Triad Owner's Thread - Page 155

Hi Rob,

I would like to hear the Noesis someday. The 101 dB sensitivity is intriguing. If that CD tweeter is as high quality as you say, and the horn improves vertical/horizontal dispersion, it could be a very special speaker. Still, I am currently so happy with my Platinums that it would take a really special speaker to make me consider changing. Other speakers I would also like to hear are the new Triad Cinema Reference Line with the AMT tweeters and the Legacy Focus SE with the AMT tweeter.

Craig

I guess we are very fortunate to have speakers that meet or exceed our expectations. It's like finding the right woman, no need to keep looking but still we look, we just don't buy.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Seems fitting I jump in as I'm considering both Triad Plats and Noesis speakers.........................

Fortunately, RMK has offered to demo his system which is much appreciated.....................question is.............. how do these speaker compare to Gold Monitors which are my favorite speaker?

Granted, the Noesis is much more forgiving on the pocket book........................but Plats are a closer relative to the Gold Monitors! Still observing in the weeds..................ready to pounce.

Hi Rob,

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours also! And a Happy Thanksgiving to all my Triad brethren!

I heard the Gold Monitors at an AV dealers home when I bought my Integra 80.3 but that was over a year ago. It was about 30 minutes of music and some movie clips. They were well setup and powered (Parasound Amp) but the room was light on treatments, large and open. They sounded very good and nothing jumped out at me as a problem. I wasn't in the market so it wasn't a critical listening session.

I think you will have a hard time finding anyone who could give you useful data comparing the Triad's (Plats or Golds) to the Noesis. I know of one Triple 8 owner who moved to the Gold Monitors and is very happy with the move. The Noesis is another animal so unless you check out the Noesis, we may never know ...

I don't have a good answer for that question. The dispersion control lens (horn) on the Classic Gold LCR increased power handling of the tweeter just above the crossover, and that was important because of the 2-way design. The newer Gold LCR is a 3-way, and the mid goes high enough that tweeter power handling and Doppler Effect are not really issues. The Platinum uses the horn to extract the most power handling and gain out of the tweeter, which is needed to keep up with the other four Scan-Speak drivers. But, to address your question...dunno.

Someone looking for Plats, there is a set listed on Audiogon. Just a FYI, not mine.

I don't know if you meant me. My first setup in my new dedicated theater room was the Triple 8's. They were impressive in what they do well. They play loud and clear but in my smaller 1800 cubic foot sealed room where their added headroom wasn't needed I found them lacking in regard to any emotional interaction almost like a class D amp compared to a quality AB amp. For the money they are right up there with the best bang for your buck that I have heard but they aren't the end all be all of speakers. I've yet to hear any compression driver that I feel does a better job then what I have in my smaller room. In a big room I'd be the first to recommend JTR's to anyone or if your 100% home theater. I was 95% home theater when I got the Gold Monitors. Now it's like 50/50 if not more towards music. They're that good.

Derek,

Your experience was/is a very interesting data-point. I know you really love the sound quality of your Gold Monitors. In addition, when you sold your Gold LCR's to Claude, (Bunga99), he also felt like he had "upgraded" in terms of sound quality: http://www.avsforum.com/t/1236691/my-humble-ht-living-room/180#post_21979423

Nonetheless, the Platinums I bought from you still remain the best of all possible worlds, IMO. They have (relatively) high sensitivity of 94.5 dB and *massive* power handling, allowing them to produce prodigious SPL output. Yet, again IMO, they retain all the SQ of the Gold Monitors, just at much higher levels.

If the Noesis are an SQ upgrade over the other JTR speakers, I would be most interested in hearing them.

Craig

I agree, my Gold Monitors in no way would work in your room and even if RMK had a room my size I doubt they'd work for him either as I know he listens at a way higher levels then I do. I wish I would have tried the Plats in my room when I had them but for now I'll just have to wonder. I'll probably never get to hear the Plats in my room because as most know I hate changing equipment......... Oh wait.

I did not ...

It was Bunga99 (Claude) that I was referring to and, the Noesis are a SQ upgrade from the other JTR speakers.

I would say my average listening volume is -10. Just this evening, we watched The Art of Flight as the post Thanksgiving dinner movie (BTW, great movie to show off speakers/subs) and I had the MV @ -15 ... So, you listen at a way lower level than that? ... really?

Bunga99 has the Gold Lcrs and not the Gold Monitors. You seem to always bring up how your previous speakers to the Jtrs didn't play to your listening levels without distortion and you've gone through some monster subs and keep adding subs so I just put all those pieces together and assumed you like it really loud.

