Just Ordered New Speakers

@gdhal  I spent a half hour with them. I was impressed. You are probably correct. 

I doubt there is much better at the price.

And I doubt there is any better at the price. :)

I heard the Reference speakers today at my local dealer. I was very impressed. They sound like a step up from the Triton Ones which I like very much. There will likely be reviews saying they are better than speakers costing 5 times as much. I listened to the B&W 800 D3 right after in the next room. The Reference was not quite as good in my opinion. 30k should best 8.5k every time though. I would be extremely happy with the Reference in my system and am thinking of buying them. I doubt there is much better at the price. 

Pretty impressive out of the box but now with over 200 hrs on them
"WOW"! great job Sandy.
I was very pleased with my 1's before these monsters -had them since they first arrived on the market so I figured with all the upgrades to the Reference I had to get a pair - so glad I did.
Nice to look at to.

Finally, after a 5 and 1/2 month wait, my dealer delivered the Golden Ear Triton Reference Speakers to me. I do not have too much to say about the sound yet, as I have only had them up and running for a couple of hours. I will say one thing about the sound and that it sounds like my Triton 1 speakers on some serious steroids! Sounding great out of the box and I am sure it will get even better. The cabinet is absolutely gorgeous and as a bonus, my wife loves the wooden look.

I posted pictures on the Audio Asylum under speakers and on the GE web site.

Excellent!! I look forward to hearing/reading your feedback. Get that Dark Side of the Moon queued up! I think Pink Floyd will sound pretty spectacular played through them! 

Finally got the call from the dealer that my speakers are in!  They will be delivered tomorrow afternoon.

I received email from Sandy at GE tonight stating my speakers are being shipped to the dealer tomorrow.  I am hoping to get them by this weekend, keeping fingers crossed.

My review has been posted https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/triton-reference-review

My salesman called GE today and spoke with Sandy, the man himself and was told my speakers should arrive at the dealer on July 16-17th. The dealer will deliver to me that day or the next. While I wish it were sooner, the end is near.

good on ya
several dealers i know and trust with golden ear wax, er...listening skills carry GE and feel they represent unique value in the high end.
congrats on your retirement !!!!! yes the no alarm deadline is very freeing for late nite listening for sure !!
i was blessed to retire at 55 after a great career that included moves to 5 zip codes. As many have said life is what happens while you are making other plans !!!
god bless and good health to you in this new chapter

UPDATE

I'm told Golden Ear is shipping the Triton Reference to dealers today!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UPDATE

As of this writing, I have reason to believe:

"First containers are on schedule and due in our warehouse mid to late next week!!"

They look much bigger than I thought.  I hope they don't get my wife in a hissy fit as they are going in the living room in the same spot the Triton Ones are in now.  This was a nice tease, thank you.  Can't wait till July for mine to come in.

So today May 27, 2017 I saw and heard the Triton Reference up-close-and-personal. Elegant and awesome are just some of the accolades I can think of! They dwarf the Triton One from a physical perspective. You can see that in the photos I've posted on the GET forum where the two of them are visible together. 
https://www.goldenear.com/forum/Triton-Towers/3483-new-triton-reference-speakers?start=96

From a sound perspective they do indeed have that “signature voice” and overall sound quality many Triton One owners have come to know, love and frankly – expect – from Golden Ear.

Various music (all digital including but not limited to SACD and 24bit/48k) was played through a McIntosh MA5200 and Marantz SA-14S1 initially, and then through a Musical Fidelity M6si and Blue Sound Vault. All of it sounded spectacular!

As to my initial impressions of sound comparison to the Triton One, Golden Ear states that the Reference sub-woofers have 40% more surface area than that of the T1, and the tweeter incorporates 50% more magnet material. I can honestly say that in my opinion a fair representation could be thought of as each Reference basically sounding like one and half Triton One’s. Essentially, the sound is remarkably similar to the One’s, just more of it! Again, this is my initial impression and without “critical” listening.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the grill covering the passive radiators can easily be removed, and are held in place with magnets. Very nice. I wish the same or similar were the case for the front grill, because I do like to look at the drivers at times for whatever reason.

