I bought the original Celius a few years ago, along with its (then) matching subwoofer, and thought it the best bargain I had ever encountered -- and I have been involved with this hobby (obsession?) since the 1960's. I have owned K-horns, JBL Paragons, KLH 9 electrostatics, Altec A-7's, and, more recently, Mirage M1-si's and Dynaudio Evidence Masters. I sold the Celius when I bought my current favorite, the Triangle Volante 260. I was going to buy the first upgrade to the Celius (reviewed by ST about a year ago), but the dealer convinced me that the Volante was a better speaker. He was right. Everyone has his own definition of "bargain," but the Volante actually sounds better with FAR more music than the $80,000 Dynaudio (which I bought used, for less than a third of its new price)-- this, at a price of about 7 grand (I paid 5 for a demo pair). I have posted a review of the Volante on Audiogon, for anyone who is interested in the details. I haven't heard the new Celius that ST reviewed this month, but the 2nd avatar of the original Celius sounds quite similar to the Volante, except the latter is weightier (strong bass into the mid-30's) and can crank a little more sound into larger rooms. Also, it fills out the rear of the soundstage a bit more, perhaps because of its rear-firing midrange and tweeter set-up, a la the Magellan. I have over 2000 CD's and more LP's than that (about 90% classical, 9% jazz, and the rest pop). I could only play a couple dozen on the Dynaudio pair, because their strong peak in the 4,000 Hz region (my subjective reaction, of course) and their bass (flat to 20 Hz) highlighted too many of the flaws on "normal" and sub-par recordings. I think the Triangles' high sensitivity (all models, really) and strong central midrange performance keep the damage of the garbage at the extremes of normal and bad recordings to a minimum: if you love music as I do, you are drawn to the positive strengths in the midrange of almost ALL recordings and tune out the hash: the Triangles are so true to middle-C that it is very easy to ignore the crap at the extreme highs and extreme lows of bad software. Yet, the Volante (and Celius, as I remember both the originals and the update) still play the state-of-the-art recordings beautifully. The answer to this paradox was suggested, I believe, by Laurence Borden in this month's "beauty vs. truth" piece: in the real world of actually playing software through one's "perfect" system, linear accuracy can shine a spotlight on the flaws in less-than-perfect recordings. Since it is impossible to carry our systems into the concert hall, we rely on memory when we imaginatively compare recorded to live sound. Since the Triangles are SO dynamic and spacious (and detailed...in the "right" way), it is rather easy for me to lose myself in a recorded performance that the "critical" side of me knows is flawed. The Dynaudios simply wouldn't let me do this. So I sold them. And the Triangles capture the silky, spacious, airy sheen on massed violins, even on tipped-up recordings! The Dynaudios would turn them to hard steel. "Truth"?? Who cares!! I own too many cherished recordings to throw more than 95% of them out just for the so-called pride and privilege of owning the "world's best, most expensive" system. Sam's point, all along, is that you don't have to spend more than, say, 10 to 20 grand on a COMPLETE system to get a stunning analog to live sound into your living room. He's right. The Triangles are proof positive that this is a fact. Sam, when are you gonna review some of the Stratos line? True, they're a bit more expensive than their ES series siblings, but still outrageous bargains, in my book.
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