One of our writers here at PTA, Graig Neville, has flipped so completely over the latest generation of loudspeakers from Triangle of France that after reviewing the relatively affordable yet impressive 40th Anniversary Antal, he immediately wanted to hear the company’s flagship. You see, Graig has spent much of the last year shopping for a new pair of speakers, and he had a budget in mind for himself, and that’s how he wound up owning a pair of Triangle Magellan Quatuors in no time flat. Meanwhile, I did something predictable–I asked for the company’s Triangle Magellan Duetto 40th Anniversary loudspeakers for review.
Yep, those are the flagship two-way monitors. The Triangle Magellan Duettos share much of the Quatuor’s DNA, yet in a much smaller package. At $7,000/pair, the Duettos cost a fraction of the Quatuors, but I suspect we’ll uncover much of the Quatuor’s supreme talent in these gorgeous stand-mounted monitors.
Words and Photos by Marc Phillips
I’ve known about Triangle for a few decades. This is the second time this week I’ve typed the name Sam Tellig into WordPress, so I won’t go deep into the story of Triangle’s many appearances in SP back in the day. I will relay a more recent story, one that happened just on the cusp of the pandemic, when I had to travel to Saratoga Springs, NY, to return a review pair of Harbeths to a nearby dealer.
Despite that precarious point in history, the dealer’s staff and a couple of regular customers were milling around the sales floor, buzzing about a pair of $599 loudspeakers that had taken them all by surprise–the Triangle Borea 03 monitors. Yes, this was just a $600 pair of loudspeakers, but it did things that far more expensive two-way monitors do such as disappear into the room, provide stunning imaging and soundstaging, and offer a more than adequate stretch into the lowest frequencies.
When Triangle first approached PTA for reviews, my first instinct was to ask for the Borea 03s because I wanted a second chance to find out just how good they really were. After moving into a house with a much larger listening room, I realized that I could go for the gusto and ask, “What’s your finest two-way monitor?” The answer, of course, was the Triangle Magellan Duetto.
Inside the Triangle Magellan Duettos
First of all, take a look at that finish. It’s called Shadow Zebrano. Look at how the veneer fades into black as you move to the rear of the speaker. That looks incredible. I’d imagine some potential owners would pull the trigger just based on that finish alone. Look at it!
I’m a big proponent of considering the appearance of a loudspeaker as a main priority. Most audiophiles, after all, look straight at ’em while they’re listening to music. It helps if they’re beautiful, Fortunately, the beauty of the Triangle Magellan Duetto extends beneath these veneers–and that includes the drivers, the hefty and solid binding posts on the back, and the stands. Those drivers, especially that unique tweeter, are perfect and shiny complements to that gorgeous wood finish.
Triangle is very proud of that new horn-loaded tweeter, known as the TZ2900PM-MG, which is found elsewhere in the Magellan line. (Graig’s Quatuors have the same driver.) The TZ2900PM-MG’s dome is manufactured from “the next generation dome in magnesium alloy,” and it was designed by Triangle for its improved linearity and consistency:
“Its horn is shaped to limit directivity, i.e., off-axis drop in high frequency level. Together with the phase plug, this pairing allows the frequency response to be linearized. We also added a counter-cap to the motor to reduce rear waves reflections, limit distortion and control the upper end of the sound spectrum. The TZ2900PM-MG tweeter provides an exceptionally smooth and fluid musical quality whilst ensuring accurate sound reproduction.”
The full-range 16 cm midrange/bass driver has a paper cone (more specifically, cellulose pulp), chosen for its neutrality and its stunning ability to reproduce the human voice. Triangle elaborates:
“Thanks to its suspension, there is no clear separation at the cone attachment, resulting in a seamless mid-range. The diaphragm houses an ultra-light anti-vortex polypropylene cone covered with a latex damping material to limit end of band irregularities. Featuring a powerful motor and a perfectly matched voice coil, this driver is capable of reproducing firm and dynamic low frequencies while maintaining remarkable clarity and finesse in the vocal register.”
The Triangle Magellan Duetto has an 88 dB sensitivity with a nominal 8 ohm impedance. It’s a fairly easy speaker to drive. While I spent most of the time evaluating the Duetto with the Electrocompaniet ECI 6 DX, with its healthy 125 watts per channel, I also had success with both my Naim NAIT 50 (25 wpc) and the Pureaudio Duo2 stereo power amplifier, which operates in pure class A (25wpc) or class AB (100wpc). I found the sound to be a little lightweight with the Allnic Audio T-1500 Mk. 2 integrated (10wpc from 300Bs). So I went in a different direction and tried the Triangles with the gigantic Burmester 909 Mk. 5 power amplifier, which has 600wpc. The Burmester seemed to convey a much finer control of the low frequencies (which was even better when I placed the Duettos on the Acora Acoustics SRS-G granite stands).
