Overview of acoustic systems Triangle Altea Borea

The French company Triangle has already produced acoustics with the name Altea, but the Borea model provided to us for testing is a novelty in its catalog. At present, this is the only model of Altea acoustics, which, perhaps, will be merged into its own line in the future.

Floor columns Altea Borea look very solid and much more expensive than their price, which today is 50,000 rubles per pair. Acoustic systems have good proportions, with a body height of just under a meter, they are not bulky and easily fit into the interior. At the same time, they have enough internal volume for a normal load of emitters, which, judging by the configuration of the front panel, is fully utilized. Simplifies the placement of Altea Borea speakers and the fact that the bass reflex is in the front - speakers can be placed quite close to the wall without fear of resonances in the low-frequency region. The body of the speakers is made of fiberboard 18 mm thick, and the front panel has an additional overlay made of polymer material. Control tapping showed good internal damping,

Speakers have a 2.5-band configuration, which in this case can be considered optimal, given the size of their enclosure. The real adornment of Altea Borea is a branded horn tweeter, the presence of which is a model of such an affordable price can be considered a real gift. The geometry of this Esprit Ez horn has been optimized for better sound focus and detail. The tweeter is equipped with a titanium dome with a diameter of 1 inch and an efficient neodymium magnet system. A special acoustic chamber dampens sound vibrations from the back of the dome to create optimal conditions for the tweeter. On the front side of the tweeter is a phase splitter, which further aligns the speaker pattern at high frequencies.

Below the tweeter is a midrange speaker, also "borrowed" from the much more expensive Esprit Ez series. Its characteristic white diffuser is made of natural cellulose and has high rigidity with low weight, and is resistant to resonances. The diffuser is mounted on a semi-circular suspension made of foam rubber. Additional bass range extension in the Borea is achieved through the use of a separate bass driver made of paper.

The loudspeakers are very carefully made, the external covering with a vinyl film imitating natural wood gives the Borea a rather attractive appearance. The mounting elements of the speakers are covered with special overlays, the color of which matches the color of the front panel. At the very bottom is a metal nameplate with the name of the model; a small logo is also on the protective nets. They cover the entire surface of the front panel to the very bottom, which looks rather unusual, but at the same time gives speakers with grills an extra charm. Speakers are delivered partially disassembled - the user needs to attach a base to the body of each speaker. This is done using the included Phillips head screws, making the assembly process somewhat easier. In turn, shock-absorbing hemispherical self-adhesive supports, or spikes, which we used, can be attached to the base. A single pair of screw terminals is provided for connection to the amplifier - as we have already noticed, manufacturers of high-end acoustics are now gradually refusing to use a two-cable connection, and Triangle is no exception here.

How the testing was carried out

For the most accurate assessment of the sound quality of the Triangle Altea Borea speakers, a test set was assembled from high-class components. It included a Unison Research Unico hybrid amplifier, to which a Pro-Ject The Classic turntable was connected (via a Phono Box DS phono stage) and a new DAC Box DS 2 Ultra DAC - the signal source for it was a MacBook with an Audirvana player. XLO Ultra Pus series cables were used to connect the components and acoustics, vinyl discs, as well as Lossless and High-res (PCM and DSD formats) files, served as test material.

Sound quality

After the necessary warming up, the Altea Borea acoustics pleased us with a fascinating and lively sound with a wide stereo image. The horns did their job well and the highs were detailed and transparent, but not harsh as you would expect from a titanium dome tweeter. The integration of the high and mid ranges was almost flawless, providing a natural, convincing presence effect for vocals and acoustic instruments. As experiments have shown, the best stereo image was obtained with an almost parallel (with a minimum turn inward) arrangement of speakers at a distance of about 3 meters from each other - the optimal stereo sound quality, in this case, was achieved at a distance of 2 - 3 meters.

The bass of the Altea Borea was quite convincing and focused, but not as deep as the loudspeakers with larger woofers. However, the low frequency range of Altea Borea can be considered optimal when placing speakers in a room up to 20 square meters. meters without the risk of causing an overload on the bass. At the same time, the bottoms of the speakers are fast enough to accurately convey the complex rhythmic pattern of electronic music recordings. In general, the nature of the sound of the acoustics is transparent and almost neutral, with a very slight rise in the midrange, which is noticeable only on some compositions. It should be noted that Borea are very demanding on the quality of the recording of musical material, played both from vinyl and from a PC. Low-bitrate or simply poorly mixed recordings, with a distorted tonal balance, will appear through these acoustics in all their "glory", and you have to be ready for it. At the same time, the speakers make it possible to hear the difference in sound between Lossless and High-res files, which will allow the music lover, if desired, to thoroughly “shake up” his music collection.

Conclusion 

The new Triangle acoustics made a good impression on us. Altea Borea may not have the chic that the company's older models have, which have multiple differences in cost, but as classic Hi-Fi speakers in their price category, they have practically no flaws. With high sensitivity, the speakers do not require significant power input to provide convincing sound pressure, and the neutral nature of the sound makes Borea suitable for listening to the music of almost any genre. Solid recommendation!

Main technical characteristics of Triangle Altea Borea

Configuration:                 2.5 stripes

Type:                                 floor-standing, bass-reflex on the front panel

woofer/midrange speaker: 140 mm paper cone

MF speaker:                         140 mm, natural pulp

HF emitter:                      25 mm, titanium dome, horn design

Operating frequency range: 45 Hz - 22 kHz (+/- 3 dB)

Sensitivity:                         92 dB

Input power:                         up to 100 W

Resistance:                          8 ohms (minimum value - 3.9 ohms)

Dimensions (W x H x D): 198 x 980 x 270 mm

Weight:                                 16.5 kg