Thank you for all you do! Seriously I have gotten a little tired of CZcams reviews lately because everything is great. Seems like in world of youtube you can’t go wrong with anything you purchase. So refreshing to have a review that is honest and respectful to both manufacturer and owners. Your knowledge of measurements and how you describe not only the measurement but the impact to sound reproduction is awesome.
They are mostly just advertising channels and they know if they give products bad reviews other companies might be hesitant sending them stuff (and money) for review.
@@crazyprayingmantis5596yeah, many of them just don't review items they didn't like. They'll just send them back to the manufacturer with some notes about why they aren't going to review it. Oh well, they might be more or less advertising but at least we can see the gear, what it looks like, and get some opinions on it. Or look and see what gear (by omission) is not being reviewed widely and take that with a grain of salt.
Cheap Audio Man, Zero Fidelity, and Andrew Lawrence pull no punches. If they don't like a product, they'll tell you. However, I'm rather suspicious of Darko Audio.
I like my BR03 speakers with my Topping HIFI setup, I am very sensitive to certain sound ranges. These are the best sounding speakers for me. I spent a lot of time listening to demos, going to places in person to listen to speakers and I love these, I absolutely love the lows and the fact that the highs don't pierce through my ears like daggers. I'm in a small subset category - this is all subjective anyways.
The speakers are fantastic. I use them more than a year and the pleasure is getting fuller and fuller. Trust your years and not the subjective opinions of others.
I have the Borea br02 and i like the sound. In the past i had over 20 pairs of speakers, some of them budget and some much more expensive. And to me the BR02s are nice price/performance speakers.
I’ve heard the Br03 and Br02, and personally liked the smaller br02 so much better that I actually bought them and have been listening to them for about a year now. You should really give the smaller bro a listen, they are rear ported and lean a bit warm in my opinion.
I had these for a while, I liked them enough. I thought percussion instruments and acoustic guitar on these were quite good. Very natural sounding timbres. Good open soundstage and imaging.
Great review, your criticisms are spot on with my experience owning these speakers over the last 18 months. As much as I'd like to defend them as I've quite enjoyed them as a living room speakers, I can't. So long as I don't push the volume past 75 db or listen too critically they keep me happy for background music/TV/light movie use and my wife enjoys the aesthetics. I've only come across one other reviewer who mentioned the volume issue. I'm surprised it isn't mentioned more as female vocals especially can become extremely harsh above 75 db (at 12 feet). Less of an issue with the matching center channel at least.
Great review! Agree with your whole assessment. I knew I was hearing something that was off. That was the breakup points. And the sibilance was a big NO! I have the Bro 2's and love them. Totally opposite of the 3's.
I had Bro3:s and didn't hear much sibilence with my gear. Treble was rather smooth and overall sound was good for the money (400 euros). Later changed to Comete which was much better, but still that Triangle sound which some like and some don't. (Now have changed to something else again).
Damn. I just took delivery of these last week, and you're confirming my gut feelings. They're just not what I was expecting. That lack of "fullness" or forward presence must be that midrange issue you've identified. These are going back to the vendor. I really appreciate your channel. Thank you for doing what you do.
I would’ve never guessed in a million years I had the capability to understand all of this, or for that matter even want to. I’ve been a musician for 50 years and have equipment from the 70s Marantz/ Cerwin Vega. Even though this video was about the deficiencies of this particular speaker, your break down as to the reasons why taught me a whole hell of a lot about all the squiggly lines. Someone shoot me if I don’t check with Aaron before buying audio equipment. Nicely done, sir.
Thanks for the teardown! I said on Patreon I guessed the sharp rise in IMD around 3KHz might be from using electrolytic capacitors in the crossover, but I was dead wrong! That is actually a pretty nice looking crossover for the budget.
Interesting review, and I appreciate your detailed technical analysis. I've owned a pair of these now for three years, and they have seemed very pleasant to my ears. I paired these to a Cambridge Audio AXR100 receiver which some people have described as slightly warm. I always keep my bass and treble at 0 balance. I've never felt the need to boost either, but I've appreciated the nice bass these speakers produce without me boosting it. I listen to a wide range of music from classical to 50's/60's be bop jazz to late 60's psych rock, to 70's glam and prog rock, to 80's synth pop and heavy metal, to 90's and 2000's pop and rock. So far everything has sounded detailed and pretty balanced to me whether from vinyl or CD. I also have my 4K TV (with attached streaming device) connected to the receiver. Movies and TV shows have sounded great to me through these speakers. I've only noticed issues with some YT videos that seem to just have bad audio, and the occasional worn-down vinyl record. Maybe my 49-yo ears are more forgiving, but I'd like to think I would've returned these (within the seller's return window) if I would've detected harshness or other issues. I'll try to listen for some of the deficiencies you pointed out, but so far I've been very satisfied with them.
So in this rough price range when looking at a bookshelf speaker with no major quirks in it's response, that can play loud without breaking a sweat and sounds dynamic and engaging, what would you recommend?
What a great lesson on how the different components combine to a bad overall frequency response. Textbook stuff with the port/woofer cancellation and crossover design. Seems weird to me that they'd ship a speaker with all those issues. I wonder if the drivers are better matched in a different form factor or with other xovers and they're just grabbing parts off the shelf to make this. Great review as always!
I was going to by the triangle borea br03 BT before viewing you rewiew of the passive version, can I ask you why would you advise me instead (the price can be a bit higher) ?
great review and spot on! had them for over a year...aesthetically pleasing... but that 'hole' in the mids and the augmented high frequencies were simply too much... ended (glad i did NOT sell them) going back to my Elac Uni-fi (original model) which are imho very linear and extremely natural sounding (pianos, vocals, cellos, acoustic guitars, cymbals). i now have them paired with an Audiolab 6000A and they have never sounded better! a joy!
Recently I've had the opportunity to have both the BR03 in "black ash" which I bought 3 years ago and the newer "USA model" in a "driftwood" finish which is classified as purely a cosmetic change and produced by Triangle in collaboration "with the Antal Audio Group". This allowed me to weigh the 4 speakers on a reasonably accurate electronic balance. The older black pair both weighed 15.9 lbs and the driftwood pair 14.8 and 15.2 lbs. The weights were obtained with grills off and weighings done several times to determine the same readings for each speaker. My question is, can the weights vary by 0.9 lbs /speaker if the only change is cosmetic? Doesn't a weight decrease of ~ 6% indicate something more radical in either the cabinets or components? Curiously, Triangle's manual with these speakers lists them as weighing 13.22 lbs (2 places of decimals!). I should add that I'm not comfortable in saying that one pair sounds different to the other pair because I don't trust my psychoacoustic sense when I might be influenced by other's comments and this finding. I should add that the external appearance of the drivers and the cabinet dimensions were the same in both finishes.
Thank you Erin. I'm looking for speakers for my dad. A few days ago I auditioned a number of speakers: 1. Dali Oberon 3 2. Triangle 3. ELAC DB6.2 One of my test tracks is "Take a walk on the wild side". In this track there is a lot of string rattling. And with Triangle it wasn't there. I thought it might be me, but you have restored the confidence in my hearing - thank you :) On a side note, the Dali was too heavy on the lows. And ELAC was just fine. I asked to connect the LS50 Meta, which I personally own for a few years, and they sounded anemic at best. There I knew something isn't right with their setup.
Thanks so much for this review. I was THINKING about these for our soon to be renovated master bedroom/bath. Uhm, NO! I really appreciate ALL that you do, especially the TEACHING of the data. Nerds really do rule.
Thats why i went with the Br02. Its not as messy in the mid range area and is more flat. The sound seems to be more neutral and not as sibalant as the Bro3. Also the fact that Bro 2 is rear ported may be crucial to why the speaker is not as messy as the Bro 3.
What do you recommend in the range of 500-1000? I dont like harsh trebke like focal 906..i would normally not ask a youtuber that because of ads but you seem honest about it
I was at first impressed when I listened to my jazz, instrumental test tracks. But with rock music particularly "What IF" by Creed. Try this track if you haven't because I believe it's a decent test of how forgiving the speakers are and if the speakers can play "distorted" guitars .... The guitars in this track sounded like it was bunched up together , no sense of separation .
I guess the bump at ~700Hz "brings vocals forward" and the treble has "air" due to the rise in the top end. The sibilance might be coming from the woofer after seeing that ultra nearfield response
Interesting evaluation especially as I respect you as a reviewer and I think your approach to reviewing is very thorough. I have the Esprit Titus EZ from this company, a smaller bookshelf speaker than this but a model further up the range. I think this speaker is marvelous for it's price point (was about £1000 but can now be had for £699). I have heard a lot of bookshelf speakers around this price and none, and I mean not one, sounded as good to me as this one.
