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Model: | Celius |
Category: | Speakers |
Suggested Retail Price: | $1995 |
Description: | 3 way, high-efficiency floorstanding loudspeaker. |
Manufacturer URL: | Not Available |
Review by FishMatisse214@aol.com (A) on March 09, 2002 at 19:49:38 IP Address: 152.163.201.76 |
Add Your Review for the Celius |
Triangle Electroacoustique
Model Celius 202, Espace
Floor standing loudspeaker, 3 way bass-reflex
Interated electronic protection device
Bi-wirable
Bass driver Triangle T16 DR110C (x2)
Mid driver Triangle T16 PP122o
Tweeter Triangle TZ202Sensitivity (db/W/m) 92
Frequency range (+ - 3db Hz-kHz) 45-20
Continuous power (W) 120
Peak power (W) 240
Number of ways 3
Nominal Impedance (ohms) 8
Minimal Impedance (ohms) 5
Low frequency roll-off (Hz) 400
High frequency roll-off (kHz) 4
Dimensions (inches H x W x D) 44.5 X 8.7 x 11.7
Weight (lbs) 48.4
Let me start off by saying that the Celius is very appealing in the Ebony finish. The wood finish color is somewhere between dark walnut and rosewood. The fit is flawless. All drivers are perfectly seated and flush,(except for compensation of curve) into the curved baffle. It's slimness is a crafty work art and design.The drivers are all made in house by Triangle. The new 1"titanium dome tweeter incorporates a "close to the surface of the dome", mini-phase plug. I don't really know wheather the little bullet is just a cosmetic or actually assist in the dispersion of the high frequencies? The highs are rolled off smoothly and there's no brightness associated with metal tweeters. Of course this depends on your amp and source. What is nice about the highs is it's accurate instrumental timbres. Certain recordings do sound immediate at times. Again, management of treble brightness and fatigue can be compromised by your components. I prefer the laid-back overall presentation.
I particually like the mid-range of the Celius. Tonal and timbre quality are on the money. Voicals are extremely emotional. The space and air around vocals are divine. The word is Blooooom! Like the treble, the mid-range is not in your face. But, the attack is dead on when called for. The dope paper cones are very responsive and super fast. Indeed, I'm quickly inveloped into the music for which I'm not really used to receiving from a floorstander.
The double bass driver units simply complement the upper and mid frequencies. For 6.25 drivers they go pretty deep and the mid-petite box volume does not subtract any bottom energy. Percussion are very articulate with a force of authority. Electric bass and bass fiddle are tight and fast. Decay of sound prevents overlap and boom. You don't get the very deepest freqs., but in a mid size room and 30 or 40 wpc, you've got enough.
The balance and intergration of the Celius is excellent. The cross-over, what ever the order, blends the whole range like a rich souffle. Everything is even throughout the board.
All this may sound a little analytical, the Celius is not. They get out of the way and let the enjoyment of music come alive! Give the alot of time to evolve, you'll hear the difference.
Product Weakness: | Availibility |
Product Strengths: | Quailty build, tonal and timbre balance, superb mid-range, high sensitivity, good price. |
Associated Equipment for this Review: | |
Amplifier: | Lavardin IS Reference |
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): | none |
Sources (CDP/Turntable): | Arcam DIVA 92 |
Speakers: | Celius 202 |
Cables/Interconnects: | Acoustic Zen Matrix |
Music Used (Genre/Selections): | Jazz Brubeck Quartet-Take Five, Stan Getz- Bossa Nova,Getz/Gilberto, Ronnie Earl- Healing Time, Stevie Ray Vaughan- Riviera Paradise, Dinah Washington- For Those In Love, Miles Davis- Kind Of Blue, Jimmy Smith- Standards,Dot Com Blues, Diana Krall- Love Scenes,All For You,Stepping Out, Sade- Love Deluxe, Lovers Rock. |
Room Size (LxWxH): | 20 x 10 x 8 |
Room Comments/Treatments: | dead, carpet |
Time Period/Length of Audition: | 4 months |
Type of Audition/Review: | Product Owner |
Your System (if other than home audition): | home |
Follow Ups:
Ok, fine, nice review, but to be fair you're only listening to ear candy music, so of course it sounds good! Try listening to something nasty and lo-fi like Pavement, then tell us how *that* sounds
nt
Thank you for a nice review. I would like to make a comment about reviewing and the Hifi News Article that was referred to by other posts. Reviewing is subjective. Reviewing provides a glimpse of the subject filtered through the tastes and expectations of the reviewer. No two reviewers will like the exact same type of sound, so on this point alone, no two reviews should ever see the subject in exactly the same way.I would like to also point out that a speaker cannot make music on it's own. It requires a room to operate in and an amplifier to drive it, and these factors will "shape" its frequency response and performance. Even if reviewing were not subjective, one cannot hope to obtain the exact same mechanical result (as another reviewer), unless reviewing in the exact same room and with the exact same amplifier (and to a lesser extent source). So even at it's most objective, this reviewing business always contains significant variables from the room and electronics involved. I think that this factor accounts not only for the different opinions of reviewers but for the differences in measurements as well (of the same review subject).
Underneath the variables of set-up, I do think that speakers do have identifiable voices; voices that skilled reviewers (such as yourself) can reveal. Thank you for taking the time to assess this product.
