Where is the audiophile love for wireless speakers? Do you not see the handwriting on the wall?
Whilst I am very sure that multiple pairs of passive loudspeakers will adorn our new home in Israel in 2025 because it would be impossible for me to part with the Cambridge Audio Edge A, NAD C 316BEE V2 or Cambridge Audio Evo 150 — the reality is that wireless speakers are getting the job done.
And knowing that our new home will likely be a two-story apartment or much smaller villa (Israeli for detached townhouse) — one needs to plan ahead.
That is where products like the Triangle Borea BR03 BT Loudspeakers enter the picture.
French manufacturer, TRIANGLE, celebrated its 40th Anniversary in 2022 and introduced an impressive new lineup of loudspeakers to celebrate this important milestone. The Triangle Borea BR03 BT Wireless Loudspeakers caught my attention for the simple reason that they offer so much for under $700 USD and having just reviewed the impressive KEF LSX II Active Wireless Loudspeakers which retail for $1,400 USD (not including stands) — we needed to take a deeper dive.
I’m sure there are audiophiles growing weary as we profess our belief that active wireless speakers will (eventually) make traditional high-end systems irrelevant — but it’s hard not to see that becoming reality.
Dynaudio and KEF have already successfully proven that it can be accomplished at the high-end for under $10,000 USD and there is clearly a lot of room in the $700 to $1,500 range for products like the Triangle Borea BR03 BT, KEF LSX II, and the new PSB Alpha IQ. The PSB are currently playing in our dining room and they are not disappointing.
Sonus faber has even jumped into the wireless ring with the new Duetto loudspeakers and our first exposure to them at the House of Sound in New York City was a very positive experience.
$4,000 for a pair of active Sonus faber loudspeakers?
When you consider how expensive their passive loudspeakers are — products like the Duetto might actually be the better long-term purchase.
The Borea BR03 BT are aimed at a very different type of customer with a budget that probably ends around $1,500 USD and that’s a rather good place to be right now.
The French loudspeakers are now $699/pair and that leaves you with a budget of around $800 for a turntable and cartridge.
The internal phono preamplifier worked just fine with the Goldring E3, Grado Prestige Red3, Grado Timbre Opus3, and Sumiko Rainier Phono Cartridges; anything over 3 mV will be enough based on the amount of gain which is in the 40 to 43 dB range.
The Borea BR03 BT is not a warm sounding loudspeaker; it is not perfectly neutral sounding either with the aforementioned mid bass/upper midrange emphasis.
Midrange clarity and detail were very good, but I would have preferred slightly more color with vocals; Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday were delivered with a lot of energy and clarity, but slightly cooler than I normally prefer. When I switched over to the Marantz CD60 with the same CDs, there was most certainly an uptick in midrange warmth.
You can read our detailed review of these extremely capable wireless speakers here.
The Borea BR03 BT supports aptX, aptX HD, aptX Low Latency, SBC, and AAC and there were never any issues pairing the loudspeaker to any device. The illuminated blue LED on the right loudspeaker confirms that you are in Bluetooth mode and it will not pair with your source device if any other color is illuminated.
My two nitpicks would be that the phono stage could be somewhat noisy depending on the cartridge, and there is no dedicated app for controlling the loudspeakers.
The build quality is superb and they look fantastic in the Light Oak Green finish.
Where to buy: $799 $699/pair at Amazon in Light Oak Blue, Light Oak Green, Light Oak, Cream, and Black Ash
Continue reading more Editor’s Choice Awards from 2023.