The front grill cloth and grill appear identical to that of the T1. The piano gloss finish essentially makes much of the speaker look like the finish of the base (or top cover on the T1), and that does give it an “expensive” (in my opinion) look.

Only other thing I can add is I can’t wait to receive my pair in July!

Rick, our dealer was pushing Paradigms too. (Discount with trade in etc.) No go for me. After 30+ years in audio, I am not easy to impress. The Ones impressed me.

RACKON gotta love the help. My auditioin down south did not have the subs on.Maybe the rotel was good.He was pushing the paradigms that day too.R.W.They did offer to set up for a future audition.

Just noticed gdhal's response to my satirical doctor's terminology, and realize I should perhaps practice some sort of mirth control.

 @ stereo 5. good luck, Bob! 

I own Triton Ones...I was blown away the first time I heard them and when my buddy offered to sell me his, I bought them without hesitation.

They are incredibly revealing, and I agree with the above that they will show the weaknesses of anything upstream.  

I run an all- Emotiva upstream:  XMC-1 into Gen 2 XPA-1 monoblocks.  Analog is a Music Hall MMF 9.1 into a Parks Audio SUT and then a Hagerman Bugle phono stage then the XMC-1.

I just heard it is going to be more like July for the first production run :-(

I will be giving my first second and last impressions on them.  Looks like it is going to be late June before the dealers receive them :(

Looking forward to hearing your impressions on these Triton Ref's, I've heard the 'One's' and frankly thought they should cost 4x what they turned out to be here in the UK. Very honest manufacturing and marketing, well done GE.. 

I don't the reference model on their site. What are specs?

"Golden Ear" is also the technical term doctors use for cases of extreme ear wax buildup.

@wolf_garcia

I wasn't able to find anything on the Internet to substantiate your claim.

I was able to find plenty of information to the contrary. For instance, an excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_ear

"A golden ear is a term used in professional audio circles to refer to a person who is thought to possess special talents in hearing. People described as having golden ears are said to be able to discern subtle differences in audio reproduction that most inexperienced and untrained listeners cannot. Another meaning of the term is used by audiologists to describe aging test subjects who do not demonstrate the expected age-related loss in hearing acuity."

I've had a pair of Triton 7s for about a year and a half now and have been very pleased. (The 7 was selected due to size, not price.)

They replaced a set of classic Spendor SP1/2Es which I dearly loved, but were finally ordered out of the room due to their 1970s boxiness. The Tritons have a very good midrange with acoustic instruments and the tweeter is superb. The Spendors had a magical quality with well recorded voice and the Tritons are almost as good -- just a tad shy. However, the Tritons win the bass contest, but without being unnaturally overwhelming. 

I also have a set of the small Aon 2s in an office system. In their own way, they are perhaps even more surprising than the Triton line. They are outstanding for the money. 

stereo5 - congrats! Enjoy the heck out of all your References. Having had a cancer scare this winter, I realize more than ever that you never know what life has in store. I say go for the gusto while you can.

Rick - we are currently speaker shopping and auditioned the Triton line last week. Long story short, we fell in love. The 3+ is the one we zeroed in on  (the 2+ is a bit over our budget)  and it should fit well in our medium sized room. The spousal unit has a fondness for stand mounts but I've been lobbying for full range floor standers. The 3+ delighted us both. 

We listened to the Triton 7s, 3s and 1s, with a variety of electronics feeding them - from a Yamaha AVR, to Rega Brio and Marantz integrateds, to Krell separates. The various Tritons all sounded from a) very good (7s) to b) outstanding (3s and 1s). Bass was set at neutral for all models.

