In this review, we will be comparing R11 and Triton Five, two Passive Floor-standing speakers from KEF and GoldenEar.
Let's have a brief look at the main features
of KEF R11 and GoldenEar Triton Five first before getting into our more
detailed comparison.
KEF R11 Key Specs
- 3-way Design
- 1" Dome Tweeter
- 5" Midrange
- 4 x 6.5" Hybrid Aluminum Woofer
- 46-28k Hz Frequency Response
- 90 dB Sensitivity
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Power Range:15-300watts
- Weight:37.70kg
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 1301.0" x 12-1/4" x 15-5/16"( 1301.0 x 312.0 x 389.0mm )
GoldenEar Triton Five Key Specs
- 2-way Design
- " Folded Ribbon Tweeter
- 2 x 6" Polypropylene Woofer
- 26-35k Hz Frequency Response
- 90 dB Sensitivity
- Impedance: 8ohms
- Power Range:15-400watts
- Weight:18.18kg
- Dimensions (H x W x D): 1131.0" x 11-1/16" x 16-9/16"( 1131.0 x 281.0 x 421.0mm )
What size room are the KEF R11 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* |
KEF R11 |
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.)
In the following sections, we will get into more detail in order to better understand how the KEF R11 and GoldenEar Triton Five compare and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one of these loudspeakers is the better choice for you.
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through my links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Drivers
One of the fundamental differences between these two speakers is that R11 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.
| Driver |
KEF R11 |
GoldenEar Triton Five |
|
Driver Setup
|
3-way
|
2-way
|
|
Tweeter
|
1-inch
|
-inch
|
|
Midrange
|
1 x 5-inch |
- |
|
Woofer
|
4 x 6.5-inch
|
2 x 6-inch
|
R11 features a 1" aluminum Dome Tweeter , a 5" Midrange and 4 x 6.5" Hybrid Aluminum Woofer with a Crossover frequency at 400Hz and 2900Hz. On the other hand, the Triton Five features a " Folded Ribbon Tweeter and 2 x 6" Polypropylene Woofer .
Frequency Response
R11 has a frequency range of 46-28k 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 R11's min frequency of 46Hz.
Below graphs depict how these two speakers compare with the max, min and average values of the Min and Max Frequencies of other speakers in the Floor-standing class in our database.
Low Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
High Frequency
Floor-standing Speakers
None of these speakers achieves full range experience which is commonly agreed as 20Hz-20kHz. In order to achieve lower lows / deeper bass, we recommend you pair these with a subwoofer. Visit our Powered Subwoofers section to find out more about the available options.
Impedance and Sensitivity
R11 and Triton Five have the same Impedance of 8 ohms and their sensitivity is also same at 90 dB.
Sensitivity
Floor-standing Speakers
Power Range
Power
range is the range of input power in watts RMS that a loudspeaker is designed to handle. While using
an amplifier within this range ensures the nominal performance , inputting a power that is higher than the
max wattage can result in a damaged speaker.
R11 can handle a max power of 400 watts RMS from the amp the whereas R11 has a max power handling value of 300 watts RMS , 100 watts less than the Triton Five.
Keep in mind that a higher max power handling value doesn't necessarily make that a louder speaker
compared to a lower max handling speaker. Loudness or the sound level is also impacted by parameters
such as Impedance, sensitivity and system efficiencies.
Input Type and Bi-Amping / Bi-Wiring
R11 features Binding post posts which make bi-amping or bi-wiring possible. Triton Five has a 5-way Post which doesn't feature bi-amping/bi-wiring.
KEF R11's Binding post terminals allows Bi-amping or bi-wiring
Cabinet Type and Port Position
Both R11 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
Size of a speaker can sometimes become an important decision factor due to space constraints or in some cases purely for esthetic reasons. In this section, we are going to compare KEF R11's and GoldenEar Triton Five's external dimensions. KEF R11 has external dimensions of 1301.0 x 312.0 x 389.0mm ( 51-3/16 x 12-1/4 x 15-5/16inch) 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) .
GoldenEar Triton Five is 31mm narrower and 170mm shorter than KEF R11 but it is also 32mm deeper.
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 KEF R11 is approximately 1213.7cm2 / 188.1inch2 and base area of the GoldenEar Triton Five is approximately 1183.0cm2 / 183.4inch2. The R11 requires 3% more surface area than the Triton Five which gives it a small disadvantage on placement in tight spaces.