Tekton Design's new THE PERFECT SET equals "goosebumps time"

I was very fortunate to visit my good friend Teajay today and finally heard the Perfect SET with both the Threshold and the Triode Labs 2A3 amplifier. We started with the Threshold and the music was very good. The first thing I noticed was the Perfect SET  was not a small speaker at all and could make big sounds at all frequencies. I liked the system with Threshold and thought the system sounded pretty good using a solid state amp.
I have always liked the sound of tubes better because they sound more natural to my ears. Next came the Triode Lab 2A3 amplifier and I was literally shocked how good the 2A3 sounded with this speaker. I heard this amp on the Double Impact and it was terrific. The music was a bit sweeter and there was more meat on the bones as Teajay likes to say. I could have listened to the system like this all day. I connected with all the different types of music that Teajay played. In fact, I stayed too long and almost missed picking up my daughter! Everything just sounded a bit more natural with tubes. What I told Teajay is that you could feel the blood pumping through the musicians! The 2A3 amp played louder on this speaker than I would ever listen. It also had tremendous bass and treble.

Using this speaker with a flea powered amplifier is amazing!  The speakers disappeared and sounded lovely. With the piano black finish this speaker is about $2,000. It looks great and is a ridiculous bargain for the money! It is so good that with a 2A3 amp you never need ANYTHING better! Teajay was right on the money with this one. I have never owned Teckton speakers because I use the amazing Beveridge model 2 Electrostats speakers with direct drive amps from the late 70’s. The Beveridges are one of the best speakers ever made but If I were to start over these speakers with the Triode Lab 2A3 amps would be on my short list. Heck I liked them even better than Teajay’s big system! The combo is that good. It is amazing how much sound you can get for little money! They are as good in my opinion as any Teckton I have heard. Enjoy!

Hey mac48025,

You know you will go past me on your way to Axpona next month.  If you want to come visit you are more then welcome.  Just let me know.

I was very intrigued by the Perfect SET’s for my 300B SET but I’m even more intrigued by the PS 15 now. 

Thanks for the review and opening up your home for others to hear your systems teajay. I’m planning on attending Axpona in April and I hope to be able to meet you while there. 

PS 15 is up on website

" Nice to see this thread has solidified in a more civil direction. Informative and educational."  that did not last long

jhajeski "What professional reviewer even talks like this?   Based on "Eric's" "breakthrough" technology?? Cmon..."
They are one's who think, reason, and act on a higher plane, sphere, and level than those like yourself who are profoundly limited, restricted, and confined by outdated notions of performance, engineering, and design, @jhajeski.

FYI, for those of you into Linear Tube Audio amplification: the microZOTL MZ3 is now available.

I have a pair of Perfect SET speakers, serial #8.  I went back and forth with Eric in email about which speakers to get with my amp..   and recommended these.  I did the usual search online for reviews, but couldn't find any.  I just decided to take a chance....

They took a bit to break in, but WOW.   I'm not mr. audiophile, just know that it sounds right to me.   

I'm just a happy customer. 

Nice to see this thread has solidified in a more civil direction.  Informative and educational.  

I suspect the PS speakers are not dissimilar to other Tekton speakers--revealing of what is upstream.  Which means they are capable of showing the merits of both tubed and SS gear.  Very cool.  You could pair these with Marantz budget gear and have a KILLER value, and also go in the other direction of high end tubed amplification and be rewarded yet again.

Wonder what David will end up with.

I forgot to mention that I have finally tried the LTA Micro-ZOTL  as a integrated amplifier (around 1 watt) on the Perfect Set and it sounded terrific.  Using a 6SN7 as a power tube in the ZOTL circuit has its own virtues such as tonal purity, see through transparency, and lighting quick speed that you hear clearly through the Perfect Set speaker.  For my personal taste I still prefer the LTA Micro-ZOTL as a preamplifier driving the Triode Lab 2A3 amplifier because I get more "meat on the bones" imaging and the overall intensity of timbres/colors goes up a bit.  Even with 1 watt I had no difficulties with volume levels/attenuation or roll off of the bottom end at all.

Hey roadwarrior75,

Eric designed this speaker for lovers of SET amplifiers. As I said in different posts on this thread, the Prefect Set sounds wonderful with high current/wattage solid state amplifiers.  I just happened to have my Threshold S/350e in the system driving the Perfect Set speakers when my guests came over to hear them.  Bon and Mark agreed with my take on them as being terrific performers.