I tried them in my office system and found they lacked resolution and adequate soundstage dimensions. Out of curiosity, which specific measurements indicate or at least imply my subjective impressions?
@michaelmityok1001 Erin describes what affects these particular issues in loudspeakers in his breakdown of Norah Jones' "Tell Your Momma" track at 16:44 in his recent "Songs I Use to Demo Speakers and What I Listen For" video. Check it out. Generally, a Smooth and Even Frequency Response, along with consistent & smooth Directivity throughout their Frequency Range, is what results in good "resolution" or detail, good imaging, and a decent representation of the soundstage. And, the FR needs to be closely matched between both the Left & Right speakers. The room or listening environment, the speaker positioning, and your listening position can also play a role in affecting the attributes or conditions listed above. If the Frequency Response is erratic, the peaks and dips in that response will MASK or subdue the "resolution" and details of the music or vocals in the areas adjacent to those peaks and dips. This is the main reason why Erin shows the +/-1.5dB (Excellent) and +/-3dB (Good) shaded boundary areas or limits in his basic on-axis Frequency Response Graphs. If the FR deviates much more than that, instruments and/or vocals that fall in those "out if bounds" areas with larger peaks and dips in the response will not sound NATURAL, LIFELIKE, or pleasing. In addition, the overall frequency response "curve" or linearity of the FR should be similar to a universally accepted "Target Curve" such as the Harman/JBL target curve, or the "Half Whitledge" target curve, etc. There are other generally accepted target curves, but the majority of them only have very small deviations in particular areas when compared to the original Harman/JBL target curve, and they are primarily based on individual personal preferences. However, I also want to say that your specific ROOM, and both of the speaker's locations as well as your listening position within that room can have a large effect on the FR and the potential reproduction of the soundstage and accurate imaging. For example, if the Left speaker is adjacent to and/or closer to a reflective window or wall of windows, but the Right speaker is adjacent to a wall that is further away with various furniture and bookshelves (or completely open to an adjacent room), it will be very difficult to achieve a balanced Response with excellent imaging and soundstage. The reflections and decay/reverb times of all of the sound from the Left and the Right speakers that eventually arrive at your ears should be as similar as possible. Hopefully, the recording and mixing engineer have done a good job in balancing the FR that is contained in the final recording so that all instruments and vocals sound natural and lifelike, or at least as the artist intended. But to accurately REPRODUCE what the artist and engineer created for you in the recording, you must have speakers with a relatively flat and linear FR themselves, or you will never properly hear what they recorded and intended you to hear. If the speakers add or impart their own non-linearities or "color the sound" in terms of FR and Resonances compared to what is captured on the source recording itself (as these particular Triangle BR03 speakers do), a piano, violin, cello, saxophone, snare drum, bass, or any other instrument or vocal will not sound natural, lifelike, or as the artist and recording engineer intended and provided to you in the recording itself. If you want to come close to accurately reproducing and hearing what is captured in the recording, you MUST have "Flat" or "Neutral" speakers (and other components in your playback system) that do not add their own "color" or "distortions" to the original source material. If your speaker's have a significantly recessed midrange + an exaggerated and rising response in the upper treble as these Triangle BR03 speakers do, your favorite male or female singer's voice is NOT going to sound anything like what you would hear from that artist in a live performance. And, the same applies to the sound of their instruments as well. Mixing engineers use a combination of very subtle changes in the Amplitude Level + slightly rolled-off Upper Treble Response of each instrument and/or vocal during the mixing process to Position and replicate those instruments or vocals in terms of DEPTH and LAYERING in the Soundstage. They use Left vs. Right Amplitude Levels (Panning) combined with Phase to place the vocals and instruments across the Soundstage from Left to Right. If your speakers have an erratic frequency response (which also results in issues with their phase coherency,) or have detrimental resonances, those anomalies will mask and destroy these subtle and minute attributes and imaging cues that were applied by the mixing engineer to place all of the instruments and vocals in the soundstage. So, again, the best way to ensure the accurate reproduction of all of these amazing details in a recording that give the music lifelike realism and a sense of width, depth, and placement in the soundstage, is to use speakers that have a Neutral, Balanced, and Smooth Frequency Response, with No Resonances or Phase issues that will destroy these attributes.
The most important is taste, I needed a cloth dome tweeter for its smoothness (the inverse of a horn), and I needed front ports to put them closer to the back wall. Your on axis measurement feel strange to me because I had to boost with a peq in the 8k area. and my measurement (in place in the room) showed a dip around 125hz which is good in my case (saves the dishes and glasses in the closets), those are way better than my old mission and my diy focal I could compare. the BR03 receive only from 68hz up from a dbx driverack pa2 and are corrected by eq. The room is not treated, the application is music and home theater, always with a sub. the removal of extreme low frequencies are indeed cleanin the low mid at high volure. The fact is I rarely try to push this above 85db, at high volume problems appear, but I don't need that. The important point is that the sound is almost the same everywhere in my room, just boominess (sub) when i go to the kitchen. This speaker is not diretional and that is the main reason for purchasing.
@@tylerhackman6832 for the moment I never heard one horn that was good to my ears, in general I like cloth positive dome tweeters. for me Klipsch are the worst offenders, impossible to correct even with eq. I very much dislike directional speakers. Question of taste, and I don't listen live music very often.
I was just about to buy the Br3's after an hour long demo vs some Bowers. Crisp sound, tight bass, sound is a little shut in but I changed my mind and ditch them. The reason being is their tweeter. They're just normal tweeters, you'll know where they at once you listen to them, they don't create that stereo image that the Bowers do. The Bowers tweeters instantly disappear into the whole room and create that tall, wide stereo image. They make it seem like like some giant PA's are standing right in front of you
Speakers like that, the first thing I try is plugging up those ports. I'm only guessing but I bet that if you put a soft plug (with polyfil) in each port that smooths out a lot.
I actually considered doing that and remeasuring this speaker but I realized that it would likely only help the dip at 1.2kHz. It won’t help the dip/peak combos other than that. I think my time is better spent moving on.
@@ErinsAudioCorner Understood ... but I think you'll find that port stuffing in a cabinet that size is going to have numerous other effects that may not be intuitively linked to the test graphs. I had a pair of the Cambridge Audio clones of the Elac DB6.2s and from all indications port stuffing would only clean up one cancellation at 800hz. So when I tried it the response shifted lower (almost an octave lower), the cancellation was gone and the tweeter appeared more evenly matched (which was an artifact of the apparent increase in woofer output). Something similar may or may not have happened in this case, but for the zero cost of it, it is clearly worth a try.
To be fair, this is one of their cheapest speakers, currently going for just $348/pair. The 40th anniversary Comete might be a LOT better. For my den, I'm glad I went with the Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 supplemented by a Polk subwoofer.
I had this speaker for a brief period of time. A selling point for me was that it was relatively efficient for my tube amp and seemed to be getting a lot of praise. I didn’t have them for more than a few moths before I sold them. They weren’t offensive to my ears, but I found that there was something off about the midrange. I will say that they make bad recordings sound…better. And if your into vinyl, you won’t hear some imperfections as much.
Erin, I am a late newcomer to the audio journey. I watch your channel very often, you do great work. I own a pair of Borea BRO3. Can a gr research upgrade of the crossover improve this speaker
Of course, it's all about matching the speakers to the amp (and the room and the recording and the pressing and the cartridge and stylus -- or the DAC and the CD player or streaming service or...). I can hear what you mean in the upper midrange when I've listened to the BR03s, but with certain recordings and certain (vintage) receivers, there's sometimes some punchy/airy magic there. It depends. Other times -- and I can say this about any pair of speakers I've ever had -- they can sound flat or dull or grating or lifeless or... My ears can get bored. Being able to change the equipment to suit your mood is the ultimate in listening luxury.
This gets me to ask myself what's going on in the "trust your ears" subjectivist community. I even have a sort of hypothesis on this. Are we being led astray by listening for details? In the sense that hearing something we have not noticed before, is necessarily a good thing? In that case I would think that roller coaster frequency responses can accentuate something that might have gone unnoticed in other systems, whether neutral, or just uneven in different ways. So we end up hearing something new in a familiar recording, assuming this is an improvement, buying the thing, keeping it until it gets on our nerves, going off to check out something else with the same mindset, and on and on. An endless cycle of "upgrades" right there. What I find promising in a review is more along the lines of your typical "hard to describe" reproduction. Especially when you add "it goes loud" and "it goes deep".
