Review on Tekton Design Perfect Set Speaker just went live on Six Moons.com
My review on the Tekton Design Perfect Set just was posted on Six Moons.com. Hope it gives all the information and details why this another killer speaker from this company.
Teajay, Congratulations on your first review for 6Moons. It was lovely being transported to your listening spaces via your photographs. An easy to read and thorough review. Really nice that you are able to more fully provide detail, insight, and background (and those photos) on the products you review, thanks to the 6Moons approach/style.
Also want to send a ’shout out’ of thanks to Srajan Ebaen, the Editor and Publisher, for bringing you on board.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review.I especially liked how you were able to talk about the other Tektons you've experienced.Your descriptions are always clear and insightful.Looking forward to more:)
Hi Teajay, congratulation on your new gig. If you have had a chance to compare the 12" and 15" models could you say a few words regarding their sonic differences? Thanks
Hey Teajay, great review! I just happened to order a pair a few days ago. I'm glad I ordered them when I did. Sounds like Eric will be selling quite a few pairs of these. Will have them by next Thursday. Can't wait!
Thanks to you all for your Congrats on my new reviewing gig.
Hey Jetter,
Can't make any comments regarding the 15" to the 12" model because I have never heard the SET 15. However, the bass and bottom end of the SET 12 is superlative- goes deep, accurate, and blends perfectly with the lower mid-range in a linear fashion. If you drive the SET 12 with solid state amplifiers the bass just becomes that much more taut, extended and powerful compared to a SET amplifier.
So is this how a reviewer generates hits on his web page/review these days? Start a thread announcing that it’s going live in an audio forum so fans of the brand can post their excitement over the review and slap each other on the back with how great the components in question are?
If you know my history here on the GON you would be aware that I started writing lay reviews 10 years ago for the members which turned out to get me, about six years go, a job offer to become a professional reviewer. My home has always been these forums and I try to share my excitement for new gear with the members. I have posted about many different types of gear and very different companies for years. I have enough readers of my reviews that have nothing to do with this website, my only motivation is to share information regarding great products. Your welcome to your assumption about me and what motivates other GON members, just don't think its valid for me and the members.
teajay, yours is a very diplomatic post to 213runnin. Questionable why he would come on with an insulting post about someone he doesn’t know, after being a member here for three years.
Great review as always Terry! It was your Home Theatre review 3 years back that gave me the courage to take the plunge and order Tekton Design's OB Sigma speakers, and I have enjoyed them every bit since. Your assessment and listening impressions about them are spot-on.
Since that time, I have seen TD's introduction of Eric's patented time- and mass- alignment concept from the Double Impacts, to the Encores, the Ulfberhts, and many others, including these Perfect SETs and Perfect SET 15s.
I must admit that I have been tempted to pull the trigger to get one of these new tech speakers, but I fear losing what I love so much in the OB Sigma, specifically it's open, airy and lack of box-coloration sound that typify open-baffle speakers. It gives music a sort of organic, relaxed and open portrayal of the music, it is as if the music "breathes", if you know what I mean.
I have monobloc OTL amps that deliver
120W
into 8 ohm loads (or about 45W into 4 ohms), so I'm not running "flea-powered" amps. What I'd like to ask you is for your comparison of the OB Sigmas to the Perfect SET and yes, comparing the Perfect SETs to the Double Impacts / Encores / Ulfs.
If I moved from the OB Sigmas to e.g. the Perfect SET, would I miss the open-baffle sound character, or do the Perfect SET manage to achieve that too? In short, would the Perfect SET be a big step up in sound quality over the OB Sigmas?
Thanks in advance, and keep up the great work and honest reviews!
I don't understand why people keep knocking Terry about his honest Tekton Design reviews, and allege that he is somehow affiliated or getting some form of "bribe" or benefit from TD. If anyone took the trouble to look up Tekton Design, they sell direct to customers, from their own factory!
Why make such hurtful insinuations or attacks on decent folks without first doing some basic research? Even if you disagree with a reviewer's listening impressions and review, everyone in this hobby (or profession) knows that different folks have different listening tastes and we all expect for some listening preferences in the devices we install / buy / try.
Secondly, even if you like what a reviewer says, you are still going to at least try or audition the equipment you're thinking of buying, right? So why not do that? If you're not interested in that item or have other stuff in mind, then give it a pass... but please, why go on an attack? Perhaps you could just say "I disagree" if you have listened to the item under review, and move on.
