Home Theater Performance
Since the primary design goal of the Triad Platinum series is home theater,
I targeted the majority of my critical listening on this application. From
the very first movie, it was clear that every single area of the Triad
system's performance was stupendous. I expected fantastic dynamics, weight,
power, and extension, but the more subtle areas of performance were very
surprising and are what make the Triad Platinums something special.
Imaging and soundstage are qualities that I particularly value in a
loudspeaker. The reason I have kept my trusty Platinum Audio Solos for so
long is because they excel in this area. The typical large loudspeaker has a
very difficult time equaling the performance of a small speaker for a very
simple physical reason. The large size of the front baffle causes increased
diffraction from acoustic power traveling across the speaker's front panel.
The Triad system immediately proved itself to be a soundstage and imaging
champ, especially with movie sound tracks. Reproduction of spatial transients
is what makes a movie soundtrack sound "real."
Many people think that a 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound system will provide
this imaging performance for free, regardless of speaker quality. This is
most definitely not correct. Speakers of the quality of the Triad Platinums
fill in the space between the speakers with their ability to effortlessly
image outside the speaker cabinet. The Triads excelled in precisely locating
sounds in the soundstage, especially outside the LCRs, partially filling in
the space to the right and left of the listeners without the use of side
surrounds.
While having people over to watch The Matrix, a ringing telephone
for an "exit" caused every person in the audience to turn their heads
completely to the left. The image appeared to emanate from several feet to
the left of the front-left speaker, with such convincing dynamics and timbre
that I couldn't wipe the grin off my face for quite some time.
Even with far
more subtle material, the Triads excelled at the reproduction of dialogue. The
increase in clarity, and the realistic reproduction of timbre were akin to
having completely remastered sound tracks. The Triads were able to extract
every last drop of dialogue character and quality, without ever becoming
compressed or confused.
In Guy Ritchie's films Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, the funky soundtrack never muddled or confused any dialogue. Movie
sound tracks
were clearly the best I have ever heard. When I watch the Cohen brothers
epic O Brother Where Art Thou, I am normally left a bit disappointed in
the quality of the music compared to the CD and SACD sound tracks. On the
Triads, the quality of the performances, from the rhythmic "Man of Constant
Sorrow" to the a capella "Down to the River to Pray" and Ralph Stanley's
classic solo performance "O Death", there never seemed to be any lack any depth,
excitement, or clarity.
Timbre, or the ability to accurately differentiate the character of one
unique sound from another, is a commonly overlooked trait especially in a
home theater loudspeaker system. Accurate reproduction of timbre, however,
is one of the key qualities necessary for maximally realistic sound
reproduction. From the human voice, to a telephone ring, a car engine or a
gunshot, correct timbre is required for a realistic reproduction of a
soundtrack. The Triads were fantastic in this area. Most of the kudos go to
the LCR center channel, as the majority of a soundtrack's midrange detail is
broadcast on the center channel. Many would argue that a $6,300 center
channel is a ridiculous extravagance, but I disagree. For the most accurate
reproduction of a movie soundtrack, the center channel loudspeaker is the
most vital.
The almost full-range performance of the LCR center and LCRs infused
dialogue with a richness and weight impossible with small monitors. This
wideband performance also added a great deal to one of my favorite action
movies, Ronin. As a person whose first word was "car," I
think that any film with
realistic car chases like Ronin (where all chase scenes were filmed without
any CGI or blue-screen, at full speed and in real cars) gets my vote. The
quality of the engine notes in Ronin were as close to real as I think it is
possible to get from a home theater when played back at high SPL. Even with
the scream of a BMW M5 in the background, the accompanying dialogue and sound
effects were never covered up or blurred. It's this ability to maintain
uniqueness of sounds (both in an imaging sense and in a timbral sense) even
with a very complex sound scape and at high volume that make a speaker great,
rather than merely good.
My Platinum Audio Solos begin to get confused at high volume, although
they deal very well with a complex sound field. The Triads can take any
complexity of source material, at any volume level, and still perfectly
resolve the soundstage and the timbral qualities of every image in that
soundstage. I believe that the high sensitivity of the Triads is vital to
this performance characteristic. With a high sensitivity loudspeaker, the
amplifier will always be able to easily reproduce all micro and macro-dynamic contrasts and timbre changes with a minimum of effort. My low
sensitivity Platinum Audio Solos offer very good performance at low to
moderate SPL, but begin to falter at high playback levels, in part due to
the load they place on the amplifier driving them (which in this case is a
150 WPC Plinius 8150i integrated amplifier).
With more drive power and headroom, the situation gets better (see
my review of the fantastic Classé Audio CAP-2100
Stereo Integrated Amplifier), but the Triads need no such coddling.
