Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Triangle Celius Speakers by Goyescas General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

For Sale Ads FAQ / News / Events

Model:	Celius
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$1995
Description:	3 way, high-efficiency floorstanding loudspeaker.
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available

Review by Goyescas ( A ) on March 23, 2002 at 16:14:03 IP Address: 68.56.53.4

Add Your Review for the Celius

---

Triangle Celius (“Celiuis 202”) Floor Standing Loudspeaker

Purchased From
Audio Odyssey
116 South 8th Avenue
Highland Park, NJ 08904
(732) 572-4520

Pricing/ Finishes
$1995 USD Sienna wood-grain vinyl, which is medium cherry in tone and contrasts with a curved front panel in dark-charcoal low-gloss carbon, and;
$2195 USD Ebony (really, “Anigre”), which sports maroon/dark-brown anigré real-wood veneer to match the maroon low-gloss curved front. Anigré is a hard wood, from West Africa, mainly Tanzania. The grain is generally straight with some wavy curls. The wood is light tan when cut and a darker brown when finished. The texture is medium, with no open pores to work around.
Actual Cost: $1975 (for the real wood, saving ca $10%).
Shipping: No Cost
Specifications
3 way bass-reflex
Integrated electronic protection device
Bi-wirable
Bass driver Triangle T16 DR110C (x2)
Mid driver Triangle T16 PP122o
Tweeter Triangle TZ202
Sensitivity (dB/W/m) = 92
Freq Response (+- 3Db) = 45Hz-20kHz
Continuous Power = 120 W
Peak Power = 240 W
Nominal Impedance = 8 Ohms
Minimal Impedance = 5 Ohms
Low Frequency Roll Off/Crossover = 400 Hz
High Frequency Roll Off/Crossover = 4 Hz
Dimensions = 44.5 x 8.7 x 11.7 (H x W x D)
Weight = 48.4 lbs.

In his response to a letter from a reader of The Absolute Sound who questioned the rationale for his ability to choose three very different loudspeakers as a “reference,” Jonathan Valin responds (Issue 130, June/July, 2001):

“…I have greatly liked Trios, PipeDreams, and Kharmas for different reasons, as each has captured with greater fidelity than its competition certain aspects of the sound of music. Avantegardes are nonpareil at dynamics and detail. PipeDreams at lifelike imaging and power delivery, Kharmas at timbral purity, bass and transparency of musical line. Each has also its own set of flaws (which I have been very careful to enumerate in my reviews). Although these three speakers do not sound the same, under controlled conditions, they differ more in emphasis than in fundamentals, and they will appeal to different listeners, I think, on the basis of those emphases. The notion that there is one and only one right loudspeaker (or right anything) – one “absolute” reference component that captures it all for all listeners under all circumstances, in all systems – is absurd. One, or this one, listens and learns and recommends (as carefully as possible) on the basis of what a piece of gear does right, with the understanding that no piece of gear will do everything right, that each will have a set of strengths (corresponding to a subset of aspects of the real thing) and a set of weaknesses (artifacts that are inevitably added by electromechanical devices).”

It is with this in mind that I offer the following review – one of a loudspeaker far less expensive than those referenced above by Mr. Valin (those go from $45,000-$70,000/pr.). I only ask that you do the same as you read on.

I have auditioned, owned and/or lusted over loudspeaker designs by Joseph Audio, Sonus-Faber (beautiful, huh?), Vienna Acoustics (most recently and very nice indeed), Meadowlark, JMLab, Merlin, Spendor, Magnepan, and, to a lesser degree, some by Snell, Fried, Acoustic Energy, and a few others, excluding but even a tryst or two with horns. My musical tastes include most western music, including a limited but excellent smattering of opera and admittedly even some “country.” The emphasis – say 60% - leans toward “classical” music (as a genre, not a period) written during and after the 17th century. Jazz, Blues, R&B and “pop” round out the other 40%.
I started breaking-in my Celius on 19 November 2001. The break-in period is quite extensive and upon first hearing they will sound awful. I mean dreadful, although you may sense their potential right off. Break in took place in my home music studio (I play and teach classical guitar and string bass), most of it while I was out of the room. Don’t even bother listening to them seriously for the first 85 hours or so. I am not exaggerating. I have been told break in is 100 hours; it is more like 200. I kept a log on this activity, and will be happy to share it privately to readers upon request.
The first thing that struck me was how FAST they are. This is what distinguishes them from the competition at their own and any price point below $4-$5k. While any loudspeaker/room combos will inherently color some sounds, these speakers are outrageously honest in terms of color, and set up correctly, are free of any design peaks or obnoxious resonance.
Specifically, the mid bass (what many listeners describe as low bass, say 45-100 Hz) is not at all overly ripe, as it typically is in this price. Likewise, the mid treble is also not overly bright. This is, to me, the most important and often overlooked problem with other speakers in this price range, including the otherwise superb Magnepan 1/6QR’s, which best define what I am talking about. This may not bother you at all, but it drives me insane so as to render the other attributes of the Maggies worthless. Again, this is my taste – just spelling out that I require a flat presentation even if that means a lack of certain frequencies. Do right what you can, and leave out what you cannot (in the case of Celius, this means leaving out the low bass without increasing the upper or mid-bass!).