One thing I keep coming back to is the very real possibility that I can, and do, love the sound of very different sounding systems. Within reason, etc, caveat emptor, etc. And, to be clear: that is wholly subjectivist. Would you rather drink Rose you hate or a big cab you love, regardless of price? This is not to say I dont love Erins work. I do and think its super helpful.
@@leodesforges161 I might come out sounding like an arrogant and pretentious git, but here goes. I personally find I can tolerate an awful lot, but still generally prefer a reasonably flat on axis response and a room response gradually falling with increasing frequency. I generally also find I prefer systems with moderate or low distorion, and a reasonable capacity for SPL/ low compression, and low noise for electronics. Some deviations are easier to live with than others, and I'm far from being able to truly understand these, and translate my likes and dislikes to measurements or vice versa. But there is a tendency in consumer audio and the audiophile press to sell and praise stuff that I just find unnatural sounding. And it's not been getting better lately.
One thing to consider is the age of the average audiophile who spends over 10k on a pair of speakers. They tend to have lost a significant part of their high-frequency spectrum as people naturally do with higher age so higher-end speakers with extra treble energy make a lot of sense.
I returned a pair as well for the same reason but I own two pairs of the BR02’s & a pair of Titus EZ…go figure! Just a thought….did triangle supply these for you to review? Wonder if they are the same ones going around that other reviewers have had in and disliked
I also own the Bro02 and i find them much better than bro03. Tonality wise ans sound wise, more neutral and much less sibalant (birght up top). Aparently looking at Erins measurements not having front ports as the Bro3 benefit this speaker more. Also is a tad smaller
I'm running my BRO3 speakers with a Schitt Freya+ tube preamp and the Jeff Rowland 125 power amp. I am very happy with the sound. Are there better speakers? I'm sure there are. I can't audition all the speakers out there. For the money I spent I am quite happy. To each his own I guess.
@@filipedasilva8512 It does sound good. People are brainwashed to like what they call "neutral," which is just another sound profile in and of itself, not inherently better than anything else. "Neutral" is usually a very flat, boring sound that has no life or excitement to it. But hey, it's got the "right" graph, so it must be better, lol.
I really like these BR03 speakers, I had the Comete EZ for a period, they were better at some stuff, nice details and clear sound, good for string instruments, piano etc. But overall I went back to the BR03s, since they are very good "allround" speakers, they are good for all types of music, films and videogames. And I can listen to them 24/7 without any tiring of my head or ears, I did get enough of the Cometes after a while and had to lower the volume or stop listening. I do have pretty good hearing if it matters, and that is my theory, good hearing and maybe horns create a bit too sharp tiring sounds. I DO want to maybe upgrade to something bigger and better though, but I am not sure how much better speakers I need to feel it to be worth it, and actually be better of course. And what those speakers is. I find it strange that there is not any more a bit bigger bookshelf speakers.
The speakers are really excellent, they play more expensive than their price, but they definitely need warming up, I warmed up for + - 40 hours, before them there were kef q 150, I sold them after I bought triangl borea 03.
Replying here just in case someone suggests a good speaker upgrade. Been searching for a year now and none of the speakers Ive tried even with Triangles own upper range can dethrone the BR03 for metal and J-core and general symphonic pop stuff. Maybe Triangle can make a side grade to the comete with BR03's voicing but with the better tweeter. Since my one issue with the BR03 is that while the woofer is very layered the tweeter struggles to throw a image towards the back.
@@llysender I have now tried used Dali Opticon 2 MK1, I have tried them a couple days, tried different placings etc. But the BR03 are still better, the Opticons have more bass, and a rear bass port, they did have "more" bass, but not better bass, and I can hear more details in the music in the BR03 over the Opticons. The Opticons sounds good, they feel like more or less like an somewhat worse BR03. Although, the Opticons are 4ohm speakers, I MAY need a better amplifier, now I use an Surround Receiver, so maybe it is that, but I do not listen to music really loud, so I would think it is not the biggest issue, the BR03s goes down to 4ohm under load too I believe. Opticons are really good and bassy for electronic music, but not as detailed for guitars, violins and such, I feel some instrument dissappear in the sound compared to BR03s. Also the rear bass port on Dalis may interfer with my room, I had to pull them far out the get nicer sound. I want to get another good stereo amplifier though, I have some other Stereo amplifiers i MAY try though, but not at the moment. I am not sure that is a solution anyway, but I should find out before I can conclude anything.
It's like triangle wanted to join the budget market and wanted to give you a taste of there better stuff but at rising costs gave up too much and yielded unevenness so its kinda of wonky.... TharBamar had a video on these comparing them to the 225 an older wharfedale speaker and said those are much better. While I overall prefered these to my older klipsch rp-160m in most areas, my only gauge right now is those two and a pair of definitive d11 which I liked better then both. The mission lx3 speakers are still boxed that I have looking forward to tying them against these . I do agree it does sound like somethings off and he explained it. There ok but no where near the best under 1k of that im sure. It's nice to see someone break down where a speakers deficiencies are with the measurements., Something I never thought I'd say but he backs it up .
I don't know, I like them. I went with them over Klipsch and Elac. While I'd go for the LS50 Meta if it was in my budget, these were the next best thing in my opinion. To each their own, but these are terrific speakers for their price. I did get them on Amazon renewed though. These will be with me for a long while and are currently hold over until I can buy something more expensive, but that doesn't make them bad.
Strangest thing... is that the negative reviews are always the white color finish. There is no negative reviews (that I know of) on the black finish... I wonder if there is some reason for that. Maybe some small changes in the crossover parts ? or build materials ?
I don’t know. I never have had the opportunity to listen to these speakers or dozens of other brands. Here in Tucson high end stores no longer exists except for Best Buy. Phoenix is loaded with high end stores so maybe there’s a Triangle dealer up there to listen to them. Besides all of these specs just have to hear them for myself.
Didn’t these speakers start out twice as expensive and they were getting all kinds of good reviews, and then after the honeymoon was over, they got less expensive and people didn’t like them anymore ?! I seem to recall something like that. What that suggests is that people can have a perfectly acceptable sound, but require a little variety, and then they hit on something that sounds different and they think, oh this is cool, but in reality, it doesn’t have a long term effect of actually being good.😉 I may be confusing these with a different model, I’m not sure.
@@r423sdex I know everyone isn’t right in the head or doing things for all the right reasons, but some of those reviewers really do believe what they’re saying, and there’s no deception going on from them, as hard as that may be to believe lol
I think, when one says "for the money", it should be clear sonically as well as otherwise what that means. Being direct about where corners are cut and how that impacts sound should be clearly stated. Critical reviews are helpful.
I got mine for $200 and at that price, I am thrilled. I A/Bd them with the beloved Emotiva B1+. Both of these speakers have issues, IMO, reflected as a dip somewhere (or resonances, etc). Which come off as "something missing" plus "a bit too much of something else). As the Emotiva "tests really well" I still dont think it is a superior speaker to my ears, IN MY ROOM. The BR03 sounds way bigger, even though the bass isn't the strong suit of the Borea. Bigger soundstage and just more sonic energy. My reference system is anchored by the Philharmonic Ceramic Mini in a super quiet, well treated, symmetrical listening room, so it's not like I can't hear the differences and shortcomings of the decidedly not neutral Triangle. The BR03 is NOT neutral. But it plays really well in my living room setup (which is less than sonically ideal). I have no upgradeitis, which says something. FWIW, I like them both on and off axis and think they image well. My livingroom set up is NOT optimal and yet the BRO is flexible in placement and sounds good (but different) in multiple configurations. My room makes the brightness a strength. So, no disagreement here, just the fact that the BR03 brings me joy, regardless of how poorly its tests. Final thought: think about how your listening space influences what you hear. Your room is the biggest factor in sound reproduction.
Kali LP6 v2 are in the same price category but have built in amp and DSP switches to adjust for different placements. Their frequency response is considerably less chewed up, so worth an audition I'd say. However, I didn't particularly like the look, so I moved mine out of sight to the bedroom.
@@paulgood2218 Price has been stable at £149 per speaker new for a year or so - probably cheaper in the USA. The cheapest 2nd hand Borea BR03s I saw were not much less (~£240 a pair).
