I owned these speakers for about three and a half months before I finnaly got rid of them. Anyway in a nut shell I hate these speakers.... They are a design flaw that makes them unlistenable. They are BRIGHT!! They HURT! I don't know how many differnent combinations I tried of speaker placement, spending hours trying to set the toe in just right and trying to take the bright out of these puppies, but damn they are so bright that after a few minutes of listening to them they begin to hurt my ears. They do have a nice soundstage and the bass is deep and tight. For home theater I guess these speakers would be great but even than I had suffered listener fatigue after 5 minutes. I don't like to give up so I tried high quality speaker wire by Tara Labs and also some of their interconnects, because they have such a warm qaulity and could soften the blow.. NO WAY!! These speakers are BRIGHT.... Don't buy them... BIG MISTAKE... I even borrowed my freinds Comrade Johnson Tube amp to warm em up and nope they are still the brightest speaker I have ever heard.... Why do you think you can get them at half price. That Stereo Review article should have never been.. Julian Hersch must have been payed off or just failed to mention how bright they are... They will trick you because when you first hear them you say to yourself, damn that's a nice speaker and it sounds real good and you look at the price and your sold... Take em home set them up and put them through their paces and after twenty minutes your ears are giving out. For the first twenty your loving the soundstage, stereo imaging and the deep base, than your hearing craps out and your ears says I can't take it anymore turn it off!! So that's it... The build quality is ok but I've heard stories about the glue joints falling apart and different things happening to em so I say don't buy em... Why do you think they are selling for such deep discounts.... They are not hifi quality speakers. Look at were they are sold. No real hifi dealer will sell em. There bright and that's it.. You can't listen to em. I know I will get slammed on this but I owned em and I to thought they sounded incredible in the store but take them home listen to them for about a half and hour at a good volumeand you will see what I'm talking about.... STAY AWAY... THEY WILL HURT YOUR HEARING... WHY do you think Pinnacle is trying to rid themselfs of these things.... Think about. Don't sell them at a loss like I had to do... I have listened to so many speakers and these are the brightes speakers I have ever heard...
Thanks and stay away!

Hmm, I find it hard to believe that someone who can mis-spell Conrad/Johnson can be truly considered an authority on the subject of High Fidelity, however, I do take exception to Chris' insinuation that Pinnacle's will damage your hearing. How loud were you listening to these speakers? It stands to reason that if one plays any pair of speakers loud enough one can damage his hearing, but in my experience, these speakers are exceptionally smooth at most volume levels. I have owned my pair for almost a year and a half and have no problem recommending them to friends. However, they are not for everybody, some people do not like metal tweeters, and find them bright or brash, and others do not care for deep bass output. I have found my speakers sound excellent using amps from AMC(tubes), H/K, NAD, Carver, B&K, and yes even an old 30WPC Conrad Johnson. I wonder, perhaps it was Chris' choice of music combined with an extreme volume level, that should have pushed him towards a different pair of speakers.

For those who think the Pinnacle Classic Gold speakers sound bright, read this.I own the Pinnacle Aerogels which is their flagship model above the Towers.
It was slighlty bright when I first played them but the sound was very good.
I have owned these speakers for aboy 4-5 months now and only find them bright when listening to cd's that sound bright on any speaker. The Aerogels have some of the best sounding midrange and overall soundstage I have ever heard in its price class.
Overall sound of these speakers is a cut above what you can buy at Best buy, Circuit City, and most of what you can get from Sound Advice.
I would go further and say these speakers will outperform brands such as JBL, Polk, Cambridge,Boston Acoustics, Jamo, Klipsh, Paradigm and others in their price class. Since you can buy these speakers direct from the company, it makes them even a better deal. I got the Aerogels for about 30% off retail prices shipped to my door !!! No taxes either !!!!
10 year warranty on these speakers makes that even a sweeter deal, not to mention you can speak with the design engineers of the compnay if you feel to do so.
A 1 star rating does not this speaker make !!!
Save the 1 star rating for speakers from Bose and Cambridge.