Tubes versus SS
It had been said that the Triangle line respond well to tubes. Eager to hear this combination, a listening panel of accomplished musicians found the tube presentation to be, well, colored and somewhat distorted, and in a not-too subtle manner. Meaning, you will know right off if you prefer tube v. SS. I respectfully do not agree with reviewers who prefer to mate these with tubes, and find that combination nothing more than a very polite coloration. I auditioned these with a Consonance M99 integrated push-pull and a Harman-Kardon A300 tube integrated; these combos – the former a higher power and the latter ca 12wpc - while nice sounding, resulted in a loss of low-level detail for the sake of a rather gorgeous midrange. This is a taste issue, but not one that requires a lot of in-depth listening; you will know right off which you prefer. Therefore, I do recommend auditioning the Celius with both tubes (SET/push-pull/etc.) and solid-state gear.
The Celius will sound like absolute crap with cheaper electronics, and here I include some examples of NAD or Adcom gear I have since parted with. Audition carefully with budget amplification; I could not believe the difference between my 60wpc Adcom GFA 535-L versus my Musical Fidelity A300 (150wpc Dual-Mono) integrated. I found an outstanding synergy with the MF A300. Another good but different bet, say in a heavily damped room, would be the SimAudio Moon I-5 integrated.
Dynamics: Peter Walker once reported his belief that ALL recordings posses a “perfect” listening level; the Celius are so dynamic as to increase the relevance of this statement. They are very dynamic, allowing you to hear gobs of low-level detail, which for me is a major feature of these loudspeakers. Fast. Tight.
This design is tonally pure, and very nicely do they render the sound of strings, woodwinds, and percussion. I was especially astounded with the degree to which this is true on my analog set-ups (my own AR/Sumiko Premiere MMT arm/Grado 8MX cartridge or the EuroLab Scheu designed 2001 table/Benz-Scheu cartridge/Moerch UP-4 arm which I am auditioning courtesy of Audio Advancements). If you spend a lot time with Vinyl, I strongly urge you to hear these.
SPL’s
There is a limit to how hard you should drive these, the threshold at which above results in a completely incoherent sound stage. You can play loud music, but once you can’t hear yourself speak above the music you will hear more noise and less music. This is only a problem if you listen to a lot of popular rock, (and I mean this as a general statement) where the purposefully bright and upper bass-heavy production is frequently coupled with what is often nothing more than gobs of compression to yield an exaggerated presence of harmonics at all frequencies.
I would never recommend these to somebody who really loves to crank the tunes. This was clear to me in the beginning and remains true today – but while I sometimes miss being able to listen at ear splattering levels, the overall experience is so musical at the slightly lower volume that I miss it less and less each day.
Is there low bass? NO! What, you want the perfect loudspeaker for $2000? How’s the upper treble? In the wrong room or improperly set-up, these speakers will sound thin and bright. My own room is rather bright (wood floors over concrete), but by using an array of damping, rugs, etc., one can easily tame the slight brightness.
Imaging
The sound stage width typically extends to the outer edge of each cabinet, but they throw a very deep sound stage indeed. This is especially true with near field listening, which I highly recommend (and not necessarily as the only way to listen, but certainly the first place to start when setting them up in your room). Your own understanding of the issues surrounding the principles of absorption, diffusion and reflection will help you obtain the best possible sound. Personally, I prefer a near-field listening environment for lower volumes, using the Fibonacci sequence (instead of the rule of thirds) to tame reflections.
Very RARELY will you hear an instrument outside of the left to right placement of the cabinets. This, to my way of thinking, is more in keeping with what one hears in a concert hall. The sound in a large but acoustically “perfect” hall, such as the Concertgebouw in Holland, is more like a mono recording; smaller but fine halls, such as those on college campuses around the country, tend to be brighter, bass heavy, and throw a soundstage about as wide as the Celius.
Revealing?
If your source material is engineered for cheaper loudspeakers, you’ll know right away. There is no glossing over what did or did not happen during production; if your CD’s or LP’s are nasty: beware of Celius! Twist this around and you are so happy to have them.
Timbre
Tone colors are very accurate, and I also mean the micro stuff, such as the decay of a false harmonic versus a true harmonic as played on guitar, or, the bow pressure on a string; the wind into a flute/oboe or bassoon (attack); the brushes on a cymbal. These are among the most revealing drivers I have ever heard.
Dynamics
Micro- and macro-dynamics are so dramatic the speaker almost sounds amusical, in the sense that you wonder if such broadly rendered dynamic differences really exist (again, once you adjust/lower your volume for this, the dynamic differences become quite musical). This will require some adjustment unless you are accustomed to listening to electrostatic loudspeakers, which these resemble. This characteristic is further exaggerated in my experience in a small room; say one 12x14 with an 8-foot ceiling. NO doubt reflections play a bigger part in this.