Tritons are the big bang for buck speaker du jour, but as far as I'm concerned, they totally earn their accolades. They possess a combination of virtues I highly value that are hard to find in an affordable speaker - large soundstage, openness and transparency, dynamic speed, coherence, good bass, plus easy to drive and place in the room. Last but not least, the 3s are smooth, without being too lush, which is important to us.  We listen to 80% classical, have a fair number of older and historic recordings, many in mono. I don't need hyper detail. I especially don't need anything with a treble bump. Even on well recorded material, some highly regarded speakers we auditioned made massed strings sound hard and glassy when pushed, but not one Triton model had a problem with strings or any large orchestral music dynamically or tonally. No compression, not even at loud volumes. Love that ribbon tweeter. I was even more impressed that we couldn't detect where the various drivers handed off throughout the range - believe me, we tried. There's some serious crossover voodoo engineering going on with the Tritons.

I'm surprised the Ones "sucked" at your second audition. The 1s are highly transparent and will reflect the gear upstream. I've found that lower end Rotel amps can sound a bit thick/grey but seldom have I heard one sound actually bad. I know some audition rooms are smaller than ideal, as was the room at our local dealer's, so maybe the Ones overloaded the room. At our audition, positioned about 7- 8' apart, about 18-20" from the back wall and toed in toward the listening position, the 3s and 1s both sounded great. I actually think the Tritons are fairly forgiving of speaker placement, but with all that bass power I'd surely hope the dealer had the Ones pulled away from the wall. You could go back north for another audition, or ask your southern dealer for an audition with gear more appropriate to the 1s and take some time to play with positioning. Anyway, good luck on your speaker quest and let your ears decide.

"Golden Ear" is also the technical term doctors use for cases of extreme ear wax buildup.

I am using Odyssey Stratos Extreme mono blocks, the new Rogue RP-5 all tube preamp, VPI Prime turntable, Esoteric SACD player, Sony HDD Music Server, Magnum Dynalab MD102 tuner, all Shunyata power cords and conditioners, Groneberg Quattro Reference speaker cables and interconnects.  The sound in my living room is jaw dropping.  I can't wait for the Reference, should be here late May or June.  The Triton 1 will be going into my secondary system where I now have the Triton 2.  I will put the Triton 2 up for sale on Audiogon once everything is set up.

WHAT GEAR ARE YOU USING WITH YOUR TRITON 1S? I Just heard a pair by accident.Drove 2 hrs north to hear vandys, martin logans and totems.Most were gone on some end of year sale.On the way out i looked in a room to my right, a theatere room.I asked what those GE speakers were.THE TRITON ONES.Well i'm here , can i take a listen?I was stunned at their ease and warmth.Jaw dropping as i listened WTF.Ok what gear are you using? Arcam.I stayed a while spinning some discs in amazement.I wanted to jump around,dance, whatever.Smooth , dynamic good PRAT Just sounded right.Did not come for these but now getting the bug. Another day i drove south nearly two hours to hear the again.Played on an intergraetd rotell they quite frankly SUCKED.Now they have my attention due to my gear,tweeks,upgrades etc.Note Bass at center up north ,first listen. Down south bass was set to min.Did not have time to set up properly that day.Their lower end stuff sounded better.Any listener feedback is Welcom. Again was it the gear, set up etc? I think so but every thing makes a difference, to include the room. Thanks R.W.

Hey Jerry (pops), I am very glad to hear how happy you are in your retirement! I hope that you never have to go back to work.
I do recall that you were miserable at work though, and as you said, they did offer you a package.

Every situation is a little different. Yes, my work takes away a lot of listening hours from me, but so does my wife. LOL!

I'm 56 now, and I was out of work for 3 years a couple years back, after losing my job of 30 years. So I had a little time of "forced" retirement. While enjoyable, the lack of financial security also frightened me.

My wife didn't work for 15 years while my children were young, so I was not ready to retire at 51 years old. Those 3 years off (51-54)  basically has pushed my retirement time frame back from 62 to 65, as I now need to build up a "buffer" again.

Anyway, I certainly do not hate my job, it's good to be working again after that 3 year hiatus. I don't foresee any package coming my way either.

However, I do know that one never knows what life has in the cards. Just because my plan is to retire at 65, doesn't mean that I will make it there. I've had the rug pulled out from under me before.

