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
I guess thats one way to design a speaker: buy some drivers and connect them and see how it works. Some might call it experimentation. Others might start with a clean sheet of paper, do the math and then spec the parts. Construct it, listen, maybe measure and see how close to the mathmatical model it comes. Determine if the model is right and where it might have gone awry. Who knows which is right, I guess it depends on who is doing it and what their goals might be. As long as you are achieving your goals mozart, it doesnt really matter.
Tekton may or may not float someones boat. Awesome if it does, no biggie of it doesnt. Im pretty sure those who detest Tekton the most do so because of the personalities behind the company or its ardent fans. Hey, there is absolutely zero chance I would own Tekton due to the owners quick fuse, commentary over the years, and the design ethos. On the other hand I may be missing something. It doesnt really matter though right? There are alot of speakers out there and I have no doubt the rabid fans enjoy their speakers…we all do. What possible motive would someone have to commit to the long term ownership of a speaker they dont like or enjoy?
Yeah, well I know my idea on speakers really belong on a DIY type forum. Just thought I'd share whats been going on in my 2 year laboratory experiements. Again, had I not taken a closer look at the Tekton designs, I might never have come up with adding a W3 on top of the 8 and 4. Might work, might not,, In fact, that reminds me, I have a Dayton #3 stashed somewhere. Think I'll go grab it and hook it up. If success, then I know the TB3 will/might mesh with the W8+W4. I googled multipile wide band designs and came up with nothing. Except one YT vid where this guy bought some TB3's cheap like $8 each and has a array for his HT. Sounds OK for HT but not for my system. That W3 TB model is not what I;'m looking for. My speaker may be the 1st of its kind.
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Someone taged me The Iconoclast over on a classical music forum. I am arch heretic. Most here just ignore me. W8+W4+W3 I'm serious it was the Tekton design that actually gave me the initial idea. Just waiting to pay down audio hobby debt and place the order for the W3. Will post a vid once up N running. late Januraryish
so now we’ve morphed into punctuation police and outcries of being exhausted by too many commas?
~~~~~~~~~~~~ My style of expression always has some critic whereever I go All sites eventually give me the boot, Even the christian forums boot me. I am a philistine if not a heretic I'll admit. ~~~~ oh let me go back in edit,,I have at least 6-7 commas. I'll delete all comas from now on
wow , sometimes i have ,, double commas yes appreciate the correction. No more commas
Must be a good reason. Not to mention the single driver no crossover high efficiency designers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Yes great observation. Seas has 1 tweeter 2 midwoofers in the Thors,, Not 2 tweets and 1 woofer. Troels Gravesen has no design with double/multiple tweeters. Must be a reason as you highlight.. Now as you mention, **single wide band driver** speaker,,, well not sure if you’ve been following my posts around here..I am breaking that old model of a single wide band I have a W8+W4,,and about to add a W3. W8+W4+W3 WideBander. Kinda like a 3 way or sorts. Might even say 4 way if you add in the W18 + paper tweeter. Just following Tektons lead. More = better. Wilson is doing the very same thing,,more = better. I think my 4 way sound better than his 4 way.
+1 ozzy62. In addition to that, mozartfan says so many goofy outrageous things, e.g.: "Looking over the Tekton's yeserday,,gave me another idea.. adding in yet another WBer,,a lil 3 incher. If it works out,,I'll have a 8+4+3. So I'm kinda doing what Tekton is attempting. More = better" that it's hard too know when, if ever he is serious. And yes, it's very hard to read. Sentences and paragraphs? Who needs 'em?
so now we’ve morphed into punctuation police and outcries of being exhausted by too many commas? I’m not sure what’s left to go after in this forum. This place has become completely worthless....
Some people don't use enough punctuation. You, however, throw it around like it's raining commas. It's as though you understand you don't know how to use it properly, but if you spread it throughout your post in a haphazard manner, people will think you do. (and if they think you do, they might overlook your spelling.) You might have something worthwhile to say, but it's lost on the reader if it's too tiring to read.
The majority of speaker designers stop at one tweeter, one midrange, and then increase the number of woofers, maybe. Must be a good reason. Not to mention the single driver no crossover high efficiency designers. So I conclude that the Tekton approach is too complex to succeed. But I do recognize its marketing appeal. It does look like a rock concert in your living room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You raise a good point,, something no one else is addressing here. Muttiple tweeters. I 've seen double stacked speakers,, they sound quirte good acutally, but again, all have paper mids, Thats 70's sound to my ears.
