Triangle

Borea BR03 BT Active Speakers

£499

StereoNET has been impressed by Triangle's affordable Borea range, with both the stand-mounted BR03 and floorstanding BR08 designs firmly recommended at their respective prices. More recently, the highly-regarded French firm introduced powered versions of its BR02 and BR03 offerings, and it's the latter £499 BR03 BT that we're looking at here. The new range offers a powered, self-contained hi-fi system to those looking to minimise cable clutter – which is a great many of us these days!

The BR03 BT gets the same soft dome tweeter as the passive version, complete with the latter's distinctive waveguide and 165mm treated cellulose mid/bass driver. The system comprises one powered unit with a 2x 60W Class D amplifier inside and all the connectivity options, plus one passive loudspeaker. The two boxes are connected by a 3-metre 'high purity OFC copper' cable using the same type of speaker binding posts as the passive variant. The cabinets measure 206x360x314mm (WxHxD), and the pair tips the scales at 14.2kg.

One issue that I have with active speaker systems such as this, no matter what their asking price may be, is that you end up plugging all your sources into the right-hand speaker. For many, this may mean buying longer cables or moving their sources to suit. The other alternative is to have the channels inverted if you already have your sources positioned where they need to be. But, of course, this isn't such a problem for the likes of DALI's Oberon 1C and its little hub, for instance, which offers you a 'breakout box' that you can place conveniently for your sources while not affecting the actual placement of the speakers.

Streaming comes by way of Bluetooth 5.0 and aptX HD Low Latency (which includes aptX, aptX HD) and AAC for iOS users. This system also offers optical and coaxial digital inputs for hardwiring your other components, with a 3.5mm auxiliary input and full-sized stereo RCA analogue ins. The latter can be set to line level or used as a moving magnet phono stage for a turntable. A mono RCA subwoofer output also lets you bolt on a subwoofer for more bass extension.

Oddly there is no USB input, which is a shame. Moreover, neither Wi-Fi nor Ethernet functionality exists for this Triangle package, which would have elevated the BR03 BT within sparring distance of KEF's LSX or LS50. That said, save for the lack of USB inputs, the BR03 BT still finds itself up against pricier options, such as The Fives from Klipsch. Also, to their credit, the active Boreas had no issue playing 24-bit, 192kHz audio files via the coaxial connection.

The BR03 BT is controlled via the bundled remote, although there is a volume control on the rear of the main speaker, should you need it. The remote worked well, even if not pointed directly at the speaker, and from it, you can control volume, input selection and tone. The source selected is denoted by a bright LED on the master speaker's baffle with blue signifying Bluetooth, green for RCA, purple optical and white for coax. If you're using the 3.5mm mini stereo input, you must cycle through until you get the yellow light. You can dim or turn the light off via the remote by holding down the mute button for three seconds. Bluetooth pairing was simple, and the connection proved free from dropouts ever since it was formed.

Another handy feature found on the supplied remote control is the bass and treble controls, alongside an EQ reset button. The factory setting was a tad too generous with the bass, leaving the high frequencies sounding recessed and less than optimal. However, some diligent speaker positioning and jabs at the remote swiftly and painlessly found a setting that was pleasing to my ears.

The BR03 BT is an attractive-looking package with excellent build quality and a tasteful array of finishes – including the rather fetching Oak Green of the review pair. The magnetic grilles are neat, but I generally favour seeing the drivers. The speakers looked great sat on my Solidsteel stands, and gave little away regarding their modest price. The white cone contrasted well with the dark green baffle and rich oak-finish cabinets – I could imagine them in a typical British drawing room, complete with smoking jacket!

Frequency response is quoted at 47Hz to 22kHz (+/- 3dB), which seems reasonable enough when you hear it. Placement isn't a problem, but while the BR03 BT might look like a BR03 with an amp shoved inside it, the eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that the front-firing ports of the passive version have been moved to the rear on the active speakers. This means you will need to leave more room between the speaker cabinet and the boundary wall for optimum bass performance.

THE LISTENING

Although more source-dependant than its passive sibling, this active speaker system produced very satisfying results for a budget active speaker package. Selecting Menneskekollektivet by Lost Girls on Qobuz and Bluetoothing it via aptX HD, the dialogue proved surprisingly clear and rich, with an impressively atmospheric synth pad backing. The system coped well when the tune started to change tack around the three-minute mark, with beats fading in and a higher-ranged keyboard producing melodies. As Jenny Hval's spoken words transformed into singing, there was a decent sense of space around the vocals. Additionally, just before the eight-minute marker, a distorted bass synth came in to add more weight, and the Triangle system did well here too.

While the onboard amplifiers seem well-matched to the driver units, I cannot help but recall that the bass detail I enjoyed from the passive BR03 paired with a Naim NAIT X3 integrated amplifier was better. That said, when you remember the price difference between both packages, it's something you should be able to live with. While not as muscular as my Musical Fidelity M6si integrated, the Triangle's internal amplification can get the system to fill an average-sized room with seemingly little effort.

While Bluetooth was on the menu, a cheeky spin of some vinyl was in order from an Elipson Alpha 100 RIAA BT turntable. While this may be sacrilege to many vinylistas, the result was pleasing enough, and I dare say that most teens getting into LPs right now would be more than happy with how the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Cool It Down album sounded. In fact, playing vinyl this way was preferable to using the BR03 BT's integrated phono stage, which I found noisy. Initially, I wondered if it was down to the turntable, but then I tried it with a Pro-Ject Xpression with the same results.

So the phono stage on the Triangle BR03 BT is a handy addition for the occasional spinning of the black stuff, but more enthusiastic vinylistas may soon find themselves investing in an affordable phono preamp such as Cambridge Audio's Alva Duo or Rega's Phono MM. At around £200, they will improve the sound of your vinyl far beyond what the Triangle's onboard phono stage can. However, if you are spinning your 33s and 45s on a turntable such as the aforementioned Elipson, which also has an in-built pre, then BR03 BT's RCA line-level input option is your friend.

As you would expect, sending digital audio from a decent silver disc spinner such as Oppo's UDP-205 into the speaker's digital converter via the TOSLINK optical input gave a better result than Bluetooth. It managed to tease more bass out of the tracks that I had sent to the pair of active bookshelves wirelessly. Similarly, when using the Oppo as a Roon endpoint plugged into the speakers via coax, there was audibly more detail presented than when using Bluetooth. It actually got them closer again to their passive siblings, with a greater sense of space and a noticeably lower noise floor.

THE VERDICT

Triangle's Borea BR03 BT is an attractive standmounting loudspeaker package that offers a good deal of handy facilities – although, like its immediate rivals, there's no built-in UPnP streaming. Nevertheless, priced reasonably enough to grace a stylish teen's bedroom or a modern living room, there is much to like about this French design. Playback via Bluetooth or the onboard DAC via Roon sounds great, while the inbuilt phono stage is enough to help someone at the start of their vinyl journey – before they embark down the rabbit hole of hi-fi separates! Overall then, this is a good value powered speaker package – with chic, grown-up looks and performance that belies its modest price.

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