In this review, we will be comparing Emit 50 and Triton Five, two Passive Floor-standing speakers from Dynaudio and GoldenEar.
Let's have a brief look at the main features
of Dynaudio Emit 50 and GoldenEar Triton Five first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
| Key Specs | Dynaudio Emit 50 | GoldenEar Triton Five |
|---|
| Brand | Dynaudio
Denmark · founded 1977 | GoldenEar
United States · founded 2010 |
|---|
| Design | 3-way | 2-way |
|---|
| Tweeter | 1.1" Soft-Dome | Folded Ribbon |
|---|
| Midrange | 6" | — |
|---|
| Woofer | 2 x 7" MSP | 2 x 6" Polypropylene |
|---|
| Frequency response | 33-25k Hz | 26-35k Hz |
|---|
| Sensitivity | 86 dB | 90 dB |
|---|
| Impedance | 4 ohms | 8 ohms |
|---|
| Power range | — | 15-400 watts |
|---|
| Weight | 26.00kg / 57.2lbs | 18.18kg / 40lbs |
|---|
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 44-7/8" x 8-1/16" x 12-5/16"
1140.0 x 205.0 x 312.0mm | 44-1/2" x 11-1/16" x 16-9/16"
1131.0 x 281.0 x 421.0mm |
|---|
What size room are the Dynaudio Emit 50 and GoldenEar Triton Five speakers good for?
The size of the room in which you are planning to use these loudspeakers is an important decision
factor. Here we have compared their suitability to various sizes of environments considering their size
and max power parameters:
| Listening Environment* |
Dynaudio Emit 50 |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
| Near-field |
Bad |
Are you nuts? |
| Small Room |
Poor |
Poor |
| Mid-size Room |
Average |
Average |
| Large Room |
Good |
Good |
| Very Large Room |
Average |
Good |
(* Approximate Room sizes: Small < 100sq. ft / 9 m2,
Mid-size: 100-220 sq. ft / 9-20 m2, Large 220-400 sq. ft / 20-36 m2, Very Large: >
400 sq. ft / 36 m2.
Average Floor Height: 9" / 2.7m. Typical room sizes differ from country to country, and the actual
listening experience changes depending on floor height, room shape, surface materials, listening
position, speaker locations, etc.)
The sections below take each area in turn: drivers, frequency response, physical size and what you get in the box.
Drivers
One of the fundamental differences between these two speakers is that Emit 50 is a 3-way design whereas the Triton Five is a 2-way speaker. 3-way designs utilize a midrange driver in addition to the tweeter and woofer on 2-way designs. Designing a crossover for a 3-way speaker is a complicated process and generally increases the overall cost of the speaker.
Dynaudio Emit 50GoldenEar Triton Five
TweeterMidrangeWoofer
Front view, drawn to scale - cabinets and drivers share one scale, so sizes are directly comparable. Hover a driver for its size.
| Driver |
Dynaudio Emit 50 |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
|
Driver Setup
|
3-way
|
2-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
1.1-inch
|
-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
1 x 6-inch |
- |
|
Woofer
|
2 x 7-inch
|
2 x 6-inch
|
Emit 50 features a 1.1" Cerotar Soft-Dome Tweeter, a 6" Midrange and 2 x 7" MSP Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 540/4400 HZ. On the other hand, the Triton Five features a " Folded Ribbon Tweeter and 2 x 6" Polypropylene Woofer.
Frequency Response
Emit 50 has a frequency range of 33-25k Hz whereas Triton Five has a frequency range of 26-35k Hz. With a minimum frequency of 26Hz, the Triton Five can go significantly deeper on the low side and provide stronger bass compared to the Emit 50's min frequency of 33Hz.
The graph below depicts how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average Low Frequency values of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.
Low Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
Neither pair reaches down to 20Hz, the usual definition of full-range, which is normal for speakers of this size. If you want the bottom octave for movies or bass-heavy music, add a subwoofer to whichever you choose. Visit our Powered Subwoofers section to find out more about the available options.
