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Obviously, you won’t feel the same physical subsonic sensation which only big full-range speakers are capable of. Yet during my one-month stint with the Magellan Duetto, I often thought I was listening to a good mid-size floorstander, not a simple 2-way monitor. In the bass, there wasn’t a lot of difference with my JLA stand 80 speakers. The JLA floorstander is a bit more demonstrative and seductive with its seamless soundstage but the Triangle proved far more coherent and outperformed the JLA in all other regards. The Duetto demonstrated more overall transparency, higher accuracy, the same dynamic skills and overall lower distortion. The Duetto never sounded strained even with the volume cranked unreasonably. Compared to the new B&W 805 Di, I also clearly favored the Triangle. Where it completely outclassed the Brit was with transient speed, something the earlier fantastic impulse response graph reinforces. The French has a sense of rhythm and ability to go from quiet to powerful that’s quite instantaneous. The 805Di is no sluggish monitor but the Triangle was noticeably faster. The Triangle also had the richer more gorgeous midrange and dispatched higher realism. The soundstage was bigger and never stuck to the boxes.

The level of resolution favored the Duetto no matter how complex the recording was. It allowed for the body of the note and the decay to be understood more clearly. The Triangle was certainly the bigger monitor (albeit not on price) and superior to the B&W rival in most  all regards during my session despite first-class though perhaps not ideal components like the Accuphase DP-600 and Artec SE50i integrated amp. Even the treble seemed more accurate with the Triangle, with a subjective impression of greater upper bandwidth (while the B&W specs 33kHz and the Duetto stops at nearly 20kHz, the limits of human hearing might make those specs less meaningful than others).
Magellan Duetto in white, grills showing new logo on their tops

  

Because it is quite difficult to properly assess audio gear outside familiar environs (altering at once all the usual conditions and abandoning precise references), I conducted this comparison with an unknown person whom I then invited home to listen to my new Triangles. The conclusion of my brief fellow traveller was basically the same as mine. The Duetto on this occasion proved to be a highly effective B&W killer.


To moderate my personal appreciation, I must admit that the Accuphase CD player in association with the B&W speakers never fully convinced me to make the final conclusion no big surprise. Yet the delta of performance I noticed between both speakers remains particularly compelling. The Triangle Duetto in my opinion is a real top-range performer. Another important fact is versatility. The Duetto delivers constantly pleasing results with all musical styles and genres. In my book, this single fact is a sign of reliable value over the long term and certainly a bit of a steal at this price.


Listening to Anima Eterna’s live recording in the Brugge Concertgebouw [2010, Klara Recordings], I realized just how far the Duetto could push dynamics. It became completely addictive how totally responsive to rhythmic shifts in emphasis and ultra sensitive to temporal accentuations this speaker proved to be. It was distinctive from my big McIntosh speakers and the B&W monitors in two areas: tonal balance and speed. With most speakers, this particular recording will turn somewhat dark. With the Triangle, the midrange became luminescent, the liveliness tremendous. This recording is really fantastic on dynamics and the Duetto amplified this special feature. It brought me to the first row of the Concertgebouw Brugge. The most surprising feature of the Triangle was its impressive stability and coherence even during the tumultuous tutti and ferocious fortés.

On the Summertime guitar duo record between Bireli Lagrène and Sylvain Luc, the Duetto once again delivered a great dynamically charged performance. This 100% jazz album is very closely mic’d to reinforce dynamic contrasts which does little for tonal veracity. The Duetto nevertheless succeeded to cleanly distinguish the two guitarists. Subjective distortion seemed extremely low and even the most intense passages betrayed no compression while maintaining a stunning level of acoustic pressure and speed. To my ears the difficulty with this album is delivering proper dynamics without compression. The Duetto managed with seemingly effortless elegance.

Listening to one of the newer 2L outings Trondheim Solistene, the Triangle demonstrated extraordinary ability with orchestral strings. The undeniable improvement over earlier Triangle monitors was the perfect tonal balance and superior distinction of each instrument. The attacks were perfectly placed in a spacious acoustic soundscape and the fluidity of the music was well preserved. Bass and low midrange frequencies were well served, with all the smallest details there easily perceptible. I observed no specific brightness in the treble that often makes the sound of this type of recording artificially glossy. I would have nearly said that here was a dull sounding Triangle which would have been quite an achievement for the brand.

