Stereophile review of the $30,000 tekton speakers
We have had many discussions/arguments over tekton speakers in the past, mainly involving a couple posters who thought their $4000 tektons sounded better than the highest price Wilson’s and other high budget speakers.
In the latest Stereophile magazine, they did a review of the $30,000 tekton’s. In this Steteophile issue, they rate these $30,000 tekton’s as class B. When you look at the other speakers that are in the class B section, you will notice most of these speakers range in price from $5000-$8000. So it looks like you have to spend $30,000 on a pair of tekton’s to equal a pair of $5000 Klipsch Forte IV’s sound quality.
If I compare these $30,000 class B tekton’s, to some of the class A speakers, there are some class A speakers for 1/2 the price (Dutch & Dutch 8C, Goldenear triton reference), or other class A speakers that are cheaper (Magico A5, Kef blade 2).
rsf507, Thanks for sharing! I'm currently reading and enjoying the book 'So good they can't ignore you' by Cal Newport. |
The video of the Pendragon's is from a very reputable reviewer. I don't doubt that the Pendragon's sound is very good and are really inexpensive. However, the caveat is that despite a benign impedance curve, they require a very stable and high quality amplifier to drive them. For comparison, my Legacy Signature IIIs have a lowest impedance of 3.2 ohms, nominal 4 ohms, 94.6 db efficiency (tested) and can be powered by a Sherwood 7100 receiver of 17 solid state watts to sound quite impressive (how I bought them). While I am using a 35 watt Dynaco ST 70 extreme modified (voltage regulated/not ultralinear) with tremendous bass with these speakers which reach down to 16 Hz with 3-10" woofers and a rear firing tweeter, I have also used them with EAR 890 and my 125 watt tube monoblocks. All of these amps are significantly less expensive than the Luxman. If I owned the Pendragon, I would buy a stable, quality used amp. Otherwise, this is Tekton's meat and potatoes, quality speakers at low prices, without the aesthetics of most other brand dynamic speakers sans grills. Notice the reviewer also indicated that these large speakers sound best in large rooms. As to their $30K speaker, no. I now own Von Schweikert VR9 SE Mk2. My best friend has the VS VR35 Export. Sure there is a big difference in scale, bass and resolution but they represent a range of VS speakers from just a decade ago. Our personal preference over Wilsons, Magico and B&W which we have heard extensively is to be considered but those are not inexpensive speakers either and also require high quality and power amps. I suggest that the new Tekton $30K speaker is designed for large rooms, not 15X10X8 rooms, very typical of smaller listening rooms. If the Tekton speaker owner can enjoy music properly reproduced using this "patented" technology, wonderful. My friends and I (several are world renown remastering engineers) would not be owning Tekton speakers. My Signature IIIs are in a living room 20X20X10 open to 1,600' of living space and permeate the entire area with gorgeous sound on my little amps. My quite massive VR9s are in my dedicated listening room of 20X15X10 but excellently scale within a smaller space. |
fleschler, I’m reminded how Albert Von Von Schweikert personally called me prior to his passing to congratulate me on our revolutionary technology. Albert got how important this is... you're not in that place. I also understand how some people might not be interested in "perfect midrange" - RMAF 2019 |