Unfortunately it seems that 100% honesty all of the time depends on most of the YT reviewers bills and their relationship with manufacturers and retailers which is to be expected. Thanks for this.
I dont see the issue with not liking it. Its like how I find the elac Debult Ref to be a horrible sounding speaker due to all the time smearing. Also apperently Im FR deaf from my experence with personal audio with the things Im chasing being fast response, clean minimal time delay in the crossover and importantly a "boosted" post 10k along with peak transients needing to be high. Mostly due to referencing how I hear things in a small hall enviroment where its accoustically boosted with non miced instruments and never in a studio setting which is why my preferences misalign with people that primary listen to speakers? Hard to say.
I just got a pair of these to try. I would agree with your "nothing special and maybe worse" comments. I'm boxing them back up. As to the many raves from others? A mystery at best nut probably something worse.
Maybe you can improve things with EQ. I would try getting a flat frequency response using White noise. However "EQ can fix nothing". "EQ temporarily puts a Band-Aid on sonic flaws." (according to Dave the honest audiophile in his recent rant video) Personally I think Dave needs to get a life. Most people can get great results from EQ. The poorer the headphone/IEM or speakers the better the results I can get using EQ.
These speakers sound good with older music as they inject life into the music…but with modern recordings they are way too forward in your face so I sold my pair…Danny could fix these…the drivers are high quality with a good timbre…just too hot.
i think you got a defective product/speakers. because on amazon they got 80% of quality reviews and minimal deception. did you test both speakers or just one?
I tried these speakers for about a week, and knew right away they were not for me. Too bass-heavy, no mid-range, and honestly just cheap-sounding. Love your ears, Erin.
Meh, didn't see any reviewers actually praising this speaker, I've always got the impression from reviews that recommend this speaker that it is a very good overall speaker but not one of the best, recommended but nothing special or exceptional. And most will talk about the tweeter being a little harsh as well
I agree I bought those and the warfdale Evo for speakers for the bedroom and I tried them in the living room where my hometheater is they are in my opinion a trash/ unpleasant speaker
Hi Erin. Your review has convinced me that measurements and neutrality are completely overrated. Balance is what most of us hear, neutrality is what you see, that is not what is heard whey you listen to this speaker. All the peaks and dips you see on the graphs do not translate to what you hear. Neutral is just another word for dull, this speaker is lively and engaging. Instruments sound real like you're at a concert in the front row not way in back. Dynamics and detail in the music i would venture to say are unmatched in this price range. We hear excellent deep bass and extension, lush midrange and airy treble. It's not sibilant it is just detailed. Ican listen to this speaker for hours in a day and my ears never get fatigued. But if you like a flat or in other words a dull response because it looks good on a graph rather than what the speaker sounds like you would say the highs are sibilant. A convincing soundstage and presentation. A wall of sound that in my room extends at least a foot beyond the speakers in both directions and that is conservatively speaking. This is what we hear. This should be the focus of reviews, not lines on a graph. That does nothing to describe what the Triangle BR03s actually sound like.
You did catch the part where I explicitly described what I heard and how it relates directly to the frequency response being varied, correct? These kind of things are (usually) easy to translate. The real question is a) do you have a reference to “know better” and b) are there other factors that make deficiencies less of a problem for you? Such as does the bass get low and that overrides the other audible issues. I was able to pinpoint issues I didn’t like in my listening and explain those with data. For me there wasn’t much good about this speaker.
Exactly so, and very well said. "Neutral" is some marketing idea they made up to sell people flat, boring, dull-sounding speakers. It's just another sound profile/bias as much as any other.
Other reviewers have shown different graphs, so don't be so sure the one in this video is even accurate. I'm not saying it is or it isn't, but the fact is other graphs exist, so it has to raise the question.
Triangle does not honor their warranty for US customers. They will give you the runaround and shift their responsibility to the distributor, even though manufacturers are supposed to take care of warranty according to their policy. If you are not in Europe, I recommend avoiding this brand.
tutto ok, ma le BOREA 03 sono sono diffusori da 400 euro...io li posseggo e abbinati ad un amplificatore "adatto" direi che suonano molto bene. il rapporto qualità e prezzo è notevole..Rimango in attesa di ricevere da voi un diffusore concorrente di pari qualità e prezzo,grazie,Jerry
I've enjoyed the speaker. Rooms creates more issues than this speaker creates. For $300 I couldn't purchase the materials to make the speaker myself and have it look as good as it does. Never mind my time is worth more than that. At least use sound correction to help take care of issues instead of looking for these perfectly smooth outputs that probably would need to be corrected anyway due to the room.
I like this speakers. Very pleasures for me. May be it's not very correct ? bha.... i like. I compair it with 40th anniversary (i got these also) and are different but very satisfactory speakers, and perhaps borea 03 it's more pleasant and less "hi-end sound"
Front-vented speakers with the vents mounted at or near the bottom of the box can be of frequency response issues caused by the vents, but the vent tubes need to be curved or angled so that their entrances inside the box are a bit closer to the middle. Done right, this will null out the first (and most annoying) out of band resonance peak. But yeah, there's much more "wrong" with this speaker than just the vent resonances. That bass driver needs a better x-over to deal with its breakup. But that of course would mean a more expensive x-over, so the question of what price-bracket this speaker is aimed at comes up ...
I watched Zero Fidelity review of the Borea and the PSB T200, as well as other reviewers, the comparison against the Klipsch always arises. Being confirmed the Klipsch is a V shaped response, that is the reason for my comment. Thank you for the video and being honest.
The Borea BR3, why do many CZcams Talking heads like them? Because they can't say otherwise or no more speakers will be sent to them for review. The YT talking head lives off the content they can generate. The distributor / brand simply is funneling what would otherwise be advertising funding into samples to be sent to reviewers. They send so many, that no reviewer would even attempt to be critical of their product. All of them have done the same. They need the flow of new samples, towers, subs, BT and powered with Triangle Logos, so they can review and generate content. One misstep and no more samples - remember Mica-. I would guess effective for Triangle and bad for consumers. That’s the nature of the business today.
Thank you for all you do! Seriously I have gotten a little tired of CZcams reviews lately because everything is great. Seems like in world of youtube you can’t go wrong with anything you purchase. So refreshing to have a review that is honest and respectful to both manufacturer and owners. Your knowledge of measurements and how you describe not only the measurement but the impact to sound reproduction is awesome.
That's because 98% of them refuse to do "bad reviews"
They are mostly just advertising channels and they know if they give products bad reviews other companies might be hesitant sending them stuff (and money) for review.
@@crazyprayingmantis5596yeah, many of them just don't review items they didn't like. They'll just send them back to the manufacturer with some notes about why they aren't going to review it. Oh well, they might be more or less advertising but at least we can see the gear, what it looks like, and get some opinions on it. Or look and see what gear (by omission) is not being reviewed widely and take that with a grain of salt.
Cheap Audio Man, Zero Fidelity, and Andrew Lawrence pull no punches. If they don't like a product, they'll tell you. However, I'm rather suspicious of Darko Audio.
@HomeCinemaJunkie That's why forums such as Quora and Reddit are very useful for exchanging ideas and experiences on audio subjects.
Don't change.
I love your analysis and opinion.
I like my BR03 speakers with my Topping HIFI setup, I am very sensitive to certain sound ranges. These are the best sounding speakers for me. I spent a lot of time listening to demos, going to places in person to listen to speakers and I love these, I absolutely love the lows and the fact that the highs don't pierce through my ears like daggers. I'm in a small subset category - this is all subjective anyways.
The speakers are fantastic. I use them more than a year and the pleasure is getting fuller and fuller. Trust your years and not the subjective opinions of others.
I have the Borea br02 and i like the sound. In the past i had over 20 pairs of speakers, some of them budget and some much more expensive. And to me the BR02s are nice price/performance speakers.
Erin, I appreciate your honesty. Thanks for doing what you do.
So refreshing to hear 'honest'.
Perfect balance of subjective & data.
Thank you & keep it up please.
I’ve heard the Br03 and Br02, and personally liked the smaller br02 so much better that I actually bought them and have been listening to them for about a year now. You should really give the smaller bro a listen, they are rear ported and lean a bit warm in my opinion.
I had these for a while, I liked them enough. I thought percussion instruments and acoustic guitar on these were quite good. Very natural sounding timbres. Good open soundstage and imaging.