I've yet to hear the new Jtrs so I can't comment on the improvements. I've met Jeff when he drove down to help me set up my system and we hung out over the weekend at my cousins bar. The DJ that works there now uses Jtr equipment and its fantastic. Jeff is a great guy and for the money and purpose his stuff is hard to beat.

Having said that there's just something missing to me anytime I've demoed any speaker with a compression driver. In the time I had them they did their job but I was never close to 100% happy as I imagine I probably will never be 100% happy no matter what I own I can easily say I'm closer now then when I had the Triple 8's all be it at a higher premium, but such is life.
Edited by mankite - 11/23/12 at 4:11am

Thanks.................

Always scary to shop audiogon these days.................money order and certified check are to say the least, concerning.

I'm most certainly interested..............but not willing to ship that kind of money across the continent and be stooped!!!

Ok......................

I go back to the Audiogon site and check out the Plats again.................click..............what the heck?

A ******* European lesbian porn site!!! Yes...............


Makes my trust in Audiogon that much more suspect!!!

Thanks for the clarification on Bunga99's speakers.

Re: my listening levels, I think I have been consistent in saying that when I occasionally (OK, maybe slightly more than occasionally ) want to listen to music, concert bluray's or a movie at reference level (or above ) my pre JTR speakers had trouble playing at those levels in my room. I didn't like having that limitation and the JTR's resolved that issue. They did lack a bit of the detail and resolution but for me, it is was an acceptable trade-off. The Noesis CD's do not suffer from that limitation.

I would like to be able to hear the Platinums at some point and hope there are more comparisons of these and other capable HT speakers to help folks make a decision. There is no substitute for in-person or better in your room listening.
Edited by RMK! - 11/23/12 at 8:46am

Someone here on AVS is selling Plats too:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1437170/triad-platinum-gold-speaker-system-7-2

Mankite’s Gold Monitors are supposed to be a step or 2 above my Gold LCR in terms of accuracy, clarity and etc but my JTRs Triple 8s were a step above his older JTRs as mine was the newest version with the newer compression driver and crossover which improved overall response and clarity. I still feel the JTRs T8 is a great speaker and Jeff is an awesome guy and speaker builder but for my needs and room the Triad Gold LCR was a nice upgrade in terms of smoother sound, overall clarity and just all around awesomeness. You would think I would be used to the Gold LCRs by now but the more I use them the more I appreciate them. . I’ve never heard the Seaton Cats, Noesis, or some older higher end Klipsch model but the speakers I have heard with a compression driver has never been as smooth or detailed as the Triads I now own.

With that said, I believe I remember reading that Rob (RMK) did the compression driver (similar or the same to the compression driver in my newer Triple 8) and crossover upgrade on his Triple 12s and said the difference were somewhat subtle but he felt the move from the Triple 12s to the Noesis was a nice upgrade. To me that statement from Rob says a lot about the Noesis. Jeff, on the other hand, hardly opens his mouth when I questioned him about the difference between the older Triple 8s and the newer ones. He seems like a very modest guy of very few words – maybe too modest. I get the impression he is more of an action speaks louder than words type guy. If you read in between the lines between Jeff’s very few words about the Noesis and the fact that he has a pair traveling the US where enthusiast gets to audition them to me says that he is incredibly confident in those Noesis speakers. There are some other guys (Carp and Archea) whose opinions that I also enjoy reading and respect that have heard the Noesis and have very positive things to say about them. Carp even bought a set after hearing them.

With all that said, IMHO, it would take HELLUVA a speaker AND at even cheaper price than I paid for my used Triads speakers to make me consider budging from these Gold LCRs. They don’t leave me wanting for anything in my small room in terms of left, center and right.

That's the same add I'm pretty sure.

I think you are correct Tony.................

The problem is the center channel and the subs.............................I need three towers and plan on using the TC Sound 5400 Ultras........or maybe Submersives.

Tapping my feet until Craig John chimes in!!!!

Chimes in on what? I'm not into lesbian porn, European or otherwise! (Although I will admit that, out of curiosity, I checked the Audiogon website, and it's back to being just plain old Audiogon.) Interesting though that Paul hasn't been back here since you mentioned it.

=====================================================================

Seriously... what were you looking for me to chime in on?

Craig

Has anyone ever compared Plat subs to Submersives, or Captivators?

It is same ad and user name too.

Hi Claude,

I have a lot of respect for the opinions of many of you Triad owners. We have all been down similar roads to get to the sound we like.