Coherence
I have heard more coherent presentations (say, Martin Logans or the Vienna Acoustics), but not by much. With a mono recording, and there are some beautiful ones out there, they cannot be beat. Jury is still out on the overall ability of these to remain coherent, but I am going to rate these a B or an 8 on a scale of 1-10, at least this far. I have more tweaking to do with room placement and all the other parameters, but right now I am getting to know them before I make further adjustments.
LIVE FM broadcasts are wonderful. Also, if you listen to a lot of small ensembles, especially jazz, fasten your seat belts. So far, this is where they excel, as in cannot be beat (although I am sure there are other combinations that render an equally musical experience). Large-scale orchestral works are problematic for many loudspeakers, and there are times where you will find yourself reaching for the remote to lower the volume. Once the ideal volume is realized, the Celius disappear and one can get lost in the music. This can be a fine line, so I recommend a careful audition; surprisingly and most especially if your room is very small.
In terms of set-up, they are not unlike most other loudspeakers; careful and deliberate set-up is paramount to getting the most from them. If you are not familiar with how room boundaries affect sound, educate yourself while breaking them in (again, the break-in time is close to 200 hours, and this in not a means to adjusting your ear; they really do need to break in).

So, my long quest for a reasonably priced and musical sounding loudspeaker has finally come to an end!

---

Product Weakness:	In the wrong hands, in the worst of rooms, and with poorly matched components, especially with respect to your choice of amplification, they can very easily be made to sound thin and bright.
Product Strengths:	Overall, I found the Celius to be a total bargain in so much as they are tonally accurate, dynamic, fast, and honest. Some may find them on the revealing side of neutral, hence the desire to mate them with tube gear, which others and I find to color what they do so well – accurately present pitch intensity and its timbre.

---

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	Musical Fidelity A300; Adcom GFA-535L;Consonance M99; Harman Kardon A300
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	None
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	See Review
Speakers:	N/A
Cables/Interconnects:	Music Metre, Harmonic Tech
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Emmylou Harris, YAZ, Paul Simon, Tons of classical and jazz (e.g., Kind of Blue, Dick Hyman, Beethoven, Gilels, Richter, deLarrocha, and on and on.
Room Size (LxWxH):	22 x 13 x 9-10
Room Comments/Treatments:	Right now, just rugs for absorption and art for diffraction
Time Period/Length of Audition:	SInce November 2001
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Coaxmax 2 Surge Protectors
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
Your System (if other than home audition):	See inmate system "Goyescas"

---

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Parts Connexion

---

[ Top of Page ] [ Contact Us ] [ Support/Wish List ] [ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]

---

[ General ] [ Speakers ] [ Tubes ] [ Vinyl ] [ Digital ] [ Hi-Rez ] [ Video Asylum ] [ Cables ] [ Tweaks/DIY ] [ Music ] [ Films ]

---