I just wanted to say everything arrived and I was able to leave work early and pick up the speakers. Everything is installed and getting broken in to some extent. I'm still getting the bass dialed in so I'll probably have to run a lot of calibrations because I assume every time I adjsut the bass knob it throws off the LFE and might even through off the level measurement of the front L/R speakers, correct?

Imahawki,

Bass settings depend how you have it hooked up. I'd start with 2-channel stereo using the speaker level inputs only and get your level adjusted where you like it for music and then calibrate your LFE level with a sound meter based on your receivers directions.

I have my gain knob set at the 13:00 point and am around 80 dB on my sound level meter (5dB high) at about -8.5 on the LFE setting in my level adjust in my receiver speaker setup. Your mileage may vary.

Congrats on taking receipt of your system. Don't get too wrapped up in the tuning yet. Set your gain knob to 12:00 and do a quick cal of your LFE levels. Then just enjoy your system for a while. You've been waiting too long not to enjoy your system for a bit right away. I think it's always better to tune things after you know how they behave in your environment and how things are sounding. My .02.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Yep, got it set to 12 right now. Had it at 9 and kept creeping it up really slowly, finally I was like WTF, go straight to 12. Sounds great right there. Going to leave it until I know the break in period is done.

Congrats Imahawki,
Glad you got them. Happy times listening.
I would say dialing them in position wise would be the best for now while they are breaking in, or while your ears are adjusting.
Getting the right distance apart, from the walls, toe in, etc. And then the electronics will come. I hope you don't have too much grief with Audyssey as I have, I finally quit using it altogether. Getting them sounding right by ear is FUN and in the end, more successful IMHO.
Anyway, have fun with it, ENJOY!!!!!
God Bless,
Wayne

I got everything hooked up last night and listened to a little music. Then my sister stopped by and we watched Parks and Rec reruns on Netflix so I didn't really get a chance to run the system through the paces. Below are my initial impressions I posted on another forum I frequent.

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Note I'm much more active on this other forum so some of this write up assumes and acknowledges that the reader is familiar with my old setup and the journey that let me to GEt. It also assumes those readers are not as familiar with the GEt lineup as you are but I didn't feel like re-editing the entire write up.


Setup / Background
As you know if you've been following the thread, yesterday afternoon I took possession of a 7 piece GoldenEar Technology speaker system. Triton One and SuperCenter XXL and two pair of Aon 2s. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I rejected their "satellite" style surround speakers as being too frequency range limited on the low end based on my past experience and an in-store demo. I'll just say in my limited time so far I can't give any feedback on the center and surrounds yet. The remainder of this LONG post will be about the Triton One towers.

I have the speakers positioned in almost the same spot as the Klipsches they replace. I'll likely make some additional changes in the next couple of days or this weekend. Because I moved the rack a little, I need to move the right speaker in a little, which is good because it was closer to the side wall than the left. I can't achieve perfect symmetry because of the room layout but I've also never had problems with the layout pulling the soundstage badly. Its not a huge amount but I'll break out the measuring tape and get everything squared away.

Sandy Gross recommends toeing in the speakers to aim directly at the primary seating position. I've usually favored a toe in angle that converges somewhat behind the listener so I'll play with that as well, but currently have them toed in directly at the listening position.

Technical stuff you may not care about
I MOSTLY have the bass sorted out but did run into one easily solvable problem. The speakers have two inputs on the back, one speaker level (just one set, no bi-wiring allowed) and a mono RCA input. The RCA input only feeds the bass section. This isn't a fully active speaker, just the bass section is fed by the built in amp. The idea is you can hook up the speakers to just speaker wire, dial in the bass, and you have a full range speaker with the added benefit of tunable bass output that can be adjusted based on your room, proximity of the speakers to room boundaries, etc.

My understanding is, GoldenEar historically advised in their setup tips to only use speaker-level inputs even, for home theater. Set L/R to large and tell your AVR you have no sub. In theory this would work as modern bass management routines dictate that the LFE would be routed to the L/R speakers. However, the collective consensus seems to be that some AVRs attenuate the LFE signal when it is sent to the L/R. Its as if the designer said "dude, you don't really want to send a 90dB 25Hz explosion to your speakers that you only THINK are large, trust me." To the best of my knowledge this is just a theory but multiple individuals claim clearly attenuated bass on movie soundtracks when setup this way. As such many now suggests ALSO running the AVR LFE output(s) into the Tritons as the preferred setup method for home theater setups. For stereo only, there is absolutely no need to do anything other than hook up speaker level inputs.

