I owned the Tekton Lore Reference for about a year and a half and they were great for the price. I ran them with a 50w tube integrated and it was a nice combo. For $750 I had no complaints except perhaps that the paint was cracking on one of the rounded corners. I ended up buying a pair of Gallo CL-2 for an office system on closeout direct from Gallo for $390/pair. After they were broken in I found myself listening to them more than the Tektons after awhile. I was getting addicted to the CDT tweeter.
Based on that experience I ordered the CL-3 refurbished for $650/pair shipped (crazy steal) and they were on a different level than both of the above. Sonically, one defining moment for me was listening to Joni Mitchell, Both Sides Now. (I think the Track was You’re My Thrill. ) During the intro there is a brief flute soli. With the Tektons it sounded like a really nice flute section that was very homogenous sounding and blended. With the Gallos I could hear each individual flute player and their unique tones and vibrato. The bass was also deeper and tighter on the gallos and the imaging was just amazingly holographic and wide and deep.
I know the timing of this is interesting as the Tekton hype train seems to be at full tilt right now with some of his higher models and I am curious to hear them. The 2 things that would give me serious pause and keep me from moving up the Tekton line are 1) the size and aesthetics 2) The very much "in your face" house sound that can get tiring to me. Just wondering what others have moved on to from Tekton and what they heard that moved them in that direction.
hfaddict, it's always interesting to find someone who believes that one should never comment or speculate on a component unless one has paid the entrance fee and bought one. Unfortunately for you, this is the internet, not your living room. I notice you have no problem with those who praise Tekton without buying them, so what does that make you?
People are going to post things that you don't agree with every day. I have made several observations about Tekton speakers, and I will stand by my comments about ugly boxes, non flat frequency responses, cheap components and fan boys who can't handle such observations. By the way, I never said they were a poor sounding speaker, surely you're not going to add to what I said in an attempt to score cheap points?
James showed his true colors when he criticized my system on this forum, only small minded people make such attacks. And all because I don't care for Tekton, how strange. And I'm not trying to rally anyone. I call a spade a spade, and James has been a snob to me. Now you are being condescending and snobby.
I may have been wrong about granny's posts, but at least it's an honest mistake. In the last 3 years I've owned over 20 pairs of speakers, taking many of them apart and tinkering. My observations are what let me to believe that speakers costing over $20,000 are probably not going to contain MDF. I haven't seen the inside of every speaker in existance. Have you? Has granny?
It's just an opinion. Try to take them with a grain of salt.
Thank you sir. I've heard the Audio Note kits aren't quite up to par of the factory made cabinets and driver/crossover matching but it's all in good fun.
I guess while I’m here, I can also be productive and give my experience with them.
I really enjoyed my time with the Tekton Double Impacts but ultimately, paired with my upstream gear, decided they didn’t quite have the bass response I was looking for on compressed music or classic rock. I could’ve swapped out gear to possibly better match the speakers in this regard but decided to try a different speaker.
The size was also an issue in my room and did play a secondary part in my decision.
But with the right recording, the DI’s checked all the boxes for me. Outstanding low frequency authority, a beautiful lifelike mid range with some real weight around it and a treble that was fresh but non fatiguing. Keep in mind my listening area was also not treated in any way.
My main genre preferences in order of priority is: Modern folk "ish", blues, reggae, classic rock, electronic/hip hop, country. I do a lot of listening at lower volume levels and felt the DI’s weren’t quite as dynamic/impactful at these levels as their sensitivity suggested.
Upstream gear is: Tidal Hi Fi Macbook Pro running Audirvana Chord 2Qute DAC Linear Tube Audio MZ2 pre (Upgraded tubes) Line Mag 508 amp (Stock tubes)
I demo’ed a set of Audio Note AN-E HE LX speakers with my own gear and really liked what I heard. I felt like for my situation, these speakers will be a better all arounder. So I ended up purchasing these speakers/stands in kit form through ANK AudioNote. They have yet to arrive. And so the quest continues...
@213runnin As a former Double Impact owner, I’ve been following all the Tekton threads for quite some time and have noticed a few common themes in your posts. I’ve seen it on both Audiogon and Canuck Audio Mart.
You have done nothing but speculate and theorize negatively about how these speakers must sound and try to pass it off as a fact. Then when someone questions you or mentions this, you play all innocent and merely pass it off as your own opinion. You haven’t owned or even heard them as far as I know?
You’ve speculated that the DI’s have a non flat frequency curve based on another Tekton model’s measurements and the fact that Erik doesn’t want to publish them.