Great review, your criticisms are spot on with my experience owning these speakers over the last 18 months. As much as I'd like to defend them as I've quite enjoyed them as a living room speakers, I can't. So long as I don't push the volume past 75 db or listen too critically they keep me happy for background music/TV/light movie use and my wife enjoys the aesthetics. I've only come across one other reviewer who mentioned the volume issue. I'm surprised it isn't mentioned more as female vocals especially can become extremely harsh above 75 db (at 12 feet). Less of an issue with the matching center channel at least.
I've had the BR03 and BR02. Personally liked the BR02 better. Seemed more balanced and leaned a bit warm. Just my experience .
Same here with Bro02
I appreciate your opinions! Thank you for reviews
Another great honest review. Kudos
Keep it honest! Good stuff. Did not hear BR03 but I did experience BR02 and I did like it for $200. I’m assuming small brother measures better.
Great review! Agree with your whole assessment. I knew I was hearing something that was off. That was the breakup points. And the sibilance was a big NO! I have the Bro 2's and love them. Totally opposite of the 3's.
I had Bro3:s and didn't hear much sibilence with my gear. Treble was rather smooth and overall sound was good for the money (400 euros). Later changed to Comete which was much better, but still that Triangle sound which some like and some don't. (Now have changed to something else again).
Damn. I just took delivery of these last week, and you're confirming my gut feelings. They're just not what I was expecting. That lack of "fullness" or forward presence must be that midrange issue you've identified. These are going back to the vendor. I really appreciate your channel. Thank you for doing what you do.
Change your speaker cables, that will make everything great. Upgrade your router power supply, that should smooth out the speakers.
@@r423sdexit will still sound the same😂
@@r423sdex😂😂😂
@@r423sdex lol 😅
@@r423sdex Dont introduce people to snake oil
Wow, such an honest review. And I agree with you.
This review is very helpful to me. I listened these speakers and i did not ilke it. Now your analysis makes me understand much more. Thank you!
Glad to hear that
I have these and the Klipsch rpm 600 and the Elac db6
Triangle bro3 are the best, to me. Period !!
Thanks for the data and reviews!
I would’ve never guessed in a million years I had the capability to understand all of this, or for that matter even want to.
I’ve been a musician for 50 years and have equipment from the 70s Marantz/ Cerwin Vega.
Even though this video was about the deficiencies of this particular speaker, your break down as to the reasons why taught me a whole hell of a lot about all the squiggly lines.
Someone shoot me if I don’t check with Aaron before buying audio equipment.
Nicely done, sir.
That’s awesome!!!
I still really like CerwinVega! Speakers, I can’t imagine them measuring to well. It would be great to see Erin measure a pair!
Thanks for the teardown! I said on Patreon I guessed the sharp rise in IMD around 3KHz might be from using electrolytic capacitors in the crossover, but I was dead wrong! That is actually a pretty nice looking crossover for the budget.
Interesting review, and I appreciate your detailed technical analysis. I've owned a pair of these now for three years, and they have seemed very pleasant to my ears. I paired these to a Cambridge Audio AXR100 receiver which some people have described as slightly warm. I always keep my bass and treble at 0 balance. I've never felt the need to boost either, but I've appreciated the nice bass these speakers produce without me boosting it.
I listen to a wide range of music from classical to 50's/60's be bop jazz to late 60's psych rock, to 70's glam and prog rock, to 80's synth pop and heavy metal, to 90's and 2000's pop and rock. So far everything has sounded detailed and pretty balanced to me whether from vinyl or CD. I also have my 4K TV (with attached streaming device) connected to the receiver. Movies and TV shows have sounded great to me through these speakers. I've only noticed issues with some YT videos that seem to just have bad audio, and the occasional worn-down vinyl record. Maybe my 49-yo ears are more forgiving, but I'd like to think I would've returned these (within the seller's return window) if I would've detected harshness or other issues. I'll try to listen for some of the deficiencies you pointed out, but so far I've been very satisfied with them.
Love your videos. You're doing a great job.
Another great indepth review!
So in this rough price range when looking at a bookshelf speaker with no major quirks in it's response, that can play loud without breaking a sweat and sounds dynamic and engaging, what would you recommend?
What a great lesson on how the different components combine to a bad overall frequency response. Textbook stuff with the port/woofer cancellation and crossover design. Seems weird to me that they'd ship a speaker with all those issues. I wonder if the drivers are better matched in a different form factor or with other xovers and they're just grabbing parts off the shelf to make this. Great review as always!
Thanks for the feedback.
Another honest review...well done!
Never let up... good stuff
so, can the problem also be extended to the larger models, bro8 and bro8?
I bought the hype and almost bought the speakers. glad i saw your review. thank you.
Any chance of a 1961 Monitor review?
I was going to by the triangle borea br03 BT before viewing you rewiew of the passive version, can I ask you why would you advise me instead (the price can be a bit higher) ?
great review and spot on! had them for over a year...aesthetically pleasing... but that 'hole' in the mids and the augmented high frequencies were simply too much... ended (glad i did NOT sell them) going back to my Elac Uni-fi (original model) which are imho very linear and extremely natural sounding (pianos, vocals, cellos, acoustic guitars, cymbals). i now have them paired with an Audiolab 6000A and they have never sounded better! a joy!
Recently I've had the opportunity to have both the BR03 in "black ash" which I bought 3 years ago and the newer "USA model" in a "driftwood" finish which is classified as purely a cosmetic change and produced by Triangle in collaboration "with the Antal Audio Group".
This allowed me to weigh the 4 speakers on a reasonably accurate electronic balance. The older black pair both weighed 15.9 lbs and the driftwood pair 14.8 and 15.2 lbs. The weights were obtained with grills off and weighings done several times to determine the same readings for each speaker. My question is, can the weights vary by 0.9 lbs /speaker if the only change is cosmetic? Doesn't a weight decrease of ~ 6% indicate something more radical in either the cabinets or components?
Curiously, Triangle's manual with these speakers lists them as weighing 13.22 lbs (2 places of decimals!).
I should add that I'm not comfortable in saying that one pair sounds different to the other pair because I don't trust my psychoacoustic sense when I might be influenced by other's comments and this finding.
I should add that the external appearance of the drivers and the cabinet dimensions were the same in both finishes.
Thank you Erin. I'm looking for speakers for my dad. A few days ago I auditioned a number of speakers:
1. Dali Oberon 3
2. Triangle
3. ELAC DB6.2
One of my test tracks is "Take a walk on the wild side". In this track there is a lot of string rattling. And with Triangle it wasn't there. I thought it might be me, but you have restored the confidence in my hearing - thank you :)
On a side note, the Dali was too heavy on the lows. And ELAC was just fine.
I asked to connect the LS50 Meta, which I personally own for a few years, and they sounded anemic at best. There I knew something isn't right with their setup.
Thanks so much for this review. I was THINKING about these for our soon to be renovated master bedroom/bath. Uhm, NO! I really appreciate ALL that you do, especially the TEACHING of the data. Nerds really do rule.
Nerds are indeed awesome!
Thats why i went with the Br02. Its not as messy in the mid range area and is more flat. The sound seems to be more neutral and not as sibalant as the Bro3. Also the fact that Bro 2 is rear ported may be crucial to why the speaker is not as messy as the Bro 3.
What do you recommend in the range of 500-1000? I dont like harsh trebke like focal 906..i would normally not ask a youtuber that because of ads but you seem honest about it
I was at first impressed when I listened to my jazz, instrumental test tracks. But with rock music particularly "What IF" by Creed. Try this track if you haven't because I believe it's a decent test of how forgiving the speakers are and if the speakers can play "distorted" guitars .... The guitars in this track sounded like it was bunched up together , no sense of separation .
I guess the bump at ~700Hz "brings vocals forward" and the treble has "air" due to the rise in the top end.
The sibilance might be coming from the woofer after seeing that ultra nearfield response
Interesting evaluation especially as I respect you as a reviewer and I think your approach to reviewing is very thorough. I have the Esprit Titus EZ from this company, a smaller bookshelf speaker than this but a model further up the range. I think this speaker is marvelous for it's price point (was about £1000 but can now be had for £699). I have heard a lot of bookshelf speakers around this price and none, and I mean not one, sounded as good to me as this one.
They look cool and that’s probably the most important thing so I can see why they’re popular.
Didn't you hear how many colors they come in?!
Great review 👍
I tried them in my office system and found they lacked resolution and adequate soundstage dimensions. Out of curiosity, which specific measurements indicate or at least imply my subjective impressions?
