I don’t usually write about new products that are not yet available, but when the maker announces them at trade shows the word gets out on the internet and customers start emailing me with questions. That happened to me this week when, at the 2013 CEDIA trade show, GoldenEar Technology introduced their new SuperCenter X and XL speakers. I knew that new center speakers were coming sometime but that’s all I knew. I emailed my sales rep and got this reply:
Hi Wylie,
Both models should begin shipping by the end of this month. SuperCenter X is $599.99, SuperCenter XL is $799.99. The SCX is 5.75″ h x 20″ w. The SCXL is the same height and depth but is 29″ wide. Orders are welcome!
Since GoldenEar already has three center speakers you might wonder why two more are coming out. The reason is that some listeners feel that the original center speakers don’t have as much warmth and fullness as they want. In truth, since the originals are very small and have thin aluminum cabinets so they can be placed on the wall, they do not do as much bass and midbass as larger wood cabinet speakers. If placed on the wall the reinforcement from the wall helps a lot, and the equalization performed by the receiver’s Audyssey should take care of any making the response right. How can this fail to satisfy? When the speaker is placed on a cabinet the wall reinforcement is missing, and when Audyssey is used its results do not always satisfy. And of course some listeners have high expectations.
GoldenEar has heard some suggestions and the new speakers are the response. Personally I haven’t heard any shortcomings with the original center speakers, but I do not pretend to be the most astute listener. Any of my customers who might want the new speakers may audition them and if the new ones are preferred I will take back the originals and give credit for the full purchase price against the new ones.
A GoldenEar owner read on the internet of the forthcoming center speakers and emailed me for more information. I told him what I had and he replied:
Perfect! I’ll be finished with my remodel in a couple/three days, but I expect the SuperSat 60C to be the “weak” link in the chain at that point (at least to my ears). The beefier center is exactly what I was hoping for.BTW, the Triton Seven’s are sounding incredible as they break-in in my bedroom system. The Triton Two’s sound better, but I would have been very, very happy with four Triton Seven’s across the front sound stage of my dedicated home theater (fronts and wides). They beat the Aon’s for detail and separation – not an easy feat – and they go deep with even more authority. They’re graceful and “gymnastic.” I don’t know how GoldenEar managed to make them so agile. I’m just glad they did! I experienced that so powerfully in a Bach concerto for unaccompanied cello last night. In my experiece, many speakers don’t do justice to the richness of the cello. The Aon’s do the cello proud, but the Seven’s take the sound to a whole other plane of existence. 🙂 But don’t get me wrong. I still love the Aon 3, too. It’s a great center for the Triton Seven’s. I think I’d put it in my main home theater instead of the 60C, but it won’t fit. That’s why the Super Centers couldn’t be coming at a better time.
I went on line to find more and found a link that has photos and some information. The SuperCenters are box-type speakers with angled sides and top, using the same design as other GoldenEar products – cast basket midwoofers, folded ribbon tweeters, and passive radiators.
As so as I have better photos and specs I will put them in a newsletter, and when the new speakers arrive I will tell everyone.
Happy listening,
Wylie