I do all my demos, both stereo and surround sound, in my living room, where I usually have the GoldenEar Triton Two set up, so I have high expectations for what I hear. Yesterday I moved the Tritons out for a demo of the GoldenEar 3D Array soundbar. As before I was blown away so here I am, a devotee of high-performance high-end audio raving about a soundbar. Usually soundbars are just one step above built-in TV speakers, but the 3D Array is totally a different creature. The biggest reason is the “interaural crosstalk canceling” signal applied to 2 of its 6 woofers. It makes the soundfield expand far to the right and left of the enclosure, giving a 180 degree wrap-around soundfield.
The next day my GoldenEar factory reprsentative visited and I learned that this crosstalk canceling technology has been around since way back when the GoldenEar founders were at Polk Audio making the Polk SDA speakers. He told me the 3D Array works much better then the SDA speakers because the one piece construction keeps the alignment perfect. The SDA speakers had to be set up just right for the crosstalk cancellation to work, but that usually did not happen.
Another reason the 3D Array sounds great is that it uses the woofers and ribbon tweeters from the Triton Two. This sound bar sounds high-end, and it can play loud! It can make a too-small TV room sound spacious. And it makes stereo so spacious it could be a fantastic stereo speaker in an office or bedroom system with a small subwoofer.
In case you think I have gone overboard with my love for these speakers check out the link below to read what the magazine reviewers say. They make my remarks seem like understatement. And there is a link to a scientist’s explanation of interaural crosstalk.
Link: Golden Ear