@michaelmityok1001
Erin describes what affects these particular issues in loudspeakers in his breakdown of Norah Jones' "Tell Your Momma" track at 16:44 in his recent "Songs I Use to Demo Speakers and What I Listen For" video. Check it out.
Generally, a Smooth and Even Frequency Response, along with consistent & smooth Directivity throughout their Frequency Range, is what results in good "resolution" or detail, good imaging, and a decent representation of the soundstage. And, the FR needs to be closely matched between both the Left & Right speakers.
The room or listening environment, the speaker positioning, and your listening position can also play a role in affecting the attributes or conditions listed above.
If the Frequency Response is erratic, the peaks and dips in that response will MASK or subdue the "resolution" and details of the music or vocals in the areas adjacent to those peaks and dips.
This is the main reason why Erin shows the +/-1.5dB (Excellent) and +/-3dB (Good) shaded boundary areas or limits in his basic on-axis Frequency Response Graphs.
If the FR deviates much more than that, instruments and/or vocals that fall in those "out if bounds" areas with larger peaks and dips in the response will not sound NATURAL, LIFELIKE, or pleasing.
In addition, the overall frequency response "curve" or linearity of the FR should be similar to a universally accepted "Target Curve" such as the Harman/JBL target curve, or the "Half Whitledge" target curve, etc.
There are other generally accepted target curves, but the majority of them only have very small deviations in particular areas when compared to the original Harman/JBL target curve, and they are primarily based on individual personal preferences.
However, I also want to say that your specific ROOM, and both of the speaker's locations as well as your listening position within that room can have a large effect on the FR and the potential reproduction of the soundstage and accurate imaging.
For example, if the Left speaker is adjacent to and/or closer to a reflective window or wall of windows, but the Right speaker is adjacent to a wall that is further away with various furniture and bookshelves (or completely open to an adjacent room), it will be very difficult to achieve a balanced Response with excellent imaging and soundstage.
The reflections and decay/reverb times of all of the sound from the Left and the Right speakers that eventually arrive at your ears should be as similar as possible.
Hopefully, the recording and mixing engineer have done a good job in balancing the FR that is contained in the final recording so that all instruments and vocals sound natural and lifelike, or at least as the artist intended.
But to accurately REPRODUCE what the artist and engineer created for you in the recording, you must have speakers with a relatively flat and linear FR themselves, or you will never properly hear what they recorded and intended you to hear.
If the speakers add or impart their own non-linearities or "color the sound" in terms of FR and Resonances compared to what is captured on the source recording itself (as these particular Triangle BR03 speakers do), a piano, violin, cello, saxophone, snare drum, bass, or any other instrument or vocal will not sound natural, lifelike, or as the artist and recording engineer intended and provided to you in the recording itself.
If you want to come close to accurately reproducing and hearing what is captured in the recording, you MUST have "Flat" or "Neutral" speakers (and other components in your playback system) that do not add their own "color" or "distortions" to the original source material.
If your speaker's have a significantly recessed midrange + an exaggerated and rising response in the upper treble as these Triangle BR03 speakers do, your favorite male or female singer's voice is NOT going to sound anything like what you would hear from that artist in a live performance. And, the same applies to the sound of their instruments as well.
Mixing engineers use a combination of very subtle changes in the Amplitude Level + slightly rolled-off Upper Treble Response of each instrument and/or vocal during the mixing process to Position and replicate those instruments or vocals in terms of DEPTH and LAYERING in the Soundstage.
They use Left vs. Right Amplitude Levels (Panning) combined with Phase to place the vocals and instruments across the Soundstage from Left to Right.
If your speakers have an erratic frequency response (which also results in issues with their phase coherency,) or have detrimental resonances, those anomalies will mask and destroy these subtle and minute attributes and imaging cues that were applied by the mixing engineer to place all of the instruments and vocals in the soundstage.
So, again, the best way to ensure the accurate reproduction of all of these amazing details in a recording that give the music lifelike realism and a sense of width, depth, and placement in the soundstage, is to use speakers that have a Neutral, Balanced, and Smooth Frequency Response, with No Resonances or Phase issues that will destroy these attributes.
The most important is taste, I needed a cloth dome tweeter for its smoothness (the inverse of a horn), and I needed front ports to put them closer to the back wall. Your on axis measurement feel strange to me because I had to boost with a peq in the 8k area. and my measurement (in place in the room) showed a dip around 125hz which is good in my case (saves the dishes and glasses in the closets), those are way better than my old mission and my diy focal I could compare. the BR03 receive only from 68hz up from a dbx driverack pa2 and are corrected by eq. The room is not treated, the application is music and home theater, always with a sub. the removal of extreme low frequencies are indeed cleanin the low mid at high volure. The fact is I rarely try to push this above 85db, at high volume problems appear, but I don't need that. The important point is that the sound is almost the same everywhere in my room, just boominess (sub) when i go to the kitchen. This speaker is not diretional and that is the main reason for purchasing.
Good horns are the definition of smooth, fwiw.
@@tylerhackman6832 for the moment I never heard one horn that was good to my ears, in general I like cloth positive dome tweeters. for me Klipsch are the worst offenders, impossible to correct even with eq. I very much dislike directional speakers. Question of taste, and I don't listen live music very often.
I was just about to buy the Br3's after an hour long demo vs some Bowers. Crisp sound, tight bass, sound is a little shut in but I changed my mind and ditch them. The reason being is their tweeter. They're just normal tweeters, you'll know where they at once you listen to them, they don't create that stereo image that the Bowers do. The Bowers tweeters instantly disappear into the whole room and create that tall, wide stereo image. They make it seem like like some giant PA's are standing right in front of you
@Erin’s Audio Corner I would be interested to see you analyze the Cambridge Audio SX-60.
I was about to buy these... please suggest an alternative speaker with high sensibility (>88 dB) in this price range!
Speakers like that, the first thing I try is plugging up those ports. I'm only guessing but I bet that if you put a soft plug (with polyfil) in each port that smooths out a lot.
I actually considered doing that and remeasuring this speaker but I realized that it would likely only help the dip at 1.2kHz. It won’t help the dip/peak combos other than that. I think my time is better spent moving on.
@@ErinsAudioCorner
Understood ... but I think you'll find that port stuffing in a cabinet that size is going to have numerous other effects that may not be intuitively linked to the test graphs.
I had a pair of the Cambridge Audio clones of the Elac DB6.2s and from all indications port stuffing would only clean up one cancellation at 800hz. So when I tried it the response shifted lower (almost an octave lower), the cancellation was gone and the tweeter appeared more evenly matched (which was an artifact of the apparent increase in woofer output).
Something similar may or may not have happened in this case, but for the zero cost of it, it is clearly worth a try.
To be fair, this is one of their cheapest speakers, currently going for just $348/pair. The 40th anniversary Comete might be a LOT better. For my den, I'm glad I went with the Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 supplemented by a Polk subwoofer.
I had this speaker for a brief period of time. A selling point for me was that it was relatively efficient for my tube amp and seemed to be getting a lot of praise.
I didn’t have them for more than a few moths before I sold them. They weren’t offensive to my ears, but I found that there was something off about the midrange. I will say that they make bad recordings sound…better. And if your into vinyl, you won’t hear some imperfections as much.
So it makes most noN audiophile music sound...great :D Just kidding!Or am I?
Erin, I am a late newcomer to the audio journey. I watch your channel very often, you do great work. I own a pair of Borea BRO3. Can a gr research upgrade of the crossover improve this speaker
Can you please try to review the Focal Teva No.1? Thanks!
can you test the Magnat Signature 503 3-Way German speakers?
Of course, it's all about matching the speakers to the amp (and the room and the recording and the pressing and the cartridge and stylus -- or the DAC and the CD player or streaming service or...). I can hear what you mean in the upper midrange when I've listened to the BR03s, but with certain recordings and certain (vintage) receivers, there's sometimes some punchy/airy magic there. It depends. Other times -- and I can say this about any pair of speakers I've ever had -- they can sound flat or dull or grating or lifeless or... My ears can get bored. Being able to change the equipment to suit your mood is the ultimate in listening luxury.
This gets me to ask myself what's going on in the "trust your ears" subjectivist community. I even have a sort of hypothesis on this.
Are we being led astray by listening for details? In the sense that hearing something we have not noticed before, is necessarily a good thing?
In that case I would think that roller coaster frequency responses can accentuate something that might have gone unnoticed in other systems, whether neutral, or just uneven in different ways. So we end up hearing something new in a familiar recording, assuming this is an improvement, buying the thing, keeping it until it gets on our nerves, going off to check out something else with the same mindset, and on and on. An endless cycle of "upgrades" right there.