Toneranger, you're using the same amp as I do for the Sopra2's.  Have you experimented with speaker and interconnect cables with your 700i amplifier?  I'm using Discovery Essential and Essence cables that I've had for several years and I've thought about experimenting with some better cables.  thanks!!!

John, not to pile on my friend!  You and I PM a lot and you know I retired exactly a year ago.  Can I afford it?  I think so but for my mental state of mind - absolutely.  

I was not planning on retiring at 58 but the opportunity came around and I took it.  When you get over say 55 or so, the best laid plans do not always pan out.  Like having babies - surprise!!!  I am not saying I will not ever go back to work but man I am happy.

You do get a different perspective on gear for sure.  I look back and am amazed at some of the money I spent on gear and built out an audio room, wouldn't dream of doing that now!   Sunrayjack12 is right, I am really able to slow down and enjoy my system.  I was always trying to carve out time from work.

Congrats Stereo 5, I have done the same as you - I have 2 pairs of Thiels and love the house sound so I would never need to audition a different model - enjoy those speaks!  From what i have read they should be marvelous.

@sunrayjack12, you make a good case. My father died at the age of 62, and never made it to retirement, so I can relate.
If I KNEW I was going to kick the bucket before I hit 70, I would probably walk away much sooner than 65.

However, I also work with two fellows who are still working full time in their mid-70's (73 and 74). That scares me even more. The thought of retiring too soon, running out of dough, and having to go back out and work full time again in my 70's is terrifying.

For now, I'm healthy, and I need to make hay while the sun shines.
There are no guarantees in life, hopefully I get to enjoy a few years of retirement when my time comes.

as sunrayjack12 stated above it is time to loosen up the purse strings. I am running toward the finish line. Have loved the hobby and enjoyed how the upgrades along the way. My set up is a Vitus intergrated amp. [RI-100] along with a set of CR-1 TAD speakers and the Lumin S-1 and Nordost speaker Valhalla 2 speaker cables along with power cords. Not a perfect set up. All on my 3rd floor with appropriate wiring from the basement to the 3rd floor.
 

I'm a vintage guy myself, but I will say this on retirement, my older brother was waiting for 66, he did'nt make it.
He passed away at 65, all I could think of after the sorrow was what a waste chasing every last penny he could get.
After a life time of working, just be happy to retire and do what you want for as long as you have left.
I have been retired and I can tell you, it's nice to do what you want.
Especially listening to music anytime you want and no set bedtime.
Nothing as nice as Egales at 3 in the morning after a set of Pink Floyd.

True, we never really know what life has in store for us.
I'm hoping to work until I am 65, but that is not a given.

It sounds like you've worked hard enough, it's time to enjoy yourself.
I've owned a VPI Prime for about a year now, very nice table/arm combo!
It sounds like you will be set up nicely for retirement, congrats!!

Cheers,
John

All of this retirement talk is making me jealous!
I'm still about 8 years away.....sigh.
Golden Ear may be out with a Statement model by then.....

@mechans there are scores of professional reviews and hundreds of customer testimonials all of which trumpet the extremely high sound quality. Add to that the relatively low cost, and this is why Golden Ear has been and continues to be very successful. Their speakers are easily comparable to those costing many (5-10) times their MSRP.

I always considered the GE speakers as large toys and personally I wouldn’t buy any of them but I must admit that the Reference speakers looks like a game changer at GE evolution, A serious step up forward. Please keep up update how they sound.

@itzhak1969, I owned (past tense) Golden Ear Triton One speakers for over a year. Just sold them and - like (OP) stereo5 - ordered the Reference. I can assure you, they are no "toy" in the context that you describe. And yes, you will be kept apprised of how they sound. 

I always considered the GE speakers as large toys and personally I wouldn’t buy any of them but I must admit that the Reference speakers looks like a game changer at GE evolution, A serious step up forward. Please keep up update how they sound.

How would you describe the GE sound compared with other speakers?