You’ve also speculated that based on your opinion of the cabinet/build quality/crossover and driver quality that this is a poor sounding speaker.
You’ve speculated that James got rid of the DI’s because he didn’t like them?
You’ve speculated that GrannyRing has never pulled $20,000+ speakers apart so therefore he can’t possibly understand the improvements he’s made with his own speakers?
You are entitled to your opinion as everybody is but please don’t confuse that with facts or experience.
@james_w514 is a hugely informative resource who has had the opportunity to experience an enormous amount of gear in all price ranges. He’s a unique resource because he’s been involved with audio gear at a consumer and sales level. He’s also very humble in his recommendations and has nothing to prove or sell. He never said he sold his DI’s because he didn’t like them, you put those words in his mouth. You’ve also been trying to press his buttons for quite some time on these forums and I believe that’s why he finally made the comment about your Rainmakers. And now you’re trying to rally other’s around this one comment.
And as for your comments toward @grannyring, that’s just pure arrogance to assume what he does or doesn’t know.
Now @213runnin, are you actually a previous owner of Tekton speakers and have something productive to say? Or would you like to keep spouting your negative guesswork?
And for the record, I’m not a Tekton fanboy and actually sold my Double Impacts.
I was educating you on the comment you made. I did not realize you knew big dollar B&W speakers use $10-$20 crossover caps based on your post above? Being serious here. Just trying to share facts for better understanding.
Even the expensive B&W 800 series use a $20 cap on the all important mids. The bottom of the line film cap from Mundorf. The standard MCap. This is the cost of a 50uf (large value) cap to mere consumers like you and I. A smaller value Mcap costs $10. The builder pays far less. These are average quality at best. The same quality level of caps found in Tekton. Tekton uses Clarity PX.
@213runnin. I don’t care to argue on Tekton and that was not my point. Yes, I have indeed worked on speakers costing up to $22,000. Many. Yes they do use MDF, yes they do use $10 caps and $ .25 sand cast resistors. Highly reviewed ones winning all kinds of accolades. It is quite a revelation learning from actual experience and I suggest that for you sir. Go ahead and look inside some expensive speakers and learn. They still sound great, but can be improved.
Yes some use other materials and higher quality parts. You mentioned a couple.
Granny, that's nonsense. How many Wilson, Focal, B&W, Magico, etc., have you "modified"? I"m sure the first thing an owner of $30,000 speakers does is look you up for modifications.
And these expensive speakers sure don't have the cheap MDF in a super boring design with silly color options.
It’s all in the music imaging. If you listen to electrostatic you get this large life size representation but you have to have a big room which becomes an extensionof the stage. Also the types of music that sound great on them are narrower. Bass ported speakers sound great but loose out on the big stage presentation and placement can be critical. Magico are built with particular emphasis on their cabinet construction and the results are a fast imaging like electostats and without the ported bass constraints. I am sure the better Tekton offerings will give you as much enjoyment as a good pair of Magicos at a more expensive price point specially for pop, hip hop, rock and other similar genres. Electrostats would not be as good. Put on some great Classic music and then the electrostats will blow them away and the Magicos will give them a good run for the money. IMO the more expensive speakers and the more expensive amps,preamps,etc all add into a more life like representation of the original recording if that’s the end result you are looking for. You also have to have the proper amplification, room size and treatments. Final analysis after listening to a system costing say 10 to15 K with top notch Tektons and competent amps etc you would proclaim this is an awesome system and that it would be hard to beat. After listening to 100K Magicos with another 150K in support system you would proclaim this is an awesome system , hard to beat, and you would add that it sounds a “little” more ‘live” and “real” than the other awesome system next door. This is what the price of admission is in Hifi. It’s like cars. Compare a Subaru Wrx Sti to a Mustang Shelby to a Corvette to a Porsche to a Ferrari to a Lambo to a Bugatti to an F1 race car and to a sound barrier breaking experimental vehicle. What are you trying to achieve? Disclaimer: All of this is In my opinion only.
Truth is the crossover parts found in many Tekton speakers are the same quality level as most speakers costing up to $21,000 that I have modified. This is the truth of the matter. A sea of $10,000 - $25,000 speakers with $10 caps and $ .50 cent sand cast resistors. Common. All these speaker can, and should, be upgraded to hear what they are capable of.
As as far as drivers, many speakers costing up to $30,000 use “ off the shelf drivers” that you and I can purchase today. No big deal here. This fact alone has nothing to do with quality.
Lastly, many like the sound of paper drivers over synthetic materials. Many ways to build an excellent mouse trap.