What I find promising in a review is more along the lines of your typical "hard to describe" reproduction. Especially when you add "it goes loud" and "it goes deep".
One thing I keep coming back to is the very real possibility that I can, and do, love the sound of very different sounding systems. Within reason, etc, caveat emptor, etc. And, to be clear: that is wholly subjectivist. Would you rather drink Rose you hate or a big cab you love, regardless of price?
This is not to say I dont love Erins work. I do and think its super helpful.
@@leodesforges161 I might come out sounding like an arrogant and pretentious git, but here goes. I personally find I can tolerate an awful lot, but still generally prefer a reasonably flat on axis response and a room response gradually falling with increasing frequency. I generally also find I prefer systems with moderate or low distorion, and a reasonable capacity for SPL/ low compression, and low noise for electronics. Some deviations are easier to live with than others, and I'm far from being able to truly understand these, and translate my likes and dislikes to measurements or vice versa. But there is a tendency in consumer audio and the audiophile press to sell and praise stuff that I just find unnatural sounding. And it's not been getting better lately.
higher resolution should come from transparency and nondistortion and not a wonky freq response.
@@ManicMindTrick Yep. But is that usually the case?
One thing to consider is the age of the average audiophile who spends over 10k on a pair of speakers. They tend to have lost a significant part of their high-frequency spectrum as people naturally do with higher age so higher-end speakers with extra treble energy make a lot of sense.
I returned a pair as well for the same reason but I own two pairs of the BR02’s & a pair of Titus EZ…go figure!
Just a thought….did triangle supply these for you to review? Wonder if they are the same ones going around that other reviewers have had in and disliked
I also own the Bro02 and i find them much better than bro03. Tonality wise ans sound wise, more neutral and much less sibalant (birght up top). Aparently looking at Erins measurements not having front ports as the Bro3 benefit this speaker more. Also is a tad smaller
How's the Titus Ez? Almost bought a pair a while back.
Bright.@@MrWslindsay
@@MrWslindsay They are good! Same tone as the BR02 but with added spark
@@leeh4722 thanks man. Feedback is great!
Love your videos
Can you review Chane A1.5 if possible
I'm running my BRO3 speakers with a Schitt Freya+ tube preamp and the Jeff Rowland 125 power amp. I am very happy with the sound. Are there better speakers? I'm sure there are. I can't audition all the speakers out there. For the money I spent I am quite happy. To each his own I guess.
Doors - Light My Fire , never heard this song better than on this speaker
And the fact is, when people are auditioning, this speaker is lively... It convinced me !
@@filipedasilva8512 It does sound good. People are brainwashed to like what they call "neutral," which is just another sound profile in and of itself, not inherently better than anything else. "Neutral" is usually a very flat, boring sound that has no life or excitement to it. But hey, it's got the "right" graph, so it must be better, lol.
I really like these BR03 speakers, I had the Comete EZ for a period, they were better at some stuff, nice details and clear sound, good for string instruments, piano etc. But overall I went back to the BR03s, since they are very good "allround" speakers, they are good for all types of music, films and videogames. And I can listen to them 24/7 without any tiring of my head or ears, I did get enough of the Cometes after a while and had to lower the volume or stop listening. I do have pretty good hearing if it matters, and that is my theory, good hearing and maybe horns create a bit too sharp tiring sounds.
I DO want to maybe upgrade to something bigger and better though, but I am not sure how much better speakers I need to feel it to be worth it, and actually be better of course. And what those speakers is. I find it strange that there is not any more a bit bigger bookshelf speakers.
The speakers are really excellent, they play more expensive than their price, but they definitely need warming up, I warmed up for + - 40 hours, before them there were kef q 150, I sold them after I bought triangl borea 03.
Replying here just in case someone suggests a good speaker upgrade. Been searching for a year now and none of the speakers Ive tried even with Triangles own upper range can dethrone the BR03 for metal and J-core and general symphonic pop stuff. Maybe Triangle can make a side grade to the comete with BR03's voicing but with the better tweeter. Since my one issue with the BR03 is that while the woofer is very layered the tweeter struggles to throw a image towards the back.
@@llysender I have now tried used Dali Opticon 2 MK1, I have tried them a couple days, tried different placings etc. But the BR03 are still better, the Opticons have more bass, and a rear bass port, they did have "more" bass, but not better bass, and I can hear more details in the music in the BR03 over the Opticons. The Opticons sounds good, they feel like more or less like an somewhat worse BR03.
Although, the Opticons are 4ohm speakers, I MAY need a better amplifier, now I use an Surround Receiver, so maybe it is that, but I do not listen to music really loud, so I would think it is not the biggest issue, the BR03s goes down to 4ohm under load too I believe.
Opticons are really good and bassy for electronic music, but not as detailed for guitars, violins and such, I feel some instrument dissappear in the sound compared to BR03s. Also the rear bass port on Dalis may interfer with my room, I had to pull them far out the get nicer sound.
I want to get another good stereo amplifier though, I have some other Stereo amplifiers i MAY try though, but not at the moment. I am not sure that is a solution anyway, but I should find out before I can conclude anything.
@@llysender If borea 03 is supplemented with a subwoofer, the metal will sound even better and more assertive.
Maybe a tube amp or class a could balance things out with this one?
It's like triangle wanted to join the budget market and wanted to give you a taste of there better stuff but at rising costs gave up too much and yielded unevenness so its kinda of wonky.... TharBamar had a video on these comparing them to the 225 an older wharfedale speaker and said those are much better. While I overall prefered these to my older klipsch rp-160m in most areas, my only gauge right now is
those two and a pair of definitive d11 which I liked better then both. The mission lx3 speakers are still boxed that I have looking forward to tying them against these . I do agree it does sound like somethings off and he explained it. There ok but no where near the best under 1k of that im sure. It's nice to see someone break down where a speakers deficiencies are with the measurements., Something I never thought I'd say but he backs it up .
The treble boost is why reviewers love it: "The detail! The detail!"
Yes, classic "ear-flirting".
I don't know, I like them. I went with them over Klipsch and Elac. While I'd go for the LS50 Meta if it was in my budget, these were the next best thing in my opinion. To each their own, but these are terrific speakers for their price. I did get them on Amazon renewed though. These will be with me for a long while and are currently hold over until I can buy something more expensive, but that doesn't make them bad.
Strangest thing... is that the negative reviews are always the white color finish. There is no negative reviews (that I know of) on the black finish... I wonder if there is some reason for that. Maybe some small changes in the crossover parts ? or build materials ?
See my comment above - late Feb.
I don’t know. I never have had the opportunity to listen to these speakers or dozens of other brands. Here in Tucson high end stores no longer exists except for Best Buy. Phoenix is loaded with high end stores so maybe there’s a Triangle dealer up there to listen to them. Besides all of these specs just have to hear them for myself.
Excellent job Erin. Arendal 1961 monitor coming soon?
Thanks. It is.
@@ErinsAudioCornerlooking forward to seeing the 1961 monitor on stage🎉🎉
Didn’t these speakers start out twice as expensive and they were getting all kinds of good reviews, and then after the honeymoon was over, they got less expensive and people didn’t like them anymore ?!
I seem to recall something like that. What that suggests is that people can have a perfectly acceptable sound, but require a little variety, and then they hit on something that sounds different and they think, oh this is cool, but in reality, it doesn’t have a long term effect of actually being good.😉
I may be confusing these with a different model, I’m not sure.
You're correct, twice as expensive.
Exactly ! You need the right review. Erin is providing the correct one. Too many people are in the pockets of these companies.
@@34332 thanks.
@@r423sdex I know everyone isn’t right in the head or doing things for all the right reasons, but some of those reviewers really do believe what they’re saying, and there’s no deception going on from them, as hard as that may be to believe lol
Danny at GR research tore down the NEUMI and it has the same dual front port which caused a very similar problem in the response.
Do you work for (former) Harmon ?
Nope. Never have.
I think, when one says "for the money", it should be clear sonically as well as otherwise what that means.
Being direct about where corners are cut and how that impacts sound should be clearly stated. Critical reviews are helpful.
I got mine for $200 and at that price, I am thrilled. I A/Bd them with the beloved Emotiva B1+. Both of these speakers have issues, IMO, reflected as a dip somewhere (or resonances, etc). Which come off as "something missing" plus "a bit too much of something else). As the Emotiva "tests really well" I still dont think it is a superior speaker to my ears, IN MY ROOM. The BR03 sounds way bigger, even though the bass isn't the strong suit of the Borea. Bigger soundstage and just more sonic energy.
