Triangle Borea BR10

Triangle Borea BR10


French entrepreneur Triangle is on a roll as it upgrades its ranges following its 40th anniversary. The Antals were a delight, super smooth and neutral, and the Duetto 40th Anniversary was resolving, accurate and beautifully finished. These Borea represent an entry-level to the Triangle brand with their excellence in design, sonics and finish trickling down to this extensive range of floorstanders (BR 08-10), standmounts (BR03, BR02) and a centre speaker (BRC1). This range offers capable two-channel or multi-channel AV delivery with a Triangle subwoofer. There is even a Borea Connect Active loudspeaker option in this range, too.

Design

This review is of the Triangle Borea BR10. It is a 3-way, 4-driver, floorstanding loudspeaker. It is the largest speaker in the Borea range, designed, says Triangle on their website, for rooms over 40m2. The BR9 or BR8 offer solutions for smaller rooms.

Borea BR10

Borea BR10 tweeter/mid detail

The Borea BR10 has a 25mm silk dome tweeter with Triangle’s EFS waveguide, a 16cm midrange with a natural cellulose pulp membrane, and two 21cm woofers with a fibreglass membrane. It also has a front reflex port, which offers easier rear wall positioning.

The crossovers are at 310Hz and 3900Hz in three ways, with the low-frequency crossover circuitry isolated from the mid-high frequency. The claimed frequency range is a low 30 Hz to 22 KHz (+/—3dB). The claimed sensitivity is an easy-driving 92 dB. The BR10s can handle 200W and have an impedance of 3 Ohms minimum to 8 Ohms max.

Quality

If the Borea range is ‘entry-level’, there is no hint of it in the cabinet finish, binding posts, general unboxing, or appearance. The Magellan Duetto had possibly the best binding posts I have ever come across; these BR10, too, are supremely tactile. The four terminals have a link between them, removable, for bi-wiring if preferred.

The plinth for these loudspeakers is fixed to the main cabinet for ease of setup, with a nice magnetic grille covering the entire cabinet with style. Rubber or steel spikes are available in the box. The dimensions of the BR10s are 1110 x 245 x 380 mm, and they weigh 30kg each. The BR10s are available in black ash, walnut, white, and light oak.

BR10 price: £1378.00 (pair) incl. VAT

List of Dealers here.

The full specification is here.

Performance

Review Equipment

Borea BR10

Borea BR10, no grille

Initially, the Borea BR10 was driven by a Naim Audio ‘Old’ Classic NAP 250.2 power amplifier with Tellurium Q Ultra Black II loudspeaker cable. As Glastonbury loomed large, the opportunity to move up to the Naim Audio New Classic 250 was too good to ignore in a cinema-style setup. For the latter part of the review period, a single REL T/5i was in the corner on and off, filling in the sub-bass when needed.

The preamplifier has been an OPPO BDP-105 with an Eversolo DMP-A6 as an alternative analogue source for critical listening.

Physically

The BR10s are chunky weight-wise and are a two-person move; edges and corners are sharp, unlike the super smooth Magellan Duetto standmounted loudspeakers. The rear terminals, accessible for bi-wiring, are very tight with my Atlas Mavros cable plugs, less so with the Tellurium Q terminations.

Naim Audio Old Classic NAP 250.2

… the loudspeakers are comfortably lapping up the NAP 250 power.

I was away after a Naim Radio run-in for a few days and with a pristine blue vinyl copy of Laufey’s Bewitched Goddess Edition on the Michell Gyro SE. Laufey’s vocals are a dream in a beautifully centred and forward soundstage (the vocals are untuned; Laufey produces her albums to the last detail and thus prefers not to alter her vocal performance). The detail in the rattling snares at the rear is noticeable, and the sound’s scale is the one thing that stands out.