I only have one minor quibble about the Triangle Magellan Duetto, and that concerns the packaging. The Duettos are relative large and heavy two-way bookshelf monitors–they weigh 37 pounds each. Both speakers are delivered in one large box, for a total shipping weight of 92 pounds. This can be a recipe for long-term disaster–as an importer and distributor, I recognize that packaging two heavy things in one cardboard box will ultimately cause the packing materials (styrofoam) to be obliterated from the inside out. I strongly believe that two separate boxes will be appreciated by most potential buyers.
Set-Up
Triangle requested that I review the Magellan Duettos with the $7,500 Electrocompaniet ECI 6 DX integrated amplifier with inboard DAC and streamer. Ordinarily I say yes to such requests because it’s a pairing that has made both companies very happy, and in some cases they might have been voiced together in the R&D stages. I did listen to the Duettos with other amps, and I did use the Electrocompaniet with other speakers, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that the Duettos and the ECI 6 DX are a fantastic match. In addition, all you need is those two products, along with just a few cables, to have a brilliant complete system capable of playing from multiple sources.
Triangle also sent along the optional dedicated stands, which are a stellar cosmetic match. I did feel that the stand, even with spikes, couldn’t quite tame the maelstrom that is my thick carpeting, so that’s why I switched to the Acora Acoustics SRS-G speaker stands. On bare floors or less fluffy carpeting, the Triangle stands are excellent.
I used a number of superb speaker cables between the Triangle Magellan Duetto monitors and the Electrocompaniet, including the Ansuz D2, ArgentPur and a new set of Audience Front Row cables that were sent by John McDonald to help me discover the potential of the amazing little ClairAudient 1+1 V5 monitors. The rest of the system included the usual suspects–Innuos PULSAR network streamer, Music Hall Stealth turntable with ZYX Bloom 3 cartridge, Allnic Audio H-6500 phono preamplifier and the Ground Control GC1.1 earthing box from Computer Audio Design.
Triangle Magellan Duetto Sound
Sometimes I like to throw out a single word that encapsulates my first impression of a high-end audio product, and in the case of the Triangle Magellan Duetto that word is clear. When I first started diving into hi-fi, back when I was just a teenager, my friends would often come over after school because I had the best audio system among them. (In fact, I’ll venture to say that I had a better system than most of their parents.) Their impressions would always involve the word clear, as in “Wow, these sound so clear!” It’s a pretty basic response for someone who listens to high-end audio for the first time, or at least my fifteen-year-old idea of what clear really means.
As audiophiles burrow into this hobby, clear often requires elaboration. By clear, do you really mean “highly resolving” or “transparent”? Sure, I guess so. But my first listen to the Triangle yielded that one word, over and over, with the same pristine leap in performance that I might have experiences in my younger days. In other words, the Duettos were so clear that they stood out from many of the other two-way monitors I have on hand (of which there are multitudes).
“These are soooooo clear.” That’s what I said, out loud, to myself. It was 1978 all over again.
If I don my reviewer’s cap, I can elaborate. The Triangle Magellan Duetto monitors have an uncommon clarity that I now associate with low noise floors and proper grounding strategies. This is a monitor that thrives in the black silences between the notes. This feeling of clarity is further enhanced by a remarkably dynamic presentation, especially when the low frequencies are delivered in such a smooth and yet organized fashion. I expect this kind of clarity from $7,000/pr monitors, so it’s only rare when I take particular notice of it. In this case, as I mentioned, it set the foundation for everything afterward.
The Electrocompaniet ECI 6 DX certainly helped the Triangle Magellan Duetto loudspeakers to attain these sonic peaks–this Norwegian amp is smooth and powerful, and indeed it is a fine partner for this French speaker. I had this synergy confirmed when I visited the Triangle and Electrocompaniet exhibit room, hosted by the Antal Audio Group at the 2024 Florida International Audio Fest. That superb system in Tampa sounded nearly the same as it did in my listening room.
Then again, I had some true firepower on hand to really test the Triangle Magellan Duetto monitors in the form of that Burmester 909 Mk. V stereo power amplifier, that monstrous $80k cube that offers 600 watts per channel. I’m not going to say that the $7,500 Electrocompaniet came close to the Burmester gear (which also included the $33K 088 preamplifier), even though it’s a pretty amazing value since it’s an integrated amp with a DAC and a streamer. But the sheer power of the 909 was able to coax more out of the lowest octaves, and do so in a manner that felt effortless and refined. Plus, the Burmester has a surprising amount of warmth–something you don’t necessarily expect from a shiny chrome box this huge.
