This is the official thread for the Triangle Borea BR03
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- Type: Bookshelf
- Powered: No
Hifiguides Amazon Link
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just saying… i have BR03s, which i got for a very decent price, it was a return with a small scratch on the botten side. I have it paired with an IOTAVX SA3, which i also got for a very decent price, since it’s a refurbished unit. So i really cheaped out on both and and everything works perfectly for months now. And let me tell you… especially for the price i paid, this pairing sounds like an absolute STEAL! It also looks great, since i have the white speakers which look really, really decent with the white drivers. I use the set playing music (obviously) but also for watching movies. Since i only have a (decently large) one-room-flat, my couch is relatively close to my OLED TV and the speakers. I have the speakers aiming for my ears. For this scenario, honestly - i cannot think of a better speaker! Sure, they’re bookshelf-speakers and not floorstanders, i also don’t have a sub… but honestly, i really don’t need it. For a don’t-disturb-the-neighbours-setup, they’re absolutely perfect. I cannot overstate, how impressed i am about how they image, how they have really decent body for their size, how refined they sound (at least to me) and how pleased i am about their tonality. These are lovely and lively speakers and they work perfectly for movies and music alike imo. They give me every detail i could want and yes they are rather bright, but the brightness is exactly on point for me. No, these speakers are not too bright. These speakers are just sooo pleasing to me. I bought the set based on the reviews of ZeroFidelity. I can approve of everything he says about these. I guess he’s also right, that these are confident speakers with a presentation, that’s right in the middle between in-your-face and relaxed. For playing music, i have a raspberry pi 4 with an IQaudio DAC Pro hat running piCorePlayer, streaming TIDAL, which i control using iPeng app in iOS. Music is really fucking gorgeous. It has this lively, sightly brighter character, that is really, really engaging and an absolute pleasure to listen to. I’m sorry, but i think Zeos has done something wrong again. These speakers are far, FAR away from being a disappointment. They’re an absolute highlight of my audio journey, i love them to death!
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After 6 months of demoing varous entry level hifi bookshelfs(thank you singapore for having demo rooms) I finally decided to pull the plug on the BR03 and NAD316BEE as my first hifi setup.
Everything just clicked with me when I finally tried with the NAD316 where the dynamic depth (plese tell me the correct term for having multiple instruments at different volumes) just blew me away where it felt like I was listening to my audio technica headphones but in speaker form.
Details for days while being laid back without detracting from the pounding synth bass texture or the vocal texture of grow, male, female and operatic vocals. Males it very good for Jcore and modem Metal with good compression and lots of detail and low volume infomation being presented in a very convincing way.
Which brings me to the downside where its very DAC transparent. Running with my phone, the DX300, shanling UA2 dongle and UP4 bt module the differences are very apperent. As such I found that you can tweek the sound quite a fair bit via your dac. With my favorite being the DX300 due to the laid back airy highly detailed sig having high synergy with the highly energetic NDA316 and the highly textured BR03 to make a neutural drug like highly detailed experence.
As such the BR03 are very source dependent at lest compared to the JBL studio 530 which always have a lack of air warmer tone and the klipsch m51 which has a hyperagrassive one note bass super forward presentation.
Hopefully the reviewers of the BR03 saying they arent that placement sensitive are right so I can just setup and start enjoying once they arrive.
Ok I have about 1 week of use for the br03 and I can say they are breaking in nicely. Was a tad disapointed when I first set it up as the dynamics I heard in the store just wasnt there. Interestingly it seems that the treble takes longer to open up then the mid/bass. So there was a couple of days of incoherency where the woofer was more dynamic and faster than the tweeter. Everything seems to have settled down now with about 40hrs of break in.
What I find scary is that in my room the bass goes low enough that I can feel the subbass shaking the air around me. Very different from the store demo where it needed a sub woofer to get the same effect.
i’m currently thinking about upgrading my br03-setup with REL T7i subs. Not 7x’s, because the older model is way cheaper and i even could afford two (over time). KEF KC62 oder T9i / T9x is too expensive.
The question is: since the br03’s already have a decent amount of bass - will they respond well to this “sub-grade”? (pun intended) Is it just unneccessary with the br0s? And then, if you think about it… paying double the price of the speaker pair for one subwoofer and getting even two of them… oh no. Sure, i could use the RELs forever and combine them with different sets on the long run. But this just looks like a step on an endless trip of changing everything on my stereo… sooner or later i’ll say “the br0s aren’t good enough anymore for the RELs” or “i need another amp now” or so. The thing is - i’m still quite happy with the br0s… i just like the idea of getting even more high quality oomph. How valid and reasonable is this? Shouldn’t i rather change to floorstanders if i have this urge? Shouldn’t i upgrade the speakers first before adding 800€ subs to 400€ speakers? Please talk me out of this… thanks.
I tried a sub with my bookshelves and it’s been on my wishlist ever since. Sorry, I know I’m not helping.