My reference system is anchored by the Philharmonic Ceramic Mini in a super quiet, well treated, symmetrical listening room, so it's not like I can't hear the differences and shortcomings of the decidedly not neutral Triangle. The BR03 is NOT neutral. But it plays really well in my living room setup (which is less than sonically ideal). I have no upgradeitis, which says something.
FWIW, I like them both on and off axis and think they image well. My livingroom set up is NOT optimal and yet the BRO is flexible in placement and sounds good (but different) in multiple configurations. My room makes the brightness a strength.
So, no disagreement here, just the fact that the BR03 brings me joy, regardless of how poorly its tests.
Final thought: think about how your listening space influences what you hear. Your room is the biggest factor in sound reproduction.
I been thanking about getting a pair used I find them very affordable
Kali LP6 v2 are in the same price category but have built in amp and DSP switches to adjust for different placements. Their frequency response is considerably less chewed up, so worth an audition I'd say. However, I didn't particularly like the look, so I moved mine out of sight to the bedroom.
@@dananskidolf are they dirt cheap used?
@@paulgood2218 Price has been stable at £149 per speaker new for a year or so - probably cheaper in the USA. The cheapest 2nd hand Borea BR03s I saw were not much less (~£240 a pair).
Unfortunately it seems that 100% honesty all of the time depends on most of the YT reviewers bills and their relationship with manufacturers and retailers which is to be expected. Thanks for this.
I dont see the issue with not liking it. Its like how I find the elac Debult Ref to be a horrible sounding speaker due to all the time smearing. Also apperently Im FR deaf from my experence with personal audio with the things Im chasing being fast response, clean minimal time delay in the crossover and importantly a "boosted" post 10k along with peak transients needing to be high.
Mostly due to referencing how I hear things in a small hall enviroment where its accoustically boosted with non miced instruments and never in a studio setting which is why my preferences misalign with people that primary listen to speakers? Hard to say.
I just got a pair of these to try. I would agree with your "nothing special and maybe worse" comments. I'm boxing them back up. As to the many raves from others? A mystery at best nut probably something worse.
Maybe you can improve things with EQ. I would try getting a flat frequency response using White noise. However
"EQ can fix nothing". "EQ temporarily puts a Band-Aid on sonic flaws." (according to Dave the honest audiophile in his recent rant video) Personally I think Dave needs to get a life. Most people can get great results from EQ. The poorer the headphone/IEM or speakers the better the results I can get using EQ.
I wanted to try the Triangle AIO Twin but, you can't find them ANYWHERE in Canada. PITA so I'll pass.
Are those heritage specials in the back 👀
I bought these a year ago and listened to them for a week, they went straight to the garage.......they are not very good 😢
These speakers sound good with older music as they inject life into the music…but with modern recordings they are way too forward in your face so I sold my pair…Danny could fix these…the drivers are high quality with a good timbre…just too hot.
i think you got a defective product/speakers. because on amazon they got 80% of quality reviews and minimal deception. did you test both speakers or just one?
I tried these speakers for about a week, and knew right away they were not for me. Too bass-heavy, no mid-range, and honestly just cheap-sounding. Love your ears, Erin.
my opinion THE BOREA 03 ARE THE BEST SOEAKERS 500 EURO I HAVE EVER HEARD
Best Speaker Review Channel !!
Meh, didn't see any reviewers actually praising this speaker, I've always got the impression from reviews that recommend this speaker that it is a very good overall speaker but not one of the best, recommended but nothing special or exceptional. And most will talk about the tweeter being a little harsh as well
I had the bigger brother br08, found them too hot for me. ear fatigue even with room treatment. luckily was able to sell them off.
Nope, not crazy at all, I returned them, found the sound to be messy
I agree I bought those and the warfdale Evo for speakers for the bedroom and I tried them in the living room where my hometheater is they are in my opinion a trash/ unpleasant speaker
I don't remember from which reviewer: the edition made in France was acceptable, and made in China was a disaster-> I passed!
Hi Erin. Your review has convinced me that measurements and neutrality are completely overrated. Balance is what most of us hear, neutrality is what you see, that is not what is heard whey you listen to this speaker. All the peaks and dips you see on the graphs do not translate to what you hear. Neutral is just another word for dull, this speaker is lively and engaging. Instruments sound real like you're at a concert in the front row not way in back. Dynamics and detail in the music i would venture to say are unmatched in this price range. We hear excellent deep bass and extension, lush midrange and airy treble. It's not sibilant it is just detailed. Ican listen to this speaker for hours in a day and my ears never get fatigued. But if you like a flat or in other words a dull response because it looks good on a graph rather than what the speaker sounds like you would say the highs are sibilant. A convincing soundstage and presentation. A wall of sound that in my room extends at least a foot beyond the speakers in both directions and that is conservatively speaking. This is what we hear. This should be the focus of reviews, not lines on a graph. That does nothing to describe what the Triangle BR03s actually sound like.
You did catch the part where I explicitly described what I heard and how it relates directly to the frequency response being varied, correct? These kind of things are (usually) easy to translate. The real question is a) do you have a reference to “know better” and b) are there other factors that make deficiencies less of a problem for you? Such as does the bass get low and that overrides the other audible issues.
I was able to pinpoint issues I didn’t like in my listening and explain those with data. For me there wasn’t much good about this speaker.
Exactly so, and very well said. "Neutral" is some marketing idea they made up to sell people flat, boring, dull-sounding speakers. It's just another sound profile/bias as much as any other.
Other reviewers have shown different graphs, so don't be so sure the one in this video is even accurate. I'm not saying it is or it isn't, but the fact is other graphs exist, so it has to raise the question.
Triangle does not honor their warranty for US customers. They will give you the runaround and shift their responsibility to the distributor, even though manufacturers are supposed to take care of warranty according to their policy. If you are not in Europe, I recommend avoiding this brand.
Adorned? 😄
Oh, come on! He's an engineer! 😇
I thought I made it up. 🤷♂️
I thought I made it up. 🤷♂️
tutto ok, ma le BOREA 03 sono sono diffusori da 400 euro...io li posseggo e abbinati ad un amplificatore "adatto" direi che suonano molto bene. il rapporto qualità e prezzo è notevole..Rimango in attesa di ricevere da voi un diffusore concorrente di pari qualità e prezzo,grazie,Jerry
I've enjoyed the speaker. Rooms creates more issues than this speaker creates. For $300 I couldn't purchase the materials to make the speaker myself and have it look as good as it does. Never mind my time is worth more than that. At least use sound correction to help take care of issues instead of looking for these perfectly smooth outputs that probably would need to be corrected anyway due to the room.
Man, that was on point I like the way you think
I like this speakers. Very pleasures for me. May be it's not very correct ? bha.... i like. I compair it with 40th anniversary (i got these also) and are different but very satisfactory speakers, and perhaps borea 03 it's more pleasant and less "hi-end sound"
Front-vented speakers with the vents mounted at or near the bottom of the box can be of frequency response issues caused by the vents, but the vent tubes need to be curved or angled so that their entrances inside the box are a bit closer to the middle. Done right, this will null out the first (and most annoying) out of band resonance peak. But yeah, there's much more "wrong" with this speaker than just the vent resonances. That bass driver needs a better x-over to deal with its breakup. But that of course would mean a more expensive x-over, so the question of what price-bracket this speaker is aimed at comes up ...
Good info. Thanks for sharing, Brian.
If your reference is the RP-600M, you are lost.😊
?
I watched Zero Fidelity review of the Borea and the PSB T200, as well as other reviewers, the comparison against the Klipsch always arises. Being confirmed the Klipsch is a V shaped response, that is the reason for my comment. Thank you for the video and being honest.
Asr review from years ago. Weird resonances.
The Borea BR3, why do many CZcams Talking heads like them? Because they can't say otherwise or no more speakers will be sent to them for review. The YT talking head lives off the content they can generate. The distributor / brand simply is funneling what would otherwise be advertising funding into samples to be sent to reviewers. They send so many, that no reviewer would even attempt to be critical of their product. All of them have done the same. They need the flow of new samples, towers, subs, BT and powered with Triangle Logos, so they can review and generate content. One misstep and no more samples - remember Mica-. I would guess effective for Triangle and bad for consumers. That’s the nature of the business today.