I'm guessing the poster of that warning is being a bit disingenuous. Ulterior motives, personal biases, previously scorned... Who knows, but it sounds like rubbish to me. Hopefully Moderator Dude will address this from a technical standpoint.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Yep, that's just totally wrong (regarding the comments about the powered Tritons' design). I won't even guess at the motivation, let's just assume uninformed.

Yes. I assume he is uninformed ... I do not think that the intentions were bad. Anyway, I will clarify that in the thread. I have the highest respect for the Goldenear and don't want to see any harm to the brand reputation

Thanks!

T Cobe wrote: Joao,

Sorry to hear about your Mark Levinson. Pass or Hegel would both be great replacements! Moderator Dude would have to answer the technical aspects of this question but I thought I would respond with a few observations.

First, I have fully balanced and differential monoblock amps (Emotiva XPA-1L) hooked up to my T1s and have had no issues. When auditioning the T1s, a local dealer had his T1s hooked up to a Hegel and it sounded amazing. Lastly, GET does almost all of their trade shows with Pass amps. I find it hard to believe there would be any issues with the Pass amps if that's what they use at such important events.

I'm guessing the poster of that warning is being a bit disingenuous. Ulterior motives, personal biases, previously scorned... Who knows, but it sounds like rubbish to me. Hopefully Moderator Dude will address this from a technical standpoint.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Thank you!

The 383 did not have any issues running the Triton for the previous months, so a structural problem would be a long shot ...
Also have listened to the Triton One with Gryphon (also a balanced design) without any problem whatsoever. I just wanted to be sure.
The Pass XA30.8 is high on my wishlist even if I never managed to audition the new .8 series. The Hegel H20 is, nevertheless much less expensive in Europe ... so that may be decisive. Any opinion on the Luxman?

Cheers!