Still working on the review of these?
NEW Tekton Design Speakers - The Bonnevilles
I have in for review the Tekton Bonnevilles, described by Eric Alexander as a “passion project,” and easily the most attention-grabbing speakers set I’ve had in-home. These speakers aren’t for everyone, but if you have the space and can tolerate the eccentricities of setup, the Bonnevilles offer strengths that many other speakers really can’t match.
They feature four 15" woofers for deep bass, six horn-loaded tweeters arranged in a Tekton Polycell array for midrange, and a seventh dedicated horn-loaded tweeter that handles the high frequencies. Paired with the right amplifier, they can fill a room beautiful and visceral music, like a few other speakers. With proper setup, the Bonnevilles sound vibrant, alive, with absolutely amazing bass.
The Klipsch Jubilees are the closest comparison in terms of bass pressurization that I’ve heard. The Jubilees arguably have a bit more punch in the mid-bass, but the Bonnevilles seem to extend lower. I would also say the midrange and treble on the Bonnevilles are better than what I’ve heard from the Jubilees. The midrange of the Bonnevilles have the characteristic speed and detail that Tekton speakers are known for, but also seem warmer and more relaxed than Tekton’s smaller speakers.
Logistically, these speakers can be a challenge – in more ways than one. They require a lot of real estate in the listening space, they need 2-3 people to move, and turning a corner can be a real problem. But once they’re set up, the Bonnevilles deliver an absolutely gorgeous sound.
As a final brief observation, the Bonnevilles seem to require careful amplifier pairing. While the sensitivity of the Bonnevilles is relatively high – just a couple of watts will create a lot of sound – there seems to be a strong correlation between an amplifier’s power supply and current output, and the overall quality of sound. In short, the Bonneville’s seem pair well with amplifiers that can drop a lot of current.
I currently have three well regarded amplifiers available to pair with the Bonnevilles. Of those three, my current favorite is the Coda No. 8, which has an unusually large power supply and can deliver over 150A of current when needed. The other two amplifiers, while brilliant with smaller speakers, did not drive the Bonnevilles as well as the Coda.
Again, the Bonnevilles will not be for everybody – but a really fun set of speakers to listen to if you ever have the opportunity.
I’ll be publishing a full review of the Bonnevilles in the coming weeks in Stereo Times.
*For a sense of scale – the "little speakers" (as my kids call them) are the REL 212/SX subwoofers.
112 responses Add your response
I would wager that the sonic comparison would be that of a mack truck running over a pretty li'l pinata. But, it's better to go with the pretty li'l pinata than making alimony payments, i suppose.
|
Now I see. Thanks. The website only mentions "Made under U.S. Patent 924733". That is why. Well, just as you mentioned earlier, Eric only applied for a US patent, which is not applicable worldwide. This means it has no bearing on whether MA infringes on his intellectual property. Additionally, it seems Eric registered the entire 'embodiment' of the components, including the MTM and woofers, for each speaker model in the production line, rather than the individual MTM. It’s unclear whether mimicking just the MTM portion would infringe on the patent rights. |
He seems to have well more than one patent. Start with this one.. (download pdf, RHS) https://patents.google.com/patent/US10805715B2/
and here's a list. https://patents.google.com/?inventor=Eric+Jay+Alexander
|
@lanx0003 Oh, yeah what’s this??
Nice try, but, you knew very well this was out there , right?
