Golden ear Technology reference

@schubert

Not too sure about that. Sandy Gross LOVES Classical Music and demonstrated them with Classical at RMAF. I wasn’t really paying attention to the music as I already had them at home. I spent most of my time making small talk with Sandy. I will say that "Witches Brew" sounds incredible on my T refs.

@arafiq....................................

No, not laughing all the time, only when someone heard them for a few minutes, draws conclusions based on that, then tells another person in the forum who is interested in them that they aren't that great.  You do that person a great disservice.

stereo5, there’s no doubt they are great speakers as they should be for their price and I think your McIntosh tube preamp and the McIntosh amplifier combination are giving them that “warmth” and musicality that I felt they lacked during my short audition. You have hit the right synergy formula and I’m sure they sound excellent.

I've also heard them for more than a few minutes. I thought the Triton 1s were more tolerable, but didn't care for them either. All the Triton speakers I auditioned were bright and fatiguing compared to the likes of B&W, Focal, and Revel, and I never considered those brands to be warm by any sense of the word. 

The Triton 1s and Refs were in a well damped, theater-like room (though there was no screen) of approximately 18 x 26'. Each wall was lined with carpet. All speakers were driven by SS Mac gear. The other speakers I heard in that room were Revel Salon 2s. They were much less strident in the upper midrange, and far more balanced, but again, not warm by any stretch. 

From all the polarized consumer accounts I've read, they seem to be a sort of a love or hate speaker brand, not unlike Klipsch. Some folks love them, which is why I'd still encourage you to seek out an audition.

Hi @kjl1065

First of all, welcome to the forum! As you're probably gleaning already, there are a lot of opinions here. I'm a Golden Ear Triton Reference owner and prior Golden Ear Triton One owner, so naturally I would recommend them.

You should know that this particular forum doesn't give much love for Golden Ear, for whatever reason. If you head over to the Golden Ear forum, you can read about all the positives. 

Of course, your could also read the scores of professional publications and hundreds if not thousands of satisfied customer testimonials. 

Obviously you would want to hear the speaker first hand (or first ear?). But like any other piece of gear (speaker or otherwise), only so much credence can be given to a dealer audition. 

Also worth keeping in mind is that there is flexibility on the pricing. Lastly, if you are near or around zip 11520 I'll invite you to listen. I'm a member of an audio club and have listened to perhaps as many as 15 different quality speaker pairs (I'm a two channel stereo listener only), the most expensive of which was a $200K pair of alta statement towers, where the T1s could basically fit inside its cabinet. Suffice it to say in my view/opinion I'm not missing anything and am perfectly content with my T Refs. 

Something else to note for the folks who can't get past the price difference between T1 and TR.... The T Refs are stunningly beautiful. Yes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is no comparison from both a sound and physical appearance perspective when evaluating T1 to TR.

Best of luck.