I have been in the market to upgrade my speakers. After a great deal of looking and comparison I had decided on the Celius. While I haven't purchased them yet, I have continued to look for everything I could written about the speaker to make sure something didn't turn up that would cause me to change my mind. Well last evening while at my local Barnes & Noble I stumbled across the March issue of Hi-Fi News which had a review and lab test of the Celius.I'm not familiar with this publication and don't know what their history or reputation is. None-the-less, the review was "polite" but not as overwhelmingly supportive of the speaker as Sam Tellig or others I've talked with who own, or are familiar with the speaker.
The review sample was described as a "well run in ex-demo pair". The reviewer indicated the speaker was "musically engaging, generated satisfying sound levels, and expressive dynamics". The speaker was also described as showing some "bloom in the upper bass and a bit of cone and box sound". They were also described as "fun to be with, upbeat spirit, fine dynamics, driving rhythm, high midrange resolution and very good for the money. Now for some of the concerns.
There was a feeling that while the "main drivers were tonally balanced they weren't perfectly blended". The reviewer stated a "family friend could hear a high treble zing but wasn't bothered by it". The Celius measurements indicated that the minimum impedance dropped to 2.2 ohm's in the midband and the "amplifier loading was juged severe". Thus the reviewer indicated the "speaker couldn't be given a clear recommendation but was interesting and musical and had the right to be heard".
Now that I've read this review I'm a little more than concerned about the speaker and wonder what others make of this review. I know what the speaker sounds like is most important, but does this information warrant concern? I also realize at the price point of the Celius, perfection shouldn't be expected. This is also just one reviewer's opinion, however, the lab tests are a bit more than opinion. Any thoughts are welcome!
I saw that review, too, and at first I didn't quite know what to make of it. MC has been reviewing stuff forever, but that review didn't square with what I hear and measure from mine.After a little thought, though, I believe I know where the trouble lies. The biggest problem with these speakers is that they take a LONG time to run the woofers in. Out of the box, mine were 18db down at 63hz, and it takes at least a hundred hours of hard driving to loosen them up. After three weeks, mine were still down 6db at 63hz. That's why a lot of people have been turned off on them in showrooms--they do sound brash before they are broken in, and I think the process takes longer than most dealers appreciate. Most speakers in a dealer's showroom get very little time actually producing music, especially if the dealer has many different speakers to demo. They may get a few hours of actual play at loud levels in a week, and probably less. I know that my local Sound Advice has speakers that actually get driven by music no more than a few minutes a month.
It looks to me like the midbass hump that MC observed probably means that his speakers weren't as well run-in as he thought. To get more bass response, he placed them too close to the rear wall (he had them set up a foot from the rear wall, which is much too close). This probably overemphasized the midbass, and it also would have degraded their imaging--MC called them fair to good in that department, while mine beat hell out of the electrostats I used to own.
In my case, in an ordinary carpeted living room which opens behind the listener into other open space, the in room response of the Celius is much flatter than what is shown in the Colloms review, both in bass and midrange. I can't speak to upper treble because I'm an old fart and my hearing is shot above about 16KHz. I don't have the equipment to measure impedance or phase angle, but I have to wonder whether those weren't affected in the review by lack of run-in of the drivers, too.
Bottom line for me is that these are tremendous speakers, very emotionally involving, full of life and air. My wife, who has never been particularly interested in or impressed by earlier versions of my system, was stopped dead in her tracks when I put on Tapestry the other day, and actually sat down to listen with me. That's the acid test.
It's pointless to debate the merits of speakers in the abstract: ie the amp & room questions must be addressed at the same time. All I can say is that in my large room both the 30 watt tube Audiomat Arpege & the 60 watt transistor ["not recommended with 4 ohm loads"] Bryston both work magic with the Celius.
N. B. I only listen to acoustic music [jazz & classical] & only at 'realistic' levels. I also think that these are the finest speakers that I have ever owned [Infinity, IMF, Acoustat, Thiel, ProAc, Totem, Harbeth etc.] At their price they are just plain outrageously good!
Mark,This magazine has been around for ages and is well respected. Martin Colloms is an excellent technical writer with an established reputation and an outstanding lab. If he did the measurements you can be confident that these were done correctly.
Hi-Fi News reviews used to be reasonably reserved and not the gushing, flavour-of-the-month, over-the-top reviews you see elsewhere. I really used to like this magazine 5 years ago, but I don't have a subscription now. I get it occasionally.
As far as the impedance dip goes, you are right to look carefully at this and the demands it places on your amplifier chain. If your gear is up to it there won't be a problem. But if you listen loud and your power amp can't "double-down" (N watts into 8 Ohms, 2N watts into 4 Ohms, 4N watts into 2 Ohms) then the match may present some small problems.
I personally like speakers that are reasonably efficient and present a benign load; but I like valve amps
Regards,
Metralla
Agreed. HiFi News is British and as such maintains a certain reserve when reviewing components. Basically Martin is saying they are great for the money, but not without limitations. When he trashes something, he will something to the effect of "while well made, the bass is not in line with similarly priced competitors." What I enjoy about the mag is that is better written than the typical American review.
.
Very intriguing description. Have you any reference comparisons to other speakers to offer? Thanks
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