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 19 responses by tomic601

well, when i was an exchange student at Toyota, the Camry rate was about 1 per minute… there is thing called….wait for it…..scale.

imagine if Scanspeak at volume production….. ?

Heavy - there is a class of racing hydroplane based on the Pinto block and engine. Had to use stock cam..but there were of course black art tricks….My boat was a Campbell hull….fun

Yes, analogies very slippery…
but for a partial hint about RM and transformers consider that he designed and wound his own….. and eliminated them on his direct drive electrostatic…..


IF you don’t listen very loud and..light loading keeps amp in class A, at least that was RM’s partial explanation. That’s how i run my RM-9 w Vandersteen Treo CT in the condo. Eviction levels not needed.

Best to listen to each tap !

Also, variable negative feedback is IMO invaluable for honing listening….as a skill, 
much of the impedence discussion should also focus on How that is achieved given motor assy are rarely proprietary….and that in most cases the tube amp will be transformer coupled, hence sounding a LOT like the design and execution of the output transformers. Ralph product excepted.


@dabel I need to become a better student also. My mentor has me building some variable distortion stuff this fall and Winter. Should be fun
@dabel Yes a weekly visit for me in late Fall Winter, Not crazy how they store discs for sale apart from covers for theft prevention….
bespoke proprietary cones built on custom Scanspeak Pistonic drivers , time and phase correct filters, low diffraction baffle, textbook impulse response , lack of stored energy in the driver, patented aerodynamic basket for minimal backwave reflection, . Inert cabinet. Powered bass w 11 band eq below 120 hz for flat in room response,  easy load for the amp 6 ohms, no bizarre phase angles, pairs matched to better than .25 db. single ended cylotronic SS and hybrid tube SS amplifiers w analog controls / error protection, no emitter resistors, hanging truss HRS suspension, Amplifiers designed exactly for the load…water cooling for rock solid bias…no matter what, list goes on.

Since 1977, no flash in the pan….




Albert is off solving for the missing mass in the universe with his tape measure…..looks like it’s not dark matter just the deep sorrow of a promise unkept…..
Perhaps we can call it the Audio Evangelical Trinity

Sonic performance / Value

and

Hype ( see also * )

and

The firm, sole proprietor, whatever….

of course, that leaves out the delicate subject of hypocrisy about the sourcing of components from the PRC *
@charles1dad Your normally astute thought and commentary just a bit off the mark here in asking us and potential customers to ignore the dude who runs the company.  In the deleted thread, he threatened legal action broadly saying at one point  “ this isn’t over “.

He also staked out his view that dissent was from “ card carrying Democrats “. Well that is just stupid, short sighted and ignorant - pretty much the drivel we are subjected to by team sycophant and Albert. Yes the thread was deleted. Essential parts preserved. There is this cool thing called screen capture. I await the letter from his attorney. Somehow, i suspect it must have been sent to the MyPillow dude  for legal advice…

Just Hilarious 


Peter appears to have a well sorted system, a fellow  Quad owner . Chaser of the holy grail as am I. Nice vinyl collection. IF he decides to cast aside the genius of Peter Walker for a guy who calls customers “ a liar “, who am I to say he has it wrong ?

I get an employee discount at Virgin Orbit, more than happy to help send Albert on a ride…

I am told, “ you can see Russia from there”
Kinda like calling better records to check on a posters claim… aka bona fides…..
For some of us who remember the rant about “ no diminishing returns “ 1.65 x $2k = $3.3…. not $5k

But Flourocarbon is clear

To the OP, seriously happy for your happiness - that IS what matters. Good move, a properly executed Be tweeter is not lossy like a soft dome. In the long haul, you made a great chiice there.
Sell the fleet and get $30 k speakers….

just kidding.

You seem well adjusted, emotional intelligence intact / present, Ego in check, fellow Chet Baker fan, therefore your review will be well received by most. Very importantly you chose to write this… AFTER… actually hearing them.


Enjoy the music, my best to you.

Jim