Really? monitor audio put it under a cover and got real innovative, huh?.... hogwash, you couldn’t spin it any other way. At least, they are trying to hide what they stole a bit. |
While Tekton has popularized the concept with their unique implementations, the general idea of using M-array (multiple drivers array) to achieve specific sound characteristics such as enhanced imaging and dispersion predates Tekton or the US patent 9247339 Tekton applied in 2016. The most recent examples are (1) the Tannoy VLS 15, a passive column array of transducers introduced around 2015, and (2) the McIntosh XR100, first manufactured in 2012. If you review the details of patent US9247339, under which Tekton speakers are made, the specific hexagonal M-array design that Monitor Audio (MA) adopted for the tweeter/midrange component of their Hyphn speaker was not explicitly documented. Furthermore, MA’s array is embedded well under a cover and does not resemble a hexagonal shape. The overall speaker design is significantly well more innovative above Tekton. https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ef/3b/8b/91cfa120a70f05/US9247339.pdf
|
No matter if you are an old fart or a family driving a minivan (who would drive such a thing) or own any type of car, looks are a big part of the purchase. I own expensive sports cars and there are ugly sports cars for hundreds of thousands/millions of dollars or great sports cars that look great for $100k on up. Is this OP really MC? |
@carlsbad2 Monitor Audio is a UK company, no recourse for a US ...well... don’t know if he went through the hassle of EPO for Europe after his US patents were granted, not to mention the Brexit complication, etc I agree on "many models" in the catalog as well and not much guidance provided on what’s what for the curious onlooker....There is a category of persons who need to stay busy pretty much all day...or they’d drive themselves nuts
|
@deep_333 I don’t think he has such razor thin margins when it gets to the bottom line. He makes the speakers to be 98% function over form. He builds them to sound good first, and keeps the form simple and paints them himself with relatively inexpensive paint. He has a strong following, spends very little on advertising and doesn’t do shows. People who hear them at friends homes go buy them. This keeps his bottom line healthy. Keeping prices down doesn’t appeal to the high end audiophile, who likes to brag about how much his system costs. Not putting $10K of hardwood into a $5K speaker doesn’t appeal to those who have to decorate their listening room to look like a mansion in a movie set. But for a lot of high end users, they fit nicely. And except for here on Audiogon, they are generally accepted. And oh yeah, is is a very sharp guy (technically) who designs a great sounding speaker. I’d say his biggest flaw is boredom. He keeps designing new models because that is what he enjoys. He has too many models. His small driver midrange is one of the best sounding out there. too bad to see it being stolen by others. I don’t know enough about patent law to really comment on that. Jerry |
@carlsbad2 I am not a fanboy of any brand... But, you gotta give some credit when it’s due. When I briefly owned the Double Impacts, I tore it down and it took me quite a while to simulate it/understand what he’d done with the crossover, etc..even the small I delay I thought he had in there to mimic a baffle curve, etc. There is no unnecessary complexity, but he made it work ingeniously.. I’d rather not get into it too much of what i recall...on a open forum, as it is their in-house design. It is funny watching the ’all knowing’ hater van criticising the array all day, as if it were the stupidest thing on earth. Here’s monitor audio trying to do the same now. It looks like the monitor audio engineering crew has been busy tearing down a few tektons and studying it... https://www.monitoraudio.com/en/blog/introducing-m-array/ Get prepared for the sticker shock though when monitor audio reveals the price tag on their plagiarized offering. I am certain there’s a razor thin margin on Tekton speakers or he barely makes any money selling his speakers. In consideration of an underdog non-greedy (fatalistic even) brand made in the USA, I’ll willing to keep the hater van in check from time to time. He’s maybe the American version of Andrew Jones.