Now it’s time to return to earth and talk about the very superb $14,500 Triangle and Electrocompaniet combo, which again can be a complete system on its own once you add the cabling. I’ll go into more detail on the ECI 6 DX when I complete that review.
Listening Sessions
Once I realized that the magnesium dome tweeter of the Triangle Magellan Duetto was something quite special, I sought out recordings that contained lots of energy up top. I’ve been binging on the Oppenheimer OST from Ludwig Göransson because it sounds impossibly big, and impossibly sparse. The music is simple yet visceral, and the closer you listen the more you discover–especially in the treble region.
The Triangle Magellan Duetto excelled in bringing forth those details in the upper treble, swift and fanciful noises that suggest the quantum world. Best of all, the Duettos did so without a trace of harshness. That’s why I love listening to the HD tracks on Qobuz, which I accessed through the Electrocompaniet’s inboard streamer and DAC, because those high high notes should be sweet and extended, not shrill and aggravating. (You can bet I’m going to make exhibitors play this for me at the high end audio shows from now on.)
Bass was ample, of course, and I subjected the Duettos to my usual tests (“Kid A,” “Yulunga”) and found very little to criticize. There were times when I felt that the Duettos needed just a bit more juice in the bass when needed, but I also placed them so far away from walls that they might have lost some of their grip. But I did place them closer to the back wall and side walls and I could obtain those low frequencies to bloom and gain texture without too much trouble. Triangle does recommend that you keep the Duettos in a room with 30 square meters or less, and I know my irregularly-shaped listening room extends, at its longest point, more than 38 feet. Despite that, I still feel like I’m nitpicking.
Finally, I was in the mood to play one of my favorite pure rock tracks from the last few years, “Turn On” from Thurston Moore’s Rock N Roll Consciousness. This is a ten-minute-plus epic rock song that slowly evolves and devolves, like Gorecki’s Third Symphony, and at some point I always fall into a trance and let the careful and doting craftsmanship of this song play out without thinking too hard about it. This is a song of balance and coherence, mostly because Steve Shelley is such a drummer’s drummer. He’s always doing interesting things even when the tempo slows down, and he has that same charming and sometimes maniacal sloppiness that Keith Moon had back in his prime.
With the Triangle Magellan Duettos in the system, I had the distinct sense that I was getting all of this incredible song. I heard all that sloppy detail, I heard all of the movement between the drummer, the bass player and two guitarists, and I could easily detect when they were playing off each other and when they were on their own, exploring unexpected key changes and dynamic swings. “Turn On” sounded absolutely wonderful and complete with the Duettos, in other words.
Triangle Magellan Duetto Conclusions
This seems to be the month where I second the opinions of two PTA writers–first Grover Neville for his enthusiasm for Enleum, and now Graig Neville for his decision to actually buy the Triangle Magellan Quatuor loudspeakers for his personal reference. After spending a few months with the Triangle Magellan Duettos, I can honestly say that they exceeded my expectations for two-way monitors in the $7K/pair price range. I hate to pull out reviewing cliches like, “They deserve to be on your audition list for anything up to $10K,” but that’s pretty much the truth in this case.
The Triangle Magellan Duettos have a smooth yet energized sound with extraordinary clarity and transparency. They filled my largish listening room with music thanks to their superb soundstaging and imaging characteristics, and the quality of the deepest bass was satisfying, even though the specs only claim a bottom end of 38 Hz, plus or minus 3dB. (I think that’s still more than enough for a two-way in most average rooms.) The other side of frequency range (up to 30kHz) might be even more impressive thanks to that TZ2900PM-MG tweeter–which I think is magnificent. It’s the reason why this speaker sounds so clear and extended.
I’ll have a chance to discuss the Triangle Magellan Duetto further when I complete the Electrocompaniet ECI 6 DX integrated amp/DAC/streamer. As a pair they were very enjoyable, and they represent a strong value–especially, as I mentioned, when you can build a complete system with just those two components and a handful of cables. I liked the Triangle of my distant audiophile past, but the Magellan line represents a quantum leap forward for this French company. I’m glad I had a chance to re-visit this legendary and enduring speaker manufacturer.
It would have been useful for the reviewer to make some comparison between the Triangle’s reviewed and to the similar stand mount Harbeth speakers he’d recently reviewed.