My Experience With Tekton


I know this is a polarizing discussion point and was thus hesitant to share unless I could keep it objective, helpful, and concise

I have no intention to be inflammatory, sway anyone’s current opinion or beliefs

I merely want to share information in two specific areas, my results of product performance and my experience with the manufacturer

 

Background and reference point

I replaced a pair of Revel F36. The F36 is the upper end of Revel’s lowest tier floorstanding speakers and retails for $2,000 MSRP per pair

Took approx. 45 mins to unbox, level and connect

Like for like drop-in replacement, same location on the floor as the F36s, the listening position did not change, identical electronics and cables

We’ve all got our preferences, biases, different levels of experience, etc; but share the common limitation that we just don’t know what we don’t know

I’ve not heard a pair of 30K speakers but expect to someday and envy those that own them

In my VERY limited understanding, it’s near impossible to pinpoint how any specific system change will behave and perform across the board, contingent on the variances in electronics, set up and room. These three items alone (electronics, setup and room) make me think that while similar in nature, but at a critical listening level, each combination is unique and a different snowflake or fingerprint

 

Listening results

Product delivers as advertised

Meets or exceeds every performance expectation I had hoped for

After approx. 5 hours of listening over 3 days I tried to characterize the sound. The first thought was neutral, but that was understating what I was hearing. I eventually landed on natural or real. The voices and the instruments sound VERY real to me. This is as close as I have come with my electronics, setup and room to sensing that someone is singing to me or that someone or an entire band is playing for me

To date, each song that I’ve played, is the best version of that song that I have heard in a playback, and I’ve listened to all of them 100s and 100s of times

Some of the improvement was by a small margin, but most songs, 65% conservatively speaking, by a vast margin – night and day, game changing stuff

Chet Baker didn’t sound like a presentation from 1958, it sounded as fresh and real as a new recording with the benefits of 60 years of technology advancements. Exile on Main Street didn’t sound like a home recording from 1972 it sounded like 2022 with many layers of percussion, keyboards, horns and background vocals

Is the sound of this $5,000 pair of speakers comparable to the sound of a $30,000 pair of speakers? I don’t know, as mentioned I’ve not heard a pair of $30,000 speakers.

What I do know is the $5,000 pair of speakers, simply put is the best my system has sounded by a wide margin

Again in summary, it sounds real, like someone is singing to me

 

Experience with the manufacturer

I had hemmed and hawed for 2 or 3 months before placing my order. One day the website mentioned a future price increase but until mmdd you could still order at the current price

I called and spoke with Tammy and told her I wanted to lock in on the current price point but wasn’t sure what product or configuration I wanted

She built an open-ended order with current pricing and told me to contact her when I knew what I wanted

With work travel and other commitments it took me 4 months to finalize which speaker, Moab, which upgrades, beryllium tweeters and Cardas connectors, and what color, white

I was never pressured to make up my mind or that my window for the lower costs was going to expire

Since I was the one dragging my feet, I offered multiple times to pay for the product

Not once did they hint or take me up on my offer to pay in advance

They did not bill me until the product shipped

Once I had made all the config decisions, the build and delivery were again, as advertised

Tammy mentioned a 4–6-week supply chain delay with beryllium, that arrived within her estimated timeframe

Once the beryllium arrived, she said she was waiting on cabinets, eta 5-7 days, followed by build and paint, and shipping approx. 10 days after she received the cabinets

Within 2 weeks Tammy emailed my owner’s manual, unpacking instructions and told me to expect a call from the freight company within the next week

Freight company contacted me on that Fri and scheduled delivery for the very next Mon, Aug 30

The boxes arrived scuffed and with multiple impact points that dented the packing material

There are no blemishes or damage to either speaker cabinet, the packing and packaging worked as designed

Upon unpacking, I didn’t experience a heavy smell of paint or wood, if I put my nose to the cabinet, I could smell fresh paint

The cabinet finish or construction does not appear inferior to anything else in my inventory, KEF, Revel, Klipsch, Paradigm, Polk, and Elac – permission in advance to laugh

Enjoy the journey and happy listening

Respectfully


stevewharton

Showing 9 responses by phcollie

I am generally not a conspiracy theorist but are these recurrent Tekton threads and posts an attempt to salvage self inflicted brand damage? Or is this a "be on my team" type of thing reminiscent of the childhood playground days? People like what they like to hear. It never ceases to amaze me when one alleged audiophile tells another what they *should* like. It seems strange that one manufacturer is always a current topic now. Frankly, I never spend a dime of my hard earned (yes I work for a living) money with any company that threatens free speech. Even if they make an OK product.  But to each his own....
I am not an engineer and do not fully understand why specifications claimed and those measured vary so widely.  Perhaps someone could explain?  This from Stereophile...