Impedance and Sensitivity
Emit 50 is a 4 ohms speaker compared to the Triton Five which has a nominal impedance of 8 ohms. Lower impedance speakers, especially the ones that are rated at 4 ohms may put more pressure on the amplifier unit especially when played at high volume levels, so make sure the amp you pair with the Emit 50 can provide this impedance level.
These two speakers also have different sensitivity levels. Emit 50 sensitivity is rated at 86 dB and the Triton Five's is rated at 90 dB. This 4 dB difference makes the GoldenEar Triton Five a more sensitive speaker compared to Dynaudio Emit 50, hence will play louder with the same amount of watts.
Sensitivity
Floor-standing Speakers
Which plays louder on your amplifier?
Starting with a popular amplifier - change it to the one you own, or any you are
considering, and watch both numbers move.
Input Type and Bi-Amping / Bi-Wiring
Emit 50 features 5-way Post type posts and Triton Five has a 5-way Post type posts. None of these speakers feature bi-amping/bi-wiring.
Cabinet Type and Port Position
Both Emit 50 and Triton Five have rear firing ports. Rear ported speakers generally need more room between the backside of the speaker and the wall compared to sealed and front/bottom ported speakers. Placing the speakers too close to the walls may cause the bass to sound boomy.
If you are limited in space and can't get the speakers away from the backwall, check our Speakers with Front Firing Ports page.
Physical Specs
The size of a speaker can sometimes be an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare Dynaudio Emit 50's and GoldenEar Triton Five's external dimensions. Dynaudio Emit 50 has external dimensions of 1140.0 x 205.0 x 312.0mm (44-7/8 x 8-1/16 x 12-5/16inch) whereas GoldenEar Triton Five has external dimensions of 1131.0 x 281.0 x 421.0mm (44-1/2 x 11-1/16 x 16-9/16inch).
Dynaudio Emit 50 is 76mm narrower and 109mm less deeper than GoldenEar Triton Five but it is also 9mm taller.
Size, drawn to scale
Both speakers and both views share one scale, so everything here is directly comparable. Hover a box for its dimensions.
One scale for both, standing on the same surface and pushed back to the same wall, so the deeper one visibly sticks out further.
GoldenEar Triton Five needs about 85% more floor or shelf area. GoldenEar Triton Five is 109mm deeper, so it stands that much further out from the wall.
Base Surface Area Comparison
Base surface area of a loudspeaker may become a determining factor when the space in your room or desk is limited.
The base surface area of the Dynaudio Emit 50 is approximately 639.6cm2 / 99.1inch2 and base area of the GoldenEar Triton Five is approximately 1183.0cm2 / 183.4inch2. The Emit 50 requires 46% less surface area than the Triton Five which gives it a small advantage on placement in tight spaces.
Weight Comparison The weight of a loudspeaker can become an important factor if you need to move and reposition the unit often. Weight of a speaker can also "sometimes" be an indicator of the rigidity of the enclosure and the quality of the internal components used. The Dynaudio Emit 50 weighs 26.00kg / 57.2lbs and the GoldenEar Triton Five weighs 18.18kg / 40lbs. This makes the Emit 50 43% heavier than the Triton Five.
Here is a comparison of how Emit 50 and Triton Five's weights compare with the average, max and min weights in Passive Floor-standing class.
Weight
All Floor-standing Speakers
What's in the Box of GoldenEar Triton Five?