However, I have spent hours listening to them being driven with the Triode Lab 2A3 SET amplifier and find them equally superlative and wonderful to listen to on all types of music.  There is no difficulties with volume levels, overall dynamics, and bass extension/control when using this 3.5 watt amplifier at all.  On my Ulf's when I tried tube amplifiers they did alright on them, but this much bigger speaker that dips below 4 ohms loves high current solid state amplifiers to reach their true potential. 

So, out of all the Tekton speakers the Perfect Set "sings" with SET 'flea watt" amplifiers beautifully and also can be driven with high power solid state amplifiers wonderfully.  It just happened when Bon and Mark came over I had the 350e in the system instead of the 2A3 SET amplifier.

Thank you Bon, Mark, and David for your kind words towards me.  You are always welcome to come visit, you guys are great guests, indeed! 

I'd like to recognize and commend @teajay  for opening up his home and system to @jayctoy  and @1markr     

TJ did the same for me and it was a truly wonderful experience, highlighted of course by meeting TJ in person and getting to know him better... as well as having the opportunity to listen to his systems (as they were six months ago). 

I also want thank Bon and Mark for their contributions after listening to both of TJ's systems. Your posts have been extremely informative, insightful and helpful. Thank you!

@jayctoy    @1markr 

thanks again for the feedback

sounds like the SET  works best with more powerful SS amps?

these might not  be suited for "flea watt" amps, is what i'm gathering?  

Thanks 

@jetter

+1... @jayctoy

Absolutely agree the XA25 will be great with the Perfect SET! Just put a wonderful tube pre in front of it and < mike drop >!! :)

It would be interesting to hear how the PS will sound with the Pass xa25, seems like they would be perfect together.

@roadwarrior75 

We did not at Teajay's house.  As Bon mentioned, they were powered by Threshold amps.  Both systems had tubed preamps (both LTA) though, and in concert with the SS amps, the matching was ideal on both systems.

I've heard our Impact Monitors with tube amps, and I heard the Ulfs wth tubes amps, and my feeling is that the Tektons sound their best with SS amps; you will not get the best from them with 1wpc, in my opinion of course. @teajay can better articulate his experience with low power tube amps and the Tektons.

We listen to Threshold amp only, on ss the PS shines..Iam not sure how will they sound on your LTA 1 watt,.You can’t go wrong with those PS , they are  rediculously bargain...On glossy finish they look very nice.. 

@jayctoy    @1markr 


thank you for the feedback.

did you guys listen with both tube gear and SS  and your thoughts?

was looking at adding a second system and thought about the SET speaker. since i own the LTA MZ2S (1 watt)   it would be a wonderful combo?

Thanks 

@teajay  Thanks for your gracious hospitality, and allowing Bon @jayctoy and me into your house to listen to your systems!  We certainly enjoyed it, and the listening session was not only enjoyable, but also educational.  Oh, and you have a beautiful house too!

My biggest takeaway was that the Perfect SETS and the Ulfs are very different sounding speakers, and ultimately, which one you prefer will depend on the music you mostly listen to and your sonic preferences. For me, the PS hit all my buttons. I preferred their more immediate (note that I would not consider them "in your face") and intimate presentation, which is not all that different from my Tekton monitors.   With the ULFs, I have never heard the sense of soundstage scale as they portrayed, and the  dynamics were.... simply stunning; you easily heard the boundaries of the hall / studio / room, etc., and you easily felt the transient response of drums and other percussion in a real, and unexaggerated way.  Orchestral music flowed out with ease, as did Holly Cole.  

Bottom line for me, I preferred the Perfect SET for it's Row 1-5 presentation over the Ulfs mid-hall presentation, but that's only me and my preferences, since I don't listen to massively complex music like orchestral fare.  

What's even crazier, is the disparity between the costs of the two speakers.... that big gap makes no sense to me, but that makes the Perfect SET a screaming bargain!

Going back to the theme of this thread.... "goosebump time"?? Oh yeah!

Thanks again @teajay !

@teajay

thanks for the info...

was looking to add  the  SET speakers  for a second system,they sound like a great match with my Threshold S/350e amp!

will the Coda #8 blow away my Threshold. enjoyed your review on the Coda #8 

Cheers 

Hey roadwarrior75,

Yes, I have used the Coda #8 on these speakers.  Love the amplifier and it sounds great with the PS speaker.  As I have shared before, even though Eric designed this speaker as a prefect match with SET "flea watt" amplifiers, they sound superlative with very high current/wattage amps like the Coda/Threshold/Bricasti/Pass Labs, which are all great sounding amplifiers.

@teajay 

have you tried the Coda #8 amp and are you still getting goosebumps or do you prefer a tube presentation?

asked a few questions on Coda #8  thread and  no response?