This situation relates to the catch I ran into. I listen to music in "pure or direct" mode, whatever your AVR calls it, I'm sure you have a similar setting. As such, I must set the gain on the Triton towers' amp to the appropriate level so the bass is balanced when using ONLY speaker level inputs. The issue is, when the gain is set at that level, the LFE is way too hot. In fact its 18dB hot and the crux is, my AVR only allows a 15dB cut to the LFE channel. If I lower the gain on the speaker's amp, then they won't be balanced when running full range. So for now I have the 15dB cut set and figure 3dB is not a huge deal and some people run their LFE hot. This morning I got on Amazon and ordered a pair of passive 12dB line level attenuators. Since these will only be in-line with the LFE signal I'm not concerned about inserting these in the signal chain in the slightest. This will allow me to recalibrate the LFE properly. I do plan on replacing my AVR eventually and perhaps other AVRs allow more range on the LFE level or maybe their subwoofer output is simply less hot. I had a similar issue when I had the Klipsch and Powersound Audio subs. The gain was almost at the minimum. Perhaps the LFE line level out is just hot on my AVR.

Initial sonic impressions (Clarity, Smoothness, Soundstage and Imaging)
The Triton Ones could not be more different from my Klipsch Reference series. I honestly never had listener fatigue from the Klipsch speakers but by comparison it becomes clear retrospectively that they were a bit shouty and etched. The Klipsch Speakers rocked hard but there is an acknowledged lack of clarity and detail. Sonic smearing so to speak. Not terrible but this is a common refrain in reviews of these speakers. I was happy with them for a number of years but the differences are apparent in a direct comparison. Their sins are also much less pronounced for home theater. One thing I didn't need a comparison to note something I've recognized since the day I brought the Klipsch speakers home. the Klipsch Reference cabinets have some pretty bad resonances. A knuckle rap on the side did not product the kind of non-audible thud of say knocking on a granite countertop. It produced a decent midrange ring. I've also heard complaints about the lack of damping in the horns themselves as they're made from molded plastic. I know with the top of the line RF-7s people actually remove the horns and put damping materials on the back side of the horns like Dynamat. This isn't really feasible with the lower models as the horn is molded into the entire speaker baffle. Given the price of these speakers none of this is a terrible surprise nor an unforgivable sin. However, resonance is distortion and I'm sure these issues are equally large contributes to the improved clarity I perceive with the GEts as say, driver and crossover designs. The GEts by comparison are so much more clear and detailed. Its almost as if they play over a more silent background. If I say its like looking through a clean window is that more or less cliche than veils being lifted?

Another large change is soundstage and imaging are both significantly better. I spent a lot of time squeeze the best of these attributes I could get out of the Klipsches. Just by plopping down the GEts in the same spot they already surpass the old speakers. I mean I used to have to try with the Klipsches. They always had the most 3D presentation after a couple of glasses of wine. The best staging and imaging speakers I've heard I could be looking right at the speakers and it STILL didn't sound like the music was coming from them. The GEts aren't quite dialed in yet and I know I need to address some room acoustics that I freely acknowledge also negatively impacted the Klipsches. But the GEts are a step above. Its no surprise given the comments in the preceding paragraph. Cabinet resonance is one of the primary factors of box speakers sounding boxy. Sure baffle diffraction and other design decisions come into play but the distortion created by the resonance impacts both the clarity and a speakers ability to disappear.

Finally, and I save this for last because its most easily described, there is just a level of smoothness and effortlessness to the GEts. Perhaps its simply another factor of the sonic aspects I've already described... I mean the Klipsch speakers are more efficient if we rely on manufacture specifications. So it seems like they would have an advantage in sounding underworked. But the GEts lack perhaps what is grain that I got out of the Klipsches. Maybe it goes back to that sounding like they're projecting from a black background, maybe its the singnificantly better damped cabinets. I'm not sure. there is a palpable purity that adds to the realism.

Oh by the way, just to satisfy the cliche gods, if I haven't already, I did hear something in a recording that I've not heard before. I don't even remember what it was now. Maybe a string slap on an acoustic bass... I forget, I listened to a lot of my demo tracks while getting stuff dialed in. But yeah, veils or whatever.

Thanks, imahawki!

Great report! Enjoy your fantastic set-up!

Rick