Looking over the Tekton's yeserday,,gave me another idea.. adding in yet another WBer,,a lil 3 incher. If it works out,,I'll have a 8+4+3. So I'm kinda doing what Tekton is attempting. More = better But the 3 will have to perform,, will have to sing as good/better than the 8+4. If it can't sing, get off the stage.
They aren’t for you but then why question that other people like them? Or that they can’t be good?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ No one, not the OP< nor any reviews are giving us solid bonifide, unbiased, straight shooting , based on real knowledge and experiements, ~proof that the Tek's are high fidelity. As we all learned in Audiophile 101, a hifi horn is the ultimate. any speaker that is placed in the spotlight, upfront/center as is the Tek's,, has to ~~face the music~~, which is... **Bring in the horn shootout. That will settle the issue. Besides as I state, I hate tweeters as a principle singer in my speaker set up. Tweets are only as back up singers. Midwoofers as well,. these things are no good past say, 1400hz,, and besides, paper or plastic cones in midwoofers,, is not my cup of tea. When deciding on a speaker 2 things are of importannce for me. db sens, cone material and then many other factors... lIke weight of each speaker, ] 60 lbs is my limit,,at least the Tekton's are not over-weight like the Wilson's.. WEll I guess one could use a simple dolly to move the Wilson's around. Still , 60 lbs is all I care to handle. Tektons may indeed live up to the hype.. But until we get a hifi horn on one channel,, this speaker will be a mystery and open question. If the Tektons can keep up with a hifu horn, then yeah, The Real Deals.
Maybe its just me, but I dismiss anyone who doesn’t understand there is no such thing as the whole truth. The only one who knows the whole truth is God. But then you attack religion. So illogical too then. Right. Dismissed. Totally.
There is a profound difference between not seeing “the whole truth”, and intentionally omitting half of it. It is sort of like Kusrusawa’s Rashamon movie. Maybe it is being kind, but it does not engender trust when one needs to read between the lines to get to what the true meaning is.
And sorry @millercarbon, I did not realize you were Mormon.
In any case, that story about the golden tablets does have a striking resemblance to the sensitivity spec sheets. They all seem good, until we realize that they are in error by 6-9 dB...
And still we have people proclaiming the good news of sensitivity like it is somehow based in fact.
I dunno if the speakers are any good or not, but if there were reasons for the design then we could at least debate the logic of the design choices.
As it is now, they have a cult status. With opinions ranging from great to poor.
But it is possible that they do sound heavenly… I dunno. I just know that I do not trust the messenger.
So mozartfan, just a simple question. They aren’t for you but then why question that other people like them? Or that they can’t be good? You have your requirements, I think they are quite unique requirements to have so they can’t really be used as requirements for all.
I see more blind hatred from people who have never listened to the speakers than religious zeal from the owners...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Not hate, nor are we blind,, We can easily see the speakers for ourseves,, Some of us have been around quite a few designs,, and just by the looks we get at least an idea of how they might sound. I hate all tweeters as for a W+T ,,2 or 3 way xover design. I hate those things when employed ina position to carry midrange.
I also only like magnesium cone woofers. magnesium/aluminum Seas W26, maybe OK. The Tek's woofers won;'t work for me,, I don't need to hear them. So thats 2 strikes even before i even listened. The 3rd strike is the price , weight and size. + sens level might be below my 91db acceptable limit. ( Caveat>>although my Seas W18;'s are 87, they play a secondary role, not principle, and about to add a 3rd WBer whith 88db, again, as a assist mode, not principle)
Until we get a hifi horn guy to test the Teks against his horns, we are all going on hearsay, Sorry Mr Tekton, if some of my comments might be derailing your gravy train.
My personal preference is to praise to high heaven what I love, and give slight mention if any to what I don't. But do it however you like.
Maybe it is just me, but I sort of distrust a reviewer that starts of saying that they intentionally omit ~1/2 of the truth.
The speakers have an almost religious following. It would be nice to peek behind the curtain to see if the specs are etched onto tablets, or just recited as lore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
hahaha Great post, Just wonderfully and quite hilarious, but honest I like that. Well Millercarbon is giving us some ideas to his approach. He has a interesting perspective about this speaker evaluation/ultimate choices to be made.
