ACA Trinity - Review by Otaway Thomas

I bought a LCR ACA Trinity speaker system from Angel City Audio. I promised the maker of those speakers, Hugh Nguyen that I would post a review of them. But there is a story that must first be told.

 

The story begins in Jan 2011 when I started looking for a new set of speakers. I wanted to put in a 5.1 speaker system so I got a new Yamaha RX-A3000 AV receiver to replace the old NAD separates. I had a pair of 20 yr. old Klipsch Forte II, so I thought I'd get a LCR set of bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer and I'd be home.

 

Now I knew I had filet tastes and a frozen dinner budget. Well not exactly frozen dinner but maybe a sirloin steak budget. I looked and read everything I could find on a set of LCR speakers and searched and searched the internet. I found perhaps 20 or so sets that might work, but most of them were in the $4,000 to $7000 range, and the ones in the $2000 to $3000 range did not have the specs I was looking for or they were no longer being made.

 

By pure luck while I was tracking down what sounded like a good prospect called Onix Ref 3, and finding out that the sole USA dealer had done some unrelated shenanigans and gotten into some serious trouble with the law and now Onix Ref 3 speakers were no longer available in the USA. I do not know the outcome of that story, but in doing the searching I came across a very small forum that talked about a speaker system called ACA Trinity being built with a lot of the good parts (Onix Ref 3 drivers, two 7" Atohm woofers, VIFA XT tweeter).

 

I tracked down the specs and found 45Hz-37KHz, 90db, and then I tracked down comments at a few shows that they had been to. I found nothing but kudos from people who were there to listen to other speakers in the $10,000 to $50,000 range. I got excited, like finding a buried pirates treasure.

 

I started talking to Hugh Nguyen in April 2011. Because no one recommends buying a speaker without first listening to them, I decided to visit Hugh and listen to them. A gracious host, he had set them up in a 5.1 mode for me and my wife (furniture, you know) and I was impressed. He also gave me the cooks tour of his personal setup, which had all of these tube amps and $$ speakers. Now Hugh is not Klipsch. You simply do not get the same feeling buying from an individual as from a corporation. But I got to thinking how many times corporations thought of me as just a voice on the other end of a telephone, and how Hugh was treating me as a long lost relative he was happy to see again. Hugh promised me the same warranty you get with the big guys, and even though I knew it was only as good as Hugh could make it; I just believed he would do whatever had to be done. I decided that you have to throw the dice sometimes, and these speakers really did sound great, so I agreed to the deal.

 

He showed me the parts he was going to use and let me look at the partially assembled units he had. He was using all of the right stuff and putting in the best sound damping material I had read about. My wife was right there with me in our opinion that Hugh was a master craftsman and knew how to make speakers. I ordered them and Hugh made them and brought them down at the end of April to me. The ACA Trinity's went into the garage. You see, I also decided to remodel the house, and everything else we had was in the garage also.

 

Well the house remodeling went on for 10 more weeks. Here comes the fourth of July and I can take them out of the box and put them into the family room. But these piano rosewood ACA Trinity speakers are 40-50lbs on beautiful stands so my idea of putting them behind the couch as rear speakers died real fast with my wife. Also I am not the most competent person when it comes to setting them up in the right places. I had no idea how to use the software and mike that came with the Yamaha to do it right.

 

So I stuck them in front of the Klipsch and hooked them up and I thought they sounded ok, but certainly not like I had heard them at Hugh's. In the meantime I was looking for a subwoofer, and had pretty well decided on the HSU's as a good value for the money. I had kept a conversation going with a young German man who is a stereo fanatic and could afford those filet budget stereophonic devices. Over the last 20 years he has become an adopted son to us and an integral part of our family. He kept me from buying the HSU for weeks, sending me frequency charts and such things for other subwoofers.

 

Little did I know that he was planning a BIG surprise for me, as he had ordered a subwoofer for me and was delaying me until it arrived.   Anyway one day here is the UPS man is delivering this box that weighs 100lbs or more. I open it up to find a Velodyne DD18 subwoofer, way out of my budget. I immediately call him and he is laughing his head off, and I can only accept this wonderful gift. Well after wrestling it up two flights of stairs I get it into the family room which is starting to look a little small now and hook it up. I am happy even though nothing is calibrated or properly placed. I have good sound.

 

Now Hugh is patiently waiting for me to do a testimonial on his speakers, but I know that an audiophile would say they were ok but due to the setup not really great. July and August go by, and Hugh is waiting. My adopted son is on the phone with me asking why I don’t just calibrate everything. I confess that I am not really sure how to go about it, that there is one calibration of the receiver and the speakers and a separate one for the subwoofer. In addition I have the L&R ACA Trinity’s standing in front of the Klipsch speakers and still have no rear speakers.

 

Ok he says, I am coming over in September and I will help you. He does and he quickly relegates the Klipsch/NAD system to the downstairs living room, helps me buy two Martin Logan Motion 4 speakers (70Hz to 25KHz) to mount upside down on the wall behind the sofa (tweeter at ear level), and a $300 Logitech universal remote with IR pads to hide all of the equipment in a cabinet that matches all of our furniture and the new kitchen cabinets, and spends 4 days calibrating the system. I am not allowed in the room.

 

He finally invites me upstairs to the family room to listen. I am blown away. I hear sounds from my CD's that I have never heard before. In fact some of my CD's I am going to have to replace as now I can tell the difference between a good recording and a bad one immediately. I have depth in the sound stage; I have width in the sound stage; I have clarity at all frequencies. My wife loves it. Life cannot get better.

 

I mean it, this setup is so wonderful, I do not want to watch TV anymore, but just listen to the music. This system needs to be heard by everyone who really appreciates high quality sound, in 2.1 or 5.1 configurations and doesn’t have $15-20k plus to get it. My total is about $4500 for the A/V and 5 speakers, and I guess the subwoofer was about $3000 with a list of about $6000. So

 

Hugh, here is that testimonial that took almost 6 months to come about. You did great. You have made a fantastic speaker called the ACA Trinity that very few people know about but everybody should.

 

If anyone out there wants to hear my system (I am in San Diego North County), contact Hugh at info@angelcityaudio.com and he will arrange to put you in touch with me. Last word to the wise, better get yours before others hear about them and the price goes up.

 

Otaway Thomas