|
I would probably steer towards the more conventional Tektons, but if the Bonneville's checked all the boxes for sound, I'd have to think about it. Would definitely have to hear them in person first. Not sure what budget I would need, but a more modern approach, something like Meadowlark Merlins, would be also on my large speaker wish list as I ponder getting something bigger moving into a much larger room. I'm sure they would be made with a nice veneer and they have some angles to them to brake up boxiness. Not super wide, very tall/big by my standards... until you look at them from the side. Just need to decide whether or not to double the low bass system 🤔 |
@yoder , You nailed some points here...There is a category of guys on this thread, who wouldn’t qualify as proper audiophiles, to begin with, i.e., they are set up in a living room and have to worry/conform to the spouse, spouse’s social club, the mother in law and anyone else who shows up at the house. It’s a disqualification from the start because anything these guys will ever hear/have is always a "lifestyle" & aesthetics compliant product, Could he ever treat his room, never.. i.e., it’s a dead end Jim. Someone linked a Ojas audio/Devon Turnbull rig a few posts above...that guy would qualify as a proper audiophile, i.e., big and bold...he must have already heard all the lifestyle rigs and written them off, it seems. I have a pair of well engineered, but big non-good looking PA, Pioneer XY-3B on casters in my cabin, easy to roll outside for an unapologetic concert.., no neighbors, only coyotes and a couple of dudes who show up there sometimes. Attempting to explain that kind of ’audiophile’ sound/experience would be impossible to do with the ls50, dynaudio crew. He’ll continue putting his microwave sized dac, washing machine sized amp (to "control" those ls50 woofers, of course!) and firehose sized cables on them and that’s it...Everything will be huge except for his speakers (bassackwards rig, in terms of sonics).
|
missioncoonery LMAO! |
No The bigger Tektons are anything but a flat wall of sound. They can attempt a TAD-like depthwise layering and nuance, but also with the big live dynamics and slam.
|
I have not heard Tektons, but I'm interested and like at least some of the philosophy. I do like quality and accuracy, but also want live, visceral sound. We all have our experiences that shape these preferences. Maybe for me it's being, like the Tekton owner, a drummer, that creates the crave for the realistic reproduction of the impact and reverberation of a tom-tom. While subwoofers are a nice and necessary addition to the WAF tiny driver super slim speaker problem, they don't cover the dynamic range. Flagship speakers are always the biggest for a reason. I'm not downgrading the design or sound quality, but Tekton to me provides a DIY type budget entry point. For most folks if they bought these pro drivers or other similarly priced ones themselves and built the cabinets and crossovers, it would cost them more than Tekton retail. Probably sound worse using internet design or trying to design themselves, and look worse unless you are a skilled cabinet maker. Grill-less they do stick out in a crowd, but with grills, Tektons look like the many thousands of other rectangular box speakers out there. Only, on average, bigger. And some owners like to order them in bold colors. Because they can and Tekton doesn't just offer the boring colors every other manufacturer does. And they will customize color and custom design to suit customer needs unlike most manufacturers. How dare they! I think all horns are ugly. I don't care if Klipsch Jubilees are of the finest furniture grade. To me they are a big ugly triangle with a big vent on top, but so what? If they provided the sound that I wanted, I would consider them. My current speakers happen to be well regarded as some of the best looking out there due to the real hardwood cabinet design. That is an added bonus to the design philosophy of the positive design traits of a real wood cabinet versus say mdf. I don't need to understand the design though. I just know they're my most favorite speakers so far. I look forward to reading the review on these Bonneville speakers that surely provide an interesting audio experience. But for now I really need to get back to reading 500 reviews of skinny speakers that make wives happy. The introduction says I'll be amazed at the bass extension from the multiple tiny drivers (wth that extra in room response you'll get, you don't even need a subwoofer unless you play EDM club music!). The cabinet design is so luxurious, it's sure to fit with any home's decor (2 finishes to choose from!). I can't wait to read more... |
| Post removed |
How cool. After hearing a few systems like this, i feel there is some real potential for these to be fantastic sounding speakers. I would encourage, with an open mind, to listen to these when you have a chance. I hope to sometime. In the 60's , in Salt Lake City , where Alexander is from, we had several such large and larger baffle speakers being used and made. There is an ease and something right sounding, musically about the ones I heard. But it has been awhile, maybe my tune will have changed when I hear them again. |
It is a well known fact that some women date the ugliest dudes on earth (the infamous O'Hideous category)... Such a darlin might accept Bonnville or Chronosonic XVX, especially if she's been popping Filbanserin and tolerating such non-handsome cupcakes for years...