Maybe the Lore don’t have the popularity as much as the array design, my friend told me , he did not care for them.i have the impact monitor.iam happy The way they are built very descent..I bought them because of their musicality...And they are very good..,I heard Magico speakers they are excellent but they are not for me.I prefer the Tektons...will they last 10 yrs? Yup.
Here's another question. With the lower budget build quality of Tekton's speakers( basic MDF, lower cost off-the-shelf woofers and crossover components), how far off their original sound will they drift in say 10 years.
Now your typical speakers that cost double or more, with far superior quality cabinets and components, will last far better. You get what you pay for.
My return to hifi hobby had me getting a pair of Lore Reference. Awesome speakers that my son now has in his house enjoying. I purchased a pair of Harbeth HL5 Supers to replace them. I would guess they were about 10% better at 5 times the price. A little better bass mostly. Now I have Magicos S3MK2 at 25 times the price of the Tektons Lore reference and maybe 50% better........this hobby is addicting and can take you to the poorhouse quickly. I wonder how the Magicos would fare against the topline Tektons but the problem Tektons and lesser known speakers have is a slow slow turnover. I gave them to my son cause I couldn’t sell them at half the price. This is why I didn’t get another pair of Tektons. When I sold the Harbeths they went quick and with not too bad of a loss.
From Tekton stand mounts to whole other world used Mark and Daniels Ruby (still use in second system), Topaz (friend has) and recently Mini for desktop system. Along the way, tried countless speakers for main until configuring a set of ATC scm20sl with L+ R REL Strata III subs. Still enjoying these speakers daily. .
James, I simply said that I didn't like the looks of the Tektons. I also noticed that the company wouldn't reveal the frequency responses of their models but I found one reviewed model that had been reviewed and measured. It's frequency response had a range of 12db and I shared that. I might have made another observation or two, I can't recall at this point.
What fanboys like you couldn't get through your heads was that one does not need to own or audition a speaker to tell what a certain spec is or whether YOU LIKE THE LOOKS OR NOT. But it cracks me up that after all the attacking and whining you got rid of them. You claim you still love them, but decided to sell them. Sure.
You and a few fan boys repeatedly attacked me personally for making these simple observations. That you still refuse to acknowledge that a person can not like the looks of a speaker without buying it tells me all I need to know about you.
I hear that the Sonus Faber Fenice speakers have that last little bit of detail you're looking for, why don't you buy them and report back your findings. They're only $180,000.
Quite a bit of bitter Eric bashing going on with many naysayers never having heard any of his products.
IMHO, he has created a product line that offers high end performance at relative modest costs, with the ability to judge for 2 months in your own home for the risk of return shipping. Some people have a problem with that? I give him credit for it.
Based on my first hand experience, his ability to deliver speakers in a timely manner has evolved from poor to professional.
Quality control I will get to judge again in about a week when my D.I.'s arrive. You see Eric allowed me to swap out my Electrons at the end of my 2 month trial for the simple reason that the SE amp I purchased at 7 watts is short on power for the Electrons in my opinion. Here then is 1 vote for customer service progressing in the right direction.
To all Tekton impact monitor owners and maybe Double impact owners , I find my Plinius SA 100 amp, is the one I prefer for my monitor, they complement each other very well, musicality, speed ,transient , slam , tonal balance, bass and many more . I used my viva 300p integrated as well, a bit slow compare to Plinius....
Owning the DI upgraded version, I find that it is not lacking in bass in the least bit. It could be a bit more defined (upgrades will take care of that) and there could be some refinement that @grannyring mentions but all in all the DI's are very responsive, neutral and transparent at every level from top to bottom. Running 55 watts tube amp has more than enough power at any volume. Soundstage and detail are magnificent so I am guessing I would ask what components are not really giving you what you want in your sound? Regards, Greg
Kosst, get a load of Jame’s arrogance, I guess there’s no point talking to a self important know-it-all. And James apparently was some kind of dealer! I’m sure the Rainmakers didn’t suck when he was selling them but that’s beside the point.
James goes from speaker to super expensive speaker and brags about how good they are to only move on to the next “last speaker he’ll ever buy” within a few months. Same with the DI’s. He bragged about how amazing they were on the canuckaudiomart forum, leading others to buy and report having terrible experiences with Tekton’s customer service. Way to go James.