But you can always order one and return it if you don’t notice a benefit.
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As long as its a highly textured sub woofer its worth imo. It goes down low but it gets pretty one note.
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Try a sealed SVS sub, SB1000 Pro. Cheaper but still pretty awesome
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oh yeah not sure if this is the right place to ask but should I upgrade my interconnect from my dac to intrigrated amp first or my speaker cables?
Also I donno if its sympathetic response but the BR03 sounds very similar to the AWKT to the point where the only difference is the cleaner imaging and slightly warmer sound on the AWKT compared to the BR03 on my gear. Is this what they mean by transparent?
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well guys, after spending hours on reviews, research and tedious decision making, i just ordered me a Klipsch SPL-150sw. “Omg whyyyy??” you might ask … well. I had to admit, that i would probably not have been happy with the T7is. Thing is, i don’t have a dedicated HT setup, i use my br03s for that also. And being honest with myself, i use it even more for TV and movies then for music. That doesn’t mean, that my heart is more on the music side then it is in movies, no no. It just means, that the setup is being used mostly for movies and i listen to music more often on headphones, in the bathroom and on the go. Maybe even at work… the Br0s come last, unfortunately. Then you have the br0s themselves. They are not the smallest, bass-lightest bookshelfs you will come across. They actually do have some decent bass. So my thinking was, that i need to add something that goes really deep. I know that reasoning is pure BS if i never tested a REL, but in my mind, it’s still valid. And all that reasoning combinded might just have created an excuse to get get a sub, that is not as musical, but is more on the HT-focused slamming side. I made circles upon circles with every REL and SVS product imaginable, two q acoustics qb12’s also were on the table. I was even trying to justify getting a SVS PB-4000 and a second down the line. NOPE. At the end, price was still important, that means prices in Europe. I now spent 666 € for a 15" that i.e. Zeos approves of. No, it’s by far not as precise and musical and audiophile and (…) as a REL or SVS and it’s even ported, omg. You know what? F*ck it. I’ll test the Klipsch and see what i’m getting. Let’s see, how good or bad everything will sound. Since i haven’t heard a REL or SVS i’m at least not spoiled yet. Let’s see what this adds to the table. Given its size, i might even use it as one … nice 800w peak couch table lol
@l0rdm0rd nice do let us know how it sounds when it arives I’m also looking into a sub eventually just to fill out the 20 to 80hz and make it not so one note.
Also are my ears deceving me or do adding the dusk covers actually improve the soundstage and imaging at the expense of some bass.
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an update from me, the SPL-150 has arrived this week. I’ve set the CF frequency to 80Hz. My impressions are, that they definitely deliver from their site, especially in movies. I have to continue testing with positioning, levels, CF freq. etc. but currently, i’m a bit sceptical regarding pairing with the br03s. They sound so small and weak now! Poor things. It’s actually a bit like a cheap 2.1 pc speaker set now. There’s the smolo br0s and the biggo Klipsch and there’s someting missing in between. And on the other side, the Klipsch actually does a great job of “adding to the experience”. It’s just more fun to feel the sound with your feet. But currently, i’m a bit tempted again. Do i want floorstanders now to fill these gaps and make it more coherent…? I’m looking at you, RP-8000f. I guessi should take my time for further testing, the br03s have much to offer…
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hmmm seems like they dont gell well together. Pitty. Just curous is the klipsch sub also very tight and aggressive in presentation as with their speakers? Might be a issue with timbre mismatch.
Thanks for providing the info so I dont have to go though the trouble. Might have to search for a sub that is on the slightly soft side but very textured to mesh well together.
Just a update on the subwoofer situation. I have gotten a def tech supercube 2 that I’m very happy with and pairs well the BR03. Running signal from speaker amp is a must though. For whatever reason If I use the RCA or LFE the sub is very sluggish.
Oh wow I didnt realise its been a good 2 years since Ive gotten these speakers. Still in my very cursed semi-storeroom of a bedroom.
I understand endgame is a state of mind but for whatever reason I want to upgrade but I cant seem to find something with similar voicing as the BR03 but with better control. Had the cometes for awhile but besides the sightly refined high end the low mids to bass doesnt have the texture/microdetail that the BR03 has and eventually flipped them. Not sure where to go from here.
Maybe monitor Golds but the overall speed is a tad too slow for my tastes. Also would have to eq down the upper mids as I found them really foroward for some reason.
Also recently got the musical paradise mp301 and its really nice and flatish(?). Doesnt sound like the usual tube amp that makes vocals kind of bloated and also the transients draggy. Very nice pairing.
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It’s great to hear that your BR03 speakers are breaking in nicely and that you’re noticing improvements in their performance. It’s not uncommon for speakers to require some break-in time before they reach their optimal sound quality, so it’s good to see that you’re experiencing the positive effects.
The SuperCube 2, your trusty bass companion in the audio adventure.