While these speakers deserve the finest quality amplification, they do not
require kilowatts of drive power from solid state amplifiers that could
double as arc welders. Even 100 WPC (probably even 50 WPC) will result in
exceptional performance. Just don't think of driving these with a low-priced receiver.
Anybody who chooses to drive a $26,000 loudspeaker system that way
needs to have their head examined, but I doubt that any Triad Platinum
customer would use anything other than separates for source electronics.
With this level of sensitivity, even moderately powerful tube amplifiers
would be a fantastic choice.
If a large high end speaker system can do nothing else, it should sound
large. The Triad Platinum speakers have two abilities that fulfill this
need, and set them apart from any other loudspeaker I have ever heard. These
speakers can play louder without losing performance than anything I have
heard. In addition, the macro and micro-dynamics are absolutely spectacular.
The high sensitivity of the Triads are vital to both the high SPL ability
and the dynamic performance. The high sensitivity allows very high acoustic
power output with a minimum load on the power amplifier. In addition, both
small and large dynamic contrasts require much less from the associated
electronics. Sensitivity is necessary, but not sufficient, for world class
sonic reproduction.
The high SPL performance requires very good control of mechanical
resonances, both in the enclosure and the drivers. The dynamic performance
requires careful crossover design, with good time domain performance in
addition to low mass drivers with fast, low reactance coils. The result of
the careful design of the Triad Platinums was nothing short of jaw dropping.
I was asked by Triad to "stretch the legs" of the system. I listened to the
system played as loud as I could stand several times, and was amazed every
time. Not a single area of performance was compromised, even with peak
playback levels approaching 120 dB. Imaging and dynamics remained as focused
and expansive as at "normal" volume. Most impressive was the fact that the
Triads maintained clarity, separation of images, and separation of timbre for
all images in the soundstage regardless of SPL. When my ears hurt, I stopped
turning up the volume.
I never found the SPL level when these speakers might start to fall apart. I
assume such a volume level exists, but I cannot imagine that anyone would
ever find that point unless they have a home theater the size of a
basketball stadium. The bass power and extension were appropriately
subterranean, with the ability to maintain high output all the way to 20 Hz,
never falling behind the main speakers. The accompanying RackAmp 1000 never
got more than warm, and the 1000W RMS power was sufficient to fill my room
to the aforementioned ear splitting level. If you actually needed more
output, it is easy to daisy chain multiple PowerSubs and RackAmps for 3 dB
of peak acoustic power gain with each unit.
Note by Ed Mullen: Co-located
subwoofers will yield a 6 dB gain. The term co-located is defined by the
distance between the subs and the wavelength of the
frequency in question. Typically you would want the subs to be less than 1/4
wavelength apart at all frequencies in the pass band. So if you are using an
80 Hz crossover setting, placing them within 3-4 feet of each other will
yield a 6 dB gain at 80 Hz and below.
Two sound sources will typically yield a 3 dB gain if they are much farther
apart than 1 wavelength, and have random phase with respect to one another.
While the high volume performance of these speakers is unmatched in my
experience, it was their dynamic ability that made me covet them. You might
not even know what dynamics at this level even sound like. I certainly did
not, and now that the Triads are gone, I miss it. The most important thing
exceptional dynamics add to musical reproduction is excitement. With poor
dynamics, movie sound tracks and music sound flat and dead. The Triads made
every movie, every audio track sound alive with excitement and emotion.
In real life, we are used to tremendous dynamic contrast, from the sound
of rustling clothing to a car horn. Something as simple as a telephone ring
has a huge dynamic contrast compared to the volume of normal conversation.
Most audio systems have tremendous difficulty in reproducing realistic
dynamic contrast. Watching movies with the Triad system proved to be a new
experience every time, even with DVDs I had seen dozens of times before. In
The Hunt for Red October, the sound of the sonar pings produced a dynamic
contrast so startling that my listening room sounded like a steel tube hit
by a wrecking ball. This surprise and amazement was repeated with every
explosion and gunshot (as expected), as well as every telephone ring and
slamming door (unexpected). It is virtually impossible to give tangible
examples for micro-dynamics. Systems with good micro-dynamic performance
just sound more "alive" and "exciting." It was these characteristics that
drew me to the Triads regardless of source material or playback level.
Almost everything else I have ever heard sounded flat and dull by
comparison.
Click Here to Go to Part IV.