Triangle Borea BR09 Speakers | The Perfect Balance of Sound and Value?
What do you want from a floor-standing speaker?
Do you want an expansive frequency range?
A wide soundstage?
Would you like precision with vocal reproduction?
How about the bass?
Do you want some sweet low-end extension you can feel?
How much should you pay for a setup like that? Thousands? Tens of Thousands?
You need to answer these questions yourself before pressing that buy it now button. Your speakers, in my opinion, ARE the most essential component within your system, and if they suck, I don't care if you have a 100-thousand-dollar Boulder amp; they aren't going to give you that sweet spot sound you want and deserve.
I'm curious, can we check off all those boxes with the Triangle HiFi Borea BR09 floor standing speakers?
About four months ago, I was able to connect with Hugo Decelle from Triangle HiFi and did a one-on-one videocast on my HiFi Hour segment via my YouTube channel. I learned a lot about Triangle, and the relationship was born from there. Hugo is excellent, and the brand so far has been precisely what I was expecting. And an enormous thank you to Sean over at Zero Fidelity for suggesting I review the BR03's to begin with.
The BR09's, are the successor of the BR08 floor stander.
What's the difference, you may wonder?
Well, for starters, the BR09'S gained an additional bass driver giving it three in total, and the specifications show it can perform 5 Hz lower than its predecessor. It's also .5 more sensitivity than the BR08's, reaching 92 dB/W/m. Subtle differences indeed, yet in my opinion, the audible improvements are significant. After listening to both, I will say right off the bat you can tell the bass is more profound with the new BR09's, which is a definite plus. But we aren't here to talk about the 8's; it's the 9's you want in your life.
As I have stated in past reviews, Triangle's Borea line speakers are incredibly balanced. They are perfect for someone who is either getting into HiFi and need a reasonably priced set of speakers they can start their new hobby with or someone looking for an entire five-channel solution for their movie watching pleasure.
The BR09's aren't the biggest floor standers on the block, but I feel like they command a certain sense of presence and respect with their sleek look and white mid-range driver. To be honest, I really do like it when companies get creative and unique with their driver aesthetics and design. I also like the contrast between the black and solitary white drivers.
I feel that the price for these speakers is disproportionately low, considering the sound quality they provide. Now, Triangle does have a nice spread of offerings moving up all the way to Ultra High End.
The Br09's are 3-way speakers with a 1" Efficient Flow System Silk Dome Tweeter. I think it's interesting when marketing teams come up with tweeter names. If you pay enough attention to speaker specifications, the tweeter often gets the most fantastic name out of all the drivers. Which begs whether this makes the other speakers a bit jealous?
However, just because it doesn't have a fun name doesn't mean that the cool white mid-range driver isn't remarkable in its own respect. Made from 100% cellulose paper is said to avoid any coloration, which I could only speculate is where the Borea series get that beautiful balance in tonality with their mid-range. The bass woofers are made from fiberglass fibers which must be a magical material because the bass from these speakers is spectacular.
Triangle rated the BR09's at 35hz-22khz, which covers the most crucial spectrum of sound, you know, the one we can actually hear?
I had a chance to burn these in really well, even though they sounded lovely right out of the box. After putting it through music, movies, and TV shows, they have found a sweet spot where they just punch with bass without overpowering the mids and highs. All three frequencies work pretty well together to find a beautiful balance that my ears really do enjoy. I honestly think it would be strange if someone legitimately disliked these speakers. Well, any speakers in the Borea line, for that matter.
Triangle really went the distance to manufacture something affordable that anyone with a reasonable budget could easily afford and enjoy. They designed these speakers sensitive enough to where you don't have to have a nuclear reactor to power them, you can employ a small integrated amplifier, and they will play beautifully. Triangle created a sound that is distinct and pleasant. Something that isn't easily forgotten or replicated.