Quality issues with Tekton speakers....


I was reading all the buzz about these Tekton speakers and after sorting through all the reviews, decided to order a pair of the Pendragon (the big ones... $2,500 a pair).

When they arrived, I found them to be boxed well and in perfect shape, although one thing was very noticeable once I looked at the speakers. The woofers had a slightly different tone (color). The upper woofer in each tower was basically dark gray or black (like most paper woofers you might come across) and the lower woofers were slightly blue in color. After looking on the web some, I could not find a Pendragon speaker photo ANYWHERE that had this color difference. Since they did not come with speaker grilles, I knew the color difference would bother me as long as I owned the speakers.

I contacted Tekton (Eric Alexander) via e-mail and explained the issue. After almost a week of not hearing back, I sent another e-mail and his response was...

(copy and pasted right from my e-mail)... " I'm sorry. Please refresh my memory. What seems to be the problem? Thanks, Eric"

I described the issue again and he offered to exchange the speakers. I said there was no need to ship back a huge pair of 85 pound speakers and have him send me another pair and suggested maybe he just send me grilles at no charge to cover the speakers and I could live with the slight color difference in the woofers. I really feel that grilles should be included in a $2,500 price tag however.

All of these e-mails took several days to answer by the way.

He agreed and said he would get the grilles out right away... they were sent a few days later and upon arrival, I realized there was a pretty big problem. I had a normal type speaker grill with 4 pegs on the back and a speaker with no peg holes. After all the time, e-mails, no answers, etc., I was not interested in wasting any more time with the matter and asked for a partial refund through PayPal and asked a simple question... why send me grilles for a speaker that he just shipped to me with no holes to put them in? His reply was to offer to make new grilles and send "velcro dots" to affix them to the speakers with.... WOW.

The WORST part about all this: Within 30 minutes of making a PayPal claim about the issue and asking for a partial refund from him, Eric tried to call me right away... now that there was money at stake.

The really sad part of all this is that the speakers actually sound pretty damn good now that they are broken in... I just hope the quality and communication come up to the same level for the sake of Tekton as a company.
128x128audiofreak32

Showing 10 responses by roxy54

Audiofreak,
I think he probably meant that people who are not audiophiles think that we are too picky.
You don't explain if speaker grills were originally an option. If they were, then it is understandable that he would send you the grill, probably thinking that you had the holes to stick them in. After all, apparently you didn't tell him otherwise. Were you assuming that they were magnetic?
In any case, I don't think that it was outrageous for him to suggest Velcro dots; they are a workable solution.
I am also curious about the amount of the "partial refund" that you requested.
It seems strange to me that when you requested the grill, you didn't take note that there were no holes.
I can only speculate that if the OP doesn't want to exchange for a new pair, which seems very fair, maybe he just wants to keep this pair and get a refund for a certain amount of money which he has still not specified.
Audiofreak,

"BUT HOW THE HELL DO THE ATTACH TO THE SPEAKERS???"

Attach it with Velcro dots. You already said that.
Charles,
You literally read my mind. I was thinking just yesterday about messaging you personally about my impressions, because I wanted to bounce them off of you for your feedback and because I thought you would be interested , but I didn't think it would be of particular interest to everyone else. I will send you a message later today.
Until then, I will say that I am very happy.
Thanks, John
Audiofreak,
There is cetainly a very noticeable difference in the color of the woofers. That being said, the wood frames would not have been damaged if you had cut the pegs off instead of pulling them out.
Concerning the grill not being included, when you go to see the Pendragons on the Tekton website, the picture shows them without holes for grilles. Perhaps you should have asked about that before you bought them. I understand that like many of us, you weren't planning on using them, and the color difference necessitated using them, but I still think that the remedy was fair.
Alright Charles, I will do it that way. I just don't want to bore anyone with my personal impressions of the differences between my old SS amp and this new SET.
I do understand your disappointment, and I don't want to minimize your frustration, but I guess you have to weigh the cost of shipping against the look of the drivers (which don't look ugly, just different). There are many of us, myself included, who gambled on pretty speakers only to find them musically lacking in the end. From what you say, you are loving the music that they make, and that is the most important thing.
I realize that this has all gone on for too long, and there are good points on both sides, but one question that Audiofreak never answered as far as I can remember was what amount of "partial refund" he requested from Paypal. It seems to me that if he is not satisfied with the appearance of the speakers, a partial refund would not be a remedy, so why ask for it?
Chrshanl37,
That's true, but there is so much value in speaking person to person. The intent of the printed word is often misunderstood.