Thanks  

Had a wonderful time today when two gentleman, Bon and Mark, came over to hear the Perfect Set speaker.  They brought their own musical selections to get a take on this speaker.  Both are seasoned listeners with excellent "ears" and great knowledge about the hobby.

They were, to put it mildly, enthralled and delighted with what they heard coming out of the PS pair.  They were not shocked, because they already know what a great bargain Tekton Speakers are regarding price vs performance ratio, but found it amazing that this kind of performance was coming out of a $1,800.00 pair of speakers!

Bon, shared that when he has a chance in the next couple of days that he will post his experience with you guys.  Hopefully, Mark might be inclined to also share his take on the speaker.

Hello d2girls,
Just browsing this thread.  
Reading your post regarding Moving Pictures made me think that I had not listened to that album straight thru since the 80s.
Put her on at high SPL last night.  Ears still ringing this morning. Good stuff. You just forget how great a band Rush is.
Did not play with PS speakers (I have DIs) so no help there. 
Thank you for that suggestion, as indirectly provided.

Txs teajay

Hello facten and d2girls,

To answer your questions:
1) My favorite 2A3 tube is the JJ 2A3-40, which you can purchase for around $240.00 a pair.  I have a large collection of NOS 2A3 tubes, they all sound very good, however the current JJ's sound the best in my system.  

2) When Mike Kay of Audio Archon came over to get his take on the PS speaker he brought that Rush album and played it at high SPL levels, he thought that the system sounded superlative playing this music.

I got a playback related question specific to owners of these speakers in your system. How does Rush's Moving Pictures album sound on these, at high SPL in your system?

teajay,
I apologize if you have stated this elsewhere and I have missed it, but what brand 2A3 tubes due you use in your amp? Txs

Hello estuardo4 and dgny,

To answer your questions:

1) I have not yet tried the LTA Micro-ZOTL as an integrated amplifier yet, but when I do I'll let you know what I hear.  My hunch is it will sound pretty special.
2) Both speakers play at the same dB levels at the same setting on the volume control.
3) For the last four days I have been listening to the PS being driven by the brand new Bricasti Design model M15 amplifier that's in for review.  First, the Bricasti Design is one of the best sounding SS amplifiers I have ever had in my house.  Secondly, it seems absurd to be using a 12K amplifier to drive either of these speakers, but the speakers are so good you completely hear what is driving them upstream.

 teajay,
how does the sensitivity compare to the nsmt 50, Does the nsmt play louder at the same volume settings on your amp(s)?

thanks.

@teajay Any new discoveries on the Perfect SET? Have you used other new amp with them? 

Have you used the speakers connected directly to the MicroZOTL preamp, like you did with the Double Impacts?

Thank you for your response 

+1 corelli

@corelli I agree totally buddy!

@ks2  In response to your comment, I would suggest that you can be very comfortable with the Tekton line.  I suspect the newer Perfect SET is another excellent speaker and a huge value.  The VAST majority of Tekton owners are very very happy owners.  It's just that some have focused on rearticulating a very small number on negative posts over and over and over.  This skews ones perception.  As teajay points out, some very high end brands all have things that go wrong.  It's part of life.

I will say this.  I know of NO speaker line that offers so much for so little.  This is not opinion, it is simple math.  Add up the cost of the drivers alone in the DI's, for example, relative to their price.  It's a crazy low mark up.  Eric has offered the audio community a huge value here.  MORE importantly, he knows how to blend the drivers in a special way.  One uniformed poster suggested a "DIY" effort with Tekton  which is just sheer ignorance.  I've done a few DIY builds with good results--but nothing close to my DI's.  Nor would I ever fool myself into thinking "I could do that."  

Thanks...I feel much better now. I have noted here and there that the lower powered amp binds me to efficient speakers thus ruining any fantasies regarding all the cool small speakers out there, but the Heresy IIIs sound so good I'm OK (although clearly fragile). I also like little stand mounted speakers as sort of replicated by my recently sold Silverline Preludes with 3.75" woofers in a thin tower speaker...like a mini monitor with gusto. I strongly suggest a sub or two with the Heresy IIIs as that raises their game and sweetens the mids (who knew?). I already had a couple of RELs so I was prepared, and man...