It’s time for critical listening at the low end (no subwoofer) with the track 2049 (Qobuz FLAC 16-bit, 44.1kHz) from the film’s soundtrack. Here, the scale of the presentation and the wall of sound is impressive, and the loudspeakers are comfortably lapping up the NAP 250 power. Jesus and Mary Chain’s April Skies (Qobuz FLAC 16-bit, 44.1kHz) has the same result, just great big energy and noise. To confirm the agility of the loudspeakers, a necessary run-through of Infected Mushroom’s Bliss on Mushrooms (Qobuz FLAC 16-bit, 44.1kHz), the Borea BR10 passed this test with ease. It appears the BR10s can cope with plenty of noise; this is confirmed when Glastonbury begins…

Glastonbury

Borea BR10

Borea BR10 binding posts

…the BR10s were free to express themselves

For the rest of the review, in a 2.1 cinema configuration, I have the Triangle Borea BR10s approximately 4 meters apart. They’re about 75 cm from the side walls, and I’m about 4 meters away. I have the speakers 50cm from the cinema screen/wall. The room is rectangular, probably over 50m2, with an open ceiling above.

We have the Glastonbury experience here through the Sky Q Box directly wired to the OPPO BDP-105. I’m projecting the picture onto a temporary screen with an LG short-throw projector.

Dua Lipa was up first on Friday, and the Boreo BR10s coped well with the full force of the New Classic NAP 250 on duty. If I am being honest about it, I may enjoy these loudspeakers with my Old Classic 250.2, but I am possibly biased, and this room is bigger and more open compared to the lounge with the older 250.2. Nonetheless, Dua Lipa had us hooked from the ‘stride-on’ entrance.

We were very excited about Coldplay as a family, and they did not let us down in the Saturday headline slot. With the REL T/5i properly dialled in, the BR10s were free to express themselves, and Paradise was the absolute highlight. No, we didn’t watch five minutes of SZR!

Streaming Eversolo DMP-A6 x Naim Audio New Classic NAP 250

Borea BR10

Triangle Borea BR10, with full-length grille

The still remarkable Eversolo, analogue out, is a very clean source. Taking some pointers and being keen to explore new review tracks from the Triangle guy, I found myself exploring my EDM back catalogue with Kendrick Lemar’s Humble (Skrillex Remix). This is an epic remix with the REL filling in the sub-bass in this larger room. The Borea copes well, and the New NAP 250 has more than enough to cope dynamically—credit the BR10s for keeping up here.

Turning things down to find the finer details in Norah Jones’ Don’t Know Why (Qobuz FLAC 24-bit, 192kHz), there is an excellent delicate presentation that needs to be tuned into aurally if we are being honest with ourselves.

NAD M10 V2

Switching the BR10s to a more modest amplification source, the NAD M10 all-in-one, is an interesting exercise and possibly a good match in price terms. With a relatively easy driving 92dB sensitivity, the Hybrid Digital nCore Class D amplification (claiming 100W/ch continuous) is an exciting contrast to the Class A/B muscle from Naim (also claiming 100W/ch). However, the difference is purely a matter of taste. With a slight dip in scale, there is no lack of resolution from the M10 with the volume cranked up a fraction, listening to Norah Jones again.

The Police’s curious track Wrapped Around Your Finger (Qobuz FLAC 16-bit, 44.1kHz) had beautiful detail and substance in these BR10s, and the partnership with the M10 V2 appears to be a nice system that would present well for a long time. Of course, with BluOS, this is a future-proofed setup, and I would almost certainly improve the results if I had run through the Dirac Room Correction built in the M10.

Musical Interlude

Here’s the Musical Interlude Playlist from the various listening sessions and Glastonbury.

Overall

…these loudspeakers have a considerable amount to recommend them, and they demand an audition if this is near your price point.

As with many loudspeakers, these Borea BR10s challenge the quality/price conundrum. But there is the wildcard here: the sheer scale and agility these loudspeakers offer. Coupled with good levels of resolution, these loudspeakers have a considerable amount to recommend them, and they demand an audition if this is near your price point.

copyright HF&MS Ltd 2024

Love
Price point
Scale
Agile

Like
Classy full-length grille
The front bass port makes easy positioning
Detail

Wish
Binding posts are tight

Borea BR10,

Borea BR10 front bass port makes for easier rear wall positioning

Specification

Full details are on the company’s site.

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