|
@bob540 wrote: "The knock I heard (on this forum) on Tekton speakers was that the drivers are alleged to be cheap and not quality." I cannot speak to very many of the drivers Tekton uses, but I recognized one of their woofers, the one in the Moab, from having worked with it for many years in one of my prosound products. It is medium-priced but has a superb motor, in some ways the very best I have come across in a 3" voice coil prosound woofer. It hits like a young Mike Tyson in a bad mood. And across the range it covers in the Moab, its frequency response is studio-quality. Duke |
I couldn’t even afford these speakers, nor have the room to do them justice. The knock I heard (on this forum) on Tekton speakers was that the drivers are alleged to be cheap and not quality. Be that as it may, I don’t hear anyone talking about how ugly the uber-expensive Wilson speakers are. They remind me of some 1950’s idea of a robot. So very ugly. |
Everything is a Lamborghini these days... until you put a blindfold on a dude, walk him into a room blindfolded, sit him down in front of 2 pairs of speakers and ask "Does A sound better? Or does B sound better?"
|
MBL 101 X-Treme : 1080 lbs Magico m9: 1000 lbs Chronosonic XVX (King O’Hideous): approx 700lbs Von Schweikert ultra 11: 750 lbs Magico M7: approx 530 lbs Klipsch Jubilee: 330 lbs I would wager Bonnville (not specified, what is it @willrich47 ) is in the vicinity of 500 lb maybe, not enough to give you an exquisite sexy figure. Ya gotta manhandle the magico m9 or mbl extreme for it.
|
I have these really expensive high end audiophile carpet dollies I bought from harbor freight with Grey carpet on them i tie died them 60 s scene and atop are my magico 700lb q7 speakers.i roll them around every day just to keep my girl like figure.i hope I can say that these days.i have them right next to the tekton ulf speakers.aka the ugly frog but I gave it a kiss and it turned into a handsome prince.i guess I'll have to put the Bonneville on those expensive harbor freight audio high dollar expensive tie die units.mostly 2 per speaker.i hope I can afford 4 dollies.even my pbn montanas have built in castor's to roll them around.in the old days I opened a can of spinach the Popeye brand then moved speakers. Let the critism begin.it is well documented in medical literature I have studied over 40 year period that humor improves the immune system.enjoy what you have and the music. |
@livinon2wheels I concede to your point about getting them in the room, that could be problematic. But furniture sliders from Home Depot will move even the largest speakers with ease. So positioning is not an issue. |
Interesting. From its size and number of bass units, it seems to meant for large rooms at a somewhat reasonable price considering the quantity of transducers. Using horns for treble and midrange, I’d expect fast clean sound. At 100db but at it seems to be able to run modest power tube amps, but at 4ohms seems you need current to control the bass units. @willrich47 Tekton can be off putting for it’s largest size and unique array appearance, but they offer high performance/price on their more affordable offerings. Looking forward to your further report on sonics including soundstage definition - wondering if the array acts like a point source |
Sorry guys, I know some people hold Tekton as ascendant to the throne of ultimate hi-fi, but lets just consider some practical factors here...how much do those damn things weigh? How many people does it take to place them in the listening room, and then, more to the point, how many does it take to position them so they actually sound good, and how long does that take? Sorry, I KNOW moving those myself is impossible so they are NOT on the list of speakers POSSIBLE let alone PROBABLE. All of that said, I need something in a package I can move myself that will allow me to suspend reality and succumb to the illusion of reality the speakers are selling to me thru the recorded performance. If the speakers in question cannot do that, I have NO interest in owning them. |
Most of conventional hifi is a ’bad idea’, i.e. a bunch of matchbox sized lifestyle speakers that are incapable of sounding like the real thing, i.e., lifestyle crap in undersized cabinets made to look good and that's it. Cables the size of fire hoses, amps the size of washing machines and speakers the size of matchboxes...that is what I refer to as a bassackwards ’bad idea’.
|
