Has anyone parsed the Stereophile review of the Tekton Be Moabs?
It's interestingly hard to find on the Stereophile website. If you search for it, the review doesn't come up. If you look on the "B" listing of equipment -- aside from noticing that they are the $30K outlier among speakers generally costing 10% or so of the Moabs, there is no summary of the review.
Anyway, because of this thread, I finally found in on page 12 and read it critically:
1. It starts with the odd phrase " VERY BAD WOULD NOT RECOMMEND" that the author said in the comments had nothing to do with the speakers. I take him at his word, especially since he is a fan of the original Moabs.
2. The first observation of the speakers was that it smelled so bad he had to put it in a closet with an air purifier. This resolved after a couple of weeks.
3. He didn't care for the Cardas binding posts because they were hard to read.
4. He sometimes plugged the ports with a pool noodle because the speakers were boomy. Tekton seemed to be offended by this and said the two Stereophile guys are unique in their complaints. (But see measurements below.)
5. They are really good at certain percussion notes (e.g., snares and bells).
6. "Whether the Moabs' bass performance is as authoritative and ultimately satisfying as those far more expensive speakers is debatable."
7. He ends with "The Moab OGs [the old model, not under review] were and remain one of high-end audio's superior value propositions. Their beryllium-studded counterparts [the model being reviewed] can't lay the same claim [but they are the best Tekton has to offer and great for people who like Tektons]. Whatever that means.
When you get to the testing:
8. "The Moab has one of the most demanding impedances I have encountered, though this will be somewhat ameliorated by the high voltage sensitivity."
9. "The Moab Be's enclosure seemed lively when I rapped it with my knuckles." And goes on to discuss various modes, which may or may not matter.
10. There is woofer interference, but it's probably OK since the ports fire away from the listener.
11. "Moab Be's low-frequency alignment does appear somewhat under-damped. The peak in the ports' output at 248Hz results in a small discontinuity at the same frequency in the woofers' response."
12. "he Moab Be's measured performance suggests that with care in setup it will offer a neutral sonic balance"
In short, it's not a great review. Now whether the reviewer and tester know their stuff, I have no idea. I don't know either and am no expert in a position to critique their work.
But it's super interesting that when you search "Tekton Moab" in the search bar of Stereophile, the review doesn't come up.