Malthuse I understand your frustrations , it’s only stereo, we should enjoy it, why get offended , I’ve been there so move on..,,and enjoy.,,Ls50 are very good find as well.,,
Malthuse my point is I can’t release any opinion on any gear without proper auditioning.No I don’t care what music you play, what you eat, what car you buy? You are free, This forum is read by many newbie audiophile, So I must be careful what I read, I also did not tell you to Adios, Comeback there are plenty to learn here, just be patient, obviously you like music too.Sir Iam very sorry if I have offended you..I mean well,,,happy listening
For those who are still looking for wife, bring your girlfiend to a high end audio store, so she will know what she is getting into, and at least you will also know what you are getting into, to see how’s she will react with a ugly speakers and a big amp.Your partner will be part of this crazy hobby, If you can pick audiophile wife like mine lucky you ...this will prevent you a lot of arguments ...you will drink both wine while listening, and at time She tell you the bass is off.
Eric speakers are not for everyone’s wife, Speakers like James said one speaker doesn’t fit all.Aniwolfe make a very good point most of us Tekton owners got so excited , when we listen to them, because they are truly treasure find, Aniwolfe is right we are not defending it frustrate us why they did not work for them, It takes many many years to learn this hobby, it takes hours and hours maybe thousand of hrs , before your ears are trained how to listen.With all due respect I feel like if your ears are not train enough any good speakers will not sound good, it happens to me.I hope anyone who orders Erik speakers or any speakers give them a chance to settle, And never slam any speakers without proper auditioning, do your homework before buying, many audiophile here you can pm them , and they are happy to help.,..And please ask your wife, because this hobby is not a beauty contest.😄
Jayctoy I assume that what you mean is that any assessment of any speaker that isn’t done after complete burn in is a complete waste of time. I would also assume you mean that any assessment has to be done in the owners listening room because as we all know the room is a critical aspect of assessing a speaker. And of course, an assessment can only really be done when the final amp, cable, source, etc... is used In my opinion all of these factors are far more important than burn-in,
What other restrictions are you going to place on my ability to form an opinion? Do I have to also listen to only the music that you say I should have to listen to?
Two years ago when I was looking to upgrade form my very respectable Boston Acoustic T 830s, I lusted after some SEAS Pendragons recommended by Eric when I described my room. (they were off the market shortly after we spoke). While I was saving my pennies I kept an eye on the local used market and came across a pair of NIB Gallo CL-3s at a very good price. Unfortunately the seller could not provide a reasonable demo, nor accept a return; so I will never know but still wonder.
BTW I wound up with a pair of used $3000 Cantons for $800. I'm more than happy but I'd love a chance to hear any Tektons. I live in North Jersey.
Am I to
believe that a pair of $20,000 Pendragon PMD's are showing up Wilson
Alexandria XLF's and Focal Grande Utopia EM's? Or even a pair of Sasha
W/P's or Sopra No.3's? That's really hard to believe
Everyone has an opinion but I will say amplifiers have a strong impact on the sonic characteristics of these high sensitivity speakers. I drive my Pendragon's with a really nice KT66 based tube amp with 100wpc. Before settling on the tube amp I tried every hyped up solid state (rogue, parasound, mcintosh 5200, ect) and it was not great because I heard every flaw in the power amp. My current tube amp is a Synthesis A100 Titan and I must say it's a fantastic setup. I will not be selling the Pendragon's anytime soon, if anything I'll be upgrading my DAC to the new Oppo 205 or to the Schit Bifrost or yaggy. Side note: The Pendragon sounded pretty slick with the Sophia Electric Baby amp with only 10wpc and had enough bass to keep my young sisters happy playing trap music and bass heavy tunes. And it kept me happy with it's most seductive vocals, mid range and tingle highs never being too sharp.
I owned the Lore-S for about a year. Loved them immediately once installed, very attractive characteristics of lightning fast response and a unique quality about projecting impactful bass into the room which I still yearn for sometimes. Great for simple vocal/jazz/folk, and exceptional with my wife's electronic/techno records. The big deficiencies were a lack of refinement (probably counterpoint to the excitement at first listen), and most importantly a lack of midbass and lower midrange density, i.e. the crunch of electric guitar/bass etc.
In search of this, I moved on to Harbeth Compact 7s which were a marvelous improvement in all areas except for the lack of speed on electronic music. (And the nasty interaction with my room due to the lossy cabinets...another story). Still wonderful speakers that I'd consider re-buying anytime.
Finally moved to the Sonus Faber Venere S. I am a typical audiophile in constantly seeking upgrades, but no longer (at least for a while!). These don't excel in any particular area -except for looks- but are so well rounded with all genres that one has no pressing desire to move on. Less exciting than the typical audiophile acquisition, but more conducive of financial and familial stability!