I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Tekton Design Impact Monitor's frequency response in the farfield, and an Earthworks QTC-40 for the nearfield responses. My estimate of the Impact's sensitivity was 87.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, considerably lower than the specified 94dB.

@mozartfan  

Here is the link to the Stereophile measurements which caused me to raise the question. The review was not a bad review however the measurements were a sidebar so many missed.  Very detailed but it puzzles me why they are off by 7Db? Especially if tested nearfield. The tester also points out exaggeration in the low end so if "faithful" representation of the source material is a requirement then Tekton may not be the choice. For me, I am all about an accurate reproduction of the source.
https://www.stereophile.com/content/tekton-design-impact-monitor-loudspeaker-measurements
Trying to put together another system that will run on either low watt Class A or tubes and I hoped to find a real sensitivity in the mid 90s.  
@mozartfan


mozartfan
1,397 posts
09-15-2021 4:40pm
My line in the sand acceptance rating, is 91/92db true bonifide sens,

How can I go about locating speakers with an honest sensitivity in the range you are mentioning. Are there some manufacturers who publish realistic figures besides Revel?  I wonder how many people have purchased a misrepresented speaker, then went and bought another amplifier because they were not happy and did not know that the sensitivity was false by such a large margin.  
I beg to differ Danager.  If using class AB with a limited A bias, you definitely want to know the accurate sensitivity if your listening standard is 65-75 Db.  Also, any published standard can be measured, so if it is simply a lie, then it speaks to the character of leadership & ownership. The room I'm planning is large, Hardwood & wainscoting, and listening position will be 18 Ft from the transducers. Buying new amplification means I want an accurate number here period.  Certain Tube Amps are ruled out when a 94Db Speaker is only 87Db.  Another Reason: One amps Distortion vs Power Output to reach the Standard SPL that I listen to is not linear, well it is perfectly flat at only 1 watt.  At 30 watts on this particular amp it behaves much differently than at 10 watts.  Anyway, I will not waste time here trying to explain. It is simply more than a number to me.  
Indeed that would matter except the Tekton Literature and their website indicate 2.83V/m and the Lab tested at 2.83V/m.  no "W" used. So the comparison is apples to apples.  This is also the question the owner would not answer.  Nice video, but not relevant.  The tester even notes the specific impedance at spending the majority of the audioband.  Excerpt below:

My estimate of the Impact's sensitivity was 87.5dB(B)/2.83V/m, considerably lower than the specified 94dB. (Speakers with true sensitivities greater than 90dB tend to be rare and expensive.) The impedance is specified as 4 ohms. My measurement of the impedance magnitude (fig.1, solid trace) reveals that while the impedance does drop to 4 ohms in the lower midrange, it otherwise lies above 6 ohms for almost the entire audioband.
The reality is that posting a higher sensitivity benefits sales. Companies know that most will not test their own or even research an independent lab verification. While Davore is correct in saying that these specs may be meaningless to most people, many here are not "Most" people. 
Has anyone ever witnessed any brand or product where someone has to attempt a calculation of serial number progressions in order to defend what a great product it must be? The fact that someone feels this exercise is necessary to defend the product is not doing the brand any favors. Honestly, who would do this in any context other than out of sheer desperation?

Well Ford did sell over 3,000,000 Pintos, beating the Vega and the Gremlin.  However you were allowed to test drive & audition this wonderful chariot.
@ blk, Was nothing but tongue and cheek humor. Not even meant to be a serious analogy.
I will try and think of a better one that involves buying something I can not test nor return without a penalty. I’m smart enough not to say "a wife" . ;)

YOU ARE the weakness in the system if you still buy a flawed design.  YOU bought the Pinto.
I think I understand....If I am dense enough to buy Tekton, I am the weakness.   Got it. 
@mozartfan 

No worries mate. Its a bit like reading James Joyce. Takes some getting used to but it works just fine.  Maybe you can pen your own versioin of "Portrait of an Audiophile..."
Cheers, take it all with a few grains of salt.