Past decade I use to prasie the Seas Thors as the finest speaker,, In some small ways it is. But after I made that shootout wirth a cheap Diatone wide band,, the Thors now have been reduced to 1/2, as the tweet is gone, midwoofers as assist in my set up.
Every single Tekton YT vid has the speakers as some sort of religious Icon, so yeah there is some worshipping at the Tek Altar. Specs? I don't trust specs all that much. Specs give a general idea, although Seas in the Crescendo tweeter, has its all wrong. I pretty much know how /what to look for in a speaker's specs/construct. The only thing thats most important is how does it actually sound. Note the OP, no such reference point. OP rambles on, but gives nothing to base his opinions. The only rer point in determing a speakers performance are hifi horns. Teks on one channel hifi horns on the other.. With this test,, we all might see behind the secret curtain and witness the snakeoil maker at work.....
Maybe its just me, but I dismiss anyone who doesn't understand there is no such thing as the whole truth. The only one who knows the whole truth is God. But then you attack religion. So illogical too then. Right. Dismissed. Totally.
My personal preference is to praise to high heaven what I love, and give slight mention if any to what I don't. But do it however you like.
Maybe it is just me, but I sort of distrust a reviewer that starts of saying that they intentionally omit ~1/2 of the truth.
The speakers have an almost religious following. It would be nice to peek behind the curtain to see if the specs are etched onto tablets, or just recited as lore.
I haven’t helped I guess because it’s not like
complaining about it arguing is going to make a change.
Whoever is running this site seems to actually like it this way. Still, there are tactics and strategies that do work. The ones I can share are 1) Ignore the haters. They post for reaction. Deny them. and 2) Report their posts. Don't have to be abusive or spam, "Other" and off topic will do. Look how many discussions are derailed simply by the same small group changing the topic to whatever they feel like blathering about.
This week I’ll be posting my thoughts on the DI’s, not sure how that will go, never heard them but I’ll have them Wednesday.
This is the third and best way to make a change. Write up your reviews and listening evaluations. Don't be afraid to say what you hear. My personal preference is to praise to high heaven what I love, and give slight mention if any to what I don't. But do it however you like.
If more people catch on, great. I've built my system the last 15 years based almost entirely on this kind of thing. Everyone whines about and opines about the so-called professional reviews. Well I start with them but always finish and ultimately go with what I read on sites like this. But I never come and ask what, instead I always search and see who said what. This way I filter past all the blather.
Ultimately they miss that this is how people use the internet. They think it is a watering hole, one where they pee in the water everyone comes to drink. Write your review, people will find it, people will use it, and so in the long run we all gain. In spite of them.
Tekton is an interesting brand. I'd never own them on looks and size alone, but I'd really like to hear them some day just to see what the hype is about. (And not to deflated the hype...just out of curiosity)
Wow it’s weird how much emotion the mention of Tekton stirs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AS you guys know,, I’m not into xover box designs..I’m the Wide bander fan-atic addict. Here’s how i see the situaion.
Its difficult to determine based on hear-say, if a speaker lives up to the hype or NOT. Might be the real deal,, might be fluff, ,,,
The only way to etermine how a Tekton really sounds is to have a high end horn on one channel and Tek’s on the other,,at the turn of the balance dial, it will become obvious if the Tek’s are real winners or Hyped Frauds. No such thing as personal taste. Thats a myth. Either a speaker has neutral high fidelity or it does not. Bass and highs aside, as we all know any speaker has bass and highs. I’ve not heard 1 speaker in my life that can’t make some decent bass and sufficient highs. A tweeter = a tweeter. 30hz-100hz, all sound identical on any speaker Low bass = low bass. I get that. Its the rest of the fq’s I;’m concerned with. When My tech stood at the door way, just trying to exit my listening room so he could go about his busy day,, I saw his look on his face staring at the Thors with new Mundof Caps. I could read his mind FRom that *eh,,* reaction,,i knew I had to go do some more homework. Here is when my journey into Wide Bands began.
There are about 10 positive reviews on the Tek’s at Youtube. Hype? can’t say. Put a good horn on one channel and Tek’s on the other,, and lets have a few bonifide seasoned audiophiles make a rating on the 100hz-4khz range. Now we’ll get some bonifide honest opinions on how the Tek’s perform.