I've been surprised (in a good way) by the performance of the Noesis. I also believed that I could never get this level of smoothness and detail from from a compression driver without sacrificing dynamics. Having heard them on several occasions I have a pretty good idea how the Noesis would stack up against the Catalysts but I would also love to hear a Triad Platinum/Noesis comparison. Not that such a comparo would influence existing owners as I'm sure we will all stay the course with what we have. My guess is that any performance deltas would be negligible and I know that Jeff is happy to finally have a speaker in the conversation with these terrific products.
Edited by RMK! - 11/23/12 at 4:27pm

I can honestly state that I have never visited a lesbian porn site. Ever. I won't even comment, as tempting as it is. I did go to a midget-tossing site once, though...

Thanks to Audiogon....................I guess I've experienced my FIRST!!!!!!!

Moral of the story................when you update your virus software, one must remember to turn on (no pun intended) their firewall!!!

I respect your opinion but at this point in this hobby the only thing I trust are my two ears. I'm still regretting to this day not trying out the full Aerial system I acquired a few years back (2LR5's, 1 CC5, 2 SW12's, 2 LR3's, and 2 SR3's. The main reason I sold it unheard was because fugueness had already had Aerial 9's and then went to Jtr's and claimed they beat them in all areas. He also told me he'd never go with the Seaton products over the Jtr's as he couldn't see the benefit for the premium in price. Needless to say some people just love and will defend whatever they currently own. I've never been biased to what I own nor do I care if I buy something I don't end up liking. The Jtr's I had were good for the money as they played loud and clear. But there is more to it then just loud and clear and for whatever reason I just wasn't emotionally engaged with them. They were great for showing off to friends, but I never had the desire I have now to purchase more Cd's and movies just to listen to things. Some are just not as picky as others when it comes to sound. I unfortunately am and small differences can either make me very happy with my system or just content.

That's called the "Gold Monitor" effect!

Certainly not on the subject of midget tossing European lesbian porn sites!!!



I.E. chime in on having three Plat towers.................I know you have the center channel and are happy. Figured you'd have an opinion..............

BTW, have you ever had a chance to hear the LMS 5400 Ultra? That could be sound chime in material...............................

I bought my Platinum set used and it had the CC instead of a 3rd LCR. In an ideal world, the center speaker would be a 3rd LCR, but that is not what this setup consisted of. The CC is an excellent timbre match for he LCR's and it's on-axis response is pretty similar to the LCR:

LCR:

(Purple = On-Axis, Red = 30 Deg. Off-Axis, Blue = 45 Deg. Off-Axis

CC:


On-axis, the front soundstage is very well-matched, very consistent and cohesive. It's the off-axis response that is somewhat of an issue. The horizontal orientation of the woofers and the wide cabinet are the causes of the less than perfect off axis response. Still you need to get fairly far off-axis, (>30 degrees), before the response becomes problematic. If your seats are all within 30 degrees of center, the response is fairly consistent.

Some will say that the off-axis response is important because it forms the reflected sound off the side walls. By definition, the CC is the furthest speaker from the side walls, so this problem is minimized. Furthermore, if you treat the side wall reflection points, you can virtually eliminate this issue.

Of course, all the above requires that you are using an AT screen, and that the CC is mounted behind it, with the tweeter at the same height as the LCR tweeters. If these requirements are not met, it doesn't matter what CC you use as you won't have a consistent and cohesive front soundstage anyway.

One other point is that the front panel of the CC is slanted back 8 degrees. I presume this is so it aims up at the LP when it is mounted below the screen or display. However, if it is mounted at the same tweeter-height height as the LCR, it needs to be leaned forward to get it perfectly vertical. It has adjustable feet that will lean it forward some, (4 degrees), but that is not enough to get it totally vertical. I had to build some slant into my stand to make it perfectly upright.



irpctr.pdf 22k .pdf file

Overall, I am very happy with the Platinum CC. Otherwise, I would replace it with a 3rd LCR.

I haven't heard the LMS 5400 Ultra driver. It has an excellent reputation and its' T/S parameters are well-documented. Are you planning to use it in a DIY cabinet? Sealed or vented? If sealed, how will you implement the LT circuit? External DSP/EQ? The Triad Platinum subs and the Submersives have the LT designed into the amp, so you don't need to be concerned about it. Funky Waves sells a sub with the 5400 driver and it has the DSP circuit built in: http://www.funkywaves.net/catalog.cfm?item=fw_18_0 All of these are great choices, but I suggest at least 2 of whatever sub you decide on.

That appears to be a great driver. But don't trivialize what a well-performing subwoofer is by only focusing on the driver. The enclosure is just as important; proper dimensions, the right material for the box, the correct damping material, bracing to kill all cabinet resonance, etc. It takes an engineer. And then there's the amplifier, DSP functions, EQ, limiting, etc. Designing a subwoofer system is like buying an engine and "dropping it into" a car. If you're a talented hobbyist and you're more interested in the activity of making a sub, have at it.