I have historically preferred high end 2 way standmount speakers.  They disappear in the room, throw a big soundstage, and offer high value IMHO. For the type of music I listen to, a lower frequency of 40 Hz is all I require. The Fritz Carrera caught my attention roughly 3-4 months ago based on highly positive reviews by attendees at an audio show ( Capital Audio Fest I believe), and it’s solid base extension to 35-40 Hz. That they are sold direct by the manufacturer with very high quality parts and the offering of a home audition before committal, and learning that they have a smooth/benign impedance curve that allows for lower wattage tube amplification, only heightens my interest.  Yes, with stands they are almost double the cost of new Heresy IIIs, BUT they are less than half the cost of the Joseph Audio Pulsar — a similar highly desirable speaker that also has a SEAS driver, similar frequency response and benign/smooth impedance. 

I had wondered when you might weigh in Wolf haha. As I mentioned above, my critique of the Heresy was premature.  The stock Chinese tubes that came with the Coincident Dynamo 34 SE mk2 are casting a somewhat bright sound with these speakers I think, and that is something I can modify to suit my taste. One of the reasons I wanted to try a tube amp in the first place. My system currently lacks the warm lush saturated midrange that I heard in the late 70s-early 80s at a dedicated audio store in Rapid City that unfortunately ceased to exist many moon ago. There I heard large Klipsch speakers being driven by Mcintosh tube gear playing Sheffield Track records — a very memorable sound.  If I can create that midrange of yore with my current system, I can live with the 58 Hz extension— or buckle and get a small 8” subwoofer.  

By the way, I like the fat/squatty profile of the Heresy — and it was another reason I chose it: I don’t have to worry about my dog or a future grandchild knocking it over. 

The newest Coincident Dynamo seems like a cool amp, at least based on the recent review I read somewhere, and it’s gorgeous...I considered a used one when shopping for a single ended amp (it was the older version), but my "bought used 3 months after its birthday" Dennis Had Firebottle HO (yes, it’s a HO...says so right there) won out and I’m happy with it....a few more watts. Defy the manufacturer and stick a pair of Gold Lion KT77s in that Dynamo! Do it, do it now!

I’m slightly curious about the "impedance curve" of my Heresy IIIs, but only slightly, and mainly due to Mapman’s comments...damn him! (kidding...don’t report me to the moderators)...the Fritz Carrera is 87db efficient and the only thing I’ve dug up about its "benign" impedance curve matches what I’ve read about the Heresy III, but I didn’t dig that hard...8ohms nominal, 6ohms minimum...and the Fritz is exactly 3 times the cost of my Heresy IIIs and 11db less efficient (!), which makes for strange if not unlikely bedfellows. Those things would likely suck the mojo out of my Firebottle during a crescendo or pretentious jazzbo outburst! One of the things I like about the Heresy IIIs, other than the sound, is they’re somewhat unique for a modern speaker...I was kind of bored with the "woofers and a tweeter in a box" design of 99% of what’s out there, needed efficiency with my Had amp, have been very happy with the sound of the anachronistic fat little things, and get uncontrollably emotionally defensive when their worth is questioned...*sniff*..."leave Brittany, uh...I mean MY HERESY IIIs alone!"

I will private message you. Didn’t mean to hijack this thread. Thanks  Dave

dcevans,
sorry I wasn't around yesterday to answer your tube questions. So, here goes: first, a question, do you have the most recent Dynamo or the original? I have owned both. The original Dynamo is a sweeter sounding amp though less robust in power supply. The original uses 5U4G rectification or equivalent and the newer model 5AR4/GZ34 or equivalent.

My original Dynamo SE sound best with Gold Lion KT-77s; they were compared to Psvane black 6CA7-Z (el34) which I used initially for about 6 months. Then I conducted a tube shootout. NOS Siemens el34, Tung-Sol el34s, New Mullard el34s and Gold Lion KT-77s. My results matched reviewer Steve Smith's results closely. Order of finish: KT-77s Psvane, Tung-Sol, Mullard, NOS Siemens.

My 6SL7 choice is either RCA Red base 5691 or NOS Sylvania 6SL7WGT. Rectifier tube best NOS GEC 5U4G, NOS Mullard CV378, RCA 5U4G or NOS Mullard 5AR4.

Along the way I modified my original Coincident Dynamo SE at the advice of Yazaki-San. Read about this gentleman on Jeff Day's Blog now on Positive-Feedback. Yazaki-san recommendations included strengthening the power supply, use of better capacitors, NOS resistors, rewire of internal wires with Old Western Electric tin-plated copper. 

You might consider contacting fellow Agon member grannyring for a loom of Dueland powecords, interconnects, speaker wire...all of which work great with the Coincident and my current Tekton speakers, Lore and Mini-Lore. I also use these wires with my DeVore Orangutan 0/96 Leben. Best, mikirob 

This speaker company intrigues me. But man it seems you either love it or hate it.