Triad System Five Speaker System Review

The System Five from Triad Design, Inc., is a small two-way speaker suitable for service as a primary speaker in a moderate-price system or as a side or rear speaker in a surround-sound system. It measures only 12 inches high, 6-7/8 inches wide, and 5-7/8 inches deep, and it weighs a mere 7 pounds. Its Danish-made drivers include a 5-3/4-inch woofer, which has a treated-paper cone and a rubber surround in a vented enclosure, and a 2-1/2-inch tweeter with a polypropylene cone and a ferrofluid-cooled voice coil. The crossover, at 2,800 Hz, has a 6-dB-per-octave (first-order) slope.

The bass port is located on the front panel of the cabinet. By using a curved plastic vent tube. Triad was able to provide the required duct length in the smallest possible cabinet. The specifications claim a useful response down to 55 Hz. The connecting terminals, multiway insulated binding posts that accept dual banana plugs, are on the rear panel.

The cabinet is available in a variety of standard finishes, including light oak, medium oak, or walnut veneer with a lacquer finish and a lightly textured paint in white, red, yellow, blue, green, or black. Exotic veneers are available on special order at extra cost.

Our test samples were finished in black paint, which had a slightly glossy surface. The attractively styled grille (also black on our samples) is made in two sections that fit flush with the cabinet edges. The speaker is sold in mirror-image pairs.

The system’s ratings include an 8-ohm nominal impedance, sensitivity of 88 dB sound-pressure level (SPL) at 1 meter with a 1-watt input, frequency response of 75 to 16,000 Hz ±3dB,and power handling of 75 watts continuous or 150 watts on music peaks. Price: $450 a pair with a paint finish and $440 a pair with a standard wood finish.

Lab Tests

We placed the Triad System Five speakers on stands, well away from a wall, for our measurements, although in listening tests we preferred them on shelves against a wall.

The averaged room response of the two speakers was flat within ±2.5 dB from 120 to 8,000 Hz (from 1,700 to 8,000 Hz the total variation was only 1 dB). The response rolled off below 120 Hz to -10 dB at 100 Hz. Between 8,000 and 15,000 Hz there was a dip and peak of ±2.5 dB, followed by a rolloff at higher frequencies.

The close-miked woofer response was quite similar to the low end of the room curve, with a - 3-dB point at 100 Hz. The port response (corrected for its size relative to the cone) was impressively flat down to below 30 Hz. A combination of the port and cone outputs would give the impression that this diminutive speaker maintained a strong response to the lowest audio frequencies. Our listening tests suggested, however, that a 55-Hz limit was more realistic (and still very good performance for a speaker of this size).

System impedance was 6.5 ohms minimum at 50 and 180 Hz, reaching maxima of 16 ohms at 26 Hz, 20 ohms at 110 Hz, and 23 ohms at 1,800 Hz. Triad’s 8-ohm rating appears to be well justified. The sensitivity, with an input of 2.83 volts of pink noise, was 89 dB SPL at a 1-meter distance.

Horizontal dispersion was very good between 5,000 and 12,000 Hz at angles up to 45 degrees off-axis. In the 3,000- to 5,000-hz range, there was a greater output-level change over that angle, perhaps owing to crossover effects. The group delay of the system varied about ±0.2 millsecond from 1.500 to 22,000 Hz.

The woofer’s distortion at a constant input of 3.2 volts (equivalent to a 90-dB SPL in our sensitivity measurement) was under 0.5 percent from 150 to 3,000 Hz. It rose steeply at lower frequencies, to 1.2 percent at 100 Hz, 5 percent at 60 Hz, and 10 percent at 30 Hz. The distortion in the port output was high throughout its operating range (from 100 Hz down), with readings ranging from 3 percent at 100 Hz to 20 percent at 40 Hz.

Although a speaker of this size cannot be expected to withstand high power levels without considerable distortion (or damage, if carried too far), the Triad System Five acquitted itself very well. Driven by a single-cycle tone burst, its output waveform was not significantly distorted up to the point of amplifier clipping at power levels of 380 watts at 100 Hz, 600 watts at 1.000 Hz, and 800 watts at 10,000 Hz, into respective load impedances of 19, 11.5, and 9 ohms.

Comments

Most of the time the sound of the Triad System Five gave no obvious clues to its size or price. Of course, recordings with strong, deep bass content did not produce their full impact, but otherwise the sound was balanced and smooth.

The speakers’ low-frequency performance was substantially improved by placing them against a wall. We also used them with a powered subwoofer, crossing over at 100 Hz, which resulted in a very potent and well-balanced, full-range sound quality. But even on their own, these handsome little speakers did a most creditable job. They would never be mistaken for the usual mass-market or rack-system minispeakers. In all, very good value for the price.

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