Peace, all, I'm just trying to give some perspective here. Thanks!
Did you read this review? Have you read his posts about this speaker company? Does this seem like normal behavior for a reviewer or a satisfied customer? I dont read 6moons, but I did read this review and I am shocked that it was run.
No insinuations just that I find this whole thing odd and distasteful. If I owned Tekton I would tell him to stop the gushing.
I think you could have safely concluded that if I'm interested in getting the Perfect SET speakers, and Terry comes out with a review on it, and I'm asking questions on this forum announcing his review about the very same speakers, that I certainly have read the review.
Honestly, I don't know what you mean by the whole thing being odd and distasteful. Perhaps I am accustomed to seeing TD receiving high praise from many of its customers, of whom I am one (and I was skeptical before I bought a pair), so I don't really find Terry's review odd and certainly not at all distasteful. To me, if a professional reviewer stakes his/her reputation so blatantly and forcefully on a review, that speaks loads about them being so clear cut and honest. I'm sure they end up losing readers who simply don't agree with them (and I mean even those civilized readers who just have a different opinion), but that's good to know, isn't it? I very much prefer reviews where the reviewer does not hedge a review so that it ends up being tremendously flowery and full of puff and vague statements about a quality / qualities I cannot really imagine or correlate to, and all ending up being "overall very positive" but "hey, I told you there's some teeny drawbacks, but not so teeny actually, but really for the price range, you can forgive it...."
If Terry is, in your assessment, not a reliable reviewer, he's not going to be the first or last reviewer who's got that badge. I sure hope he doesn't give in to the pressure to "conform" to towing any line or style of writing, but if he does, that's too bad.
By the way, I tend to rely on more than one reputable review of any audio component, and I especially give more weight to users who actually own it, before deciding to risk a purchase. I'm sure most of us in the hobby do this too.
The PS will develop its soundstage different then your Sigma OB. With the PS you will get a deep depth of the stage, like your Sigma OB's, behind the speaker and a certain percentage will also project in front of the speaker more then the Sigma OB. You will experience this at sitting a few rows closer to the stage of the instruments. I believe the PS will be a much more dynamic sounding speaker (faster/harder hitting) with more clarity/micro-dynamics without becoming less musical. The PS does not sound "boxy" at all, so I don't think you would feel you went back to the "box enclosure sound" at all with gaining what I mentioned above.
Thanks Terry, that helps a lot. With the OB Sigmas, I find that I don't need to sit in the sweet spot to get that lovely "live" presence, and I find sitting way off axis (to one side) just as enjoyable and I still get the sense that the musicians are there in the room.
Do you find that to be the case also with the Perfect SETs or any of the other TD speakers with the multi-array units? I find that I tend to just really enjoy the music and not obsess over the sound stage so much... something I just attribute to the open baffle design, and I wonder if that would also be the case with the PS. Thanks!
Many listener's have shared that the best "sweet" spot is rather narrow with the DI, I have not found that to be the case. Like all speakers there is definitely the most precise place to sit to get the best of everything. However, the Tektons are not a "head in a vase" type of imaging speaker.
The PS is still very enjoyable even if you are not in the sweet spot and if you are off axis they still image pretty well. Because they are so dynamic and lively I find that they fill up my big acoustic space in an enjoyable way when I'm not sitting in front of them.
Your OTL amps would love this speaker because of the higher Ohm rating. As I said in my review if you have a smaller acoustic space were the size of the DI's would get in the way, then PS would be a great fit both physically and load the room possibly better. Remember, the PS is front ported, the DI has its ports on the back making it harder to place close to the front wall.
Would this speaker also work well with a non-SET source, or is it specialized to the point of sounding good with only a narrow range of amplifiers? (I have a Primaluna Dialogue HP integrated.) Thanks.
During my reviewing process I tested the PS with SET tube amps and very high powered solid state designs all with great success. Your Pimaluna piece would be a great match.
I think we all know from experience that positive reviews
make it through the process and get published and products that the reviewers
don’t like don’t get a review. If the
reviewer is positive about the product, they probably also end up liking the
company that makes it. For me, this is
no big deal.
What is important is that the reviewer provides enough
context that the reader can find a few nuggets that are helpful. One of the good things about 6moons and
specifically about Srajan’s reviews are that lots of comparisons/nuances are
provided (ok, granted, he can get wordy).
