Triangle Esprit Titus EZ review

One of the most enjoyable speakers we’ve heard below the £1000 mark Tested at £600

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

One of the most enjoyable speakers we’ve heard below the £1000 mark

Pros

  • +

    Articulate and agile presentation

  • +

    Excellent rhythmic drive and strong dynamics

  • +

    Fine-detail resolution

Cons

  • -

    Need care in system matching

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We’ve long been fans of Triangle’s approach to music replay. The company may not always produce the most rounded speakers, but in our experience its products rarely lack entertainment value.

The Titus EZs, the only standmounters in the French company’s new Esprit range, are a fine example.

Build quality

Finishes come in walnut or, for a premium of £100, white- or black-gloss

Finishes come in walnut or, for a premium of £100, white- or black-gloss

They’re well made and nicely finished. Finish hasn’t always been Triangle’s strength in its more affordable ranges, so it’s nice to see progress here.

If you don’t like the walnut of our review sample, white- or black-gloss alternatives are available for a £100 premium.

Performance

Listen to these standmounters straight out of the box and you might well wonder what the fuss is about. They sound tonally uneven and have a peaky treble that needs little encouragement to sound harsh and aggressive. Triangle has long promoted horn-loaded tweeters so it’s no surprise to find one here. It’s a titanium dome fronted by a distinctive and rather aggressive-looking phase plug.

Give the Titus EZs a couple of days of use and things improve considerably. The speakers’ high frequencies gain in smoothness and integration improves. We would still recommend taking care in partnering electronics (avoiding brighter-sounding kit).

The result, when you do take care, is excellent. We tried a range of amplifiers – from NAD’s D 3020 and Arcam’s A19, right through to our reference Bryston BP26/4B SST2 – and at each stage these Triangle speakers have the transparency to take a notable step up in performance.

They’re small, standing just over 30cm, so really deep bass isn’t on the menu. Accept this innate limitation and you have one of the most articulate and expressive speakers we’ve heard below the £1000 mark.

Positioned around 30cm from a rear wall on some solid stands, the Titus EZ speakers sound fast, responding to leading edges and dynamic shifts with admirable precision. Play a complex piece of music such as Hans Zimmer’s Gotham’s Reckoning and they take it all in their stride, keeping a multitude of instrumental strands under control and refusing to blur things even when the music becomes demanding.

Both large-scale and low-level dynamics are delivered with infectious enthusiasm and no sense of the rounding-off of which many rivals are guilty. The result is an involving sound that pulls you in and holds you until the music ends.

Moving on to Tracy Chapman’s Goodbye shows the Titus’s subtler side. There’s finesse here, with a nuanced rendering of Chapman’s distinctive voice leaving us spellbound. We’re impressed by the way these speakers deliver rhythms and the way they portray changes of pace.

All the energy and drive, particularly in upbeat tracks such as Bruce Springsteen’s Radio Nowhere, is delivered with determined skill.

Verdict

We rate the Triangle Esprit Titus EZs very highly (even if they are harder to track down than alternatives from better-known brands, it’s well worth the effort).

In a suitably-talented system, these classy standmounters will excel.

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What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.

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