Here are the items that come with the Triton Five:
- Floorstanding loudspeaker
- 4 Rubber feet (pre-installed)
- 4 Spikes
- 4 Locking nuts
- Owners Manual
 Driver Setup |
3-way
vs
2-way
|
Have a dedicated mid-range driver |
 Woofer Size |
7 inches
vs
6 inches
|
Larger woofer |
 Base Surface Area |
639cm2
vs
1183cm2
|
Takes less floor space |
 Price per pair* |
2249USD
vs
2398USD
|
costs less (*prices may change depending on the seller, location and time) |
 Max Input Power |
400 watts
vs
240 watts
|
Handle more power from your amplifier |
 Sensitivity |
90 dB
vs
86 dB
|
Play louder with same amount of amplification power |
 Nominal Impedance |
8 ohms
vs
4 ohms
|
Less selective with amplifiers |
|
Low Frequency Response |
26 Hz
vs
33 Hz
|
Generates deeper bass |
 High Frequency Response |
35k Hz
vs
25k Hz
|
Generates higher frequency |
 Passive Radiator |
four 8-inch infrasonic planar sub-bass
vs
None
|
Increases the bass performance |
 Height |
1131mm
vs
1140mm
|
Easier to fit in smaller spaces |
| General |
Dynaudio Emit 50 |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
| Brand |
Dynaudio |
GoldenEar |
| Speaker Type |
Floor-standing speaker |
Floor-standing speaker |
| Sensitivity |
86 dB |
90 dB |
| Impedance |
4 ohms |
8 ohms |
| Frequency Response |
33-25k Hz |
26-35k Hz |
Drivers |
|
|
| Woofer Quantity |
2 |
2 |
| Woofer Size |
7" |
6" |
| Woofer Composition |
MSP |
Polypropylene |
| Woofer Surround Material |
n/a |
Rubber |
| Tweeter Size |
1.1" |
- |
| Tweeter Type |
Soft-Dome |
Folded Ribbon |
| Aimable Tweeter |
No |
No |
| Midrange Driver |
6" |
No |
| Crossover Frequency |
540/4400 HZ |
n/a |
| Firing Direction |
rear |
rear |
Physical Specs |
|
|
| Height |
1140.0mm (44.9") |
1131.0mm (44.5") |
| Width |
205.0mm (8.1") |
281.0mm (11.1") |
| Depth |
312.0mm (12.3") |
421.0mm (16.6") |
| Weight |
26.00kg (57.2lbs) |
18.18kg (40lbs) |
| Enclosure |
Bass Reflex |
Passive Radiator |
| Finish |
n/a |
MDF/Lacquer |
| Available Colors |
n/a |
Gloss Black |
| Grille |
Yes |
n/a |
| Moisture Resistancy |
No |
No |
Connections |
|
|
| Biamp Inputs |
No |
No |
Other |
|
|
| Parts Warranty |
|
5 Years |
| Labor Warranty |
|
5 Years |
A generation apart: Dynaudio Emit 50 is the newer design, against a 2014 model. Newer is not automatically better, but the older one is more likely to be discounted or near run-out.
| Area | Better | Why |
|---|
| Bass | B | GoldenEar Triton Five digs deeper - 26Hz against 33Hz. A subwoofer would even that out. |
| Amplifier needs | B | GoldenEar Triton Five is more sensitive (90dB vs 86dB), so it goes louder on the same amplifier. |
| Amplifier match | B | GoldenEar Triton Five is the easier load at 8 ohms; the other is 4 ohms and wants an amplifier rated for it. |
| Headroom | B | GoldenEar Triton Five takes more power (400W vs 240W) - more in hand in a big room. |
| Size | depends | Dynaudio Emit 50 is easier to place; GoldenEar Triton Five is bigger, which usually goes with fuller bass. Your room decides. |
| Cabinet | depends | Ported vs Passive Radiator. |
| Price | evenly matched | Much the same money ($2,249 vs $2,398 a pair). |
A Dynaudio Emit 50 B GoldenEar Triton Five
depends neither is better in the abstract - it turns on your room, your system or how you will use them. Only specs published for both speakers are judged; anything missing on either side is left out rather than guessed.
Which should you choose?
GoldenEar Triton Five has the edge on paper, though the margin is not large. The rows marked "depends" may matter more to you than the score does. If a subwoofer is in your plans, the bass gap largely stops mattering - you would be crossing over above 33Hz anyway, so judge these on the other rows instead. Match it to your room: we rate GoldenEar Triton Five the better fit for a very large room; elsewhere the two are rated the same.
And remember what a spec sheet cannot show: how each looks in your room and whether the finish suits it, what dealer support and warranty are like where you live, and how they actually sound to you. If you can hear them first - ideally with your own music - that will tell you more than any number above.