In summary I support what Eric is doing with Tekton, if I don't quite buy some of his "science". He makes good product at great value, but one should be cognizant of his lack of large scale R&D resulting in limitations (which are more than fair, for his prices).
James above said that people shouldn't have to defend disliking a product, but I think he has a short memory. He attacked me for repeating my dislike for Tekton speakers and went so far as to mock my system, and now I see he sold his Tektons.
I've still got my Rainmakers, James, if you want to poke fun at them.
Anyway, it's as I observed, Tektons are big ugly speakers that use cheaper off-the-shelf woofers and their frequency response tends to be anything but flat. And the owner of the company goes to great lengths to keep their frequency response specs nowhere to be seen.
Nice choice! I am a fan of the Goldenear line for sure and have thought about purchasing a pair at some point. In general I have found that I am a fan of good ribbons, amt and of course CDT tweeters. The best domes I have heard are in Magicos and now that the A3 is coming out and is under $10k, I will seriously consider a used pair in the next couple years as well.
I have never owned or heard the impacts or Double Impacts. For one, my wife or I wouldn’t want them in our living room, they are too large and quite unattractive to me. Thats not to say they aren't gorgeous to someone else. To each his or her own.
I did own a pair of new Pendragons for a week but back they went. First off, they were much bigger in person then the way they appeared on the web site. Second, I kept asking myself, "where is the bass?" I schlepped those monsters all over my second floor audio room and no amount of placement made a bit of difference. They sounded sterile and hollow. To add insult to injury, the top corners of one of the speakers were damaged and the box was fine. The cheap styrofoam corners had disintegrated in the shipping container and when FedEx used their hand truck, it damaged the unprotected corners.
For a week I ran the Isotek burn in cd for 24 hours a day for 7 days. They sounded no better after 160+ hours of burn in than they sounded cold. At the time, I was using a Classe 15 amplifier which was a 3K piece that output 175wpc, a tube preamp, Esoteric SACD player and all Shunyata cords and power conditioners. There was nothing cheap about the system. So, back they went and shipping was the tune of 250.00 via FedEx ground.
To sum it all up, the bass was almost non existant, midrange was hollow and highs were ok, not dull or bright. Sound staging was decent but honestly I kept thinking that these weren’t high end material. After I shipped the Pendragons back, I purchased GE Triton 2 speakers and was very happy. This Summer I bought new GE Triton References for the living room system and brought the GE Triton Ones upstairs to the music room. I sold the Triton Twos. The System is now powered by all McIntosh and sounds fantastic. One thing I did mention to Eric Alexander was how flimsy the shipping boxes were, had the cardboard been sturdier, the speakers probably wouldn’t have suffered shipping damage.
So there you have it, that’s my take on all of this.
I own early Tekton OB4.5 that i've been listening to for the last 6 years. "Upgraded" them numerous times only to go back to them over and over. Eric had some unique designs and interesting ideas.
James I totally agree one has the right to dislike any speakers, and I don’t think it’s right to slam the speakers without proper assessment and burn in, and placement and right gear to run them. I don’t defend tektons , they don’t need it, Maltuse gave me doubt that he own tekton...I have that right too ? This is a forum we can disagree if we want too.iam only concerns that as good as Tekton monitors other readers will believe Him, and they won’t even try to audition them..James I bought my impact monitors because of the accurate post of Sbayne, Aniwolfe, and Waltersalas all tektons owners, Truly taking their time to listen, Iam enjoying music more now because of my new Tekton monitors. So let’s be careful what we post here, Audiophile like me, I depend what is written here...
Its an interesting topic for sure. I think some reactions are driven by the joy and enthusiasm we get from a product. So when someone says they didn’t like it, we find it hard to understand.
I just wish when someone likes or doesn’t like something, they can elaborate in a more interesting manner.
"
I owned Tektons impact monitor for 24hours and sent them back, yuck is all I can say. Hideous and they have bizarre signature sound. Moved on to Maggie’s, kef, and Tannoy prestige."
It seems a prevailing sentiment is, oddly, that one can say upon setting up a new speaker (like the Tektons) "It was immediately obvious how much better these were from my previous speakers!"
But if someone says "It was immediately obvious these speakers didn’t have the qualities I was looking for" then, well, that’s called into question because what fool judges a speaker so quickly? Break in and all that.
(Personally I always get a good reading on a speaker upon first setting it up. Yes further tweaking will dial things in, but the essential voice and qualities are immediately apparent and in my experience, remain throughout my ownership of the speaker).
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