Bifurcating towards a wilder more electronic context, Madonna Ciccone's Ray of Light is a true enjoyment. From the first track "Drowned World/Substitute for Love", the hypnotic pace of the album flooded the room with sufficient infra bass, good midrange expressivity and no collateral damage as you so often hear when transparent speakers meet compressed software. That was particularly true for the slow hip-hop number “Swim”. The JLA speakers for example added a bit more spaciousness but are more sensitive to compression. It demonstrated how far the new Triangle monitors push their versatility. On the very ethnic “Shanti/Ashtangi” the bass was tight and articulate, adding to the blend the right amount of low frequencies to complement the mids and highs.
Turning back to acoustical music with Alexandre Tharaud's reading of Chopin Preludes, I was surprised again by the lack of brightness. My first listening included my Wyred4Sound STP-SE preamp and the density of Tharaud's game, especially his effective pedalling, was more than obvious, such was the musical involvement of this recording. The cheap SPL Controller preamp by comparison was less involving but conveyed more ambient information and reverberation. In short, one vision from the inside, one from the outside. The Triangles clearly communicated this shift in hardware ancillaries.

I then played Lizz Wright’s second album Dreaming wide awake. Now I was able to measure how comfortable the Duettos were. They managed the soulful vibe all through the album in a cool but lively climate. Bottom extension helped preserve the necessary weight on bass lines and drums.  A good sense of air surrounded the instruments, each of which was presented in its own acoustic space with realistic distances between it and the others. Lizz's sultry voice was very natural and just a bit more presence would have made it perfect. Maybe a costly Zanden or FM Acoustics preamp would have done. This level of performance leads you to dream of the best and priciest options. When a loudspeaker shows you that its musical potential is virtually unlimited, you are aware that your goal is quite near and that your quest could soon be over.

Conclusion: It is worth stressing that I enjoyed my time with the Triangle Magellan Duetto such that I can hardly highlight a single criticism. These are beautiful super effective speakers. The finish is nothing short of perfection. If the loaners leave my house, it’ll take no time to replace them (my wife must choose between black and white gloss, that’s the deal). We clearly fell in love and naturally this calls for a honeymoon …ahem, Blue Moon.


The Duetto is the smallest Magellan but there’s nothing small about it sonically. This two-way monitor handles dynamics and soundstaging better than many floorstanders. It certainly lacks the scale of the larger towers but the ease whereby it handles dynamic contrasts is quite shocking. The Duetto can play incredibly loud and demonstrated no distress with large orchestral works. I never had the sensation that it compressed dynamics even during very demanding passages. Compared to previous versions and other Triangle products, the Duetto creates no placement problems. Not only can it work in a small room, it easily fills even a medium-sized listening space with a superb soundstage. Beyond its impressive bandwidth and remarkable resolution, the Magellan Duetto made listening to music exciting. I looked forward each day to come home and listen to new discs or rediscover old ones. If the ‘live charge’ is my first expectation for every audio component, the Triangle comes closer to it than similarly sized speakers I’ve heard, conveying realistic speed, weight and energy into the listening room.
For music lovers looking for more affordable options, the preceding SW2 model remains an interesting proposition and highly recommended monitor. If your desires can afford a bit more, you here have the opportunity to acquire one of the best bookshelf speakers currently on the high-end market for a still decent price. Every speaker has its strengths and weaknesses but I am still searching in vain for the latter. To temper my enthusiasm, I might say that the inside of the grill could have been more accurately crafted and that in the end there was always a whiff of that Triangle perfume in the air. To my mind however, Triangle has done a fantastic job in redefining a loudspeaker that should practically guarantee the company’s continued success and consolidate its position in the high-end sector. Bravo!
Quality of packing: Very good.
Reusability of packing: A few times.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Effective.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect and remarkable for the quality of ancillaries.
Human interactions: International sales manager very responsive and helpful, technical manager also was a great help and very forthcoming.
Pricing: A real bargain no doubt.
Final comments & suggestions: Do not hesitate to add sand to the TS400 stands to increase stability of the monitors.
Triangle website