I don’t necessarily want a reviewer to tell me that this is
better than that….but I really appreciate it when they say product A does piano
brilliantly but the soundstage isn’t the biggest….on the other hand product B
does acoustic guitar and saxophone brilliantly and has a huge soundstage. These kinds of comparisons help me relate a
product to the things that matter most to me.
What teajay does on this forum is not only provide context but provide access for people to ask very specific questions...which is virtually impossible to get from almost every other reviewer. This is a huge resource for people that is probably underappreciated.
I agree that 6Moons is not the "easiest" webpage to navigate, especially with the new "drop down" category interface. I don't even read their reviews since they are so verbose and bombastic; but each to their own taste.
During my reviewing process I tested thePS with SET tube amps and very high powered solid state designs all with great success. Your Pimaluna piece would be a great match.
Thanks for your prompt and to-the-point response, @teajay.
Thanks for the responses Terry, that was very helpful!
One other I'd like to know, since it's not likely I would ever get the opportunity, is how similar or different are the Ulfbherts compared to the Perfect SETs? Is it mainly the sheer scale that the Ulfbherts portray that really distinguish them from the rest of the TD lineup, or something else? Thanks!
Thanks for the report teajay, I'm interested in the Perfect Set 15 after learning about the original PS. I wonder why both are offered, other than a minimal difference in foot print? The frequency specs appear to be the same, but I would expect the 15" driver to put out a little more bass. Definitely curious to learn more.
Yes, the Ulf's offer an overall "effortlessness", the ability to pressurize a room, sense of scale that the other Tekton's don't quite have on the same level. Remember this is a big speaker that needs a very large acoustic space to produce its magic.
However, the Tekton house sound offers this, but just to a lesser degree then the biggest in its line of speakers. In a smaller space the PS gives you a good "taste" of the bigger speakers.
Thanks very much Terry. I am fortunate to have a rather large room so even if I one day do go for the Ulfberhts, I can re-arrange the layout to accommodate them. For now, I'll keep to the smaller siblings.
I liked the review but every time I go to the 6moon site I am reminded why I rarely go there. I get a headache just trying to look past the maze of ads and pictures and drop down menu that keeps getting in the way. Oyeve! Of course my ad blocker doesn't work because 6moons embeds all their ads as pictures. It would be better if 6moons simply made you go to a set of screens and only after you read every ad they would then give you a code to allow you to read the reviews without distraction.
So that is my review of 6moons. But I like your reviews Teajay.
Good to see both Perfect Set threads back on track. I'd welcome further reviews from owners of the Perfect Set or Perfect Set 15. I feel one of these would do well in my office setup powered by my Latino ST-70.
@Tea,I see from your review that the gloss piano black finish adds $600 to the price of the PS, but no mention of wood veneer options. Do you know if that is still an option on the Set? I'm guessing it's not cheap if offered, but they would look gorgeous in a walnut veneer.
Hey yakbob, That's an interesting question. I know historically that Eric used to offer wood veneer options for many of his speaker models. However, I don't know if does now on his new models. Why don't you call and ask Karma if this is still offered currently.
Question for twoch and missioncooney: When you say you are in agreement with 213runnin's comment on my posting this thread, are you referring to his apology about jumping to conclusions about my motivation, "Teajay, I stand corrected, appearances are not what they seem in this case" or you still think I'm up to no good?
First post out here and a little taken aback by some of the comments focused more on "intent" than "content". Here is my very recent and very positive feedback. Recently had the good fortune to buy an awesome pair of Don Garber Fi 300b Mono blocks and have been in search of the best yet affordable high efficient speakers to match them with. During my research, I found the Tekton website and called Eric direct to talk about the technology and his design and where I could hear them in the Chicago area. Being a direct to consumer Company, he mentioned not having any dealers in the market. He then mentioned that Teajay, who lives within an hour of me, had in the past let potential buyers come to his home to listen to them. Eric offered to contact him to see if he was willing to do that again. Here is the bottom line.....I had an awesome listening experience using Teajays 2A3 amp with about a 3 wpc output and was very, very impressed. I heard for myself the magic of the Tekton Perfect SET speakers. I brought my own music specifically chosen to test the bottom end, the width and depth of soundstage and accuracy. I left a fan. I cant thank Teajay enough for opening up his home and just letting me listen to my music on his equipment which allowed me to come to my own conclusion. For me, hearing is believing. I will be ordering my pair soon.
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