I’m glad I took a look at the Tek’s, The design gave me another idea that i had brewing in my brain. Adding YET!! another Wber to my WBer8+WBer4. Gonna add a WBer 3. I’ll just follow Tekton’s scheme. More is better. Only if the W3 is up to same mids as the 8+4. Which I assume it is, I’m counting on Tang Band not to let me down on their W3.
Hi End Horn vs Tekton. This is the only way we’ll ever get to the truth of Tekton’s performance of the critical 100hz-3khz.
It was via this shootout with the Seas Thor/Mundorf vs cheap WBer 6 inch (Diatone, crappy, yet 91db sens is all it had going for it) that I found the Thors laying on the ground all shot up. Its was a bloody mess.
Can the Tek’s outshoot the HiFi Horn?
Note one of the comments, 3 months ago,, guy says some Tek's designs have a 3 month waiting list....
Actually I’ve been here for 20 years, just never posted because it’s not a friendly place. I haven’t helped I guess because it’s not like complaining about it arguing is going to make a change. This week I’ll be posting my thoughts on the DI’s, not sure how that will go, never heard them but I’ll have them Wednesday.
The vitriol is entirely from one side. It goes like this: someone says they really like something, and then comes the vitriol. There is no moral equivalence. To say otherwise is deluded.
That is by the way a factually correct and uncontroversial statement. When the day comes it is vitriol to call a spade a spade, then on that day we are all in a world of hurt. Certain ones of you are working full time getting us there. That you are doing it unwittingly does nothing to change that, not even a little.
Or in other words:
man, such nonsense when the topic is tekton... ridiculous... some serious brain damage here
and
Wow it’s weird how much emotion the mention of Tekton stirs.
and
Yeah, weird that people can bring the whole forum down a level with having to jump in and trash a brand any chance they get
So a lot of the newer members get it. Now if only those of you who have been here messing things up for so long would figure it out. No one cares that you have been here for years. All we care is how you are acting now. And it ain't in our best interest.
Yeah, weird that people can bring the whole forum down a level with having to jump in and trash a brand any chance they get but then sometimes our posts get deleted because of????? I think I cursed, I’ll control that from here on out, get worked up. No explanations from the mods, I have a feeling they are okay with the trashing of a DTC brand. They get more advertising from the big brands.
Jjss49 …. Have no dog in this hunt….but read your post and saw absolutely no reason for deletion either…. Maybe the conspiracy thinking folks are right, after all!?
Wow it’s weird how much emotion the mention of Tekton stirs.
deleted my quite tame (and agreeable) post, actually agreeing with the statement that tekton may be a nice entry point for newer folks to the hobby, with some wow factor in sound and appearance for modest cost ... what the... ???
man, such nonsense when the topic is tekton... ridiculous... some serious brain damage here
I just find it quite bizarre how much vitriol comes from from either side when this brand is discussed.
It absolutely is bizarre and was likely created by the hyperbole that was promoted through the narrative of the owner and various promoters over the years. Without that narrative there would never be any fuel for the vitriol. It's too bad that some folks can't just build a quality piece of gear and allow the product to speak for itself w/o having to make claims that it performs $50K+ above its price point or threatening lawsuits to people on a message board. These are all self-inflicted wounds. Could you ever imagine other small brands like Herron, Decware, or many others getting dragged into the mud like this? They just quietly put out amazing gear at reasonable prices and don't thrive on drama.
Nobody cares if someone likes or doesn't like their speakers. What's so conspicuously odd about this whole thread is that someone leads it off by writing: "I know this is a polarizing discussion point and was thus hesitant to share...". Seriously, can anyone name another speaker where such a disclaimer and apparent hesitancy would ever be applied??? This whole forum is about sharing our experiences and adventures with various pieces of gear....agnostically. How did a brand ever get "polarizing"? Something is clearly broken here on the PR/branding front.
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
femoore12 probably comes from people having to defend their purchase because so many people question their decision OR even try to tell them they are lying. It’s such a strange phenomenon but not a new one. I remember people doing this for every single DTC speaker manufacturer 15 years ago or so. AV123, Hsu, SVS, ascend, etc. all of them had to deal with this.
The Pinto engine 2400 was and still is one of the most successful engines ever produced. It is used in a LOT of industrial application's, forklifts, man-lifts, water pumps, model T & A replicas. :-)
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