I PURCHASED A PAIR OF "CLASSIC GOLD TOWERS" IN JUNE OF 97' DIRECT FROM THE COMPANY WITHOUT ANY HASSLES. THEY ARRIVED PROMPTLY AND AT A GREAT DISCOUNT. AFTER SETTING UP THE SPEAKERS( 3' FROM THE REAR WALL, 3.5' FROM THE SIDE WALL
AND TOED IN ABOUT 15 DEGREES TOWARDS MY LISENTING POSITION, 12' AWAY ) AND
PLAYING SOME WELL RECORDED CD'S, I WAS THOROUGHLY IMPRESSED WITH THEIR SOUND-
STAGING, IMAGING, AND QUICK, DEEP AND ACCURATE BASS. THESE SPEAKERS HAVE A
EVEN, WELL BALANCED FREQUENCY RESPONSE( IN MY ROOM!! ) AND DON'T PLACE ANY EM-
PHASIS ON ANY PART OF THE SPECTRUM NOT INTENDED BY THE CD. THEY ARE THE EQUAL OF
ANY OF THE CURRENTLY TOUTED BRANDS( $2000 AND LESS ) AND WHILE THEY DO NOT HAVE A FURNITURE GRADE FINISH, THEY MANAGE TO LOOK IMPRESSIVE ANYWAY. AS FOR SOUNDING
'BRIGHT', UNLESS ONE HAS A FREOUENCY SWEEP OF THEIR ROOM, WITH TEST SIGNALS AND A SPECTRUM ANALYZER, TO CHECK FOR ROOM MODES THAT EFFECT SPEAKER RESPONSE TRE-
MENDOUSLY, SOUNDING 'BRIGHT' IS ONLY AN OPINION, AS IS MINE ABOUT THE SOUND OF
THESE SPEAKERS. A LOOK AT THE TEST RESULTS FROM STEREO REVIEW SHOW AN IN ROOM RESPONSE THAT IS DOWN 7 dB AT 20 KHZ, HARDLY THE DESCRIPTION OF A 'BRIGHT' SOUNDING SPEAKER FROM ANY REVIEW I'VE EVER READ. ULTIMATELY MY POINT IS THAT
PINNACLE OFFERS A 30 DAY SASTIFACTION GUARANTEE AND ANYONE IN THE MARKET FOR AN
EXCELLENT SPEAKER FOR A KILLER PRICE WOULD BE REMISS IN NOT GIVING THEM A LISTEN IN THEIR OWN ROOM. I HAVE A PARASOUND PREAMP/AMP, JVC CD PLAYER, AND USE
NORDOST CABLES AND INTERCONNECTS. THESE, TOGETHER WITH THE PINNACLE SPEAKERS GIVE ME A DYNAMIC, ACCURATE, AND MOST OF ALL, AN EXTREMELY PLEASING SOUND. THIS IS, IN THE END WHAT EACH OF US THAT LOVE TO LISTEN TO MUSIC IS AFTER, NOT THE
APPROVAL OF OTHERS THAT 'OWN' AUDIO EQUIPMENT. HAPPY LISTENING.

Well, it would be nice to see email addresses from some of these real positive rebuttals, but I was in the dealer demo room when (I'm sure it was) Chris originally brought in his Classic Gold Towers and I can tell you , it was not room modes (those are primarily low frequencies) or high-end rolloff or emphasis, but Mid-Range Brightness that made these things impossible to tame or listen to. I wrote this up a while back but don't see it here--perhaps it's under some other similar sounding Pinacle speaker category in the Reviews list.
Moreover, I even called up my favorite salesguy at Audio Advisor and asked him about it and though they're a "dealer" (actually a close-out shop mostly), he had to admit that these thigs are brutal, and they've been trying for a long time to get Pinnacle to put their soft dome tweeter in them, although it sounded to me like a crossover problem. I guess that "Gold" thing sells speakers. Yes, the bass is good, and they are fairly sensitive, but I can tell you that everything Chris says a couple of reviews down I witnessed and is unbelievable but true. Although I can't imagine anyone standing them for any extended period of time, if you like them--great. Nobody is criticizing anyone else's taste, so there is no reason to get defensive about it. But while the word "suck" is to an extent indicative of the absolute frustration Chris experienced--and he had much better than average interconnects and associated equipment as he described--perhaps a more appropriate word would be "blow". BTW, if one thought it was the room, then none of the other equipment should have sounded decent and it all did. Same goes for the source material and equipment. But hey--that's what makes the world go 'round.

One little humpin' speaker.

Please be an organ and tissue donor and tell your family you are major league serious about it.

Update for those interested in bi-amping. I initially had the CGT's bi-wired to 2 bridged amps; I decided because the efficiency was so high, I'd split the amps and use one for bass, one for mid/high @ 215 watts rms each. This enhanced detail and imaging further, and encourage you to try it if you have 2 identical amps. It specifically produces finer detail in the mid/high range, as the amp dedicated to this area doesn't have to labor to produce bass.

very efficient; very nice low end; mids pretty good

can be exceedingly and relentlessly bright and fatiguing

I have to agree with other reviewers re. brightness. Harsh, piercing, metallic-sounding high end that didn't get any tamer after months of listening (it's not my electronics, as I've had numerous other speakers hooked up to them without this problem). Mids and low end are quite nice. Tip: these spekers use a Vifa metal dome tweeter. I recently replaced them with some Vifa cloth domes of the same specifications and also put in a 1 ohm resistor between the crossover and tweeter in each speaker and the sound is greatly improved. Highs are smoother and MUCH less fatiguing. I can now live very happily with these.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM604; various Infinity

