Last year, we wenthands-onwith Triangle’s first-generation Borea Active BT speakers, and we were immediately impressed with how a pair of very technically basic, Bluetooth speakers easily matched a luxury, wooden Hi-Fi speaker aesthetic.
Triangle delivers cool and classic-inspired wooden cabinets and a variety of color options where you can’t really go wrong.
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Now I’ve gotten the chance to test the newest generation of the Borea Active speakers, which bring to the table newly added input options, and a slightly tweaked driver and tweeter, and I was thoroughly impressed myself – especially given the price.
Triangle BR03 Connect
Fantastic sub $1,000 connected bookshelf speakers
An impressive set of bookshelf speakers absolutely packed with connectivity features. The BR03 Connect speakers from Triangle boast an incredibly user-friendly design, and are priced for compelling value considering their high performance.
Design, materials, and style
A classic form factor and a great lineup of colors make for an attractive speaker
With the sheer number of wireless codecs and high bitrate-friendly hardwired options supported by these speakers, you’d be forgiven if you expected cold, tech-y looking Bluetooth speakers. Instead, Triangle delivers cool and classic-inspired wooden cabinets and a variety of color options where you can’t really go wrong. Weighing in at just over 17lbs each, these speakers are hefty, solidly constructed, and imposing in a good way, bringing gravitas to whatever room they are in.
Input options for just about any application, from a turntable to a PC
With this newest iteration of the Borea Active speakers, Triangle is not messing around when it comes to input options. We noted in our review of the first gen that while the RCA, Aux, Optical, and Coaxial inputs were great, we would have liked to see a USB input for higher fidelity PC connections. Well, Triangle heard the call because it added a USB-B input, which is such a welcome feature for audiophiles listening on digital devices.
USB-B allows an even higher bitrate than optical inputs and can comfortably handle huge sound files fromHi-Fi streaming services like Tidalwithout any of the bandwidth issues that can sometimes plague other input types. It seems Triangle didn’t want to stop there because it also added an HDMI input with ARC (Audio Return Channel) support, enabling the speakers to receive audio directly from the TV over HDMI.
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Fantastic sound quality in all applications
These speakers deliver crisp highs and powerful lows for music, movies, and gaming
This new pair of Borea BR03 Connect speakers was a treat for my ears through each and every test I threw in their direction. Using the USB-B connection, I spent a lot of time listening to some of my favorite artists on Tidal using their “Max” sound quality option, which streamed music to the Borea BR03s at up to 24-bit and 192kHz. Suffice it to say that even packing all that data, the speakers didn’t even blink.
This newest generation of the Borea speakers features a one-inch silk dome tweeter that makes the crisp, delicate cymbal and hi-hat hits in Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams feel like they were right in the room.
They painlessly reproduced every nuanced detail of Michael Stipe’s vocal delivery in R.E.M.’s Everybody Hurts. This newest generation of the Borea speakers features a one-inch silk dome tweeter that makes the crisp, delicate cymbal and hi-hat hits in Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams feel like they were right in the room.
The 6.5-inch driver is powerful and moving in more ways than one
While the tweeter and general handling of highs are certainly more than adequate for a speaker set in the sub $1,000 price bracket, where these speakers really shone is in their superb delivery of mids and lows. At almost a foot deep, the cabinet on the Borea BR03s leaves ample room for profoundly resonant bass, pumping tons of air through their dual ports at the back of the speaker. Somewhat unexpectedly, I strayed from my classic rock and decided to play From Now On from The Greatest Showman.
Let me tell you, I am not exaggerating one bit when I tell you that Hugh Jackman’s rich, baritone voice made the hairs on my arms stand up. I got full-body chills as the speakers pushed tons of air to make his voice sound like it was all the way inside my head. It was something you’d almost have to experience to understand. Additionally, these 6.5-inch mid-range drivers produce booming soundscapes when playing FPS or adventure-based video games on my gaming PC, or when watching television or movies.
As I mentioned, these speakers are almost a foot deep, and move a lot of air. This allows them impressive bass performance for speakers of their general size, but it also means they need room to breath to perform at their best. These speakers won’t be at their best when placed right against a wall and should ideally be placed about 6 to 12 inches from the wall nearest the bass ports, allowing air to move freely around the speakers to extract their full potential.
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Verdict: Should you spend the cash on the Triangle Borea BR03 Connect speakers?
These are some of the best connected stereo speakers for under $1,000
Triangle has been making speakers for almost 50 years, so you might say they know what they are doing.
The versatility to price point ratio here is second-to-none, and I look forward to future releases of the Borea lineup.
This latest generation of the Borea BR03 Connect speakers are no exception, and when properly placed, perform beautifully regardless if they are playing music, a movie, or a video game. The versatility to price point ratio here is second-to-none, and I look forward to future releases of the Borea lineup.
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