“Invest” in Tekton?


I’ve been a member of Audiogon for a while but haven’t really had the need to utilize the forums until now... I’ve perused the forums pretty extensively the past couple of days but haven’t really found my specific question.... First some background: I’ve had my current system for quite some time (PSB image: 5t, 9c, 2b, subsonic 6; Denon AVR3311 as preamp; and a NAD T955 amp) and have been pretty happy with it... yes, I tend to hold on to my stuff for a while.... I recently decided to explore the option of upgrading/updating my speakers and was pretty interested in some midlevel stuff (SVS Prime, Emotiva, PSB X2T, Paradigm 8, 9, or 10 something…) but ultimately decided the $2000-$3000 price tag wasn’t worth the investment as they were all roughly in the same league as my PSBs... Somehow, I stumbled upon the review of the Tekton double impacts... don’t even know how I found it but there I was... I kinda chuckled to myself when the reviewer started comparing them to $20,000 speakers and then started calling them better at some things... I was a little pessimistic about the review because in my aforementioned research every speaker was the greatest thing since sliced bread.. (To be honest, in my eyes, the professional reviewers lost some credibility because every speaker was just great, couldn’t find a bad review no matter how hard I tried...) Anyhow, the comparison to speakers 7-10x in price piqued my curiosity so I started snooping around for any Tekton reviews I could find and lo and behold, everyone loves them and the comparisons to speakers multiple times their price were plentiful. Ok, so the Tektons are good and now I’m more interested than I should be…

So here’s the rub… I’ve never even considered spending $5000-$6000 on a speaker system (5.0-5.1). Never in my wildest dreams… I’ve always had a theoretical limit of $3k and never gave anything above that a thought. Along comes Tekton with speakers that are in the 5-6k price range (5.0-5.1) but are being compared to speakers $20,000+ and the fact people are putting them in the same league as speakers in that price range, and saying they are better in some instances, is intriguing…

So here’s where I am asking for some assistance. It seems the Tekton lineup is a unique opportunity to acquire reportedly superior sonic performance with apparently unparalleled value. However, $5-6k is a TON of money in my world.. It won’t break the bank but admittedly, it bends it pretty significantly and spending this kind of money on speakers definitely wasn’t a consideration even a week ago… Personally, I am seeing this as a once in a lifetime purchase (am 43 and would expect these to be the last major speaker purchase of my life) but I do need to justify to my betrothed. My original sales pitch to her included the analogy “it seems they are selling Lamborghinis for the price of a Mustang…” and “I really don’t think there will be another opportunity like this” (when did I start selling timeshares???!!!) There are other barriers with her as well (e.g., “They’re how big?!”) but she does have somewhat of an understanding of how much I like music and stereo stuff.. somewhat…

So my actual questions:

  1. To those that have actually heard the speakers, (transducers?)… do you really feel they are leaps and bounds better than typical speakers in the 3-6k range (generally speaking…)? For comparison, I liked the SVS Ultras but due to price and size (yeah, I know how big the Tektons are..) I put them in the “maybe someday” category. To be clear, I’m not asking is “x better than y?” but rather “Do these $3000 speakers really belong in the same class as $20,000 speakers????

  2. In your humble opinions, is this really a rare/unique opportunity with unparalleled value that is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” or are situations like this (incredible value for the money) more common?

  3. I can’t even claim to have a basic understanding of electronics, I’ve read up on ohms and what not and my eyes glaze over.. I spoke with Eric and he, without hesitation, stated my NAD T955 would be plenty sufficient to run whatever options I went with. Thoughts? I intend on using the NAD until it dies (hopefully no time soon) and will deal with next steps when the time is right…

  4. I am super nervous about ordering something so expensive unheard, If anyone is interested, I would like to have a discussion relating to my type of music and listening environment/levels.. (not including in this post to keep size down..)

  5. Any other relavant information I haven't considered, particularly in the area of justifying a purchase such as this?

There are probably 100 other little tidbits I could include in this but I am trying to be as brief as possible and I still wrote a novel… Anyhow, any productive assistance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

la10slgr
Granny,
I see that we prefer mostly the same,including music.

I truly believe that you would find the DI's to your liking and meeting all of your preferences.

Even out of the box,the DI's were at ease,nothing forced in your face,and they just disappear.I only have 25 hrs on mine and hav'nt played every type of music I generally listen to.I still need to experiment a little with placement in my room but I think I'm pretty close.I envy you with your big room,it's the size of our old house.We moved 3 yrs ago to smaller and room is 20x25 which opens to the kitchen.

I think you may be familiar with Eva Cassidy's music,The di's really bring out a sense of delicacy and more emotion in her strong voice,then any other speaker that I have owned.

The di's have great low level resolution meaning early risers,and hold up at higher levels.I hav'nt pushed mine extremely hard or had a chance to listen to a full orchestra recording at high level.
I have a very good feeling that they will hold up just fine.

You mentioned that you thought they might be bombastic in the bass and be possibly overpowering.I found the bass to be just right for me in all aspects and haven't had the need to fire up my subs at all, but some may want more.

We would probably differ in component matching but that is a whole diff. story.If you lived closed to me I would have you over to listen but I know we don't.

Basically I think I will be happy with the DI's for quite awhile,I would'nt consider any speaker a forever speaker for me.

Just my 2 cents,I hope it helps your decision,
Kenny.
kdude66, saw the info about the DI SE's also; you mention dealer only; does anyone have a list of dealers; can't seem to find one on the site...would be interested in the SE's at 6k. 
I had a 5.1 setup with Zu Omen Defs as the fronts, SVS Ultras as the rears, SVS center and SVS SB Ultra 13 sub. This system produced some sweet music.
In February I purchased the DI's and have sold my entire 5.1 system. I have only good things to say about ZU and SVS. Both make excellent speakers and they are also good people to work with. However, in my opinion the DI's are just that good. They are the perfect speaker for me. Best bass I've ever heard, incredible differentiation of instruments and powerful dynamics. I power them with a Wyred4Sound STI 500 integrated amp. The DI's are 4 ohms so this amp puts out near 500 watts at 4 ohms. Happy listening.
 
Phaun,
I've only seen one dealer for the SE and he posts regularly on this site.Without reading through a bunch of pages,I can't recall his name.I should have saved it for future reference.

I have always got Eric by phone or email but this was before the axpona show last weekend.I would imagine he is very busy.

You may want too start a diff. thread for your SE question.
Kenny.