Price, Good Bass and crisp highs

Finish on edges on top slightly discolored

These speakers have a list price of $1100. I got them at OnSale.com for $398 with no shipping charges. They are the best speakers I have ever bought in that price range. They are extremely efficient. I do not find the highs burning my ears like some other reviewers have written. I find them crisp, with a great kick in the bass. The build quality is not the best, but then again you have to consider the price (a little furniture polish goes a long way to making them look great). They do not compare to my Paradigm Studio 80's but my 80's are not worth 4 times the price of these. Overall, I am very satisfied with these speakers. If I could, I would give them a 10 for value.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 80s

sound quality & price

none

I decided to upgrade my system about a month ago. I got a pair of Pinnacle CGT for $398 (shipping included from the holiday special) from egghead.com and Pinnacle WC center (Christmas present). I also replaced my Sony receiver with the Yamaha HTR-5250 for $320 (special discount from a friend working at Best Buy). This is without a doubt the best $700 I have ever spent in my life!

I biwired the Pinnacle CGT and moved the Infinity RS5 (which I thought was a great deal @ $300/pair on a closeout until I got these CGT) to the rear. The initial evaluation of the Pinnacle speakers is an enthusiatic two-thumbs up ... way up! The clarity of the high and mid range is absolutely superb. The bass is so deep and concise that I unhooked my subwoofer. My next door neighbor spent over $5000 on his Denon amp, Accoustic Research AR-1 front speakers, and Accoustic Research AR-3 rear speakers - and there was relatively minor differences in the quality of sound from the two systems. The Infinity RS5 is definitely the weaklink on my system and I am in the process of replacing them with another pair of CGT.

I am not an audiophile by any stretch of imagination, but I do know good sounds (from many friends with expensive audio toys). The system is utilized for both home theatre and music. To improve on the sound quality, you have to spend substantially bigger dollars, perhap thousands more. Of course you start to reach the point of diminishing return. If you have unlimited spending account, there definitely are better speakers on the market. For me the Pinnacle CGT and Yamaha HTR-5250 receiver allows me the luxury of high sound quality from a $5000 system with a fraction of the cost.

As you noticed, I also highly recommend the Yamaha HTR-5250 receiver.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS5, Bose

PRICE/VALUE!! Tight bass, deep soundstage, solid construction, bi-wireable.

Spartan appearance, brighter than average, bass could be deeper.

I have owned my pair of Pinnacles for about four months now and they sound better and better each day. "Break-In" is for real and these speakers need to spend some type on the job before they start sounding magical. When I listened to my albums through them for the first time, the music sounded kinda flat and restrained with no soundstage and anemic bass. As advised, I gave the speakers a couple of weeks of constant work. I pumped up the bass on my preamp equalizer to really get the woofers moving. Soon enough, the soundstage began to open up and I could get nearly the same response as before with no equalization. My source is a mere Toshiba SD-2109 used as a transport with the digital coax out fed to a Sony EP9ES preamp. My amplifier is an Audiosource AmpThree bi-wired to the Pinnacles. I could swear that the sound is continually improving, especially in the area of soundstage. When properly positioned, the golds project an incredibly deep soundstage with proper instrument placement. And that is in a puny 12X15 room with no carpeting. I can't wait to hear em' in a larger, more accoustically solid room. I admit they are a little bright, but for the price that you can get them for ($400 for a brand new PAIR!), this is a minor gripe. I think my Radioshack speaker cables and interconnects have a lot to do with that as well. My next purchase will definitely be a pair of MIT Terminator 4 bi-wires. This should eliminate some of the brightness and open up the soundstage even more! Pinnacle has great customer service from what I hear, and they definitely know how to build a great pair of speakers for next to nothing. Bi-wireable/bi-ampable, 3 tuned diaduct bass ports, heavy solid brass feet etc. etc. All I can say is that with a proper album these speakers will definitely sound "live". Check out any Led Zeppelin remaster from the boxed set. I have NEVER heard drums sound so real and convincing outside of a concert. It is like there is real air around John Bonham as he drums about 15 feet away within a realistically deep and wide soundstage. I also recommend listening to any symphonic album by the Chesky label. Detail and dynamics are amazing. My only gripe is that while the bass is tight and hits hard, these speakers don't seem to play as deep as claimed by the frequency range. They have already improved in this respect so I wouldn't be surprised if they are hitting much deeper by the end of the year. The brightness isn't as big of a problem as some reviewers here would lead you to believe. It's funny how there are a lot of multiple reviews by naysayers of these speakers. I think the average would be a lot higher if this was regulated. At this price, pick up a pair before they disappear!